The Voices and Experiences of Vhavenda Women in the Pentecostal Churches in Thohoyandou

Abstract

This article sets out to unfold stories of Vhavenda women in the Pentecostal church. It discusses their good experiences and challenges encountered as they do ministry. Their rich experiences and voices can inform the way ministry is practised today. Purposive sampling is used to explore the narratives of seven church women sourced from a previously written thesis. The thesis was conducted in Venda for doctoral studies at the University of South Africa, completed in 2011, where data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire with 97 participants. Some findings from the thesis are that women in rural areas are particularly affected by healthy and unhealthy religious and cultural discourses in their daily involvement in the ministry. Apart from looking at the religious and cultural discourses, the article will also investigate how these women find ways of coping with social and religious challenges as they continue in their various ministry spaces. This will add knowledge concerning women, gender and theology by highlighting the specific voices and experiences of Vhavenda women within their contexts and ministry. The article adopts a qualitative approach and is researched theoretically, employing the insights of vhusadzi theology to analyse the findings. Some of the findings in this article are that the lives of Vhavenda women in the Pentecostal church are filled with struggles and uncertainties, as related to church leadership.