26 The first and most basic community for every person is the immediate family. Family stability must therefore always be protected and never be undermined. This calls for: • The protection and support of marriages. • Promotion of family life through pensions, inheritance laws and policies that enhance family togetherness. • Support for child headed households. 3.2.12 Stewardship of Creation We acknowledge that God created the universe and made humankind the stewards of that part of it called the earth and its atmosphere. As stewards we are accountable to God for our management of the earth and its resources (Gen 1:2628). Our role is to be living reminders of the Creator. The kingdom of God not only offers salvation to us but also points to the future renewal of all creation (Romans 8:18-23). As stewards, therefore, we will participate in this salvific future of God’s creation by protecting, sustaining, and restoring it and addressing the links between human poverty and environmental degradation. Therefore our vision of the sustainability of the Zimbabwe we want incorporates both social justice and ecological restoration. The command for us to exercise dominion over the earth does not therefore mean we must destroy it, but work it and take care of it (Gen 2, 15). Dominion requires responsible stewardship. Such stewardship must uphold the common good of humanity, while also respecting the end for which each creature was intended, and the means necessary to achieve that end. If we exercise dominion in a way that ultimately destroys nature’s creative potential or denies the human family the fruits of creation, such action constitutes an offence against God’s original plan for creation. Rather we must exercise care and responsibility for God’s domain particularly in the interest of those who are poor and marginalized. As stewards we recognize that human beings form the apex of God’s creation. Our stewardship can never therefore be merely environmental; it also addresses the links between human poverty and environmental degradation. We cannot exploit the environment for selfish reasons without causing human beings to suffer sooner or later. Hence, our vision of sustainability incorporates both social justice and ecological restoration. The imperative for human work to meet human needs and restore our fallen world, which is implied by the process of development, appears throughout Scripture. The Church therefore places greater value on human labour as perhaps no other religion in history. Work and discovery are essential to God’s plan for human fulfilment. To the greatest extent, the value of human labour finds its fulfilment in the discovery of those ways in which nature can be most responsibly and effectively placed at the service of the human family. This is the most authentic definition of human progress. Throughout the world where Zimbabweans are scattered, we are known to be resourceful and hardworking people. Being industrious and resourceful has made