I am a big fan of the Harry Potter series.  It may not have much depth, but man what a story.  Maybe it is that part of me that always wanted to be conspiring for freedom and something good against the powers that be... and to fly at the same time.  And if you have read the series there is a point towards the end that the maliciousness and deceit of the magical authorities is obvious, but there power is so pervasive and absolute that there is not much anyone can do about it.  Blatant lies are being told, violence is silencing anyone who dares to speak out... There is violence that makes you wander if there is any humanity left in the ones perpetrating it.  All the while in this book you are asking yourself why doesn't anyone do anything about it.  And then comes Harry Potter and his ragamuffin magical troop who rise from the dust and win the day.  But it is just a novel.  It would be nearly impossible for three kids to overturn the violent oppression of their 'government'.  You are glad there really isn't a group of people who will blatantly lie, burn women and children, beat and torture countless masses, and crush anyone who opposes them...

Over 80 people have been killed by the ruling party since the March 29th elections.  Family members of the opposing party have been kidnapped, mutilated, and burned alive.  Thousands of people have fled from their homes in fear of their lives.  Hundreds of thousands have been subject to the 're-education' camps that consist of political brainwashing, beating, rape, and sometimes death.  In the meantime the ruling president blames it on his opposition.  Everyone knows its a lie, and everyone is desperate for help and change.  Meanwhile a regime is losing its humanity with every stick that breaks across a woman's back and every child who loses its father to their violence.

But where is the hero?  This isn't a book, there isn't a magical teenager that will save the day.  How long will the UN and the SADC turn a blind eye?  How long will people sleep in their  meaningless when innocent people are dying?  How long will headlines like, "Sports bra saves hiker," "High Court to Hear Whale Case," and "Couple May Be Illegally Married" be more popular than "Genocide is possible in Zimbabwe?"  We must be praying and raising awareness. 

The youngest son of the couple we stayed with in Harare always had hope for his country, but his hope rested in God.  "When Zimbabwe rises back up to be something in Africa people will be able to look and say, 'Look at what God did,' because only he will be able to pull Zimbabwe up from where it is." 

We had a prayer meeting last night for Zimbabwe and this verse was offered by someone whose fiance lives in Zimbabwe:

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. - Romans 12:12 

Let that be our prayer for the church in Zimbabwe. 

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Rob Bell commented about the Dali Llama and Bishop Desmond Tutu's ability to transition from the gravity of human suffering to the lightheartedness of our human experience seamlessly.  He said that to endure the suffering of humanity one must have a deep seated sense of humor that bubbles through the pain.  He told of the Dali Llama tickling the Bishop during a hug at a forum.  Rob happened to be seated next to these two iconic figures and when the tickling commenced he snapped a picture of it with his cell phone!  I guess this picture could represent that humor bubbling through the soul of the people of Zimbabwe.  For some reason Jimmy, Andrew, and I were recruited to be in the choir one night in Harare.  Did I mention we can't speak any Shona?  And if you look very closely you can see that my choir robe is on inside out (Jimmy gets credit for that one because he wanted to switch robes with me while we were waiting outside in the dark).  

Well the experience was quite exhilarating - I can now say I crashed an African Choir (and an African Wedding - more on that later).  We got to process in with the choir swaying back and forth singing words to which Jimmy, Andrew, and I simply sang 'I have no idea what I am singing' and tried to hit the right notes, which didn't work out very often.  Then they had us come up front to help do a song with a group of about 7 men, and I got to play the drum on this one.  Now I had been playing the drum all week and received numerous comments about my mad skills (which I am friggin pumped about - a bunch of African people said I had good rhythm).  However on this song the singer turned back and told me that my drum was out of tune and that I should stop playing.  Ouch - ego buster.  So all the while we are doing this song I am up there having one of those internal fights in my head.  You know the kind I am talking about - where you are arguing with yourself over whether he was really saying I was way off beat or that the drum needed to be tightened.  It was kind of a stale mate, so I had to just smile and clap during the song because I had no idea what they were singing.  

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As I read the news of Zimbabwe today - political leaders' wives and children being burned alive - there is a growing fear that June 27 will be very bloody.  I can't help but feel a sense of guilt and sorrow for my new friends that we left behind in the midst of all that violence.  In my posts about Zimbabwe I will refrain from using any names and the photos will not contain any adults due to the possibility that Mugabe's people might be scanning the web for targets of the tyrannical rule.   

Chris Kirby and I stayed with a great family.  We received the most precious hospitality from people who literally have nothing.  Nothing but hope.  in conversations with the youngest son he kept on saying that his people have hope.  I can testify to the truth of that statement for wherever we went we saw people who were trusting that God would deliver their nation from the rule of Mugabe.  People would show up early to church services and just begin singing, sometimes in the dark.  It is very humbling to think that your presence is the answer to someone's prayer.  But that is exactly what our ministry in Zimbabwe had been for two weeks.  More than us praying that God would shape us there was an elderly woman praying that God would send her some relief from the pain caused by years of hard labor and hard living, there were children praying for their stomachs to feel better, there were children crying out for someone to love them.  It is very humbling knowing that God uses us to answer other peoples' prayers even when we are not a very good answer to the prayer.  For me this has made me want to ready myself to be a better answer next time.  

Once you meet the people of another country and experience their generosity and kindness it is almost impossible to imagine the evil and violence that their neighbors are bringing to them.  My prayer is not so much that one party would win over the other, though that is definitely a concern, but it is rather that the church would stand as a light in the darkness and be a refuge for the bleeding, a beacon screaming out into the abyss that their is another way.  It breaks my heart to think of any of my brothers or sisters in Christ having to wrestle with the decision to kill or be killed, to take up arms in a civil war.  It has made me wrestle with my own pacifism.  Will I be one who will stand with them?  How?  

Lord let us not stand by while your children suffer. 

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Posted In: zimbabwe missions

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it is 2am and I have just wrapped up my packing for the trip.  We meet at Tyson-Mcghee at 11am - 9 hours to go.  I have to be honest, I am kinda nervous.  Brazil was kinda like America, except everyone spoke Portuguese.  Zimbabwe on the other hand will be completely different culturally, politically, economically...  We packed alot of vitamins and antibiotics to take with us.  I have never seen so many children's vitamins!  One of the ladies from Fairview dropped by a few thousand antibiotics yesterday.  These pills could literally save hundreds of lives.

We have an 18 hour plane ride to Harare (not including layovers).  I am hoping to get a lot of reading done.  I just found an awesome writer named Margaret Feinberg.  She is an 'expert' in Twentysomethings and has a book by that name.  Great writer.  I am finishing up one of her books entitled, The Organic God.  She talks about how our relationship with God doesn't need anything added to it or taken out of it to make it any sweeter, or look any better than it already is.  We just need a pure, unadulterated, relationship with our Creator.  I am also determined to beat one of the Sudoku puzzles in the airline magazine.  I finished one on our Brazil trip, but it took me a good 2 hours.  I am bent on beating these things... pray for my sanity.  Also, I have always heard that sitting for long periods of time on flights can increase your risk of a blood clot.  Besides getting a kidney stone, this is one of my biggest fears.  

I found out yesterday that I may be able to go with one of team mates to meet her sponsor child that lives about 180 miles out of Harare.  I am totally pumped about this.  She sponsors her child through World Vision so we will get to ride out there with the World Vision crew and see what they do.  Since we sponsor a child in Rwanda, I am really looking forward to seeing the impact this has on a family.  

I am not looking forward to being away from my own family for two weeks though.  Please pray that God stunts Pax's growth for the next two weeks and he doesn't do anything really cool until I get home and then he just lets it all out.  Seriously though, knowing how much I missed Sarah and Morgan when we went to Brazil keeps my heart here.   

There continues to be political violence in the more rural areas.  That is why we have changed our plans so that we will be in the city more.  Please pray for our safety, and more importantly our effectiveness and boldness in sharing the love of Christ in word and deed.  

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Despite all parties having written a plea to their supporters to withhold violence if a dispute in the election occurs, Zimbabweans are experiencing torture, harassment, and worse from Zanu PF soldiers who are cracking down on MDC supporters. And as things get worse there is a ship trying to port on the continent so as to deliver 77 tons of weapons to Zimbabwe.  Luckily South Africa would not unload the ship and it is now headed for Mozambique where it hopes so find leniency.  The shipment is from China who has reportedly had a trade agreement with Zimbabwe for some time in return for the rights to various mines in the country.  This may all sound normal if the shipment wasn't ordered merely 3 days after the close of the election.

Many people are already fleeing the countryside where Mugabe's men are known to target and finding sanctuary in the larger cities.  Harare has become a refuge for thousands while Mutare has Chinese troops openly patrolling with other Zanu PF. 

For up-to-date information visit http://www.zwnews.com/

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