Mutendi says people must honour Mnangagwa

PEOPLE must honour President Mnangagwa and all the other people in position of authority as they are chosen by God, a senior cleric has said.

Delivering his main sermon to thousands of congregants gathered for this year's Easter conference at Mbungo in Bikita yesterday, Zion Christian Church (ZCC) Bishop Dr Nehemiah Mutendi challenged ZCC congregants to conduct themselves in a Godly manner through honouring leaders of the country. He said God wanted his people to honour their leaders.

"We have church stewards who have been elected in the districts and provinces. We do not expect you not to honour community leaders like chiefs, district administrators appointed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa. We also expect you to honour our President as the leader of the country. The Bible says, 'we should honour our parents so that we can live longer on earth'."

He called on ZCC congregants to ensure that they continue doing community work in their respective areas and mobilise membership.

"We want to make sure that every elected leader in our church has an action plan. You cannot remain a leader for five years but fail to have one tangible thing for the church. Let us target 2025 when we will evaluate our efforts as ZCC leaders in the community. I also urge ZCC leaders may it be pastors or deacons, to mobilise our members to do community service in their respective areas. Our domain as ZCC is working for the community but you should attract converts to our church. You should also mobilise membership. If you cannot turn souls to God then you do not deserve to be a deacon or pastor," he said.

He praised the congregants who partook in prayers in the mountain on Friday saying they were searching for "hidden treasure".

"On Friday, we went into the mountain looking for hidden treasures. All important things are hidden, including riches. You have to search to get these riches and if you relax you will die surviving on cheap food. Jesus is a treasure who can only be found after a search, hence climbing onto the mountain. We found him and tomorrow (Sunday) we want to see if he conquered as we will be celebrating his resurrection," he said.

"Our women always cover essential body parts but some foolish ones are seen parading them. Let us preserve ourselves as Zionists."

He also warned congregants against believing in false prophesy and challenged them to test the ingenuity of prophesy. He said not all spirits were from God, as the devil could also claim that he possessed the same powers. He urged congregants to make use of ZCC schools by sending their children to the various educational institutions dotted around the country.

"We have state-of-the-art schools that compete with others in the country. We encourage our congregants to send their children to these schools and make sure they pay fees on time. We have a challenge with parents who do not want to pay fees for their children. There are blessings in giving than receiving and all children of ZCC should learn to give," he said.

Today the church led by Bishop Dr Mutendi will have a colourful procession, to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thousands of church congregants from across the country and outside are gathered at the church for the annual Easter celebrations. A senior Government official is expected to grace today's service.