The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
THE Anglican Church’s Diocese of Harare has sent an appeal to its members to assist one of its bishops who lost five family members in a space of few weeks.
Bishop Jonathan Siyachitema lost his wife Rosemary, who was a celebrated consumer activist and the executive director of the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe.
His daughters, Elizabeth and Rosemary, as well as brother, Reverend Fanuel Siyachitema, and sister, Mrs Judith Bindu, also reportedly succumbed to Covid-19.
In a letter dated February 4, the Bishop of the Harare Diocese, Right Reverend Dr Farai Mutamiri, appealed to the church members to pool resources together to assist the grieving bishop.
“As your bishop I am, therefore, appealing to you that, we create a platform at diocesan level, to pull our little resources together (chema) which we can handover to the family as diocese of Harare. This is to try and mitigate the financial challenges that goes with the handling of funerals. May you extend this appeal to guilds and individuals in our churches,” he said.
In consoling the family, Mutamiri said: “As a church we pray for the Lord Almighty to give him strength to hold on to his faith even in these dark hours of his life. May God heal their broken hearts and bring that peace which passes all understanding throughout this sad and sorrowful phase in the family’s life. May Bishop Jonathan also draw strength from the words of the Psalmist in Psalm 71.”
