GOPA holds couples’ conference
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ELLEN MLAMBO
MIRROR REPORTER
HARARE-The Gospel of Peace Assembly (GOPA) recently held a couples’ conference to cultivate companionship amongst congregants’ marriages.
The conference took place at GOPA Mainway Meadows in Waterfalls, Harare under the theme: Cultivating Companionship.
GOPA Bishop Simbarashe Madziwa and his wife Portia Madziwa were the hosts of the two day conference. Over 45 couples attended.
Some of the conference speakers included founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Finding My Voice-Women Empowerment Emily Kaliwoh, Agribusiness Specialist and AFM in Zimbabwe Evangelist Moses Chourombo and Champion International College CEO Tendesai Mushamba. Health Specialists Rodney Tamanikwa, Kasmir Mavingidze and Edwin Mavingidze presented on men, women and mental health.
Bishop Madziwa said communication plays an important role in building and maintaining good and health relationships.
He said couples should be cognisant of various forms of communication which include passive, aggressive and assertive in order to be able to deduce meanings.
“Values are also important in marriage, you must have clear distinct values and respect them. How much do you value Christian life as a couple? Should you have joint or separate accounts, how do you feel about having big investments and do you discuss on use of money? These are some of the things to be considered in marriage,” he said.
Kaliwoh who is passionate about women empowerment stressed the importance of expressing thoughts and communicating effectively for mutual acknowledgement.
She added that failure to express thoughts results in suppressed feelings, anxiety and failure to meet expectations among other dangers.
“It is important to have voices in order to establish boundaries, to foster health relationship and mutual growth. There are barriers that prevent people from expressing their thoughts and feelings and these include fear of conflict or upsetting your spouse, cultural and societal expectations, low self -esteem and past experience,” said Kaliwoh.
Chourombo spoke on marriage foundations and spiritual warfare among other topics.
“Marriage is instituted by God, it is permanent and not for chancers. There are reasons why people get married and these include compassion, commercial reasons, competition, desperation, age and peer pressure among others,” he added.
Mushamba talked about the importance of networking for the purposes of personal and business growth. He also said individuals should have activities planned for retirement.