Elizabeth Vengeyi
The Bible as a source of strength among Zimbabwean
women during socio-economic and political crises
Introduction
In Zimbabwe, the Bible plays a very crucial role, not only in church but
in socio-economic and political matters as well. It is a vital tool in provid-
ing hope, courage and comfort during times of distress. It has therefore
been turned to by various social, economic and political persons at cru-
cial moments either to rally people against or toward certain pro-
grammes. Ordinary people have also turned to it (Bible) more and more
during socio-economic and political trials and tribulations. The intention
of this chapter is to demonstrate this reality by analyzing how Zimbab-
wean women (church and political leaders and ordinary) turned to read-
ing and interpreting the Bible (and of course to the Church) for strength
to confront the social, economic and political crises that Zimbabwe ex-
perienced from 2000 to 2010.
Background to the position of the Bible in Zimbabwe
Due to colonial and contemporary factors especially the emergent Pente-
costalism that has dominated Zimbabwe, which views the Bible as so
central to daily living that it is consulted on every subject of life and
treated as fetish by the members,^1 the Bible has become crucial in socio-
economic and political discourses. How it is engaged in these discourses
is however dependent on the social, economic and political position of
the reader. The elite, in order to spread their socio-economic and politi-
cal agendas have almost found a ready resource in the Bible. The com-
mon people have also on the other hand turned to the Bible aiming to
both encourage each other to be strong and to explain socio-economic
and political realities. Thus, the role of the Bible in Africa, Zimbabwe in
this case has always been ambiguous. Since the colonial era, the Bible is
used as a weapon to suppress and oppress as well as a weapon to liber-
ate.
(^1) Cf. Obvious Vengeyi, ‘Gona and the Bible among Indigenous Pentecostal Churches of
Zimbabwe: A Comparative analysis’, in Masiiwa Ragies Gunda, (ed.), From Text to
Practice: The Role of the Bible in Daily Living of African People Today (BiAS 4), 2011, 95-
129.