News from our Global Ministries partners in Zimbabwe

Greetings to you in the Holy Trinity. We realize most of you are anxious to get information about the situation in Zimbabwe. Currently the situation is calm and most Zimbabweans are waiting anxiously for the Presidential results to be released. Daily there are new media reports on processes that might be taking place in this waiting period which most Zimbabweans are not aware of. Such reports are from local and international media. The truth is that the Presidential results outcome is not officially known, though there could be rumors that these are known. We do not anticipate the situation to deteriorate to Kenyan proportions because of the fabric of our society. We also have not heard of any official statement from the church about this waiting period, though there have been statements issued by observer teams on the general conduct of the elections in which observer teams felt elections were conducted in a calm environment. There is already pressure on the Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC) to release the results whilst ZEC’s official position has been that they also have an interest to have the results out but certain processes have to be finalized before the results could be released. Some sectors believe there is going to be a run off election which will be very peaceful and we are not likely to have any clashes? Other sectors also believe the run off can be avoided if the politicians agree to a power sharing deal which has also been rumored to be underway, and the government is already portraying this could be the next step? Our leader is in the process of getting in touch with the three main church bodies (the EFZ, ZCC and the ZCBC) to be appraised on processes taking place within the church if there are any. As soon as we get this information we would surely appraise you. In terms of support to us: 1. We would appreciate if you could continue to pray for the situation here. (add link to weekly prayer for Zimbabwe here) Short term 2. As the situation is such that most of the people are still anxiously waiting, there is a need for Psycho – support to Zimbabweans. Many churches have already started doing this through their Sunday Worship Services, where virtually in most churches people are praying for Zimbabwe. We envisage a need for such a programme in which we continue to support the churches through the Minister’s fraternals to share their experiences and to empower them to handle situations in their communities and congregations, through prayer, facilitating dialogue and reconciliation. There is a definite need for a lot of Advocacy to heal the rifts that may emerge from the transition. We would appreciate if there are some among yourselves who are willing to support us in this project. Long term 3. We can even start thinking about a massive food aid operation because there is likely to be a declaration of disaster to address the food security situation worsened by the floods which were followed by a long dry spell. Most of the equipment we have for humanitarian work is aging and we would require new vehicles, food donations and additional resources for a parallel food pipeline. Farming inputs are also critical for ensuring recovery in communities.

Greetings to you in the Holy Trinity. We realize most of you are anxious to get information about the situation in Zimbabwe.  Currently the situation is calm and most Zimbabweans are waiting anxiously for the Presidential results to be released.  Daily there are new media reports on processes that might be taking place in this waiting period which most Zimbabweans are not aware of. Such reports are from local and international media.  The truth is that the Presidential results outcome is not officially known, though there could be rumors that these are known.  We do not anticipate the situation to deteriorate to Kenyan proportions because of the fabric of our society. We also have not heard of any official statement from the church about this waiting period, though there have been statements issued by observer teams on the general conduct of the elections in which observer teams felt elections were conducted in a calm environment.  There is already pressure on the Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC) to release the results whilst ZEC’s official position has been that they also have an interest to have the results out but certain processes have to be finalized before the results could be released. Some sectors believe there is going to be a run off election which will be very peaceful and we are not likely to have any clashes?  Other sectors also believe the run off can be avoided if the politicians agree to a power sharing deal which has also been rumored to be underway, and the government is already portraying this could be the next step? Our leader is in the process of getting in touch with the three main church bodies (the EFZ, ZCC and the ZCBC) to be appraised on processes taking place within the church if there are any. As soon as we get this information we would surely appraise you. In terms of support to us: 1.  We would appreciate if you could continue to pray for the situation here.  (add link to weekly prayer for Zimbabwe here) Short term 2.  As the situation is such that most of the people are still anxiously waiting, there is a need for Psycho – support to Zimbabweans.  Many churches have already started doing this through their Sunday Worship Services, where virtually in most churches people are praying for Zimbabwe.  We envisage a need for such a programme in which we continue to support the churches through the Minister’s fraternals to share their experiences and to empower them to handle situations in their communities and congregations, through prayer, facilitating dialogue and reconciliation.  There is a definite need for a lot of Advocacy to heal the rifts that may emerge from the transition.   We would appreciate if there are some among yourselves who are willing to support us in this project.   Long term 3.  We can even start thinking about a massive food aid operation because there is likely to be a declaration of disaster to address the food security situation worsened by the floods which were followed by a long dry spell. Most of the equipment we have for humanitarian work is aging and we would require new vehicles, food donations and additional resources for a parallel food pipeline.   Farming inputs are also critical for ensuring recovery in communities.