..…Gosprenuership And Unfulfilled Promises In The Spotlight
By Harry Taruva in Australia and Delicious Mathuthu in Zimbabwe
Sydney, Australia/Harare, Zimbabwe
As the growing trend of exploiting the gospel for personal gain slowly takes center stage in Christian movements and groupings in Zimbabwe and abroad, with numerous pastors, prophets and evangelists reportedly using the gospel as a means to accumulate wealth and riches, some gospel music outfits seem to have joined the trend, Kwedu News reports.
The recent AfriPraise Festival held in Australia towards the end of 2024 has brought the issue to the fore, with some volunteers who offered their time, labour and resources coming forward to claim that they were not paid for their work as allegedly agreed between them and the organisers.
It is reported that some artists who performed at the show and expected to be remunerated were also not paid for their performances.
Contacted for comment, Reverend Solomon Chimange, a renowned theologian and ordained Bishop with the Charismatic Ecumenical Synod (CES) International, said the commercialization of the gospel seems particularly relevant in light of the AfriPraise Australia Festival controversy and claims by the volunteers, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability in all Christian dealings.
In the AfriPraise case, a Christian gospel movement born out of the ZimPraise Legacy Network, has found itself embroiled in controversy surrounding unpaid volunteers and artists during their November and December 2024 Australia festival in Sydney and Perth.
Sources who spoke to Kwedu News said volunteers who assisted in organising the event were promised reimbursement for expenses incurred, but some are yet to receive any payment.
Details of the agreements between the parties involved could not be established, suffice to say this publication did not see any written contract between the parties except evidence of mutual engagement to the tasks ahead of, and during the show.
One of the volunteers showed this publication invoices totalling almost Australian $2000 (US$1,200), which he incurred during preparations for the festival.
“We were told that we would be reimbursed for our expenses, but up to now, we haven’t received anything.
“It’s disappointing, especially since we were doing this out of goodwill to support the event,” the volunteer said.
Another, who was part of the Event Working Team Organising Committee, expressed similar sentiments.
“We started preparing for the tour at the beginning of the year and invested a lot of our time and resources to make this event happen but it’s painful that at the end of the tour, the Joseph Madziyire Afripraise Leadership didn’t even say thank you. Instead, they collected their money and left.
“People had to use their personal monies so that things move ahead as they didn’t want to be associated with failure,” he added.
“In most cases, we had to use our money to get things done amid funding inconsistencies” he said.
Efforts to get reimbursements allegedly hit a brick wall as the Afripraise Leadership were not cooperative.
Two people withdrew from the AfriPraise Australia Sydney organising committee, Kwedu News has it, after allegedly failing to agree terms of reference and formal contracts with the Joseph Madziyire camp, who is the AfriPraise frontman.
“The Madziyire camp did not agree and the two members withdrew from the organising committee because of that” it is alleged.
The controversy is raising questions about the morality of Christian groups using “volunteers” for a profit-making event, especially as a Christian movement, and failure to cover their incurred expenses.
Sources also claim volunteers from the organising committee in Sydney were promised that they would be “appreciated” at the end of the shows, and free tickets for the Perth Show but it never happened.
Another source from within, who spoke to this publication, claimed some artists who performed during the Australia AfriPraise Festival were not paid.
“Some musicians were not paid for performances at the show. Zimbabwean artists and some local artists from Australia were made to sign contracts that they won’t be paid for their performances as they only appear as guest artists at the festival,” the source claimed,
adding that upcoming artists are told that they are making a name for themselves by sharing the stage with signature artists like Takesure Zamah, and one or two other big names, who would normally request an appearance fee before they perform.
Back home in Zimbabwe, Kwedu News is also told, Gospel music promoters allegedly have a reputation of not paying upcoming artists.
“They take and pay one or two big artists and don’t pay the rest, taking advantage of them and their following,” an aggrieved source said.
Although not officially confirmed in terms of figures, the Afripraise Sydney show is said to have racked in a huge amount from gate takings with the venue fee significantly reduced to minimise costs.
Kwedu News reached out to Madziyire for a comment, to clarify the allegations and agreed arrangements between AfriPraise and the volunteers almost three weeks before publication of this article, with several reminders, but he never responded.
Concerted efforts to get a comment from AfriPraise Chief Operations Officer, Tanaka Kachembere, were also futile despite sending several messages and emails.
Nyaradzo Funeral Services, the main sponsor of the event, confirmed to Kwedu News the sponsorship of the Festival and channelling a significant amount of money to make the shows happen.
However, the sponsorship did not trickle down to the volunteers who worked to organize the event
Kwedu News witnessed the Sydney AfriPraise Show and during the event, at every break, Nyaradzo Group advertised their products and policies to the audience, even distributing some souvenirs.
One member of the Australia AfriPraise Festival organising committee members said they believe Nyaradzo bought into the sponsorship deal after seeing an opportunity to reach out to the Australian market.
Sources, though not officially confirmed by this publication, say Nyaradzo paid for artists’ air tickets from Zimbabwe, food, as well as their accommodation in Australia during their stay. Nyaradzo however declined to give a breakdown of their sponsorship.
Nyaradzo however distanced themselves from the nitty-gritties and controversies arising, saying they were not directly involved in organising the show, despite allegations that their accounts were used for some of the payments.
“I feel it’s important to highlight that we are not the organisers of the Afripraise Australia show. As such, we are not in a position to comment on matters related to its sponsorship, financial arrangements, or operational details,” said Nyaradzo Group International Business Manager, Kennedy Sadziwa.
“We recommend directing your questions to the event organisers, who would be best placed to provide the information you seek,” he said.
However, Kwedu News has it that some of the expenses for the shows were paid directly from a Nyaradzo Bank account, and were also involved in advertising for the show.
A source from Nyaradzo, who declined to be named, said the organisation is not happy with the developments.
People who attended the AfriPraise Festival, after getting wind of the contentions, said it was not right to use people’s goodwill and not compensate them for their efforts, especially when the movement made money from the event.
These sentiments were reiterated by Reverend Chimange, emphasizing the importance of transparency and accountability in Christian dealings.
“I believe that firstly Christian business or the Christian entrepreneurship in terms of gospel is not wrong, even if it’s done for profit.
“But it’s not morally right for groups to gather resources or call people to use their resources organizing for a concert in the name of saying they are volunteers,” he said.
Rev. Chimange also highlighted the difference between volunteering and donating.
“If a person volunteers, it means he is physically coming or physically giving their strength, and no one is forced to reimburse the power used by the person,” he said.
“But if a person uses his or her own money without agreeing to donate that money, but saying they are using that money so that after the event is over they are going to get it back, it’s proper and it’s good that such people are given back their monies.”
Reverend Chimange cited his own experience as an example.
“For example, there are some events that I am called to speak online, and I use my data, then after using my data, about two days later my data is reimbursed; Why? Because it was not part of my expenses to use my data for an online event,” he said.
“So the organizers of the event must reimburse my money because I did not donate my money for data, I only volunteered to speak.”
He also emphasised the importance of fairness and accountability in Christian dealings.
“It’s unchristian for an organization to use people, actually it’s like fraud on its own.
“If true, people were defrauded of their monies and it’s important that they get their monies back, especially the money they invested in the preparations” he said
In addition, Reverend Chimange, with a Doctor of Philosophy in Divinity and another in Systematic Theology, criticized the growing trend of “gosprenuership” in the church.
“Gosprenuership is very rampant, you cannot throw a stone and hit a real Pastor.
“The probability is very high that it hits a gosprenuership preaching Pastor.”
On the other hand, Reverend Chimange said the gospel must be liberating, not exploitative.
“We don’t worship to get rich but worship God because he is worthy to be worshipped. He created us for that purpose,” he said.
“We now have a problem theology called ‘name it and take it, then we have a prosperity gospel scenario whereby people are promised heydays and better days to the extent that many people go to church and have no work ethic, they just go to get something there.
“But in the process of trying to get something in the church, they get defrauded and end up bitter, end up thinking negatively about the church, hence it destroys the church.”
Meanwhile, Reverend Chimange lamented that salvation is now being sold to the highest bidder.
“Salvation is now for sale, going to the highest bidder, where people pay to be prayed for, but in the Bible there is nothing like that and now the church is becoming a place for the rich.
“The fivefold ministry must return back to the real gospel and offer it for free,” he said.
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