Johannne Marange Church in Zimbawe: NDS1 a turning point for skilled craftsman

MUTARE- The Johanne Marange Church in Zimbabwe has been applauded for
promoting local development in Zimbabwe through education as the church is on a
path to build more schools across the country.
The Johanne Marange believers, popularly known as Vapostori have since time
immemorial been known to be engaged in menial jobs such as carpentry,
blacksmithing and craft.
These jobs required little or no education and were basically as result of passed on
learnt skills- skills which earned them a living, only to sustain themselves and
immediate families.
Their lives were centered on a hand to mouth lifestyle, resulting in them spending
most of their time in their ‘mini industries’ trying to earn a decent living.
The advent of the Second Republic under the leadership of President Emmerson
Mnangagwa brought a new shift and drive towards development in the country.
The drive towards creating an upper middle class income economy by the year
2030, saw the Vapostori joining the bandwagon in driving the national blueprint
under National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
With such in mind, the Vapostori of Johanne Marange set to prioritise education as
the stepping stone towards the achievement of such goals and in that regard have
embarked on a school’s development programme.
Under such a drive, the abundant skill of the congregants has been put to good use
not only for sustenance, but for the development of communities and the nation at
large.
Speaking on behalf of the church and school, St Noah School Development
Committee chairperson David Chimbadzwa said the church under the leadership of
St Nimrod Taguta in collaboration with the Government has taken a stance to prioritise
education as evidenced by the establishment of top notch schools across
the province and the country at large.
“The church is blessed with a number of skilled artisans and we have taken it upon
ourselves to develop our own schools to be among the best in the country. The
church under the astute leadership of St Nimrod has dedicated its time and skill to
the construction and completion of school development projects as evidenced by
26 schools under the church across the country,” said Chimbadzwa.
Chimbadzwa said at every large church gathering they hold, congregants gifted in
various sectors pledge their time and skill towards a given project until completion.
Such dedication has seen skilled builders, carpenters, painters and other craftsmen
pooling resources for the construction of such school buildings.
The first of such kind was the construction of St Noah College which opened its
doors in January 2012.
The school which comprises both a primary and secondary School at the same
campus was the brain child of the late leader of the Johanne Marange Apostolic
Church, Mutumwa Noah Taguta to which the school was named after.
St Noah College is also set to be the first Johanne Marange school to establish a
boarding facility as evidenced by the ground breaking ceremony held at the school
last week.
To date the Johanne Marange church, boast of a total 26 schools across the country
with 10 operational schools and 16 schools still under construction, to which the
President Mnangagwa recently pledged USD100 000 and 12 tonnes of cement to
the developments.
Zimbabwe currently has a total of 10 147 schools across the nation with a drive to
increase the number of schools in tandem with the growing population.