HOME affairs minister Pendukeni Iivula-Ithana says some people living in communal areas are no longer interested in working in their mahangu fields, a trend she described as new and worrisome.
“Namibians are naturally hard working people. Hard work runs in our veins, but what I am seeing now is something new and worrisome. Some households have completely stopped working in their mahangu fields,” she said.
She was speaking at the inauguration of a newly constructed Evangelical Lutheran church building at the Uukwandongo village in the Okahao constituency in the Omusati region on Sunday. Iivula-Ithana was born at Uukwandongo before her parents moved to Ombalantu while she was still young.
She is one of the people who made significant contributions towards the construction of the church, having spearheaded a fund-raising event in which over N$100 000 was collected in 2014. “A church is where we are given spiritual nourishment. It is therefore our duty to build for ourselves a proper house of worship,” she said.
She congratulated the Uukwandongo community for their new church building and declared herself ready to continue providing assistance where needed.
Inaugurating the building, the head of Elcin’s western diocese, bishop Veikko Munyika warned against abuse and misappropriation of public funds and proposed humility and hard work as a virtue.
Drawing from the Book of Acts chapter 20, bishop Munyika said public officials, including pastors, should not misappropriate the money placed under their care but should work hard and earn a living in an honest way.
He said that members of the community worked very hard since 2013, making contributions in cash and in kind and have now achieved what they were striving for.
“This building is the product of hard work and cooperation. Do not allow it to become a white elephant,” he said.
He emphasised that a good working relationship should exist between a parish pastor and his congregation.
The pastor should not be a know-it-all but should listen to congregants, and the congregants should not tempt their pastor and cause him or her to weep.
“A pastor weeps when people do not listen to him or her or fail to repent,” Munyika said.
Uukwandongo is the home village of King Johannes Mupiya, of the Ongandjera Traditional Authority and there is a special royal chair in the church, which was vacant this Sunday.
The king did not attend but contributed an ox towards the event.
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