The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has called on Christians around the world to focus their prayers this Sunday (27th April) on the critical situation in the country. It calls upon all Christians of every denomination in every nation to focus their prayers, in churches, halls, homes or wherever they are.
Making the call, Rev Bob Stumbles, Chancellor of the Anglican Diocese of Harare, described Zimbabwe as "a nation in dire distress and teetering on the brink of human disaster."
It needs to be rescued from violence, the concealing and juggling of election results, deceit, oppression and corruption, to bring about righteousness, joy, peace, compassion, honesty, justice, democracy and freedom from fear and want, the chancellor said.
"Let the cry for help touch your heart and mind. Let it move you to do what you can immediately to ensure this Day of Prayer takes place in your country and neighbourhood.
"May a continual, strong stream of prayer and supplication flow up to the Lord on behalf of all the people on this Day of Prayer, exhorting His divine intervention throughout the nation."
The call comes as Christians in the country said they fear genocide, and a call was made for an international arms embargo against the country.
www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2008/4/21/ACNS4392
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Rev Thabo Makgoba, has joined others in calling for an arms embargo against Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe, amid growing evidence that his government is planning a campaign of intimidation against opponents.
The plight of the people of Zimbabwe is heart-breaking. Already bruised, broken and crushed by oppression and economic hardship before the elections, they are now even more divided, despondent and, in many cases, hopeless than they were before. At a time of growing global hunger, their situation is particularly acute - four million Zimbabweans depend on food aid and NGOs are reporting that in some areas political violence is making it difficult to supply food.
After the March 29 elections we were told that if there had to be a second round of voting in the presidential election, it would be held within 21 days. That date has now passed, and every day that goes by without the release of presidential election results erodes yet further any remaining trust people may have in the electoral process.
From the church in Limpopo Province, we receive reports that the influx of Zimbabwean refugees is steadily growing. Within Zimbabwe, those who have benefited from Zanu PF rule are locked in fear of what may happen to them; those who support the opposition live in fear of retribution for voting against the government.
It is distressing to South Africans that our rulers, whom we know to be compassionate people, currently appear to many beyond our borders as heartless and unmoved by the suffering of Zimbabweans. We recognise that the imperatives of acting as honest brokers in a mediation impose constraints on our leaders. However, our failure to communicate our reverence for the dignity of every individual threatens the success of our diplomacy just as surely as would the perception of bias. I appeal to President Thabo Mbeki urgently to seek creative ways of reaching out to our neighbours to reassure them that we care about them deeply.
As a church committed to fighting the arms trade in Africa and the world, we strenuously oppose the sale and transport of weapons to Zimbabwe. We commend the successful efforts of the Bishop of Natal, the Right Revd Rubin Phillip, and the Diakonia Council of Churches to prevent a consignment of weapons for Zimbabwe from being offloaded in Durban, and I intend consulting with my brother bishops in Namibia and Angola on ecumenical action to prevent the shipment from being transported through their countries.
On the basis that a heavily-armed Zimbabwe would threaten peace, security and stability in southern Africa, we call upon the Security Council of the United Nations to impose an arms embargo on its government. We appeal to the South African Government to support such an embargo. We will ask our sister churches in countries which are also members of the Security Council to urge their governments to do likewise."
www.reuters.com/news/international
No assurance has been received from Cosco that the ship will abort its mission and return to China, but we continue to seek to persuade them of the wisdom of this course of action. Meanwhile union preparations continue to block attempts to unload and transport the cargo. Am glad to say that this is in place in Angola and Namibia much more strongly than when I spoke yesterday. The ship is still off the South African coastline in international waters making 11 knots on a course that will take it to Lobito around midday on Friday (25th)
www.ciir.org/www.ciir.org
One of Christian Aid's partners, the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, is among the church groups warning of impending genocide if nothing is done to help the people of Zimbabwe. Read their statement below.
As the shepherds of the people, we, Church leaders of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ), the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC) and the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), express our deep concern over the deteriorating political, security, economic and human rights situation in Zimbabwe following the March 29, 2008 national elections. Before the elections, we issued statements urging Zimbabweans to conduct themselves peacefully and with tolerance towards those who held different views and political affiliation from one's own. After the elections, we issued statements commending Zimbabweans for the generally peaceful and politically mature manner in which they conducted themselves before, during and soon after the elections. Reports that are coming through to us from our Churches and members throughout the country indicate that the peaceful environment has, regrettably, changed:
Given the political uncertainty, anxiety and frustration created by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC's) failure to release the results of the presidential poll 4 weeks after polling day:
Organized violence perpetrated against individuals, families and communities who are accused of campaigning or voting for the 'wrong' political party in the March 29, 2008 elections has been unleashed throughout the country, particularly in the countryside and in some high density urban areas. People are being abducted, tortured, humiliated by being asked to repeat slogans of the political party they are alleged not to support, ordered to attend mass meetings where they are told they voted for the 'wrong' candidate and should never repeat it in the run-off election for President, and, in some cases, people are murdered.
The deterioration in the humanitarian situation is plummeting at a frightful pace. The cost of living has gone beyond the reach of the majority of our people. There is widespread famine in most parts of the countryside on account of poor harvests and delays in the process of importing maize from neighbouring countries.
The shops are empty and basic foodstuffs are unavailable. Victims of organized torture who are ferried to hospital find little solace as the hospitals have no drugs or medicines to treat them. As the shepherds of the people, we appeal:
We urge you to refuse to be used for a political party or other people's selfish end especially where it concerns violence against other people, including those who hold different views from your own. It was the Lord Jesus who said, 'Whatever you do to one of these little ones, you do it unto me' (Matthew 25:45). We call on all Zimbabweans and on all friends of Zimbabwe to continue to pray for our beautiful nation. As the shepherds of God's flock, we shall continue to speak on behalf of Zimbabwe's suffering masses and we pray that God's will be done. We remain God's humble servants,
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ)
The Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops' Conference (ZCBC)
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC)
Dear Linda,
Greetings to you and every one I met during my visit, I am very sorry to send a response after such a long time. I was out in the communal areas where there is no internet. Memories of you wonderful people are still fresh in my mind and its exciting when I remember the moments we shared.
Our situation here is getting more risky each day, and as I speak, it is 23 days of waiting for election results that are not coming out. People are living in fear of a serious potential humanitarian disaster. We thank God for the peace that has prevailed so far, and we wish his will for peace may prevail.
I continue to firm up in m work of teaching the poor how to grow their own food and sustain their lives. this year I began work in Binga (a district in the northern part of the country which borders with Zambia). the people here are the most marginalised and year after year suffer from perennial food shortages. I see hope with Conservation Farming/Farming God’s Way.
Thank you very much, send my greetings to all,
Vuyisile Blessed (VB)
www.christian-aid.org.uk
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