Cleric tips families on slowing calamities
Mabiri CCAP Church resident pastor, Reverend Bannet Magawa Zimba, has stated that the rise in natural calamities Malawi is facing is a result of man’s failure to fulfill God’s given responsibility over nature.
Zimba said God had given the responsibility to nurture and care for the natural resources and environment, but instead man chose to plunder; hence, these emergence of natural disasters.
The pastor made the remarks in a telephone interview when asked to comment on the hailstorms that left dozens of families homeless and helpless in Mabiri, Kafukule, Mapanjira and Embangweni, among others.
Zimba stressed that the natural calamities currently befalling the country had nothing to do with God’s wrath; but nature’s wrath.
“We are simply reaping what we sowed by cutting trees without replacing them to save the environment. This has nothing to do with God’s wrath. God gave man responsibility to care for nature; but, if you have noted, we’ve failed to fulfill this responsibility,” he explained.
Zimba also disclosed that rapid population growth is one of the contributing factors to the degradation and plundering of natural resources.
He, therefore, asked couples to slowdown on childbirths to avert more calamities.
But Zimba appealed to churches, government and its development partners to collaborate in raising awareness among people on the need to reduce the rate at which population is growing in the country.
“I’m saying this because majority of couples are unable to understand the harmful effects of overpopulation and sometimes backed by ignorance and their faiths, they tend to avoid family planning measures. Thus, we need to collaborate to educate them,” he said. n
