Church must work for development: Machacha 

Source: Church must work for development: Machacha – herald

Arron Nyamayaro

Herald Reporter

CHURCHES play a critical role in national development and cannot remain detached from national affairs as they shape moral values, peace and community development, Zanu PF National Political Commissar Cde Munyaradzi Machacha has said.

He said this at the launch of a book titled: “The church and politics in contemporary Zimbabwe”, written by Apostle Benjamin Joseph Murata, who leads New Life Pentecostal Church and chairs the Patriotic Churches in Zimbabwe.

Cde Machacha said churches must serve as a moral, peace-building and developmental voice, adding that Apostle Murata had contributed meaningfully to national dialogue through his work.

“Through this book, he has chosen to contribute to one of the most important conversations in our national life: the relationship between the church, politics and national development,” he said.

“Today, we are not merely launching a book. We are reflecting on the role of faith in leadership, the place of the church in society and the responsibility of all national institutions to contribute to the building of Zimbabwe.”

Cde Machacha said churches’ role in public life was often misunderstood and sometimes wrongly separated from governance issues.

“We often hear people say, ‘the church must stay out of politics’. But we must ask: if politics is about the welfare of people, how can the church be absent?” he said.

Churches are made up of citizens who are directly affected by national policies and development programmes, said Cde Machacha.

“Therefore, the church cannot be a spectator in national affairs. It reminds us that the church and politics are not enemies.

“Properly understood, they are partners in building a moral, peaceful and developed society,” he said.

Cde Machacha traced the historical relationship between churches and the liberation struggle, saying both played complementary roles in fighting colonial injustice.

“The liberation movement and the church often met at the point of justice. The church spoke of human dignity, and the liberation movement fought to restore that dignity.

“The church prayed for freedom, and ZANU PF became the revolutionary vehicle through which freedom was achieved,” he said.

That collaboration between the church and Government continued after independence, with churches contributing to education, health and community development.

Cde Machacha also emphasised that development had to be anchored on values, discipline and unity.

Apostle Murata said writing is a form of intellectual and spiritual contribution.

“A people who do not tell their own stories, articulate their own philosophies, examine their own circumstances and preserve their own insights will inevitably be defined by others, often unfairly and incompletely,” he said.

He said writing contributed to knowledge and understanding.

“A writer is participating, in some small way, in God’s project of bringing light into the world,” Apostle Murata said.

The latest book becomes the 32nd from Apostle Murata.

The book launch held on Saturday in Harare brought together church leaders, academics, authors and Government officials.