Rape culture is reportedly prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa. Culture, patriarchy, poverty and religion continue to sustain rape culture. The notions of the objectification of women’s bodies amongst the Shona people are causatives for rape culture within diverse cultural institutions. Africans reasonably uphold marriage with high esteem; unfortunately, the marriage institution is also susceptible to becoming a source of abuse, coercion, and is often used as a tool for controlling women. Some of the entrenched marital rituals embody diverse detrimental and contentious practices, which deprive girls and women their autonomous rights, particularly their sexual and reproductive rights. This research article interrogates numerous aspects within the Shona indigenous religion and culture, which precipitate the construction of rape culture. The study uses African feminism as a theoretical framework. It utilises African feminist cultural hermeneutics to interrogate rape culture amongst the Shona people. The research study is qualitative with a conceptual analysis paradigm. It concludes by proposing the need for tapping into some life-giving and gender inclusive principles within the Shona indigenous religion and culture to be utilised as tools for eradicating rape culture.Contribution: Utilising the African feminist cultural hermeneutical framework, the article interrogated several factors precipitating rape culture amongst the Shona people. It foregrounded that women bear the brunt of burden of rape culture. It concludes by proposing the need for tapping into some positive Shona indigenous traditions as tools for curbing rape culture.

Background: The Persons with Disability (PWD) are the minority group dehumanized in the church. The subject of disability is complicated because of the impact of the Judeo-Christian teachings. The Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) in Zimbabwe is a leading Pentecostal church with a pastoral ministry theology which emphasises divine healing, miracles, signs and wonders. Thus, the space of PWD and how the PWD either connects or benefits from this Pentecostal heritage is a critical gap in this study.Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore the construction of disability through the practices and processes of the pastoral ministry in the AFM.Method: This study followed qualitative research and used the social model of disability as theoretical framework. The data were collected from 26 participants who are PWD and pastors using in-depth interviews, focus groups and participant observations.Results: The results showed the AFM pastoral practices created invisible barriers that militate against PWD. Thus, the pastoral ‘divine solutions’ and ‘triumphalist messages and teachings’ are ‘prescriptive’ and ineffective in reducing ‘the plight of PWD in Zimbabwe’.Conclusion: The study concludes that the pastoral ministry should be ‘one efficient vehicle’ with which the church can care for and ‘transform persons with disabilities’. Pastors should break the glass ceiling by expecting pastors to minister better and more effectively creating a safe space for persons with disabilities. A caring community should be the nature of both the AFM and the pastoral ministry responsible for meeting the needs of the persons with disabilities.

Despite the inter-disciplinary inclusivity of Disability Studies in the globe over time, the religious organization's systems are still repulsive to accept the physical and psychosocial realities of people living with Disabilities. The growing literature that should be influencing religious perspectives about people with disabilities has not been able to extricate the dogmatic stereotypes and myths associated with Disability. As such, the prevalence of the diverse responses Disability from different contexts has compromised the ideological and material investment in Disability Studies. We used the combination of phenomenological observation and informal conversation qualitative methodologies to establish the experiences, feelings and behaviors of the Apostolic Faith Mission of Zimbabwe (AFMZ) congregants in Harare on the impact of the liberation praxis of Disability Theology. The findings showed that people with disabilities are most often marginalized, excluded and discriminated against

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This study researched pastors’ wives from the Apostolic Faith Church Mission in Zimbabwe as a case study to understand gender-sensitive leadership models in African Pentecostal churches. Women are the majority in both Apostolic Faith Missions and all the churches, hence the focus of pastoral ministry on women. The pastors’ wives’ contributions to the pastoral ministry are hardly told, as effective ministry is accredited to male leadership. Pastors’ wives are not “ordained to the ministry; they are regarded as helpers of their spouses who received a calling to ministry.” In reality, pastors’ wives bear enormous responsibility for the church by contributing financial and human resources to the ministry. Pastors’ wives are not trained; hence, they employ “experiential theology” to meet the needs of their fellow women. The overarching aim of this study was to explore the contribution of pastors’ wives to pastoral ministry in the African Pentecostal churches. The study used “pastoral ministry” as a conceptual framework. The study employed a qualitative methodology, and data were gathered through in-depth interviews. The study concludes that pastors’ wives’ pastoral ministry is a useful tool for church growth and should not operate from the margins.

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