Global Ministries

A reflection on the International Day of Peace from Dr. Kenneth Mtata, General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches

Today is the International Day of Peace. It's a significant day for us as a nation but indeed for us as a church. We insist that the quality and sustainability for our national development is largely dependent on the quality of our peace.  Negative peace only means there is no outright war. Positive peace speaks to the qualitative coexistence of all actors in an environment of cooperation in spite of the differences.

On Thursday, September 3, 2020 at 8:00 AM EDT, the United Church of Canada is hosting a Zimbabwe Online Conference, featuring speakers from Global Ministries partners and Global Ministries Africa Executive, Reverend Marco A. Cable. 

From the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa

Grace to you and peace from God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24)

To the churches and people of Zimbabwe,

Grace and peace from the God of life and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. The Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations (ZHOCD) made up of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Union for the Development of Apostolic Churches in Zimbabwe Africa (UDACIZA), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops’ Conference (ZCBC) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), all together representing the majority of Christians in Zimbabwe, would today like to welcome the growing global solidarity for Zimbabwe characterized by the social media #ZimbabweanLivesMatter and at regional level by the sending of the envoy by the South African President and the Chairman of the African Union, President Cyril Ramaphosa. Like the churches and citizens of old we also say, “…Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9).

This is chapter 12 in the book The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe, edited by Ezra Chitando and published by Palgrave Macmillan of Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

This chapter is authored by Tapiwa P. Mapuranga.

A PDF of the book may be found here. This chapter begins on page 185. References for this chapter can be found on page 195.

This is chapter 8 in the book The Zimbabwe Council of Churches and Development in Zimbabwe, edited by Ezra Chitando and published by Palgrave Macmillan of Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

This chapter is authored by Tarisayi A. Chimuka.

A PDF of the book may be found here. This chapter begins on page 109. References for this chapter can be found on page 121.

On the 13th of July 2020, seventeen political parties heeded the call to participate at a consultative meeting invited by the Zimbabwe Heads of Christian Denominations, including Global Ministries partner the Zimbabwe Council of Churches. The meeting is part of a series of consultations lined up by the churches to find consensus on the current but also the long-standing challenges facing the nation. Today’s meeting is a culmination of a week of extensive bilateral engagements in which even those political parties that did not attend today’s meeting gave input.

From the Zimbabwe Council of Churches

The first case of COVID-19 can be traced back to the 17th of November 2019, according to media reports on unpublished Chinese government data. The report, found in the South China Morning Post, indicates that Chinese authorities had identified at least 266 people who had contracted the virus last year and who came under medical surveillance. Thus the earliest case was that date– which was weeks before authorities announced the emergence of the new virus. It was not until February 14th, 2020 that the first case in Africa was reported, in Egypt. Even then, the first case in Southern Africa was only reported in South Africa on March 5, 2020. By then, Zimbabweans began to realise that they too were at risk. Indeed, on March 20, 2020, Zimbabwe recorded its first case.

26th March 2020,

Dear Fellow Congregationalists,

We bring you Christian greetings from the Central Office of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa at this time when both the Church and society are going through a hitherto unknown public health crisis causing unprecedented challenges at all levels of our existence as people in society.