The General Secretary of the Association of Evangelists in Africa, Aiah Foday-Khaba, in his remarks at the launch of the 4/14 Window Movement Summit at Crowne Plaza Monomotapa, Harare last week, has urged all churches to embrace child development in their ministries.
Reverend Foday-Khaba said, “Research has shown credible and convincing information regarding the centrality of children to the health and future well-being of the church and society as a whole. Ministry will always be a difficult and sacrificial journey, but placing children in a more appropriate place in the landscape makes the journey more comprehensible and hopeful.”
The national Director of the Zimbabwe National Council for the Welfare of children, Reverend Taylor Nyanhete, also encouraged churches to take into account the fact that children are now key to evangelism and the strengthening of Christian values.
“Children constitute a significant proportion of our population with an estimated 43% being below the age of 14 years. As such it is crucial to ensure that children are in favourable conditions or state, more so the marginalised who are always left out of development initiatives, ” said Reverend Nyanhete.
The 4/14 Window Movement Summit, which was hosted by the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), operated under the theme, “Mobilising the Body of Christ to Embrace Children and Youth as Partners in Mission.”
The 4/14 Window Initiative, according to EFZ’s president Dr. Goodwill Shana, appeals to Christians to open their hearts and minds to rising up a new generation from the 4/14 window that can experience personal transformation, becoming agents of global change.
It also provides strategies to churches for reaching, rescuing, rooting and releasing these children for holistic transformation in the church, nation and globally.
“Almost every church has children’s ministry, but the church seldom prioritizes these children for serious growth and empowerment,” said Dr Shana. “In fact, some parents view Sunday school as a baby seating plan… thus the local church must be mobilised, empowered and networked to respond comprehensively to this call and expectations from parents and our society.”
Other 4/14 window summits in Africa where also held in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Swaziland and Tanzania.
By Mthabisi Onias Ndlovu and Nyasha Mukapiko
