Church encourages Zimbabweans to be involved

APOSTLE Collin Nyathi, the founder and senior pastor of Harvest House International, believes that Christians should venture into politics while church leaders should remain apolitical as they oversee people of various political persuasions.

Apostle Nyathi was responding to a question on whether it was right for Christians to take up politics.

"I believe so. It’s wrong to say politics is not for Christians. Imagine, if we had Godly men and women leading different ministries and organisations. Corruption will be reduced, hopefully, and work ethics will be upheld. So it is very important that those that are called enter into politics.

"My recommendation, however, is that if you are a pastor, remain apolitical. I pastor all other parties so I must remain apolitical. All we have to do is to empower Christians to get into politics.

"As pastors, we encourage all our people to vote although we don’t tell them which party to vote for. I believe it’s a responsible leader that will tell his people to vote," said Apostle Nyathi.
On the role of the church in politics, he said: "The role of the church is simply to act as a conscious to those in leadership positions because we have the standards. All of us will agree that Godly standards are found in the bible and whenever there’s a deviation from the Godly standards, the church acts as a conscious to come in and say you have moved away - God demands this and that."
"I would say the church is playing its role whether effectively or not I am not so sure. Effectiveness is measured over time and as we continue to play that role, we will be measured. When our time has passed, somebody will look and make a judgement. But I believe that there is much more we can do as the church," he added.

Apostle Nyathi encouraged Zimbabweans to be innovative in the midst of their economic challenges.

"The economy is not doing well, inflation is high and families are finding it hard to cope with challenges. But every economic hardship comes for a season – it’s for a season. We cannot teach people to abandon their faith and give up – there is much hope.

"People should understand that being Christian does not bar you from getting into business and empower yourself at a time like this. The crucial thing is – never be a victim of any circumstance. Turn that circumstance for your own benefit and see opportunities, I believe there are great opportunities here in Zimbabwe and I speak this with all my heart. Wherever there is a crisis, there are opportunities, seize that opportunity, fit in there and start a business. Other people may choose to look at hardships only, but I am one that says ‘from those hardships, see those opportunities of getting better and empowering yourself.’ This is why we are building at a time like this," he said.

His church is currently building a 10 000-seater auditorium in Woodlands. The super structure is set to be complete in 2009.