Pentecostalism a prefigurement in women economic development and gender disparity: A case study of ZAOGA FIF Glaudina district

Abstract

This study is an investigation into how Pentecostalism becomes a prefigurement in women economic development and gender disparity: A case study of ZAOGA FIF Glaudina district.

The problem is that women in Pentecostal churches are economically marginalized resulting in gender imbalance affected women economically, socially and even spiritually according to the research done in AFM in Zimbabwe by Sande, (2016), which he attributed to a patriarchal structure.

The aim of the research is to investigate why women are still economically marginalized using the “School of Talents” as a model and pattern of women empowerment in ZAOGA.  The objectives were to examine the role, empowerment strategy and challenges women face  in ZAOGA FIF Glaudina district and how they can be ameliorated. 

The study employed a mixed methods approach.  Stratified and judgment sampling were used to select research participants. Interviews, group discussions, and questionnaires were procedures used to gather data which were analyzed through descriptive and explanatory approaches which produced variable frequencies and percentages expressed as graphs and pie charts. The research findings revealed that ZAOGA FIF’s  “School of Talents” is an empowerment tool for women and it improved their economic value as witnessed by its formalization into a University-wide course at Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University. Ladies’ meetings and the ordination of women as leaders in ZAOGA FIF contributed positively to women self-actualization and willingness to participate in male dominant leadership roles, an affirmation of change in Pentecostal thinking about women empowerment.

The study recommends that the “School of Talents,” a vision given to Prof E.H. Guti by God should be adopted by all Zimbabweans and world over not just believers in ZAOGA as a way to improve the economic status of women. The study revealed that the School of Talents is no longer a women’s project but has been extended to every individual or family.