By CHILA NAMAIKO –

•VICE-President Inonge Wina (left) joins congregants in singing during a prayer and thanksgiving service at the Presbyterian Church in Lusaka yesterday. Picture by CHILA NAMAIKO

VICE-President Inonge Wina has challenged the church to remain firm in preaching non-violence, spreading messages of unity and peace ahead of the general elections this month.
Ms Wina said the church should use its influence to bring people together as commanded in the Bible, especially that Zambia was a Christian nation.
Ms Wina said this when she officiated at a prayer and thanksgiving service at Saint Columbas Presbyterian Church in Lusaka yesterday.
Ms Wina said the church has a huge responsibility to pray for the leaders without looking at their political affiliations.
“We expect the church to continue ministering to us, to live as Christ has commanded us to and focus to continue preaching non-violence, unity and brotherly love,” she said.
The Vice President said the Government would also continue to acknowledge and listen from the church’s advice and do what it wanted in line with the expectation from the people.
“Zambia is our inheritance that we all must be proud of. We all must acknowledge that God wants us to be at peace with one another and that we should respect and honour our leaders at any given time as you have rightly reminded us moderator,” she said.
She said the church should be prayerful without looking at political divide, but encourage all Zambians to focus on the cross of Jesus Christ and leave political parties’ differences behind.
She was happy the initiative of holding prayers for peace during and after the election was supported by the church as it agrees with President Edgar Lungu’s call to pray for the leaders.
President Lungu has been consistent with the call to prayer and in asking the church to pray for the good and property of the country.
Ms Wina hailed the church for supporting Government’s efforts in uplifting the living standard of the people of Zambia through provision of social services and other mitigations.
The Government, she said, stands ready to continue partnering with the church in achieving goals of fostering development to benefit the people in all parts of the country.
In his sermon, reverend Aaron Mchulu said peace and unity were fundamental for the development of any nation, hence the need for Zambians to uphold peaceful elections.
He said the forthcoming elections should not divide citizens because of belonging to different political parties, and urged Zambians to support credible leaders and not those that only want to be elected for selfish personal gains.