By Twimepoki Mangani
Lilongwe, August 14 Mana: The organizers of Miss Christian International Pageant have said the event will continue annually with more sponsors and countries involved after successfully hosting this year’s contest.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), Chief Executive Officer of Miss Christian, Anyiaka Florence from Ghana, said the three-year-old budding pageantry enables winners to represent the Kingdom of God and contribute to national building.
“Miss Christian Africa is a start-upbrand and this was the first time we did a physical pageantry with nine participating countries. It was not easy to get contestants or sponsors since it was thought to be a scam or trafficking,” Florence said.
She further said the current winner, Kythrina Phiri, a Malawian, is a missionary queen who will seek to impact the world at large.
“We will pay the queen 1000 US dollars (approx one million Kwacha) in a space of her one-year reign to aid her in one way or another,” said Florence.
In a separate interview, Miss Christian, Kythrina Phiri said the platform will help her continue works of passion in supporting those in need.
“My strategy is interdenominational, I will demonstrate the role of the Word of God in dealing with mental health and other challenges among the youth,” she said.
Phiri expressed her joy for representing the entire continent, highlighting the uniqueness of the pageantry since it’s about advertising the God figure in womanhood and not branding alone.
“As long as I’m Miss Christian Africa, I will reflect God’s love and ensure that my crown has impact,” Phiri said.
Meanwhile, President of Models Association of Malawi, Chris Kaunda, has said Kythrina Phiri’s achievement shows growth in the fashion and modelling industry since she now represents the nation on a continental level.
Kaunda said previously, models would only participate in competitions around Africa without positive results.
He has since applauded Virgo Agency owned by Madalo Mkuwu who is also National Director for Miss Culture, for the commendable role the agency played in working with Kythrina Phiri during her Miss Christian International journey.
The final three models in the pageant attended the coronation held on June 25, 2022 in the City of Buea in Cameroon.
This was after initially trimming models from Cameroon, Kenya, eSwatini, Ghana, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Missionary Queen of the non-bikini pageant will closely be assisted by the Miss Christian Africa Organisation to promote women, men and the youth to be active in both homes and the community.
