Page 1 of 16
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 589
Going beyond spiritual synoptic into child protection: the
contribution of church in caring of orphans and vulnerable
children in rural Zimbabwe.
Taruvinga Muzingili ; Maxwell Mushayamunda.
Lecturer: University of Zimbabwe, School of Social Work Address: School of Social Work, P. Bag
66022, Kopje, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Teaching Assistant: University of Zimbabwe, School of Social Work Address: School of Social Work, P.
Bag 66022, Kopje, Harare, Zimbabwe.
E-mail: tmuzingili@gmail.com ; Email: maxwellmushayamunda@gmail.com
Abstract
The aim of the study was to get an analysis
of the role of church activities in looking
after Orphans and Other Vulnerable
Children (OVCs) in rural areas of
Zimbabwe. The study was conducted in
Matsai Community in Bikita District,
Masvingo Province. The target population
for this study consisted of OVCs and their
caregivers who were under the jurisdiction
of the Church of Christ. Qualitative
research design was used and it employed
in-depth interviews, focus group discussions,
key informant interviews, and observation
methods to gather data. Availability and
purposive sampling was used to select 20
OVCs, 10 caregivers, and 4 key informants
who participated in the study. Data was
gathered, presented and analyzed using
thematic frames. The ethics of care theory
was used to inform this study. The study
found out that the church played a
significant role in looking after OVCs in
rural areas. It was found out that the church
paid for OVCs’ education, provided food
and clothes; recruited volunteers to help
OVC households; taught OVCs on issues
relating to health, carrier guidance, and
abuse. It was found out that OVCs in the
rural areas faced challenges that were
poverty induced hence the church was found
to be providing worthwhile services through
its activities in looking after OVCs.
Government and the civil society
organizations were therefore encouraged to
come into rural areas to join resources with
the church so as to fully look after OVCs in
rural areas.
Key Words: church; child protection; Matsai
community; Zimbabwe
Introduction
The church is known to be an abiding
institution with a long history of
compassion. It poses a cherished resource
that has nourished communities across
generations (Chitando, 2007). Considering
the constrained government support to
OVCs in the rural areas, the church has
since then assumed the duty of looking after
these children in rural areas. It is against this
background that this study sought to get an
analysis of the effectiveness of the Church
Page 2 of 16
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 590
of Christ in looking after OVCs in Matsai
Community, a rural community in Masvingo
Province in Zimbabwe. Matsai community
is in Bikita district which falls under natural
region five. The area is characterised by
very limited rainfall and to a larger extent,
lacks any meaningful economic activities.
Generally households are poor and people
survive on gardening. Given this situation,
the state of OVC can be envisioned.
To the church, looking after orphans and
other vulnerable children is an obligation
that lies at the essence of the Christian
religion. Drawing from their Christian Bible
which is to them, their manual and God
speaking mouthpiece, there are a number of
verses and chapters that give reference to the
care of the orphans and widows. According
to Carr (2013), in the Christian community,
true religion is that of looking after orphans
and widows. The central verse from the
bible pointing to the church’s responsibility
towards orphans is James 1: 27 which says,
“Pure and genuine religion in sight of God
the Father means caring for orphans and
widows in times of their distress and
refusing to be corrupted by the world”
(NLT).
In Isaiah 1:7 Christians are commanded to
‘defend the cause of the fatherless’. Looking
after orphans by the Christian community is
therefore a way of worshiping and a sign of
obedience to God’s command. A church
practicing genuine, authentic and true
religion is therefore measured by its
contribution to looking after orphans and
other vulnerable children. The church,
therefore cannot relegate child welfare and
protection to the secular world and
governments alone but should be on the
frontline to offer support to children in need
(Carr, 2013). According to Bergeron (2012),
the global orphan crisis is too serious to
ignore and the biblical call is too plain to
miss. As the church therefore awakens to the
outcry of orphans and other vulnerable
children at its doorstep, in the very
communities they are established, it should
dispatch the vast resources entrusted to it.
According to Knight (2012), caring for
orphans and children of the poor was the
practice of early Christians. McKenna
(1911) and Knight (2012) concurs that
widows and deaconesses of the early church
took orphans into their homes. Due to this
custom, the terms widows and orphans are
so often found joined together in ancient
Christian literature. According to
UHLHORN (1885:185), Christian Charity
in Ancient church, “it would also often
happen that individual members of the
church would receive orphans and children
of the poor especially those whose parents
had perished of persecutions and brethren
who had no children would also take
orphans as their children”. The taking of
orphans to rear and giving them a place in a
new family circle has always been an
honoured custom amongst good people in all
times. In simple communities as rural areas,
it is the sole solution to the plight of orphans
and other vulnerable children. Equally
undeniable in the literature, however, are
discussions of “proper” use of theology;
examples of this include scripture’s
emphasis on children as holy and Jesus’
command to protect the innocence of
childhood (DeVries, 2001; Linder, 2006).
Page 3 of 16
Journal for Studies in Management and Planning
Available at http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/index.php/JSMaP
e-ISSN: 2395-0463
Volume 01 Issue 07
August 2015
Available online: http://internationaljournalofresearch.org/ P a g e | 591
O’Neill et al (2010) notes that child
advocates rely upon scripture that speaks of
the holiness of children and the value of
childhood:
“Let the children come to me, do not
hinder them; for to such belong the
kingdom of God. Truly I say to you,
whoever does not receive the
kingdom of God like a child shall not
enter it” (Mark 10:14-15, New
International Version).
“Things that cause people to sin are
bound to come, but woe to that
person through who they come. It
would be better for him to be thrown
into the sea with a millstone tied
around his neck than for him to
cause one of these little ones to sin”
(Luke 17:1-2).
“Speak up for those who cannot
speak for themselves” (Proverbs
31:8).
The church is one of the few well organised
institutions in rural areas and better placed
to respond to the call of orphans and other
vulnerable children. According to Bergeron
(2012) the church is entrusted with resources
that come to it collectively from its
members. Davelaar et al (2011) notes that
the donor community is also likely to target
the church in society, due to the trust drawn
from its Christian values of care, honest and
compassion towards the needy and the
vulnerable. This is supported by Birdsall
(2005) who notes that many international
donors prioritise rural areas and this
signifies the upsurge of indigenous
responses to the plight of orphans and other
vulnerable children. The church therefore
has no choice to ignore its call to
humanitarian duty and moral responsibility.
OVCs exist in the very communities the
churches are established in and are
congregates of the same. Should they go
hungry and naked amongst such religious
and moral Christian congregation? Should
they stay out of school and be denied health
care? More persistently, should they live
without a family in a Christian community?
What really is the church doing to support
OVCs and with what effects? Thus the Good
Shepherd has long served as a Christian
symbol for the protective, nurturing, healing
caregiver. It brings up images of a leader
who provides for the vulnerable, one who
guides gently and protects his flock with the
ferocity of a lion.
Ideally the government should look after
OVCs because it has the obligation under
the law to do so, a duty it is failing to fulfill.
The present situation is therefore that,
churches in pursuant of their Christian social
and religious responsibilities towards OVCs
are looking after these children in rural areas
where government efforts seldomly reach.
Less attention has been paid to documenting
and analysing the activities of Christian
churches in rural areas of Zimbabwe. As a
result much remains to be understood about
the nature, scope and scale of Christian
churches’ activities towards OVCs in rural
areas. The effectiveness by which churches
are carrying out their work of looking after
OVCs is not fairly known. Therefore, the
