Hundreds of church members under the auspices of the Tshivhase Pastor's Forum and guests from around the country  congregated  on Wednesday (Human Rights Day) at the Tshivhase Secondary School for the annual Cross and Crown conference.

More than 300 churches from around the Tshivhase area come to pray under one roof during the month of March each year. This year's conference was different from others as they were also celebrating 10 years of active and fruitful service to the Tshivhase community and the whole province. The event was addressed by Vho Thovhele Midiyavhathu Tshivhase, while Dr Maxwell Masakona gave the main sermon of the day.

The chairperson of the forum, Pastor Nkhangweleni Nemukula, said the celebration was necessary. “From humble beginnings, we can today look back with pride and say we have made huge strides. We have achieved a lot during our 10 years of existence,” he added.

Nemukula said pastors became united over the years and were now able to help each other even though they belonged to different churches. “We are now working as a team with the same goal of luring as many people as possible to the fold of God. Many traditional leaders have accepted Christ and many have been baptised, and we have developed a relationship with them."

Tshivhase urged all pastors in his area to pray seriously to God for an end to corruption that has become like a plague in the province and the country. “We need peace and a corruption-free community, and it is only through prayer that we can achieve this,” he said.