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the 72nd birthday and graduation of their leader, Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi.
Bishop Mutendi, leader of the largely black independent ZCC, was recently conferred with an honorary Doctorate degree in Literature by the University of Zimbabwe.
Speaking at the celebrations, which were also attended by Mbuya Maud Muzenda, the widow of Vice President Dr Simon Muzenda, Bishop Mutendi said he was happy to become a doctor at 72.

“I am glad to be a doctor at 72 years and God has set a table for me, not a table of food like that of David but a table of success. Strangely enough this is not before my enemies, but before my friends.
“Some have helped to set it up, others are prepared to enjoy and rejoice with me,” he said.
He attributed his success to his church, family and friends and urged those at the birthday and graduation celebrations to continue fighting temptations and avoid complacency.

Said Bishop Mutendi: “My friends must know the so-called success is my God’s job, my family’s job particularly my church members. They have done it all, I have reaped it alone, we must own it together.”

He narrated the trials that his father the late Reverend Samuel Mutendi and founder of ZCC went through.
“My father went through waters and fires, trials and tribulations which almost finished him before he completed the work.

“To mention but a few of such fires, he was arrested, imprisoned and tortured more times than the records could keep up with. He witnessed the death of 50 children, he was beaten up . . . by colonialists.

“But he built five home missions only to be removed from Mumble, Machete, Mutterer and Marimasimbe,” he said.
Speaker after speaker praised Bishop Mutendi for the work he has done to develop education and promote social cohesion.

Professor Boniface Chivore of the University of Zimbabwe said he admired Dr Mutendi’s passion for educational issues.
“This is the main reason we conferred him with the doctorate. We took into consideration the number of schools he built, community service he took part in and the other work he did in the region.

“The schools have developed more than his name. The name Mutendi has grown more than Nehemiah’s because it is now for many people,” he said.
The church has close to 300 000 followers in South Africa, over 400 000 in Mozambique, close to 100 000 in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo and about 50 000 in Botswana.
There are about two million followers in Zimbabwe.