 Mission Letter on Zimbabwe |
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Rev. R. Randy Day August 23, 2005
The current situation in the nation of Zimbabwe is of deep concern to the United Methodist family and other Christian churches worldwide. A severe drought and food shortage have gripped the land for more than two years. More recently, hundreds of thousands of people - perhaps a million - have been left homeless and jobless because of a government program to tear down urban shelters and commercial stalls considered illegal structures. We receive heart-rending stories of families and children living in the open during the cold months. This Mission Letter responds to the questions that the General Board of Global Ministries is receiving about how this agency is responding to these multiple crises in a place dear to us. It is addressed to all United Methodists and our ecumenical mission partners in the global church. Zimbabwe figures prominently in the ministries of the Board. There are in Zimbabwe United Methodist missionaries and mission volunteers (teams and individuals), church-related health care programs, humanitarian projects, and childcare ministries assisted by the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and the Women’s Division. Our responses to the current acute problems in Zimbabwe are pastoral and humanitarian. One big concern is for the safety of the clergy and other leaders of the Zimbabwean church. We are guided in our public witness by that leadership, with whom we have ongoing contact. Just as is the case with an annual conference in the US, all general agency activity in Zimbabwe is conducted in collaboration with the conference there. We are working in faith and spiritual solidarity with the Zimbabwean church to sustain the existing ministries of preaching and service. We are attempting to expand humanitarian ministries in the light of both the food crisis and the enormous number of homeless people. UMCOR has expended $234,000 in humanitarian relief in Zimbabwe since mid-2003, when the most recent food shortage began. So far this year, UMCOR has sent $90,000 in assistance for the homeless. We are working to assist the homeless in partnership with an ecumenical agency, Action by Churches Together International (ACT), and Christian Care, a Zimbabwe-based relief partner with major United Methodist involvement. Other funds have been provided to the annual conference for emergency needs. We face restrictions on what churches themselves can and cannot do in response to the displaced people. Many Zimbabwean congregations do not have buildings that could serve as shelters, even if this alternative were permitted. International attention and action, along with the cooperation of the Zimbabwean authorities and people, will be required to ameliorate the environmental, economic, and political factors responsible for the interlocking crises. United Methodists will contribute to the search for answers when we: In Christ’s name,
Date posted: Aug 23, 2005 |
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