I know this article is long, but please take the time
to read it and pray for the children there and the
mission efforts. It'll be very hard to read, expect
some tears, but know that it's okay to greive with
them. The graphic part is forewarned so you can skip
that part if you need to.
If you haven't heard, Zimbabwe has been going through
some political chaos resulting in homes being
demolished and 250,000-1.5 million people being made
homeless. ( That was the estimate I heard a month
ago.)
The government has order the distrucion of urban
areas. Either you can tear down your own home, or
they will do it for you and charge you a fee. The
govenment claims it's because "crimials and riff-raff"
live in these areas and it will make the the cities
safer. However outsiders recognize that is was these
urban areas that had the highest voting for the
opposition in the last election. And the government
might have ordered this as punishment or to prevent
the organization of a revolt. Either way, hundreds of
thousands of men women and children are homeless,
suffering and dying in the winter weather.
This is an article written by Dave Ohlerking, head of
Children's Cup International. (the group I'll be going
to Africa with in the spring.) They serve in
Swaziland, Zimbabwe, and Veitnam.
thank you
christy
Read on only if you can open your heart
to know about some unthinkable
human suffering.
-Dave
For two decades Zimbabwe has been a profoundly
emotional part of my life. People close to me feel
like in my mind I live there. And now the grief is
even deeper than tears.
Following are some excerpts from the secular press
that tell part of the story.
From the Sunday Telegraph (UK) 19 June 2005:
“It (Zimbabwe) is a wasteland. Street after street
razed in a scene that looks like a natural disaster.
The hundreds of thousands who have been left homeless
call if ‘Zimbabwe’s Tsunami’. But man, not nature, is
to blame for the destruction enveloping this country.”
At a time when inflation is 500% and unemployment is
80%, tens of thousands try to get money for food by
informal street vending. A government crackdown has
bulldozed vender stalls and shacks where thousands of
unemployed displaced persons seek shelter. The article
continues:
“Veronica is an elderly widow who is critically ill
herself, she has three young grandchildren from her
dead daughter. Her home is destroyed.
“Some people came to Veronica and said, ‘Sister, there
are two people who are dying. Please come. One of
them, Mary, who is out in the open all night (in
freezing temperature) lying on an old damp mattress
can’t move with pain, she has [wounds] which are open
and bleeding. What is worse—her tears or her bleeding
wounds? [A paralyzing thought.]
“Anne had delivered a baby a week ago, she is
critically ill and is on the verge of death. What is
going to happen to her baby?”
From the LA Times by Robyn Dixon
“At dawn, Gatawa, 27, sat amid the chaos and panic
cradling her dying baby, with not the vaguest idea how
to save her. At 8 in the morning, Nyasha’s eyes closed
and no amount of rocking, hugging or nursing would
bring her back. It is winter in Zimbabwe, and the
mother believes she died of cold.
“Roads across the country are packed with homeless
people pushing handcarts filled with their
possessions. Once they arrive, they are greeted by the
chronic hunger and unemployment that plague rural
Zimbabwe, and village chiefs often tell them to go
back where they came from.
“Dominican nuns were ordered to tear down a day center
they had set up for 120 orphans. The nine-room center
had a clinic where anti-retroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS
were administered. The patients, many of them
children, are now scattered.”
My soul-deep commitment to Zimbabwe began in 1985.
HISTORY
In the mid-eighties I watched as the number of
refugees fleeing into Zimbabwe to escape the war in
Mozambique grew to more than 250,000. I directed
programs that moved as much as 65,000 tons of food and
commodities into the five refugee centers set up by
the government. In those years I applauded the
Zimbabwean government for being a “good neighbor” to
the hurting Mozambicans. And maturing government
policies were allowing the nation’s production and
economy to recover dramatically from the war that
changed Rhodesia into Zimbabwe. The first time a staff
member and I went into the camp called Tongogara they
assigned a government agent to go everywhere with us
to be sure we didn’t give people Bibles or talk about
Jesus. Over the next few months our projects saved
thousands of lives with food and medical care. We
watched the general security and health of the
refugees improve to the point government officials
commended us and even relaxed restrictions on overt
Christian ministry to the people. One very effective
ministry arose from the need for crowd control during
the clinic operations. Hundreds of people would be
milling around trying to be the next ones to get into
the clinic for treatment. There was obviously a need
for crowd control. We got permission for staff members
to settle the crowd by teaching them songs. Africans
love to sing. Hearing a crowd of Africans sing is
thrilling and soul-stirring. You’ve already guessed we
taught them Gospel songs. They sang the Gospel into
their own hearts!
Earlier we had asked permission to build a church in
the camp. “No way,” the officials responded. “When you
build a church that’s when the fights start.” (Isn’t
that a sad indictment on Christians?) But those same
officials had noted how our ministry had calmed the
camp and solved many matters of inmate discontent. “It
might be good if you did build a church—we’ll even
give you a place for the pastor to live.” Are you
remembering Jesus’ declaration, “I will build my
church…”? Carpentry, masonry, fabric dying, and
garment-making training projects gave thousands of
refugees skills that would let them earn a living.
Then when the war ended in Mozambique our team helped
truck the refugees and their possessions back to their
former home areas. Please note and rejoice with us: So
many refugees had come to Christ in the camp that when
they resettled back in Mozambique they instantly
formed into 16 new churches and preaching points! But
just as soon as the refugee crises was over a new and
even more sinister wave of needy ones came to the
former refugee centers for shelter and help—AIDS
orphans and vulnerable children--OVC in United Nations
parlance. Since 1996 the number of OVC that Children’s
Cup provides for has risen to as many as 1500. Food,
education, clothing, shelter, skills training, and
most of all the Gospel have changed these young lives.
In the late 1980’s was being called an African success
story. It produced enough food to export. Commerce
matured. Churches flourished. Hope was building.
PRESENT
Now everything has changed. Laws and policies were set
in place that deconstructed the society and its
economy. If you have access to the Internet I
encourage you to read newspapers of Zimbabwe. Go to
the UNAIDS site and read what is happening. And the
plight of the OVC only worsened. New laws and policies
are trying to close all avenues of humanitarian help
for the OVC. Zimbabwe has become one of the most
dangerous places in the world to live or travel.
Travel is mortally risky. A fellow missionary and
three other humanitarians have been murdered at
roadblocks. Ben and I had our truck disabled and we
were robbed by a gang of thugs. Attempted break-ins at
our staff housing in Harare occur almost every
night—if the intruders make it into the house
unthinkable things happen to the women and children.
Stop reading now if you are squeamish:
A favorite terror act of the intruders’ final deed of
rape is to use a gun barrel. It is an ongoing struggle
to keep finding legal ways to get help to the OVC.
For most of our 1500 kids we are their only source of
food or medical care. If we are stopped from reaching
them, many will die. You can read the statistics.
FUTURE
We will not abandon Zimbabwe. We will do everything in
our power to keep at least our 1500 precious little
ones—most of them we have hugged and many of them we
know by name—alive and as healthy as possible. Too
many times we come right up to the end of the month
and do not have the $4000 (that’s $2.67 per month per
child) it takes for Zimbabwe for the next month. Will
you consider carrying a bit of this load with us by
taking on a one-year commitment for monthly
support—you choose the amount as God leads you—for our
Zimbabwe OVC’s?
We can’t believe God will walk away from Zimbabwe.
Neither will we walk away.
©Copyright 2005 Children's Cup
