|
Zimbabwe is alone. She has only herself to fight her battle.
The Aid Agencies are indeed doing all they can. They bring food and relief. But their help is, and must be, entirely humanitarian. They can do nothing to end the tyranny. The previous British Prime Minister was enthusiastic to intervene to save Sierra Leone. In his farewell visit to Africa, however, he said Zimbabwe is a problem for the Africans, and left the country to the “quiet diplomacy” of President Mbeki of South Africa. The regional Southern African Development Community has done the same thing. This “diplomacy” has achieved virtually nothing in the past and is unlikely - in spite of some initial tentative moves - to achieve much more in the future.
0 Comments
Power Failures
It is said that Zimbabwe doesn’t really have power failures, they occasionally have electricity! The state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) schedules programmes of rolling black outs which have seen households going without electricity for many hours, sometimes days. A Harare newspaper, The Daily News, reports that ZESA narrowly escaped being cut off from its key power supplier in Mozambique over non-payment of a £47million bill. The Daily News also revealed that ZANU-PF cabinet ministers have accumulated over £650,000 in unpaid bills. Do you want to be involved in transforming lives and discipling nations?
Every week, sometimes daily, we receive Macedonian calls from various African nations. Here is one I received last week: “After many days of reading your programmes and activities on your website coupled with weeks of fasting and prayer, we the executive members of the Inter-African Christian Mission have decided to invite you to conduct a city wide conference to equip our pastors and church workers and crusade to win the lost and dying souls in to the Kingdom of God. This invitation is based on your long time experience, faithfulness and tireless efforts in obeying the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this achievement on your part has brought an unspeakable joy and gladness on our hearts for such a remarkable and tremendous work you have done over the years in making others to know to know the true Light of God. It is our prayer therefore that our Heavenly Father continues to give you more wisdom, strength and grace to perform the task He has called you to. We hope you will prayerfully consider this our Macedonian call to bring light and joy to our country.” A Startling Admission
In the light of the extraordinary international economic and military campaign to bring down Rhodesia and replace it with Mugabe’s Zimbabwe it was most enlightening to read the speech by the American Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell (delivered 2/11/05 at Africa University in Mutare): “…The growing collapse of the Zimbabwean economy. Not too long ago, Zimbabwe had a vibrant and diversified economy. It was a land of great hope and optimism in Africa… A symbol for the rest of the world of what Africa could become. Today, as you know, it is a country in deep crisis. I know of no other example in the world of an economy that, in times of peace, has contracted so precipitously… "Even top-ranking politicians in the ruling ZANU-PF, veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war and former Socialists, have turned to God, perhaps gaining new respect as men and women of the cloth.Vice-President Joseph Msika was recently ordained as a lay pastor in the Anglican church; second Vice-President Joyce Mujuru was promoted to captain in the Salvation Army; two cabinet ministers have applied to train as priests.
A new wave of farm invasions, encouraged by the government, has brought Zimbabwe back into world headlines. However, the deteriorating economic situation, although less visible, points to an even graver crisis.
South Africa continues to feel the impact of the Zimbabwe crisis in the form of land invasions, growing uncertainty about the government’s future intentions and a weakening Rand. The SA Communist Party has again committed itself to Marxism, Leninism, the attainment of a socialist society through the national democratic revolution and opposition to "capitalist barbarism". The SACP and Cosatu have joined forces to fight the government’s privatisation policy. Despite extremely high HIV/Aids infection rates, controversy over how to handle the epidemic continues. ROCA Report: http://www.signpostspublications.com/roca/listroca.html BULAWAYO, Saturday 16 February:
Eleven Christians, including four pastors were arrested by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) in Bulawayo. The Pastors were organising an interdenominational prayer meeting – praying for peace during the run up to next months elections. The 16th February was the 2nd anniversary of the start of the state orchestrated farm invasions. Harassment at the Border
After arriving early at the Zimbabwe border, we spent six hours trying to clear all the goods which we were carrying. The border officials were, as always, a law unto themselves. There was just no way around paying duties even on the free literature as well as the Boxes with Love relief aid! At around two o'clock we were finally free from the border and proceeded into Zimbabwe. This was also one of two of the hottest days since 1962. We safely arrived at our first venue later that evening. Reformation Seminar We then started our ministry without delay. We met up with the pastor and he set up a meeting with local pastors and chaplains. We were blessed to be able to speak to them about issues regarding the Reformation. This included a brief overview of the Reformation (as we assumed no one knew anything about the Reformation), why we need Reformation in our Churches as well as some practical steps that could be taken to Reform our Churches totally. POLICE BREAK UP PRAYER MEETING
Zimbabwean police attacked 400 women who had gathered for an all-night prayer meeting on the eve of Election Day and severely assaulted them. 38 were severely injured and hospitalised. The focus of the women’s prayer meeting was to pray for peace. MASS ARRESTS AND DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY After the elections more than 18,000 people were arrested and thousands of people left homeless as their homes and businesses, in the informal settlements, were razed to the ground by Zimbabwean police. Operation “Restore Order” was understood to be in retaliation for the residents of these informal settlements on the outskirts of the capital city, Harare, having voted overwhelmingly for the opposition MDC in the 31 March polls. Armoured troop carriers patrolled the suburbs of Harare as the army was mobilised to suppress mounting public anger. Battles were fought between police and informal traders, with the police under orders to use live ammunition against civilians attempting to resist. Solemn Commemoration
This month marks the tenth commemoration of the horrendous holocaust in Rwanda. I remember my mission to Rwanda as one of the most traumatic and disturbing and when I was the sickest. I can still remember the blood curdling screams at night, the piles of skulls and wading knee deep in corpses inside shattered churches. My book, Holocaust In Rwanda, has since been translated into French, and has been re-printed due to ongoing demand. |
More Reports
All
Archives
September 2019
|
RSS Feed
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on earth.
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the End of the age.” Amen.” Matthew 28: 18-20
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the End of the age.” Amen.” Matthew 28: 18-20
