As part of our recent Bridgefolk conference we joined with churches around the world in prayer on July 24 for our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. We also took up a collection for the Brethren in Christ (Mennonite-affiliated) and Roman Catholic churches of Zimbabwe, which totaled $1,500. The following news release from Mennonite World Conference provides an update on this global day of prayer and mentions Bridgefolk along the way.
NEWS RELEASE
Mennonite World Conference
For Immediate Release
August 4, 2005
PRAYERS FOR ZIMBABWE CIRCLE THE GLOBE
STRASBOURG, FRANCE – On July 24, Anabaptist-related churches around the
world joined forces in prayer for Zimbabwe. Church leaders there had called
for a Day of Prayer in the wake of continued and increasing devastation as
hundreds of thousands of citizens were forced from their simple homes. Later
many of the displaced persons were also forcibly removed from the churches
that gave them shelter.
Churches tried to bring healing to victims of the government’s “Operation
Restore Order” from the first day that backyard cabins were torn down or
burned, settlements were razed and informal traders stripped of their wares
and livelihood. Many churches, like the Lobhengula Brethren in Christ Church
in Bulawayo, offered temporary shelter to the displaced, according to an
official agreement struck on July 12. They also were preparing blankets,
food and seed packets and basic tools for refugees willing to relocate in
rural areas.
Further trauma struck between 9:00 p.m. And 5:00 a.m. on July 20 when police
raided many of these churches, forcing even the sick, the elderly, women and
small children into trucks and carting them off to a “transit camp.”
Four days later, without knowing of the most recent devastation, Christians
in congregations in Indonesia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Tanzania,
South Africa, Europe and North and Latin America prayed for their suffering
brothers and sisters as church leaders in Zimbabwe, with the help of
Mennonite World Conference, had asked them to do.
“It was encouraging to know that people from all corners of the globe were
praying for us,” noted Danisa Ndlovu, MWC vice-president and BIC bishop of
Zimbabwe, who had received many e-mails confirming plans for prayers of
intercession.
Rolando Neyra, president of the Conferencia Peruana Hemanos Menonites,
reported that at a service of intercession in his congregation in Peru
“brothers and sisters were brokenhearted” when they learned about the
situation in Zimbabwe. “What are we doing from the comfort of our homes?”
they asked. Never before had the congregation reacted in this way, said
Neyra.
The La Floresta Mennonite Church in Montevideo, Uruguay, dedicated prayer
time during the morning worship. Small groups formed and prayed for the
government, the people and especially the children of Zimbabwe. One young
man, feeling unworthy of his own peace and wellbeing, rededicated his life
to the Lord.
In his July 24 sermon, Leonidas Saucedo, pastor of the Evangelical Mennonite
Church in Bolivia, called his people “to become one in the suffering and
hope of our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe.” Prayers there included
confession and pleas for forgiveness for their own sin and indifference as
well as intercession for the leaders, pastors and churches in Zimbabwe, that
God would grant them courage and strength and that God would be glorified
through them.
At North Danvers Mennonite Church in Illinois (USA), visiting speaker Alice
Roth held up a woven basket she had received in an exchange of gifts with
Agnes, a Zimbabwean sister, at Assembly 2003 in Bulawayo. Agnes explained
that women in her congregation had little work in a times of drought, so
they gathered to make baskets of grass and sisal. Members of the rural North
Danvers congregation, also experiencing drought this summer, joined in the
global day of prayer.
Scottdale Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania was one of many churches in the
U.S. And Canada who participated in the July 24 Day of Prayer. A Scottdale
member wrote a prayer for the service citing an abundance of material things
and the freedom “to do and to say and to believe almost anything we choose
… But we despise all this plenty/As not enough … And so we deny the
goodness of your blessings.”
The prayer went on to name the troubles of Zimbabweans and continued: “we
pray that you soften the hearts of the rulers in Zimbabwe/to end the spirit
of oppression … And we plead for the same Spirit to guide the affairs of
this small congregation/For to deliver us from our selfishness and
stubbornness and pride would truly be a miracle.”
In Australia, friends of Ndlovu who are not part of Mennonite World
Conference shared the request for prayer with their congregation. That
church spent July 24 in fasting and prayer for Zimbabwe.
Bridgefolk, a grassroots Mennonite-Catholic dialogue group in the U.S.,
responded to the desperate situation in Zimbabwe with prayer at its July
gathering. Nancy Heisey, president of MWC and a Bridgefolk participant,
reported that the group held an offering for Zimbabwe as part of a communion
service, raising $1,500. The money will be distributed to the Zimbabwean BIC
and Bulawayo Catholic churches, according to the specifications of the
group.
“It was a very moving service,” Heisey told Ndlovu, who responded: “God
always has surprises for us.”
Within Zimbabwe, the Day of Prayer was observed by some churches but quite a
huge cross section of the church was not aware of it. Communication remains
a big challenge. However, church there have generally included special
prayer in the service
“since the country was plunged into this hell,” said Doris Dube, who lives
in Bulawayo.
“We are very thankful to God to be a part of the global family of faith that
has stood with us in this hour of need,” concluded Ndlovu.
Mennonite World Conference release
by Ferne Burkhardt
– Photo of Nancy Heisey passing prayer letters to Danisa Ndlovu available on
request.
SIDE BAR # 1
CHURCHES CHALLENGE GOVERNMENT
Church leaders in Bulawayo issued a press statement strongly denouncing the
police raids, the government’s reneging on agreements reached with churches
and other stakeholders on sheltering displaced persons and on its disregard
for the rule of law.
According to the agreement, churches were allowed to shelter displaced
people who were willing to resettle in rural areas and to place a
representative at the transit camp at all times. Neither part of the
agreement was honoured.
Instead, people were forcibly removed under the cover of darkness in actions
that were described as “inhuman, brutal and insensitive and in total
disregard of human rights and dignity. It seems the crime they committed is
that they are poor.”
The release, which reflects none of the fear and caution common to most
Zimbabweans these days, also described the unwarranted intimidation,
harassment and detention of a pastor.
“We call on the government and its officials to abide by the law and not to
be above it. The rule of law must be restored,” it said.
The statement was sent to the “Sunday News” newspaper, the Minister of
Social welfare and numerous Christian organizations. An appointment was made
with the governor to hand deliver a copy to him.
Since the government controls the news, it is no surprise that the release
was not published. How it will be received and acted on remains to be seen.
Ferne Burkhardt
SIDE BAR # 2
THE VOICES
A drive through the streets of most towns and rural growth points reveals
the level of destruction that the country has suffered. The talk at bus
stations, gatherings and in homes echoes what is uppermost in many people’s
minds: the government’s Operation Restore Order, which has had such a
devastating effect on the majority of Zimbabweans.
For most Zimbabweans this period in our life has a face or family at the
centre of it. People were hurt when walls fell on them at the time of the
destruction. Some pregnant women gave birth before their time. Some were not
allowed time to mourn the death of relatives because they had to move before
the police destroyed the shelter they called home. Children had their
education come to an end suddenly. Many voices have spoken. Hear are a few:
“My wife and I are very tired. We have not had much rest for many days. Ten
young children including three-year-old babies were dumped at our place by
the police. At the time of the clean up they got separated from their
parents and there seems to be very little chance of tracing them. The
children are grieving the loss of the people they know and we do not have
staff to help care for the children, some of whom are sick. The greatest
challenge is giving them a sense of security since they have been so
traumatized.”
– David Ndoda of Emthunzini Wethemba. (Shelter of Hope), one of Mennonite
Central Committee’s partners through “Generations At Risk.”
My mother was born in 1940 in this place which is now Killarney Squatter
Camp. I was born in the same place in 1966. I have not known any other home.
It was not my choice to live in a place like this. My name has been on the
City Council’s waiting list for housing for 13 years. When our home was
destroyed, we slept in the open until the church people came to our rescue.
– MaMpofu
My name is Ishmael. I am in Grade 5. For many days we did not go to school
when we moved from our home to the church here. These days the pastors have
arranged for us to go to a school near here. We go to Nkanyezi Primary
School. It is fun.
– Ishmael stayed at Lobengula Brethren in Christ Church with his grandmother
who hopes to relocate to her rural home.
Doris Dube, Mennonite World Conference Africa editor