Richard & Debbie Lee Newsletter May 2006
Richard & Debbie Lee Newsletter May 2006
This newsletter is going to be an explanation of our situation in Zimbabwe, and the options we may have elsewhere if we do not remain in Zimbabwe. We will explain as much as we can to give you an understanding of our options, and ask you to pray with us and contact us with your input. Please con tact us and help us to make the correct decisions for our ministry and lives.
We will begin with Zimbabwe where we have been for about 12 years in a very successful ministry until the country disintegrated into total chaos and virtual anarchy.
Politically, the country is a dictatorship, financially bankrupt. Industry, commerce and agriculture are all but destroyed by a regime that is determined to keep power at any cost, even to the destruction of every aspect of the economy. Opposition is so demoralized that it is virtually useless. The ZANU PF government of Mugabe has been in power since independence in 1980. all elections since then have been rigged. Every aspect of public life has been infiltrated and controlled by the secret police or C.I.O. The rate of monetary inflation is nearly 1000% and rising weekly.
Unemployment is at about 80%. People estimate that even if Mugabe dies today it will take ten to fifteen years to get rid of the ZANU PF entirely. As regards our ministry here, our influence has been steadily eroded by the instability and infiltration of the church by ZANU PF. Even among our leadership there have been many that have joined the powers that be to gain protection from political thuggery and to get a plate of food. I cannot condemn them, hunger and terrorism are very persuasive to people that have no power to make any change for the better.
Our work is doubly difficult because so many people have been subverted, that it is difficult to trust anyone anymore. Not the ideal environment for evangelism, but we feel that we cannot just abandon people who are in such desperate need.
Most of our churches are able to continue with out us as right from the beginning of our ministry we insisted that the leaders should be local and able to carry on without us. We visit them as often as we can to encourage and assist them in this. If Zimbabwe ever returns to normality, I am confident that the church will continue and grow, the Holy Spirit takes care of the church everywhere and in every situation, if we allow Him to.
We support an old people's home financially and with a large amount of food stuffs, which we have to import from South Africa. There are about 70 people who are totally dependant on charity, without it they would starve. We also help an AIDS orphanage with food and finance. We also support a number of near destitute people, some school children who cannot pay fees and we produce some basic food or produce on our property in Filabusi, in this regard we are sup ported by I.D.E.S (we are very grateful as this is a big help). These are all things to do with the flesh rather than the soul but we are also involved in spiritual matters as well and as best we can in difficult circum stances. We visit the churches in Binga as often as fuel allows and a lot of churches in the US send us old clothing, which we distribute in the district. We thank you and ask that you continue to send anything that you can for these Christians; they appreciate your love and kindness.
We have a weekly bible study in people's homes and accept every invitation to preach that we can. That is our current situation in Zimbabwe and this may not improve or deteriorate for years. We pray and trust that God will continue to use us in any way that He sees fit for His kingdom.
Politically Zambia is stable with an economy that is growing. We have visited Zambia four times in the past year, and there is a real need for spiritual work, especially among Zimbabweans who are refugees either politically or financially.
There are some difficulties in getting a work/residence permit for Christian workers. There is a denominational structure in Zambia and to do Christian work there you have to be a part of some denominational organization, problem for us. We could get in as business people, plus being a "lay" preacher, but to get a permit from the Zambian government to do that, we have to prove that we have US$ 30,000. We don't have that kind of money, so is almost impossible for us, but we know that God will make a way if that is what He wants us to do.
Over Easter, we were in Chisamba, Zambia where our son, Zane and his family are. I was asked to preach for the Easter service at a church there, which has a congregation of about 30. The pastor who preached there for eight years has gone back to South Africa. After the service the elders asked me if I would be interested in pastoring for them on a permanent basis, we discussed all the options possible as follows;
- They would try and sponsor us and give us support to get there and acquire the dreaded work/residence permit.
- We could travel from Filabusi to Chisamba once or twice a month, a round trip of nearly 1,500 miles, almost impossible as it would be too expensive and too much of a strain.
- We could stay for a week at a time each month and hold Bible studies in the week and a service on each of the two weekends, still a lot of travel.
Debbie and I are both eligible for SA Residence so would have little difficulty getting into SA. We both speak some Afrikaans, their main language and I speak Ndebele which is a dialect of Zulu, the main Indigenous language. A home would be expensive there, about US$ 100,000, impossible for us. Also, SA is well "churched" in that all, or nearly all, denominations are well represented there. It would be difficult to "break" in there, but nothing is impossible with God.
You all know the situation here by now. We can only add that if we leave Zimbabwe we will have to walk away from almost everything we own on this earth. We would lose our home and property and get nothing from it. We may or may not be allowed to take a vehicle and our personal effects, our furniture. We have no pension or insurances, little savings, and our age is against us to try and start again in another country. We are not eligible for a pension in any country except, possibly in the U.K when we reach 65, which is not too far away!!!
We can get most things in Zimbabwe but pay ten times more than we would in SA, hence we buy almost everything in SA. It is a 3 hour trip for us to the border, so we are fortunate and blessed we can do this. Even with the expense of the border crossing, tollgates and road taxes, it is cheaper. The only fuel we can get in Zimbabwe is private so they charge what they want. We paid Z$ 76,000,000 for two drums of diesel! One trip to Binga is one drum! Electricity has gone up by 600%, medical insurance goes up each month from Z$ 7,000000 to Z$ 14,610,000 a month. We have four to six hijackings a week in town, last week we had three in one day, one person was shot dead at their gate. We have to be alert all the time.
We are sorry to pass all this on to you, but we just can't seem to get an answer to our dilemma ourselves. We pray daily, others pray for us, we look at options but so far a blank. Please pray for us and with us and give us your wisdom. We really are get ting quite desperate. We want you to know that with out your prayers and support we cannot go on. Our inclination is to stay put, home is home and hard to leave but our support is beginning to dwindle as our supporters think we need a new focus, a new start, perhaps we do, but most of all we need some input, some direction and a lot of prayer. We are Africans and this is where we were born and lived most of our lives and it is very difficult to pack up and leave. Foreign missionaries are fortunate as they can pack up and go home to their families and homes, this is our home, where do we go?
As a foot note, last week we had a visit from the local member of parliament, a man who shot his opponent dead during elections, in the Filabusi police station, and has never been charged. He drove onto our property, questioned our workers, wandered around looking at everything, then came to our home and demanded to see me, questioned me about all sorts of things then drove off, no appointment, just rude and arrogant. When he left we felt violated and intimidated which, I suppose, was his objective. Who knows whether he wants to move onto our property, he could decide that tomorrow and tell us to leave. We have a great God and know He is in control.
Gayle is looking to leave the U.K in September, when her contract ends with her job. She is hoping to go to either the U.S.A or to New Zealand. She has been in the U.K for six years now and is ready to move onto some warmer weather!! Families are so scattered all over the world since farms have been taken over and people chased off. We don't get to see much of our children since they have left Zimbabwe.
We pray that our news will be of some help to enlighten you all as to what is going on in our lives.
We love you all and appreciate your love, prayers and support and faithfulness. Without you we cannot continue our work.
We love you all, God bless,
The Lee’s, Richard and Debbie
It has happened! We have been designated and lost our property and home. We had a letter 2 days ago. We haven't been told how long before we have to leave, but that will come in the next few days. We will probably loose everything. This week, Richard will be going into Bulawayo to see an organization that tries to help by giving advice in these situations. We need your prayers and support more than ever before in the next few months as we have big decisions to make. We have a great God and know that He will open the door for us. Where He leads we will follow. Psalm 120:1, Jeremiah 29:11, Colossians 1:17. Therefore, hold onto His promises; Place your entire trust and faith in Him.
Through Him we will survive all dangers and adversaries, to His greater glory -- Amen!
Our Board of Directors Don Hart (Chairman) San Jose, California Deanna Kietzke San Jose, California Jeff Bigelow El Dorado Hills, California Larry Stilgebouer Rio Rancho, New Mexico Our Forwarding Agent Temporarily: Donald Hart 5545 Laura Drive San Jose, CA 95124