Elshaddai International Ministries founder Bishop Patience Hove yesterday relaunched the Elshaddai Women’s Fellowship in a bid to revive her calling to unify and assist in the development of female Christians across the board.
By Kennedy Nyavaya
In 1994 at the age of 26, Hove felt an insatiable urge to break the bondage of patriarchy in society through teaching alternative socio-economic activities to women who were generally marginalised.
“It was a massive movement of women, empowering them and encouraging them to know that they are special and teaching them that they can also do things outside their husbands or even the patriarchal culture that is in Zimbabwe,” she told The Standard Style.
Then, it was a tall order for Hove as she had to convince an interdenominational Christian demographic of older and even more experienced women of the possibilities of breaking out from the cocoon of being treated as lesser than their male counterparts.
“It was not easy to break the glass ceiling of social norms, women had been taught but with time even their husbands would come to see where they were learning the good traits. It was not easy because of the deeply rooted culture of inequality,” said Hove.
However, as the initiative was taking positive steps, the mother of five felt the brunt of her busy schedule and her marriage had to endure the turbulence.
“It definitely affected my marriage and I could see that there were a lot of problems that were coming into the marriage and family,” she said, although through it all she stuck to her goal and Christian orientation.
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“I believe every married woman must learn the order of God. God, family, then social and submission is key as well as respect because no matter how successful one becomes their family must not suffer.”
With time the number of men who came to learn as well grew Hove was pressured into forming a church, which shifted most of her attention from the initial women’s fellowship.
“With time, men started coming so I decided to do couples’ meetings, lunch-hour meetings every weekday and eventually because of pressure from those people that were getting born again but did not want to venture in to other churches, we then started the church,” she said.
This did not amuse those who wanted to attend the ministry while also going to their churches.
“I feel that I left a lot of them in the cold. They were hurt and disappointed by seeing me concentrate on the church when they were there interdenominationally,” said Hove, who was accused of starting the initial project to mobilise for the formation of a church.
“The moment we had the church everyone thought I had gone into this ministry to mobilise them [women] so that I could start a church, but that was not my intention.”
Like most good-intentioned projects, her dream is set for resuscitation as she has relaunched the fellowship in a bid to revive unity among women.
“I want to unite women from all Christian divides and denominations to still have to speak at the same platform, to help each without looking at denominations as a divide so we can work together as children of God,” she said.
This, she believes, is the ingredient for unity and development at all levels in the country.
“I feel it is important because if we have the same voice as women we unite, this nation better because as we are divided in denominations and we are separated it will not be easy to unite even at grassroot level.”
