Online Reporter
Bulawayo Bureau
PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA yesterday touched down at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport in Bulawayo ahead of the eighth edition of the National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service set for the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC) today.
With President Mnangagwa being the SADC chairperson, this year’s edition of the event will assume a regional dimension. Representatives from SADC member states will be part of the gathering.
There will also be key musicians from the region to celebrate the day.
Defence Minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri, Bulawayo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Judith Ncube and other senior Government and ZANU PF officials welcomed President Mnangagwa to Bulawayo.
This year’s National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service, hosted by inter-denominational churches, is being held under the theme “Our Nation, Our Opportunity — Celebrating the progress and acknowledging the potential for our country Zimbabwe”.
Held annually since 2017, the service not only showcases the cooperative relationship between the Church and the Government, but also provides a platform for both to celebrate the progress the country is making across its various socio-economic sectors.
In an interview with our Bulawayo bureau at ZIEC yesterday, Faith for Nation Campaign founder and chairperson Reverend Andrew Wutawunashe said all was set for the service, with 30 buses organised to ferry people around Bulawayo.
“The eighth edition of the National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service will be conducted to dedicate the nation of Zimbabwe to the Lord for the coming year and ask for his help in every department and sphere of our nation,” he said.
“We also want to look back and see the good things in which God has helped us as a nation and give thanks. Everyone is welcome from every denomination, every persuasion, every area of life.
“It is also a very good occasion to just come and enjoy celebrating through the gospel. We are very prepared for the service to be held at the ZIEC here in Bulawayo. We have deployed over 30 buses all over Bulawayo and we invite people to find those buses tomorrow morning and make their way to the ZIEC.”
Rev Wutawunashe said the celebration, in principle, underscored the importance of the church in nation-building.
“If you look carefully at the nation-building in the word of God, you will discover that the kings always did well if they were supported by the prophets,” he said. “God wanted that combination to be there.
“One of the things I can say is that in our particular Zimbabwean situation, the way I see it is that our nation needs the silencing of demoralising voices, which are failing to recognise the progress God has given us since the coming in of the Second Republic.”
Rev Wutawunashe said some people were in denial of all of the great development that President Mnangagwa has spearheaded in his administration and the progress the nation has made.
“What happens is that the psyche of the people is discouraged and demoralised unjustifiably and God does not like that,” he said.
“So, the role of the Church must be to inspire people, to encourage people, to also silence and drown voices of false discouragement. This is also a platform where we want the true picture of what is going on in our nation to be brought forward by a voice that has integrity, which is the voice of the Church, and to inspire our people.
“There are some people who want to be social commentators without actually experiencing the tears of the people, and all they want maybe is to drive the political agenda.
“So, we feel that the Church is, in that way, being a truthful and encouraging voice, participating in patriotic and Godly nation-building.”
Rev Wutawunashe revealed that bishops from multiple denominations in the country will be in attendance at the service.
The National Thanksgiving and Dedication Service started at the onset of the new dispensation through an agreement between the churches and President Mnangagwa.
