Elliot Tafara Mashingaidze
Lovingly known as “Mufundisi Elliot”
17 January 1945 — 8 December 2019 · aged 74
Methodist minister and university chaplain who fed three hundred mourners in a hungry year
Harare, Zimbabwe Born in Marondera, Mashonaland East Resting at Warren Hills Cemetery, HarareAbout Elliot
Mufundisi Elliot Mashingaidze never owned a car that started on the first try. For thirty years he drove an increasingly rebellious Peugeot 504 to hospital bedsides across Harare, pushed it uphill with the help of strangers he afterwards invited to church, and insisted that this was how he had met most of his congregation.
Born in Marondera in 1945, Elliot attended Waddilove Institution, the Methodist mission school, and trained as a teacher. He taught geography at Churchill Boys' High School from 1966 to 1973 before answering a call to ministry. He studied at Epworth Theological College, was ordained in 1976 and served congregations in Mbare, Highfield and Mufakose through the difficult years of the liberation war and the early decades of independence.
In 1990 he became chaplain at the University of Zimbabwe, a post he held for fifteen years. He counselled students through exams, heartbreak and hunger, kept a pot of sadza on a hotplate in his office, and quietly paid the fees of those who would otherwise have been sent home. He later earned a degree himself at the same university, graduating at the age of forty-three alongside students young enough to be his children, and sat on the board of Africa University.
He married Chipo Mutasa in 1970. He loved sadza with beef stew, mazhanje in season, Dynamos football on the radio and the hymns of Charles Wesley, which he sang loudly and slightly flat. In the cash-starved December of 2019, he died at home in Avondale after a short illness, and the church fed three hundred mourners from donated pots and bags of maize meal.
He leaves his wife, three children and eleven grandchildren.
“The Gospel is not a sermon. It is a pot of sadza shared with whoever is hungry.”
- Faith
- Christian
- Place of birth
- Marondera, Mashonaland East
- Resting place
- Warren Hills Cemetery, Harare
- Passed away
- 8 December 2019, Harare
Funeral Service
Thursday, 12 December 2019 at 07:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Secondary education and teacher training
Waddilove Institution1958 – 1965 · Marondera
Methodist mission school; trained as a geography teacher.
Geography Teacher
Churchill Boys' High School1966 – 1973 · Harare
Taught geography and coached the school choir.
Married Chipo Mutasa
1970 · Harare
A marriage of forty-nine years.
Ordained Minister
Methodist Church in Zimbabwe1976 – 2010 · Harare
Served Mbare, Highfield and Mufakose circuits.
University Chaplain
University of Zimbabwe1990 – 2005 · Harare
Counselled and fed thousands of students.
Distinguished Service Medal
Methodist Church in Zimbabwe2010 · Harare
For thirty-four years of pastoral service.
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Family & connections
Elliot is survived by
- Chipo Mashingaidze· Spouse
- Rudo Mashingaidze-Clarke· Daughter
- Tinashe Mashingaidze· Son
- Farai Mashingaidze· Son
- 11 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
5 people have shared a memory of Elliot.
Knew Elliot? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- RM
Daughter, Leeds
Papa never once mentioned the car. He just said, 'We push together.' I have tried to live that way in Leeds, where cars start easily but people do not always push together. Thank you to everyone who has written to us.
- TC
Former student at Churchill Boys' High School
He was the only teacher who took us outside to read the weather instead of reading about it. He made geography the best subject in the school. I am a meteorologist now, and I owe it to a Peugeot, a hill and a good man.
- RD
Fellow minister, Bulawayo
We trained together at Epworth in 1975. Elliot used to say that a minister's shoes should wear out before his Bible does. His Peugeot was proof. I hope heaven has a good mechanic and a long hill for him to push it up.
- MC
Member, Highfield Methodist Church
He married my daughter, baptised my grandson and buried my husband. At each, he sang slightly flat and wept openly, and I would not have wanted anyone else. Our church is a family because of Mufundisi.
- DM
Former University of Zimbabwe student
In my second year I could not pay my fees and had not eaten for two days. Mufundisi Elliot put a plate of sadza in front of me and said nothing. A week later my fees were paid. I became a doctor, and I have never told anyone how it happened until today.
