Opinion / Columnist
ZAOGA opens University: A contribution to society
30 Mar 2016 at 06:49hrs | Views
About two weeks ago, this publication carried a story about President Robert Mugabe thanking and congratulating a well known Zimbabwean church, the Zimbabwe Assemblies of God Africa (ZAOGA) led by Professor Ezekiel Guti, for establishing a university.
It is indeed most refreshing news that one of the country's Pentecostal churches has taken a charitable step to establish an arm that will nurture one of the vital parts of humanity, that is, the intellectual aspect.
Zimbabwe has, since attaining independence in April 1980, experienced an amazing increase in the number of Christian sects, particularly those practising Pentecostal or Zionist doctrines.
Many of them were founded by genuinely Christ-inspired people with a deep-rooted concern for the spiritual well-being of the people.
Some were started by self-admiring individuals, that is to say narcissists and dandies whose main wish is to show off their clothing and themselves as well as their oratorical skills.
There are also those who have established churches in order to lure people, particularly those who are intellectually vulnerable and/or socially, economically or culturally distressed.
Some women who fall under this category have been sexually taken advantage of by such unscrupulous men in some of those sects.
Zimbabwe has also come across some Pentecostal sect leaders whose main wish is to use their followers to enrich themselves.
Such leaders shamelessly wallow in morally obscene material comfort while their followers scrounge and scavenge as they pray and hope from day to day.
While some Pentecostal and Zionist church founders or leaders are honest, morally upright, some are downright self-seeking hypocrites.
Prof Guti and his respectable wife, Eunor, have chosen the charitable and enlightened, tried and tested way Christian churches have followed for nearly 2,000 years beginning with the Roman Catholics to mould a spiritually, intellectually and physically sound and well-balanced human being.
Formal education is a sine qua non, that is, "the-without-which -not" for the world to progress.
Coupled with a sound spiritual foundation, education enables the recipients to nurture their physical bodies, to take care of themselves effectively.
In the modern world where the human race is multiplying at a rate that makes our earth's physical living space seem as if it is contracting, education enables that space to produce more food per unit measure than was the case in ancient times.
Education enables us to produce and procure more clothing and other sources of material comfort so that we can endure unfortunate weather conditions, and to live much longer and more safely than our primitive ancestors.
It is because of education that we have developed various mining technologies that enable us to exploit our God-given mineral resources for our individual and national benefits.
Medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds because of educational research.
Not only has the human race greatly benefited thereby, but also the general animal (fauna) as well as the plant (flora) kingdoms.
Education has brought the world closer together by means of much swifter means of transport. It has also replaced global ignorance with knowledge, resulting in a socially happier and much more economically prosperous, culturally more enlightened, and politically more tolerant world than was the case a millennium ago.
Formal education, incidentally, means much more than literacy and numeracy.
It includes the understanding and appreciation of our physical, social, economic, cultural and political environments.
Education enables us to cater for our spiritual, physical and intellectual needs.
Appreciation of God's immeasurable power is much more by an educated than an ignorant mind.
A physical science professor appreciates that God created the universe and all that is in it, and that educated as he may be, he cannot create the universe.
An ignorant mind cannot go that far in its appreciation of God's omnipotence.
With the help of education, we are able to appreciate that the human mind can neither understand the source or nature of God's power, nor His short term, medium term or long term plans for the universe.
All that a Christian appreciates is that "— God so loved the world that He gave it His only begotten son, and that he who believes in Him, will have life everlasting ——-" John Chapter 3 verse 16.
The Gutis and their esteemed congregation have for their part, shown their love for Zimbabwe in particular and the world at large by using some of their church's revenue to found an educational institution which is a national asset of no mean measure.
They have done so as an acknowledgement of the fact that they may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if they have no love, their speeches are no more than noisy gongs or clanging bells——– (1 Corinthians Chapter 13 verse 1).
They have shown their love through that donation to charity.
That is a most, nay, the most wonderful donation their church could possibly make to Zimbabwe, no wonder President Mugabe praised and expressed gratitude to them.
The whole nation should do the same for a university is the most precious educational gift anyone can offer to a community or nation.
Meanwhile, how do other Pentecostal and Zionist congregations react to this eternal symbol of charity?
Not only Pentecostals and Zionists, but other denominations that have hither to shown interest in the spiritual welfare of their communities to the exclusion of social, economic and whatever else?
Here is an example to emulate, something built for the present generation as well as for posterity.
Other denominations that have all along been ignoring the intellectual needs of their congregations would be well advised that the three dimensional nature of human beings demands that they establish schools and hospitals so as to produce people who are sound in spirit, mind and body.
It does not have to be a university that they may construct, it may be an orphanage that can accommodate some of Zimbabwe's street kids; it may be an old people's home or a hospital, a technical college or even a primary school.
The Gutis have passed what in SiNdebele is called "ingqobe" and TjiKalanga "mhomwa", to other Pentecostals and Zionists, not to leave out Jehovah's Witness.
Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a retired, Bulawayo – based journalist. He can be contacted on cell 0773 428 443 or through email. sgwakuba@gmail.com
It is indeed most refreshing news that one of the country's Pentecostal churches has taken a charitable step to establish an arm that will nurture one of the vital parts of humanity, that is, the intellectual aspect.
Zimbabwe has, since attaining independence in April 1980, experienced an amazing increase in the number of Christian sects, particularly those practising Pentecostal or Zionist doctrines.
Many of them were founded by genuinely Christ-inspired people with a deep-rooted concern for the spiritual well-being of the people.
Some were started by self-admiring individuals, that is to say narcissists and dandies whose main wish is to show off their clothing and themselves as well as their oratorical skills.
There are also those who have established churches in order to lure people, particularly those who are intellectually vulnerable and/or socially, economically or culturally distressed.
Some women who fall under this category have been sexually taken advantage of by such unscrupulous men in some of those sects.
Zimbabwe has also come across some Pentecostal sect leaders whose main wish is to use their followers to enrich themselves.
Such leaders shamelessly wallow in morally obscene material comfort while their followers scrounge and scavenge as they pray and hope from day to day.
While some Pentecostal and Zionist church founders or leaders are honest, morally upright, some are downright self-seeking hypocrites.
Prof Guti and his respectable wife, Eunor, have chosen the charitable and enlightened, tried and tested way Christian churches have followed for nearly 2,000 years beginning with the Roman Catholics to mould a spiritually, intellectually and physically sound and well-balanced human being.
Formal education is a sine qua non, that is, "the-without-which -not" for the world to progress.
Coupled with a sound spiritual foundation, education enables the recipients to nurture their physical bodies, to take care of themselves effectively.
In the modern world where the human race is multiplying at a rate that makes our earth's physical living space seem as if it is contracting, education enables that space to produce more food per unit measure than was the case in ancient times.
Education enables us to produce and procure more clothing and other sources of material comfort so that we can endure unfortunate weather conditions, and to live much longer and more safely than our primitive ancestors.
It is because of education that we have developed various mining technologies that enable us to exploit our God-given mineral resources for our individual and national benefits.
Medical science has advanced by leaps and bounds because of educational research.
Not only has the human race greatly benefited thereby, but also the general animal (fauna) as well as the plant (flora) kingdoms.
Education has brought the world closer together by means of much swifter means of transport. It has also replaced global ignorance with knowledge, resulting in a socially happier and much more economically prosperous, culturally more enlightened, and politically more tolerant world than was the case a millennium ago.
It includes the understanding and appreciation of our physical, social, economic, cultural and political environments.
Education enables us to cater for our spiritual, physical and intellectual needs.
Appreciation of God's immeasurable power is much more by an educated than an ignorant mind.
A physical science professor appreciates that God created the universe and all that is in it, and that educated as he may be, he cannot create the universe.
An ignorant mind cannot go that far in its appreciation of God's omnipotence.
With the help of education, we are able to appreciate that the human mind can neither understand the source or nature of God's power, nor His short term, medium term or long term plans for the universe.
All that a Christian appreciates is that "— God so loved the world that He gave it His only begotten son, and that he who believes in Him, will have life everlasting ——-" John Chapter 3 verse 16.
The Gutis and their esteemed congregation have for their part, shown their love for Zimbabwe in particular and the world at large by using some of their church's revenue to found an educational institution which is a national asset of no mean measure.
They have done so as an acknowledgement of the fact that they may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if they have no love, their speeches are no more than noisy gongs or clanging bells——– (1 Corinthians Chapter 13 verse 1).
They have shown their love through that donation to charity.
That is a most, nay, the most wonderful donation their church could possibly make to Zimbabwe, no wonder President Mugabe praised and expressed gratitude to them.
The whole nation should do the same for a university is the most precious educational gift anyone can offer to a community or nation.
Meanwhile, how do other Pentecostal and Zionist congregations react to this eternal symbol of charity?
Not only Pentecostals and Zionists, but other denominations that have hither to shown interest in the spiritual welfare of their communities to the exclusion of social, economic and whatever else?
Here is an example to emulate, something built for the present generation as well as for posterity.
Other denominations that have all along been ignoring the intellectual needs of their congregations would be well advised that the three dimensional nature of human beings demands that they establish schools and hospitals so as to produce people who are sound in spirit, mind and body.
It does not have to be a university that they may construct, it may be an orphanage that can accommodate some of Zimbabwe's street kids; it may be an old people's home or a hospital, a technical college or even a primary school.
The Gutis have passed what in SiNdebele is called "ingqobe" and TjiKalanga "mhomwa", to other Pentecostals and Zionists, not to leave out Jehovah's Witness.
Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a retired, Bulawayo – based journalist. He can be contacted on cell 0773 428 443 or through email. sgwakuba@gmail.com
Source - chronicle
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