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Tendai Rupapa
Senior Reporter
FIRST Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday honoured an invitation to attend a Gospel of God Church International (1932) service in Norton, where peace, unity and hard work were being preached among thousands of worshippers.
The Church, which is led by Sister Era Tapera, invited Amai Mnangagwa to worship with them having been inspired by her teachings.
As a church, they said it was important for them to take the lead in praying for peace and unity ahead, during and after the harmonised elections slated for August 23.
Resplendent in white regalia like any other worshipper, the First Lady humbly took part in the church’s worship routines, having been a member since childhood throughout her life until she got married into the Methodist Church.
Dr Mnangagwa encouraged the worshippers and the whole nation to observe peace at all times and vote President ED Mnangagwa and Zanu PF in the forthcoming harmonised elections.
She said it was critical to teach children the value of hard work, discipline and love to grow into responsible citizens in the future.
Furthermore, Amai Mnangagwa spoke against child marriages and urged people to desist from marrying off girls before age.
Turning to the girls, she recommended them to respect their bodies and take their studies seriously and not rush into sexual relationships.
As health ambassador, the First Lady encouraged the church to seek medical assistance saying it was important for them to visit health centres for regular check-ups so as to keep diseases at bay.
She said diseases nowadays needed hospital treatment to save lives.
The mother of the nation urged worshippers to take part in her various empowerment projects like Agric4She, sewing and detergent-making among others as she forges ahead with her life-transforming initiatives which leave no place and no one behind.
At family level, the First Lady underscored the need for women to submit to their spouses and men to love their wives and raise their children well, inculcating in them the values of respect.
Dr Mnangagwa donated maize-meal, baby blankets and reusable pads to the church.
To kick-start an Agric4She project, she handed over cattle and sheep to women in the church to start Livestock4She.
“I thank you heartily for inviting me and welcoming me here. I was born in the Roman Catholic church before I left to join Johane Masowe. I was, however, married in the Methodist Church. This occasion is important as we worship together and discuss life-transforming issues.
“Even Baba Johane, the founder of this church encouraged people to work for themselves and earn a living. This is the word we are moving with, with a vision from above. Baba Johane preached the word of God even before we were there. We thank him greatly and he is happy seeing that the words he uttered that the country would be in the hands of blacks are being fulfilled.
“Baba Johane had foreseen the country’s independence and today we enjoy self-rule showing that God allowed this country to be ruled by its owners. God wants people to live in peace, love and harmony as we and the communities live according to the teachings from above. I am glad that this church treasures the use of one’s hands.
“To women, I ask as to whether we are respecting our spouses, teaching children, working for the family and looking after it through hard work as espoused by Baba Johane,” she said.
President Mnangagwa, the First Lady said, encourages everyone to work hard for the good of their families and the nation at large.
“President ED Mnangagwa then said men, women and everyone else has a role to work for our country brick-upon-brick because a nation is built by its people (nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo), inhabited by its people and ruled by its own people. Even the bible emphasises the need to observe peace at all times. Naizvozvo tinokumbira the Holy Spirit to enter our hearts and search our souls.
“As a mother standing before you, I encourage hard work in raising our families. I walk with those who want and work with those who subscribe to hard work.
“I have many programmes and projects that I introduce focusing on women, men, boys and girls. There is Agric4She, and as a mother I encourage women to come and get all the inputs and chemicals for free and improve your crops.
“Those without anywhere to farm, come and let us sew and make detergents, there is everything for everyone. I have come especially for women because once a woman is organised, her family lives well. Come let us carry one another and work and we do not want anyone who lags behind.
“When we talk of Agric4she we do not look at crops alone, there is also Livestock4She, Fisheries4She among others. Before you start your projects, let us first enrol for short courses for free. My Angel of Hope Foundation partnered with Zimbabwe Open University so that people can be taught how to start their businesses, self-discipline, acquire financial discipline and customer care. But when you get money, will you boss over your husbands? No, we have to respect our husbands giving them their rightful positions as they also respect us and give us love so that our children learn something good and grow with it.
“If we pray without manners we are doomed because good manners shape us as Africans, as the children of Zimbabwe. Are we teaching our children good manners?
“As churches let us look after children and keep an eye on them. The father gets time with the boys as the mother sits down with the girls and as parents you must have time to sit down with the children. I learnt a lot from this church and it’s not the first time to sit down on the ground, I always do because I am just like all the other women. To be called a First Lady is just a title,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa emphasised that as a mother she abhorred violence in all its manifestations.
“We do not want people who speak lies, trigger fights and foment chaos in the country nekuti kana Mwari haadi mhirizhonga. Peace and respect for one another are some of the reasons why we are here. The history here is parallel to the one seen by Zanu PF as prophesied by Baba Johane that the country would be ruled by those you look down upon, telling the whites.
“We should not then disregard those wise words. I believe that as August 23 arrives next month, we will ask Jehovah to make us reach that date in our totality and fulfil the prophecy. I, therefore, humbly ask you to vote for Zanu PF and President ED Mnangagwa. If we walk alone without God, we do not succeed. If we walk in the absence of God even the programmes of this earth do not succeed. We must put God first in all we do. Let us fulfil Baba Johane’s vision,” she said to applause.
Sister Erica Office (80), the church’s vice president said she felt honoured by the First Lady’s visit.
“We invited our respectable First Lady to come here and meet her children as a mother who goes about training her children good manners for girls and women in the homes. We are praying that God blesses us, gives us peace in our nation and unity. This is why we invited the mother of the nation to meet her children and teach us, sharing with us her wise words. We want her to involve her children here in her various empowerment programmes and foster the spirit of hard work,” she said.
Similar words were echoed by Evangelist Zvanetsa Muchuchu, the church’s publicity Secretary who gave a brief history of the church.
“Our church is headquartered in Gandanzara, Rusape, where our leader and founder was buried. Our founder’s Damascene moment was here in the Chipukutu Hill in Norton in 1932 when he started bringing the word of God to Africa. He came to preach peace and he said he had come so that blacks are given their country back by whites.
“We invited our mother so that we pray for our nation together in view of the forthcoming elections. Baba Johane was a proponent of peace and in this vein we see it prudent to pray for our nation so that the peace we enjoy continues to prevail. Our aim is to get along well the same way our mother is encouraging people to unite and live in peace. She is also protecting the girl child against all forms of abuse.
“We were happy seeing our mother being given an award overseas because of her work towards girls and women. We are happy today because we got lessons about peace from our mother in the nation and at household level. Good manners by wives make a marriage last as men will be happy wherever they are knowing that there is someone responsible at home. Our mother taught our daughters and wives how to live in the home and observe chastity as espoused by Baba Johane,” he said.
Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister, Mary Mliswa-Chikoka, welcomed and thanked the First Lady for honouring the church’s invitation.
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