From a Zimbabwe where the final act of self destruction by a paranoid government and a placid populace is being played out in an orgy of violence, hate, racism and bigotry.
When America was attacked on the 11th of September, it was a horrendous event; but the people responded with action, courage, and a determination to root out the cancer of terrorism, and have been doing so ever since.
Here in Zimbabwe we live with an 11 September on an almost daily basis, and no one does anything, or, if they do something, it is very weak and ineffectual. Event eh international community seems unable or unwilling to do very much and what is done is done far too late an much too little.
While innocent people are being beaten, raped, and murdered on a daily basis, the church, international, and local, seems at best unconcerned, and at worst, supportive of a regime that is determined to undermine everything decent and spiritually wholesome in Zimbabwe.
Our work has been reduced to a shadow as we have to run the gauntlet of illegal road blocks organized by the so-called youth brigade where there is a very real danger of being seriously assaulted if you do not carry a "party card". I refuse to carry one.
On my last visit to our churches in Binga, I came upon just such a "road block"; fortunately for me, the "youth brigade" was occupied with the people in three other cars they had stopped and i just slipped on by.
We just praise the Lord that our churches in Binga are coping so well. There is a sense of unity among the churches there that has been lacking for the past twenty or so years. We are the only Restoration Movement missionaries that work there now and all the churches in the movement are meeting together and sharing together in a truly wonderful way.
Famine in Binga is a way of life. Most people will never know the luxury of a secure hope of two nourishing meals a day. The best some hope for is just one meal a day.
Botswana/Zimbabwe Christian Mission, in partnership with IDES, has supplied famine relief for the people of two occasions in the past. This has been on the basis of supplying corn meal for the Christians, but, in my opinion, this has been treating the symptom (which is relatively expensive) instead of treating the cause.
We have now begun a new "self help" scheme for famine relief in partnership with a church in California. We, our mission, with friends from the church, buy boats for as little as $200 US and give the boat to a church which then allows its members to fish on a rotation basis on Lake Kariba, a huge man-made lake in the district. This brings in sufficient income from the fish to buy food and gives the people a source of protein as well as they eat some of their catch.
This works far better as it gives the people a feeling of self worth and at the end of the day they still have the boat, whereas if you give them food, when this is eaten, it is gone and they wait hungry for the next handout.
Binga has so far escape most of the political thuggery, perhaps because it is so remote and so poor; but there have been some ugly incidences. Fortunately no Christians have been hurt. Please pray that this relative peace continues.
Last week I had cause to go down to the southeast corner of Zimbabwe. The place I was try to g to find was in an area where there are a lot o unmarked dirt rods and finding your way it quite difficult. I had taken a wrong turn and asked directions from some of the locals. Their directions were not very clear and I again got lost, but this time on a road where there were a lot of land invaders come squatters. I realized my mistake and turned my truck around to retrace my steps when I came upon a group of people on the road. They flagged me down and, foolishly, I stopped, thinking to ask the way again.
From there on the situation began to turn nasty. I had hostile people on three sides of me, some armed with sticks and iron bars. A very nasty individual began to interrogate me, demanding to see my "party card". When that was not forthcoming, he began to aggressively ask why I did not have one.
I kept my engine running and truck in gear as I tried to remain calm and change the subject around to which direction I should go to get to my destination. We talked back and forth, he about the "card" and me about directions. Before the situation got right out of control, I quickly thanked him for his directions and just drove off in a cloud of dust!!
My would-be tormentors were left standing foolishly on the side of the road. While I decided discretion was the better part of valor and did not stop till I got home some four hours later!! It was only later that the anger rose up in me. What right did these people have not only to threaten my well being, but infringe on my democratic right to go about my business safely and unmolested. Such is life in Zimbabwe today. Needless to say, I don't go into remote areas any more and certainly will not until we have a change in government.
On a lighter note, or perhaps I should say, on a more spiritual note, the local Bible study is doing very well and because of it, we are to have six baptisms in the coming week.
I have, I regret to tell, almost forgotten how to baptize because all of our local church and not by me personally. Please pray for those six new converts as they make their decision for Jesus and live as Christians in very difficult circumstances.
How great it is to be a Christian and to know that God is in control!
Deut. 31:6
Some news on the family:
Derek and his family now live in Bulawayo. Derek runs a gold stamp mill like they did in the California gold rush of 1849 and Corne, his wife ,works for Scripture Union. They have two boys, 16 and 12, who attend Christian schools in Bulawayo.
Zane and his family live here with us. They have a cottage. Zane does hunting safari's and Megan teaches at a private school (an hour's drive from Filabushi) two days a week and she also does fabric painting of animals and African scenes. Some of you did get to see some of her work when Richards was over. The best part of her working is that I get to take car of little Murray (8 months old). He is the cutest little boy and we love him to bits. We don't spoil him TOO much!!
We are so proud of Gayle. She is doing very well at university. She still gets very homesick and we miss her so much. We are so grateful that she can get to come home for special occasions, like she was home for her 21st birthday and Christmas. She won't be home for the summer break as she has to work to get some money together to help towards expenses.
I am unable to get out of the villages any more, but when Richard goes, i send sewing materials for the women so they can meet together and sew and have fellowship. If any of you ladies have spare fabrics, cottons ,(thread) scissors, machine needles, or lace that you don't use or need, we would appreciate anything in the sewing line. We have appreciated so much the boxes that folks have sent us. Please remember to keep the cost that you put on the boxes as low as possible and send to BZCM and from a church address. In this way we don't have to pay duties.
We have been having very hot weather and no rains for the past 2 moths. All the crops are dead or dying and many people face starvation. Our dam is almost empty and will hold water until April / May.
We have had to step up our security on our home as we have had some serious thefts the past 6 weeks. The one incident involved all Richard's tools, which he uses for woodwork and fixing all kinds of things, were all stolen. The were worth $1,000 US!! They even came back and stole the spare tire out of the back of the truck which was parked in the garage at the back of our house, plus cut our garden hose and siphoned all the fuel out of the truck and took a can of 20 litres of fuel. Fuel is very precious and scarce in Zimbabwe! They then came back again and stole clothing from our washing line!! But, with Richard's help (mostly and the police) the thieves are not in jail!!!!
We have had to lease a house for 6 months in Bulawayo. We were advised by the Commercial Farmer's Union to do this while the elections were on before and after. To find a house to rent is like "hen's teeth", but we were fortunate that a friend's daughter works for one real estate agent and she helped us. It is an unfurnished house, but we will throw some foam mattresses on the floor and use a couple of gas burners to cook on. Unfortunately, the least time anyone will lease is for 6 months. This is going to be an extra expense for us so we ask for your prayers and support during this trying time. We pray that we don't have to move at all!!! If the situation goes get out of hand, which it quite easily can, we will have to get out of the country for a while.
Oh, what a great God we have, who watches over us daily and allows every situation according to His will. We covert your daily prayers, and thank you for your love, concern, and support
In Christian love