By Angela Singer
Working long hours in a factory and not seeing the sun rise or set has been just one of the unexpected experiences of the Rev Amos Muzondiwa since he came to New Zealand from Zimbabwe.
Amos, who is the new minister at Inglewood United Church, Taranaki, found that on arriving in New Zealand he had to wait a year for an appointment with the Presbyterian Church (there were problems obtaining Amos’s certificate of good standing from Zimbabwe, due to the political situation there affecting communications), so he took work at Coca Cola in Auckland, as a machine operator.
“That was an eye opener,” he says. “I was able to interact with lots of different people and experience the multicultural make-up of New Zealand. I got to know about the Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, Pakeha and
Palagi. It was initially confusing, as I came from a country where you just have white and black Zimbabweans.
“Also, the way that work is done here is very different from Africa,” where factories don’t operate round the clock and the attitude to work is different. “People work 8am to 5pm and it does not matter if you have days off from work, you are still paid for the month. You can afford to be sick. But here if you do not work, you are not paid.
“The other difference I have found is climate; in Africa it is hot and the days are always around the same length, but New Zealand winter makes it dark at 6am and 6pm so you go to work in the dark and return home in the dark.”
Amos says he did not tell people that he was a minister when he began work at Coca Cola but it became known. “There’s a lot of swearing in that kind of environment. Some of the people who had said some things tried to take them back when they found out I am a minister!”
In early 2009, Amos was called to Inglewood United Church and he was inducted on 22 January. Amos says he and his family (wife Nyembezi, and his daughters Shalom and Takunda) have been warmly welcomed into the township. “Inglewood is great; far friendlier than Auckland because everyone has time for one another”. He has been impressed with the town’s facilities. “Africans love athletics and there is an athletic stadium here. I love soccer”. Amos says playing in a local soccer game he was on the receiving end of a particularly aggressive tackle (he did not respond in kind) and heard someone surprise the attacking player with, “you are kicking our minister!”
Another surprise for Amos has been the warm ecumenical support he has found in Inglewood. “There is genuine friendship amongst the ministers from all the churches, and that has been brilliant.”
Not so brilliant, says Amos, is the affect of the recession on Inglewood. He says these are hard times for his congregation, with the economy hitting their rural community hard.
Amos says he understands how worried many in his congregation are, but that he can also look at the issues from the perspective of someone who has seen far worse. “I have come from a country where unemployment is currently 90 percent. There is [in Zimbabwe] 230 million percent inflation and prices of goods increase three times in a day.”
Raised in a strong Methodist family (both his parents were preachers) Amos says that he grew up in very tough times. “I am the eighth of 12 children and we were raised during the [Zimbabwe War of Liberation].” Whatever else they lacked, it was not faith and today two of his siblings are also pastors in the Methodist Church.
As a minister in Zimbabwe, Amos says, “political tensions were high and there was much violence in the area”.
Amos’ wife Nyembezi is a nurse and came to New Zealand to work for one year. “We felt New Zealand would be a good for our family so in late 2007 I asked the Methodist Church for permission to come here, we arrived early 2008 and we have no regrets.”