Former IG Lot Dzonzi challenges Anglican Fathers Union to walk in footsteps of apostles
Former Inspector General (IG) of the Malawi Police Service Lot Dzonzi has challenged the Fathers Union of the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi to strive towards becoming true apostles of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dzonzi emphasized that men are the cornerstone of any church; hence, the need for the union to stand out in defence of the gospel at all cost.
The former IG made the remarks on Saturday when he gave an motivational talk at the union’s 2021 annual general meeting (AGM). The AGM was held at Area 47 in Lilongwe.
“If the Anglican Church is going to continue to grow; if the Anglican Church is going to continue to remain relevant in the society it’s operating in, it will depend on how strong, dedicated and effective men are,” said Dzonzi.
Dzonzi, who is a church elder at Msunga CCAP Church at Chinsapo in Lilongwe, also took advantage of the meeting to lambast churches for departing from their mission of serving and saving souls.
He observed that most churches nowadays are preoccupied with making money at the expense of spreading the gospel. He cited the mushrooming of faith-based private schools as a good example of the churches turning worship temples into market places.
“When the early missionaries came into this country and built schools; those schools were accessible to every person, every child in the community irrespective of the financial and economic well-being of their families. The current tendency is that churches are building schools and are owning schools as a business rather than as a ministry. And I have some discomfort with that! That is as churches we should run schools as business instead of running schools as a ministry the way originally ran schools. It defeats the purpose of us being a church,” said Dzonzi.
He added, “If people find no problem in churches running schools as a business, the question I ask is: How is that business feeding into financing the church ministry? Many times I fail to find the link. You find that the business aspect of that church is a separate entity from the ministry. You still find the church lacking despite running a church-based school as a business enterprise.”
President of the Fathers Union in the Anglican Diocese of Lake Malawi, Alexander Mseka, said the main mission of the union is to bring together fathers so that they can come and pray together, worship together, and discuss issues of mutual interest pertaining to fatherhood.
Mseka concurred with Dzonzi that in every church, men are supposed to be at the core in various developments.
“Therefore, fathers get together in this ministry to ensure that we do follow the footsteps of the apostles. As Fathers’ Union, we have a major role to play in sensitizing the young people. We know that the current problems that young people are facing in our nation are probably the issues,” he said.
Asked what the union is doing to contribute towards national efforts to tackle suicide, Mseka said they are currently engaging young in counselling and guidance.
He observed that advancements in information technology has negatively affected young who are, in turn, resorting to committing suicide as a way of escaping challenges.
“We know that the world is technologically advanced and they see things the social media. And some of them do this by way of exploration. Young people are in dire straits at the moment. They cannot stand on their feet,” said Mseka.
The AGM was called in accordance with the provisions of their constitution, which obligates them to hold such a meeting every year where members gather to look at what transpired within that year.
An AGM also provides a platform for the members to look at the previous budget and expenditure and look at the challenges that they had.
And according to Mseka, the annual meeting welcomes suggestions from the membership in terms of what areas need to considered in terms of variation, probably there could be some areas that the membership was not very conversant with.
“So, we need to go and revise to make sure that our institution is relevant for the mission,” he said.
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