Lion Walk
United Reformed Church
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Dear Friends: I have often written in our church magazine, and said in the pulpit, that Christianity
is far from the easiest thing in the world, and that many of life’s crises
and problems seem to have no simple Christian solution. Indeed, I have sometimes suggested that
applying glib Christian platitudes to a difficult or sensitive situation can
sometimes do more harm than good. I’m thinking of this again as I listen every day to the news
from Zimbabwe. Various politicians and
commentators from home and abroad have been making a variety of suggestions
of ways in which the international community might deal with the oppressive
and corrupt regime of Robert Mugabe.
Some have suggested that it must be left to neighbouring African
nations to bring pressure to bear on the Zimbabwe government, others have been
calling for a UN peacekeeping force, and some have even suggested a team of
assassins. |
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How have Christians responded?
You may recall the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, cutting up his
clerical collar on BBC television as a symbol of the destruction of the
Zimbabwean people’s identity by their own government. Archbishop Desmond Tutu has also been
outspoken in his criticism of the Mugabe regime. While acknowledging that Mugabe was
‘someone we were very proud of’, he now calls for action from Zimbabwe’s
African neighbours. But what action can there be?
Strong sanctions, such as cutting electricity supplies, would only add
to the Zimbabweans’ misery, while the current EU sanctions against the
country’s ruling elite seem useless.
There is no simple way forward, and as Christians there seems little
we can do but remember the plight of our Zimbabwean friends, keep them in our
prayers, and let them know that we are thinking of them. I am in intermittent e-mail contact with the minister from the
Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa who visited us last year. He and his family are struggling to cope
with the hyper-inflation and with long periods without electricity. Always the optimist, he says that he is
better off than many of his congregation, and that the crisis cannot last
much longer. I have sent him a message
of support; please remember him and all Zimbabweans in your prayers. Ken If
you wish, please use these prayers: Prayer for Zimbabwe Land
of plenty, Place
of want; Land
of prosperity, Place
of need; Land
of freedom, Place
of oppression; Land
of cheerfulness, Place
of misery; Land
of family, Place
of loneliness; Land
of sunshine, Place
of darkness; Land
of friendship, Place
of hate; Land
of hospitality, Place
of fear; Land
of peace, Place
of conflict. God’s
land, Fallen
place. God
bless Zimbabwe; God
save Zimbabwe. Amen ‘Prayer for Zimbabwe’ © Ken Forbes 2006 Hear the Good News ‘Hear the good news of the Kingdom’, we say, but there are those
who cannot hear because their world is filled with the sounds of suffering
and for them there is only bad news. ‘Freedom from oppression,’ we say, but still there are
millions living in the shadow of hunger and death while others lives of
extravagance and wastefulness. ‘Release for the captive,’ we say, perhaps without really
knowing what we mean by it; content to live with the knowledge that prisons
throughout the world are filled beyond capacity. And so we remember those to whom we are called to bring Good
News: those for whom each day brings more bad news; those whose relationships
bring not love but misery; those whose work is not an expression of their
talent or skill but a battle to provide for themselves and their dependents. May
they hear news that is truly good. We remember those who are deprived of the essentials of life;
who live in poverty so desperate it is hard for us even to imagine; who live
with pain and sickness because no medical help is available to them; who have
to rely on their children to be providers. May
they hear news that is truly good. We remember those who are trapped by poverty, unable to
realise dreams and ambitions; and those who are trapped by wealth, unable to
relax, fearful of future loss. May
they hear news that is truly good. We have heard Good News; let us share it, and let us work to
ensure that the news we bring is truly good. ‘Hear the Good News’ © Ken
Forbes 2006 Link to Churches Together in Britain and Ireland –
Supporting Christians in Zimbabwe,
including church statements on Zimbabwe |
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