Living faith, seeking justice, persuing peace in Zimbabwe: An Interview with the Rev. Taurai Emmanuel Maforo
Church and Society staff met with the Rev. Taurai Emmanuel Maforo at a United Methodist Social Principles training held at Africa University in June 2017.
The following conversation has been edited slightly for length and clarity.
Where do you see a living faith in the church either in Zimbabwe or the world?
I would say that is how the church is living the faith practically.
When we look for a living faith in the church in Zimbabwe, we mostly see where the church is being relevant in the community in which it exists, reaching out to less privileged communities. Most of our local churches do this.
Some of our churches also have justice-related programs, such as women’s empowerment and peace intervention between political parties.
What is an example of a church seeking justice?
Our church has a women’s task force that has run some workshops on domestic violence. It has taken up some initiatives to counter injustices against young children as well.
And, also on the mercy side, we have begun programs for people who are hard of hearing in our mission schools. We have two schools that have now been very prominent advocates for the full inclusion of children who are hard of hearing or visually impaired. These children’s needs would typically not get directly met because they are poor.
What are some of the other kinds of programming?
We’ve also seen local churches engaging in prison ministry in various prisons in Zimbabwe. A number of our correctional facilities are under-resourced, particularly clothing and food. So, some churches buy materials to send to those prisons, and some send food stamps. In our system, you are dependent on family to feed and clothe you in prison. But if you have no family, you are entirely neglected. This is where the church served as a family to those in prisons.
What is the best way to pursue peace in Zimbabwe?
Through the Zimbabwe Council of Churches.
And beyond the churches even, peace starts from the home. It is the family that builds community, so through dealing with the gender-based violence issues, in that way, we are already working toward peaceful communities.
Our significant challenge is political intolerance. But when we look at it, these are the same people we have in the church. So, if we preach the gospel of peace and the gospel of tolerance in the church, then at least people from different political parties will have a foundation from which to start operating from and start building a peaceful agenda together.
If you have peace and tolerance in the home and church, you will have peace and tolerance in the nation.
Rev. Maforo serves as pastor of the Dzivarasekwa United Methodist Church in Harare, Zimbabwe. He is also the conference communicator for the Zimbabwe episcopal area.
