Baptist church and empowerment of women and girls with disabilities in Mhondoro-Ngezi

Abstract

Background: The Judeo-Christian and Shona indigenous religious spaces often reinforce the disempowerment of people with disabilities in general and women and girls in particular. In Zimbabwe, women experience the double vulnerability of being a woman in a patriarchal society and living with disabilities. Disability may increase poverty, while poverty may delay health-seeking behaviours and expose people to health risks that culminate in disability.
Objectives: The article explores how the Ngezi Baptist Church is re-appropriating its theology of disability to mitigate the stigmatisation, exclusion and discrimination of women and girls with disabilities, thereby reducing poverty among them.
Method: It employs the feminist disability theology in reshaping disability perceptions in Zimbabwe. Research data were obtained through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants.
Results: Local churches have great potential to reinterpret their doctrines and harness their spiritual capital to initiate inclusive social and economic initiatives aimed at improving the well-being of women and girls with disabilities.
Conclusion: Ngezi Baptist Church is embracing the feminist disability theology that conceives of God as contextual. It encourages reimagining God in various forms of human variation in its drive to unlock the potential of the vulnerable categories. It inspires the able-bodied and the differently abled persons to work together towards alleviating poverty.
Contribution: The research provides a unique feminist disability theological analysis of the contribution of a local church towards reshaping community perceptions about women with disabilities and empowering them through upholding their dignity and reducing poverty among them.