Among the Shona people, there was genderisation of family chores as prescribed by their religio-cultural belief practices. Genderisation of family roles is understood within the context of clusters of socially defined expectations that people of one gender are expected to fulfil (Wokocha 2008). The indigenous Shona religious culture, for example entrenched in AICs encouraged women to abide by teachings that made them good mothers and wives who contribute positively to satisfying the family’s physical and emotional requirements. This study acknowledges the importance of women as a common belief among the Shona people especially in a pandemic situation. So, two concepts were conjoined as the study’s frameworks, which are musha mukadzi [the home is a woman] and women’s livelihoods. Among the indigenous people, women’s central role in their communities is metaphorically expressed by the Shona proverb musha mukadzi (Mujinga 2023). It is a Shona adage stating that the image, prosperity and happiness of a family are anchored on the presence of the woman (Mujinga 2023). The women had the autonomy to be involved in initiatives, which were meant to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 through visiting AICs and seeking spiritual help to revive or initiate some economic relief in their families. Thus, according to Anderson et al. (2021):

This study understands a livelihood as meeting people’s survival needs including shelter, food, water and clothing (Mujinga 2023). In Mujinga’s view, if these are not provided, people live in abject poverty. In his study of the Shona people, Gelfand (1992) depicts women as the driving force for family livelihoods. The beginning and sustainability of the women’s livelihood strategies hinged on the accessibility and availability of AICs’ spiritual resources. Musha mukadzi was a vital source of social capital for women’s livelihoods. This resonates well with Chirara and Chisale (2023) who argue that the musha mukadzi philosophy was used in Shona indigenous communities as a resource for sustaining livelihoods. Thus, the religio-cultural traditions served as a powerful influence in shaping Shona people’s gender roles and attitudes, providing moral frameworks, social norms and interpretations of teachings through sayings that often reinforce traditional gender hierarchies and expectations. According to Trzebiatowska and Bruce (2012), in almost every culture and religious tradition, women are more likely than men to pray, worship and claim that their faith is important to them. It is on this basis that when COVID-19 negatively impacted indigenous families, women resorted to spiritual assistance to enhance their families’ economic well-being. Economic well-being means people have their most basic survival needs met and have sustainable income and assets so they can prosper (International Rescue Committee [IRC] 2024). In the ‘Clarification of the term AICs, their economic slant and the place of women’ section, the study elucidates the meaning of AICs, their economic implications and the role of women.

The study highlights some of the institutional characteristic features of AICs in their inclination to economic and business participation of their followers. For the acronym AICs, this study has adopted ‘African Initiated Churches’ (Chitando 2005:8). It is more appealing because the name implies churches founded by indigenous Africans for Africans in their special African situations (Appiah-Kubi 1977:117). Admittedly, this study is so much interested in nascent AICs’ groupings, which had not been explored by both seasoned and budding scholars of religion, yet these churches offer so much to enhance indigenous people’s livelihoods through their miteuro [ritualised prayers]. These church groupings are found in the margins of the cities’ residential areas. They usually regard themselves as chechi dzeMweya that is Spirit-type churches (Maguranyanga 2011), and consequently base their religious beliefs and practices primarily on Mweya [Spirit] or Izwi [Voice of God]. They use certain garment and cloth colours, which are understood to be associated with wealth accumulation or economic prosperity. So, in matters to do with finances, employment and businesses, they receive advice and or guidance from the Holy Spirit or Voice of God through the mediation of prophets and church leaders. They encourage members to be self-employed and engage in various artisanal jobs (Taru & Settler 2015). In terms of the composition of their membership, Chitando (2005:122) postulates that women constitute most members within AICs. These churches play a tremendous role in dealing with women’s livelihood challenges. They consolidate women’s traditional status and position [musha mukadzi] of being the main actors in providing for their families as presented in the ‘Findings’ section of this study

An application for full ethical approval was submitted to the Philosophy and Religious Studies Research Ethics Committee (PRSREC) at Great Zimbabwe University and consent was received on 27 June 2022. The ethics approval number is PRSREC 0018. All procedures involving human participants adhered to the ethical standards set by the institutional and/or national research committee, as well as the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Written informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

Several participants involved in petty trading reported that during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, visiting prophets was crucial for them. The prayers they received gave them the courage to continue their business activities despite the rules and regulations imposed because of the pandemic. One participant M14 said:

It was emphasised during FGDs that for the women, prayers removed obstacles such as police arrests, which were affecting the smooth flow of their small livelihood businesses, especially during lockdowns. Confirmation from World Vision (2023) on this matter is that when families’ livelihoods improve, they can break the cycle of poverty and sustainably pursue their family’s education, health, food security, nutrition and shelter needs.

During FGDs, participants concurred that some AICs’ women organised prayer teams through the guidance of their faith leaders. They congregated once a week praying for business opportunities and survival of their business. It was also learnt that occasionally, the women would invite their prophets to pray with them. The discussants emphasised the presence of their prophets as significant in that it was a platform where their written petitions were put in sanctified utensils such as clay pots for ritual prayer purposes. A significant number of women testified during FGDs that there was a big positive change brought about by having prayers embedded in their small businesses. The indigenous Christian women believed that prayer was the mechanism God used through his prophets to interact with women entrepreneurs and become more involved in their businesses and lives (Kahle 2017).

The way AICs’ establishments responded to the COVID-19 pandemic was an indication of their spiritual impact on the economic landscape ravaged by the coronavirus. One participant M23 responded using the following words:

What M23 said about the symbolism of gold colour is confirmed by Fussell (2024:n.p) who contends that ‘Long associated with wealth and prosperity, gold is a colour synonymous with luxury and riches and sometimes excess’. The faith healers provided direct spiritual assistance for women who were not only determined to feed their families but also to work to improve livelihood opportunities for long-term economic well-being. Women who were given spiritual prayers by M23 testified that they were successful in their finances and small businesses. This success was imbued in the belief that it was through the power of God who is often depicted in the Old Testament as the one offering new solutions to his people (Ficatier 2017).

When the economy came to a ‘halt’ during the lockdowns, entrepreneurs and those aspiring to be entrepreneurs relied on prophets for business consultation:

Focus group discussions also elaborated that during the consultation processes, livelihoods prophecies were given to women, which inculcated general beliefs about wealth creation, prosperity and acquisition of material goods. M1, a discussant recounted saying:

This concurs with the results of a study conducted by Sibanda and Humbe (2022) on wealth creation when they found out that some Apostolic churches defied the lockdown rules on the basis of venturing into their informal businesses to make ends meet. This particular concern confirms the AICs ethic of economic engagement, whereby they take the production of wares such as tinkered pots, buckets, dishes, kettles, candle stands, baking sheets and handcrafted items such as door mats as well as baskets as forms of self-reliance and survival. In Ayifaha et al.’s (2021) view, religious affiliation could have an additional effect on livelihood activity choice, through its effect on risk behaviour.

Referring to their vegetable vending business, a significant number of AICs’ women in an FGD explained that going to Chitima [Masvingo’s major vegetable trade centre] was no longer possible because of lockdowns. So, young and middle-aged women from their sowe [worship centre] were advised by their prophet to be organised into small groups and travel to nearby plots to purchase farm produce for selling. Acknowledging the intervention of their prophet in vegetable vending, which became a reliable source of livelihood, M16 said the following words:

The COVID-19 era became the moment for the AICs to utilise their economic transformative capability as they remained with a high potential to shape attitudes and values for the suffering communities’ economic well-being. This was supported by M2 who boastfully said:

The entrepreneurs’ faith made them loyal to their prophets’ advice (Humbe & Muwaniki 2017). From the aforementioned views, it can be found that the choice of petty trading as a livelihood for women came through the guidance of prophets. Evidently, there was a strong positive social capital effect of being petty traders. In this context, AICs are viewed as what Ayifaha et al. (2021) call producers and facilitators of social capital.

Participant M7 contended that:

M20 highly praised apostolic churches for having an inclusive approach to helping desperate people regardless of their religious affiliation. She narrated her story saying:

The notion of zambuko was also realised even by those who were in the selling of wares. Some participants felt that the muteuro did not only help to protect them from arrest by police officers but also to sell out their perishable goods quickly. M5 acknowledged the efficacy of muteuro in providing zambuko saying:

Generally, what the women presented to the prophets to have their economic woes managed were questions like ‘why am I suffering …’ and requests such as ‘how can I get out of this …’. In most cases, a template that was used by the prophets in managing problems, which have been brought about by this crisis was to interpret the cause behind these misfortunes propelled by the pandemic and explore their implications (Reddy & Mamabolo 2023).

From the foregoing, one can surmise that the prophets identified the forces behind the woman’s dismissal from work and the unattractiveness of wares, which were being sold. So, the muteuro was meant to exorcise these forces. Then the second thing was the provision of zambuko to the job seeker to secure another job and boost sales for the vendors. The zambuko came when the prophets’ muteuro exorcised spirits, which were forbidding the women from succeeding in employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. The removal of the spirit was necessitated by the women’s resilience in adhering to the dos and don’ts prescribed by the prophets such as fasting, having cold baths without detergents and avoiding sexual intercourse for the period they did their muteuro. Religious responses came to the forefront of explanation, analysis and responses to COVID-19 because indigenous Africans were seeking an understanding and interpretation of the ‘why’ of the pandemic.

Reflecting on the performance of her business entity, M2 explained that:

To counter this problem, FGDs were clear in that AICs intensified savings clubs, which were known as mikando or fushai [micro-credit clubs] opened exclusively to church members. The discussants encapsulated that AICs did not provide financial capital for women to start these savings clubs, but the churches organised social capital for the micro-credit clubs and then provided prophetic prayers for a smooth run of these micro-credit clubs. Articulating the transformative impact of the AICs on women’s business during the COVID-19 period, M7 narrated saying:

Based on the views of participants, the savings clubs proved their value in Masvingo as one of the major sources of capital for small businesses, which empowered the desperate women. Such grouping might have caused members of the same religion to engage in the same livelihood activities (Ayifaha et al. 2021). Empowerment of women hustlers became a means of increasing household productivity, either through prioritisation of their new business investments or re-allocating finances to already existing underperforming businesses. Similar to these results, Mujinga (2023) also establishes that women in Zimunya bought groceries through the women’s savings clubs to eliminate hunger and food shortages in their households.