Christian Women’s Guild Department
The Christian Women’s Guild of CCAP Synod of Zambia is a very active grouping within the Church. Christian Women’s Guild play a very important role in times of sickness and bereavement. Each CCAP congregation has a Women’s Guild that is supported through the synod and the Women’s Guild Department. Each Women’s Guild congregational group consists of women ages 30 and above who come together weekly for bible studies, manse (pastor’s house) visitations, and guild meetings where they discuss how best to use their energy and time to help the church. Women’s Guild groups encourage women to become active members of the church, practice Christian fellowship, and use their talents and skills to give back to the community. The main activities conducted by the Women’s Guilds on the congregational level include providing guidance and support to widows, widowers, orphans, and vulnerable children as well as doing hospital and home visits. Women’s Guild members also effectively evangelize to the community, bringing more women into the church who then become actively involved in the church community. The Women’s Guild Department works to give guidance to the congregational groups as well as organizing conferences, fundraising, and guild activities. Currently, the CCAP Synod of Zambia has nearly 9000 active Women’s Guild congregational groups. In the past, Women’s Guild groups have pursued income-generating activities such as selling chitenge material, sewing handbags and purses, and making t-shirts for congregation members. The Women’s Guild Department also operates a farm in Mufulira in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia of about 105 hectares, which is used to financially support the department’s projects and events. The department would like to expand the farm in order to become more self-sustaining as well as conduct trainings in entrepreneurship, micro finance and agriculture, encouraging women to become more self-sufficient. The department would also like to conduct workshops on women’s empowerment, focusing on topics such as domestic abuse, sexual abuse, Child Abuse and financial independence. The coordinator for the Women’s Guild Department, Rev Emmanuel Mtonga says that Women’s Guilds are incredibly important in the church community because they “revive, teach, and empower the women to discover their role in the church and in the community. We need to boost [women’s] potential so they work together with their congregations and have a larger impact on the community.” “Sometimes we underestimate ourselves because we don’t have [an] education. But God does not consider education. We are called in our actions. It is not a mistake. It is not accidental.” – Gertrude Banda, Kanyama Congregation Women’s Guild participant.
Status: At Synod level, several projects have been implemented over the past years:
Production of Bible study booklets
Organize biennial conferences
Training of Ministers wives in leadership skills
Construction of women’s guild house which is rented out for income generation.
The CCAP Synod of Zambia is actively seeking financial assistance to support the Women’s Guild Department and its mission in the following areas:
- Transport
- Production of Bible study materials
- Building of 50 room’s hostel which will be used for holding seminars, workshops, training Women in entrepreneurship.so as to uplift their living standard.
- Organize seminars for Minister’s Wives
5.Training in Micro finance Village banking
- Organize Marriage seminars