My wife and I have experienced divorce and its negative effects in one’s heart and mind
Church on the Move leader Bishop Keith Harrington and his wife Makgoshi are using the lessons learnt from their failed marriages to save faltering unions in Mpumalanga.
The pair has started a divorce and marriage clinic where it saves disintegrating marriages and provides pre- and postdivorce counselling to marriages that have broken down irretrievably.
Called the Dr Keith Harrington Marriage and Divorce Clinic, the clinic is operating from a building situated a heartbeat away from the couple’s church in Siyabuswa.
Harrington said that he and his wife started the clinic in July and have already saved several marriages from collapse. They have also provided counselling to those who walked away from their abusive spouses.
He said they were being assisted by a team of medical professionals and spiritual practitioners who volunteered their services to the needy.
Harrington also said they were using their experiences from their failed marriages to provide these services.
“My wife and I have experienced divorce and its lasting negative effects in one’s heart and mind,” Harrington said.
“My wife was previously married to an abusive police officer who even caused her to suffer a miscarriage after an episode of physical attacks on her while carrying the wonderful gift of an unborn baby.
“I, on the other hand, have had two marriages that ended up in divorce, and one relationship with Mrs Sophie Ndaba Lichaba that ended up in a separation.”
Harrington was thrust into the national spotlight when he “married” the then Generations actress in a surprise lavish ceremony in 2011.
The two had a drama-filled “marriage” that turned ugly less than two years later when they obtained protection orders against each other amid allegations of abuse and infidelity.
Makgoshi added that although their core mandate was to save marriages, they couldn’t achieve a 100% success rate.
“Like every other institution, we cannot always guarantee 100% positive results. Sometimes even after a lot of prayer and intervention by various members of our staff, we have to accept that we can’t save every marriage. In fact, we are sometimes forced by the irreconcilable differences of a couple, to advise them to either separate temporarily or permanently.
“By the grace of God, we have more successes than failures in helping couples rebuild their lives. To date we’ve interacted with approximately 18 couples, of which 12 marriages were restored, three had to unfortunately end and the remaining three are still undergoing therapy as we continue to interact with them,” she said.
The couple said gays and lesbians were also welcome to use their counselling services.
Bishop Keith Harrington LEADER OF CHURCH ON THE MOVE