Edwin Mwase and Lincoln Towindo
A thick cloud of dust rises, making breathing difficult, as nearly a dozen women of the Zviratidzo Zvavapostori VekwaEphraim Wechitanhatu apostolic sect briskly use their reed brooms to sweep an open-air shrine before the Friday sermon begins.
Only a road separates this group from the party people on the other side of the great divide.
Unbeknown to the church members, the “holy ground” they tread on was being perverted the night before.

Due to the overflowing of revellers at KwaMereki, a popular open-air entertainment joint, some unruly elements take advantage of the darkness to indulge in all sorts of worldly nocturnal exertions. Back to the church, two of the women crawl towards the altar (krawa in apostolic lingo), in humble stupor while humming church hymns in muffed tones.

The duo has taken up the ominous task of removing some used condoms near the “sacred” krawa.
The Sunday Mail In-Depth crew, which is observing the women from a distance, is left in shock by the strewn trash, which includes broken beer bottles and cigarette stubs, being removed from the church.

It is evident that the previous night, some people had turned the shrine into a love nest, imbibing and engaging in various acts to satisfy their souls recklessly disregarding the place’s “holiness”.
Surprisingly, the women appear unmoved by the potpourri of ungodly materials that have contaminated their holy ground.

Later in the day, as the early weekend pacesetters invade KwaMereki engaging in frenzied beer binges amid the deafening noise from stereo systems, the sight of Vapostori devoutly going about their business at the adjacent ground tells a contrasting story.
Healing sessions, exorcisms, Bible teachings and conversion to the born again are well in full throttle while on the other side, and in full view of the congregation, patrons with ages ranging from their early teens to the late fifties are engaging in the exact opposite of the virtues being taught at the shrine.

The bizarre trend of churches co-existing with open-air beer-drinking joints is fast becoming widespread around Harare.
The advent of the popular outdoor “hideaway” joints in Harare has given birth to strange bedfellows.

A plethora of apostolic sects have set base alongside some of Harare’s most popular outdoor entertainment venues such as KwaMereki, KwaFarai, and Zindoga, to name just a few.
A visit to any one of these venues from Fridays to Sunday will expose a tale of contrasting worlds.

While devout Vapostori seriously engage in their spiritual rites, outdoor joint patrons engage in relentless beer drinking, prostitution and drug abuse nearby.
Observers are asking why such an odd co-existence is being allowed to take root.
Could this be a drive by the church to bring back the “social misfits” and pleasure hunters back into the religious fold?

Madzibaba Credo Weyidhi-Dhanishi, leader of the Zviratidzo Zvavapostori VekwaEphraim Wechitanhatu, said the reasoning behind the stationing of the church near the joint was to bring the “sinners” back to God’s kingdom.
“Just like the scriptures which state that Jesus did not come for the righteous but for the evildoers so that they may turn back to the Lord, we have decided to challenge the devil right at his doorstep,” he said.

“We have performed miracles here so that these people in the bars and similar places may give testimony to the works of the Almighty.
“We have no problem with the materials such as condoms and beer bottles that we sometimes find strewn all over our church.
“Seeing such things and how people are doing evil things under the cover of the night only serves to strengthen our belief.”

At KwaFarai in Glen Norah, a group of young men and a handful of female companions gather around a vehicle with beer cans in their hands.
Occasionally, a few of the group members drift towards a secluded place a stone’s throw away from some worshippers, to light a cannabis joint with the smoke wafting across to the congregation, exposing the congregation to passive smoking.

This brings to the fore the question of whether churches and other sacred places of worship should be confined to where they can be bestowed the dignity they deserve.

Pastor Savious Mushangwe of Living Glory Ministries said places of religious importance must be protected under law, to avoid desecration and impurity brought upon by unholy acts such as prostitution, drug abuse and excessive beer drinking.
“It’s like taking alcohol to Mecca (Muslim religion holy place) or the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem (widely believed to be the cradle of Christianity) and

expect to emerge unscathed,” said Pastor Mushangwe.

He said it was for the very reason that Jesus violently chased out those who sought to impurify the house of worship in Matthew chapter 21.
“There must be a legal line that separates church and worldly activities, as worshipping must be secret intercommunication between the Lord and the individual”.
Social commentator Ms Nyaradzai Changamire said churches practising near pleasure joints are analogous to Pharisees who practiced populist worshipping.

She said the Pharisees fasted by going to the marketplace, their faces smeared in ash, as a way of public devotion to their spiritual conviction. 
“It’s obvious that prostitution activities, drug use and peddling activities take place at thse entertainment joints,” she said.
“It becomes anathema to pit the sacred Kingdom of God to the worldly pleasures.

“There is need for clear rules and guidelines which define the demarcation of religious ground and leisure places”.
In Zimbabwe, there are no strict laws on the forming of religious organisations and their areas of worship.
But in other countries, especially those governed by Shariah law, there are sacrilege laws which protect religious sites from acts deemed impure by the congregation.

But with the sprouting of several religious organisations, the need for a proper legal framework which gives guidelines to the location of churches and bars has become apparent.

However, as the merrymakers continue to dance the day away at KwaMereki, KwaFarai, KwaZindoga and Kuhuku, it becomes paramount to highlight that their world and that of the church are divergent.