THE Church in Zambia has welcomed the Government’s decision to construct an Inter-denominational National House of Prayer in Lusaka.
President Edgar Lungu, on Sunday, dedicated a memorial alter to God on which an inter-denominational House of Prayer would be built in Woodlands area.
Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) executive director Pukuta Mwanza said in an interview yesterday that, the National House of Prayer would be a visible sign that Zambia was a Christian nation that believed in prayer and God.
Reverend Mwanza said Zambia has been dedicated to God by its forefathers and the Tabernacle would be a visible sign of those declarations.
Rev Mwanza said building a Tabernacle was an important milestone in promoting Christianity in Zambia as it added value to the declaration of the country as a Christian nation and gazetting October 18, every year, as a national day of reconciliation, fasting and prayer.
He said the National House of Prayer guaranteed God’s blessings on Zambia because it was a sign that he was exalted to be the supreme deity of the land.
Bible Gospel Church in Africa (BIGOCA) Overseer Peter Ndhlovu said the Church in Zambia was excited about the construction of the Tabernacle.
The Bishop said the National House of Prayer would be a place for all Christians to congregate whenever they wanted to.
The House of Prayer, he said, did not mean that other religions were not welcome in Zambia but that, they were free to exist while Zambia generally worshiped God as the Supreme Being.
Bishop Ndhlovu said it was important for a country to be led by a Christian leader because there was power in their decrees like the one President Lungu made to re-dedicate Zambia to God and build him a place of worship.
thought you will talk about ZEC and CCZ, Phukuta is a scrounger.he can’t talk against this nonsense
Will it be shared by other monirity religions such as Islam, Baha’i, Hinduism and African traditional beliefs? Or will we build one for each of those religions? To me cathedral of the Holycross and Mulungushi conference centre, serve the same purpose. Just a remind, public dollar have to be used for projects that promote and embrace all nationals.
Pukuta Mwanza is a pf cadre so is bishop Dhlovu.
Misplaced priorities, misuse of loans, who needs this “national house of prayer”? Zambia has no national church, so no single church can claim to be national. Why not build student hostels at UNZA and CBU instead of a building whose intention is as vague as the guy who proposed it.
As much as I do not agree with PF, I still believe if this is God’s plan for us to have a national place of worship where Christ is the focus then we should get on with it…If like Solomon God has blessed Lungu, then who are we to contest!!? Serving of the soul is good for the nation, the positive multiplier will a better balanced nation with positive human experiences and lots of UNZA and CBU hostels will come to the fold…Always remember that God has abilities to make the wise look like fools; President Lungu better be sincere with this project!
There are two things here.
1. President Lungu must not do religious projects arising from his personal, emotional religious experiences using tax payers money. If Lungu is converted, well and good, BUT his conversion must not determine how public money is spent. the needs of the nation must guide how govt uses public money. It is absolutely unnecessary to build so called ‘national house of prayer’. Zambia has many churches.
2. President Lungu is using religion to appeal to the masses of zambians and gain political advantage. Stop misapplying biblical Figures to Lungu. Lungu is not Solomon.
Iwe you stole my comment before I wrote it! But I will add UTH and unpaid long overdue pensioners’ benefits. But the reason Lungu wants to do this is only because he believes there are enough stupid Zambians to vote for him because of this in spite of all the failures of the PF in power.
As much as I do not agree with PF, I still believe if this is God’s plan for us to have a national place of worship where Christ is the focus then we should get on with it…If like Solomon God has blessed Lungu, then who are we to contest!!? Serving of the soul is good for the nation, the positive multiplier will a better balanced nation with positive human experiences and lots of UNZA and CBU hostels will come to the fold…Always remember that God has abilities to make the wise look like fools; President Lungu better be sincere with this project!
Acts 17:24
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands
I corinthians 3: 16
“Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
Ephesians 2:22
“And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
we are Christians yes but this shouldn’t be belt now when there is so much poverty. We have to prioritize fixing the economy than this. EL People wont eat prayers. You cant pray when you are starving. Life is hard ba EL out here
I SAID IT LAST TIME AND I AM SAYING IT AGAIN: PUKUTA MWANZA IS SUPPORTIVE OF WHATEVER PRESIDENT LUNGU DOES ON TRIBAL BASIS. WHEN I SAW THE HEAD LINE, I KNEW IT WAS PUKUTA MWANZA. DURING THE TIME OF SATA, PUKUTA MWANZA WAS VERY CRITICAL OF THE PF GOVERNMENT BUT AS SOON AS E. C. LUNGU BECAME PRESIDENT PUKUTA MWANZA BECAME VERY SUPPORTIVE OF PF. THESE ARE THE KIND OF SPIRITUAL LEADERS ZAMBIA HAS. SADLY EVEN THE CATHOLICS HAVE PROOVED TO BE THE SAME. DURING THE TIME OF PRESIDENT MWANAWASA AND PRESIDENT BANDA THE CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADERSHIP WAS VERY CRITICAL OF THE GOVERNMENT. CURIOUSLY WHEN SATA BECAME PRESIDENT, THE BEMBA BISHOPS AND PRIESTS BECAME VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THE SATA GOVERNMENT. SOME PRIEST EVEN STARTED TO HOLD MASSES AT STATE HOUSE. THE BISHOPS AND PRIESTS FROM EASTERN PROVINCE…
Bwana Pukuta Mwanza is Kaonde, from North Western, not Nsenga, or suchlike.
Which Kaonde? Pukuta is from eastern. Why do you yap lies?
Napapa Sana,
Be modest when you present a complaint my brother. You are anguished because of temper.
Temper is a tendency to exhibit uncontrolled anger; irritability. 4. a mental condition of moderation and calm (esp in the phrases keep one’s temper, lose one’s temper, out of temper) 5. the degree of hardness, elasticity, or a similar property of a metal or metal object.
You never get anything good in temper… It can lead you to self slain. My brother you are talking about the students hostels because you have life. I would urge you to think of God first before anything. This world would never be without life. Life is only precious when it is Holy. We have to be Godly because God created us in his image. So a place of worship for the nation is critical in every aspect. Here in…
Just to correct your assumption brother. My post was neither out of temper nor do I don’t see the need for God in our life. No! God is the originator and sustainer of everything. In fact God does not need our praises and prayers because they add nothing to his greatness. However, we need his help always, in fact we cannot survive even for a second without God in our whole life aspects. I am against unnecessary spending. We already have houses of prayer big enough to accommodate worshippers: Bread of Life chapel in Lusaka, Catholic Cathedral in Lusaka, Holy cross cathedral in Lusaka. These venues (able to accommodate 7,000) can be used for national prayers once or twice a year. Unless you say God no longer ‘dwells’ in them until govt builds a new one. So its unnecessary to build it!
In Zambia we simply do not have priorities and anything the president dreams he will do because he is above the law. Is such a building really needed at this point in time? We have pressing issues that need the president to look at and direct the resources and energy. Besides we have many places of worship in the country.
The question is that religion is a private matter. Religion is not a government program. Of course, religion can have political implications. However, the real issue remains that tax payers’ money can not fund a religious building. Can you imagine muslims paying for the construction of a synagogue? It takes Church Bodies themselves to get together and start fund raising for their Church building. The Church may or may not automatically qualify for tax relief otherwise the Church turns into a conduit of tax evasion. This smells like the UNIP Party Headquarters under UNIP which became Government offices for certain government departments. Manipulating the Church is not politically sustainable. The confession of sin is a private matter. It i slike ‘holier than thou’. There is no need for…
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU.
we are a God fearing nation. so having a house of prayer for all is welcome. How much will it cost?
Inaccurate, misleading Headline. There is only one Church Mother Body cited.
Napapa Sana,
Here in Botswana…Religious groupings are praying for rain. The prayers of a mere less than a week has seen rain since Monday. The temperatures have been very high for months. Unless you know who you are and why you exist…you never achieve a single thing in life.
UPND is a party being led by a leadership that may not appreciate God. An example: Why is hh, the proclaimed very reach man in Zambia, why is he seeking another higher leadership? Because he is not contented by what he already has. Greediness in somebody’s heart creates temper… The temper that brings us back to a vicious circle…. Hope you heard my plea…. Amen.
I never mentioned names in my post. Let us stick to the issue not names. I believe 100% God has answered all my prayers (I have many testimonies for that) and those of other people. Those praying for rain in Botswana may believe that God has given them rain. I believe in prayer. The problem I have with this project is the use of public money for projects that do not concern every citizen. We have different religions in zambia and different churches whose members pay tax. Although zambia is a christian nation by declaration, there is no single church which can claim to be national – relies symbol of Zambia, NO! Moreover, we have seen how politicians have used Religion to gain politically. That must be avoided at all times, and its only alert christians who are able to discern the spirits…
You are so simple minded we ulewe. You are so judgemental. who told you that UPND is led by people who don’t appreciate God? So you choose leaders to help them steal and be richer? It is simple minded people like you who believe anything (Proverbs 14:15). Rains must come, who told you they won’t come? You must be extremely dull and ill informed.
Mr Lungu really speaks with a forked tongue and disingenuosly . It takes a lot of time and effort to put designs and 3-D models for a building of this size and complexity together. Not to mention sourcing of land. Not to mention stakeholder involvement. And from which vote is the money being sourced? How have the professional services been procured and from which vote? Here we are as broke as church mice and we letting dreams of national airlines, private jets and grandiose temples get in the way. Its hard to believe this man is a trained lawyer. Look at the state of our hospitals and institutions of learning for crying out loud. Those whom the god would destroy, they first make mad.
No library in sight but eagerly constructing these brainwashing tools that put us down!!
This is just yet another PF conduit for stealing government money through dubious building contracts.
You would rather build 50 council houses on that plot or 100 council flats.
Late President Houphoet Boigny built a huge cathedral, Lungu must be reading history well! I would rather he focuses on the future!
the idea by govt to construct an Inter-denominational National House of Prayer in Lusaka is welcome. but my worry is on the sketch of the building which is in form of a coffin, just take at an aerial view of the structure.
YES! Lungu will spend MILLIONS OF DOLLARS of unbudgeted money we do not even have (Borrowed EUROBONDS) to build a huge church and then we can all go and PRAY for water and electricity!
But if we spent that same money fixing LWS and ZESCO we WOULD HAVE water and electricity!
So this is really just TWO STEPS BACKWARDS and one step forwards.
And the next generation will have to do their homework by candle, use a pit latrine and work all their lives for slave wages to pay back the KALOBA for this church.