tawandamusarurwa
Andrew Mangwarara
WHEN you visit the Celebration Centre in Harare, the ambience at the church is largely associated with hotels and other such facilities.
The centre, a venue par excellence, belongs to Celebration Ministries International, which has about 138 branches across the world, which are run by pastors Tom and Bonnie Deuschle.
It turns 40 this year.
The queen palm (arecastrum romanzoffianum) greets you from the main gate into the car park, with the original landscaper having envisioned how it would look many years later to match the height of the building.
This is a good example of greening up your surroundings, as it spills right onto the busy Liberation Legacy Way.
Other large specimens that were chosen to fill the expansive grounds include the fig tree (ficus capensis), the leopard tree (ceasalpinia ferrea), the smooth-barked flat top tree (albizia gummifera), the Kenya croton (croton megalocarpon) and the floss silk tree (ceiba speciosa).
For a centre that houses a bookshop, the Elevate restaurant, conference facilities, a school and a children’s recreational park, the landscape gives you a different impression — that of a holiday resort.
With masses of the African lily (agapanthus orientalis) to tantalise your senses, and gigantic statues of elephants and giraffes in the background, what a sight to behold!
At the front entrance is a water pond.
The centre’s theme for this year is “Abiding in the Holy Spirit”.
The Elevate restaurant is in a league of its own. The environment refreshes you, before you even start enjoying the delicacies served in the eatery. The view from inside the building completes the puzzle, as plants like mondo grass (ophiopogon japonicus), chamaedorea palm (chamaedorea elegans), the ivy-leaved perlagonium (perlagonium peltatum), the golden dewdrop (duranta erecta) and the stalked bulbine (bulbine frutescens) have a point to make.
The well-maintained Kikuyu grass (cenchrus clandestinus) has its own story to tell, as it removes boredom and provides congregants with a place on which to walk while, perhaps, meditating or praying.
The facilities and events manager, Ms Tendai Tonhodzai, outlined the different events that take place throughout the year, for example, the KPC, Action and Synod conferences.
They also host weddings, picnics and different courses. The centre is a fitting rendezvous for such high-profile events.
Indeed, this is a place for celebrations.
As you move around the gardens, you will not miss the presence of the gorongo cycad (encepharlartos manikensis), which makes the garden gain pre-eminence among others.
The lion’s tail (agave attenuata), the pencil euphorbia (euphorbia tirucalli), the plectranthus neochillus and the pink joy (crassula ovata) have their own corner to shine, even though they are more of desert plants.
To cap it off, the parasol plant (schefflera arboricola variegatum) and New Zealand flax (phormium tenax “purpurea”) also contribute to making the place beautiful.
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