It would be good to pray for Christians and others in Zimbabwe at the present time of crisis.

There’s a report in today’s SMH about persecuted Anglicans in that place.

And now Morgan Tsvangirai has decided to pull out of the election.

I’ve found psalms 37, 41 and 58 helpful in praying through the situation in Zimbabwe.

A member of my church, has a father who comes from Zimbabwe.

He was the most Christian person I have possibly met, due to his response to the Zimbabwe catastrophe.

He said to me, that although he had lost his farm, and every material support, and that although the situation in that country was calamitous, he trusted in God to deliver the people from the ignorance and corruption that existed there.

He was able to leave, but he was staying to see the glorious re-establishment of democracy in his beloved Zimbabwe. A brave old man, and someone I truly respect.

I visited Zimbabwe briefly in April.  Very sad - no food in the shops; no petrol at the bowsers; very few tourists (a handful of luxury hotels still subsist, and a few backpackers like me, hounded by strangers offering to swap our clothing and anything valuable for some artifact or craft); friendly people but an economy in ruins.  Where I was in Victoria Falls, you could drive half an hour in either direction to Zambia or Botswana and find a prosperous economy, stable currency, and democratic government.  The newspapers were just propaganda sheets; Vic Falls is an MDC stronghold, and you met nobody who supported the government.

Ken, we have Zimbabweans in our parish too - their reports of the murders and robberies of people they know is so characteristic of Africa nowadays - it reminds me of the Sudanese Anglicans I have met (many of whom are also here in WA):  the suffering of the Saints is immense in that continent.  Truly the tyranny of Mugabe has united black and white together in ways he could never had suspected.

Duplicate post deleted.

But it gives me the opportunity to ask:  has GAFCON considered this tragedy?

I have written an update version of the SC article about this issue here.

Prayer and practical assistance is urgently needed.

Jeremy Halcrow - 09 July 2008 11:44 AM

I have written an update version of the SC article about this issue here.

Prayer and practical assistance is urgently needed.

It’s so easy to be concerned about something for a while and then gradually forget about it.  Thanks Jeremy, for keeping Zimbabwe before us.
Bob

I’m getting cranky in my old age.

I’m at the point where I wish the AU would invade with the backing of the international community, then gradually the AU gets swallowed up into the EU as the EU expands across the globe… to eventually become the world Federal government. It’s a model not for a “United States of Europe” but of democratic processes between nations… at least it would have been if Lisbon had been passed.

Bob Cameron - 09 July 2008 12:23 PM

Jeremy Halcrow - 09 July 2008 11:44 AM

I have written an update version of the SC article about this issue here.

Prayer and practical assistance is urgently needed.

It’s so easy to be concerned about something for a while and then gradually forget about it.  Thanks Jeremy, for keeping Zimbabwe before us.
Bob

So true, Bob. We forget so quickly and we have no excuse.  The information age makes it so easy for us to keep abreast of almost any event but my desire for comfort can cause me be dull of hearing and slow to pray.

Thank you, Jeremy.

But this can lead to overload. I’m very passionate about the oil thing, probably for selfish reasons. I’m also keen on a few other topics and places… and am prone to idealism and wishful thinking about how the world should be.

I pray for Zimbabwe now and then, sometimes even with my kids at bedtime. But really, how many ‘causes’ and people and calamities and information overload are we really designed to cope with? We are not omnipresent.

Dave Lankshear - 19 July 2008 02:56 PM

We are not omnipresent.

Unless the definition of omnipresent is “being present on every discussion thread”, in which case . . .

Yeah, I hear you.

If Mugabe died tonight in his sleep, I do not think that Zimbabwe would change. The ZANU -PF estabishment have too much to loose.One can almost hear the voices of the white Rhodesian exiles in Perth and Sydney shouting, “ we told you so.”

Angela Crittle - 25 June 2008 07:07 PM

I’ve found psalms 37, 41 and 58 helpful in praying through the situation in Zimbabwe.

Don’t forget 52!

That’s a brilliant psalm in regard to Zimbabwe, Dan. And not just Zimbabwe come to think of it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.