Netflix is angry about account sharing, seeing the practice as an unfair, under-the-table raid of its revenue. But in devout, fiercely Pentecostal Zimbabwe — where joblessness is deep and inflation is, according to John Hopkins University, at a frightening 487%…
Digital e-funerals split church emotions as migration redraws Africa’s bereavement norms
Pastor Tonderai Hlahla nurses “a small grudge, sort of,” he says. ‘”My former congregants are passing on 7,600 miles overseas in England and get buried there. I, their mentor, I only get to watch their funerals on WhatsApp video; it…
In Africa, inflation and a food crisis threaten not just the economy but people’s lives
While inflation troubles the United States and economies around the world, the rising cost of food and essential commodities is having a deadly effect across Africa. The challenge on the African continent is not just about the rising cost of…
Pastors dabble in brewing and mining to survive Zimbabwe’s burning economy
Father Chukucha cuts a lone figure as he circles the withering garden of his parish in Mberengwa, one of the poorest districts of the middle of Zimbabwe. While 250 miles away in another district, Pastor Noel Fengu, a Baptist minister,…
In Zimbabwe, churches are among the few places where the poor can access Wi-Fi
In a sprawling township in Mutare, a border city in Zimbabwe, Laurence Moyo, 24, spends five hours each day resting his back on the wall of a gigantic church building that belongs to the United Baptist Church. He grasps a…
In water-scarce Zimbabwe, free Muslim water wells are the ‘kiss of life’
Decades of water corruption, mismanagement and climate change mean Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, is one of Africa’s thirstiest cities. In some neighborhoods, Muslim families, building on the altruism of their faith, are erecting free, clean public water wells on…
For Zimbabwe’s Christian LGBTQ refugees, Montreal city is a sanctuary
In Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, Tyron*, 27, recites “Bonjour” five times. They are refining their French. France and the U.S. are not on their mind. “I switched two (Christian) mission schools in 10 years,” Tyron said. “I feared to…
Missionary sent to revive Zimbabwe seminary
By Bob Allen A recently appointed Southern Baptist missionary is in Zimbabwe to help turn around a seminary struggling since a leadership dispute in 2011 resulted in dismissal of its top administrator and formation of a new ecumenical seminary formed…