On Saturday churches from across the country congregated to pray for peace as the country goes towards elections.

Since 1998, Intercessors for Zimbabwe, a grouping of churches, has dedicated May 25, as a national day for prayer, seeking repentance, reconciliation, revival and restoration of Zimbabwe which has fresh political wounds caused by violence—which in some cases led to deaths.

“The reasons for this day for prayer are twofold. God has spoken that we as a nation need to humble ourselves before Him, to seek his face and turn from our wicked ways, so that he will heal our Land,” read a statement from Intercessors Zimbabwe,” read part of the statement.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe who lead the two biggest political parties, the MDC and Zanu PF respectively, have been consistent in the call for peace but some parts of the country have already seen eruptions of violence even before dates for polls have been announced.

Primary elections for the MDC to choose representatives ahead of the elections were characterised by sporadic cases of violence and the church says it is time to act.

“The urgency of the hour. The current political situation in our country is of great concern to us; let us continue to pray for the Government of National Unity. As you know the destiny of this nation is in the hands of the Christians, we have the responsibility to bring the state of the nation before God,” read part of the statement.

The Anglican, Methodists Church in Zimbabwe, Reformed Church, Salvation Army, Roman Catholic and the Apostolic Faith Mission are some of the major churches that took part in the prayers.

See related reading:

“Let’s pray for peace”, says Tsvangirai

Churches meet with Mugabe about peace