'They take. They burn Zimbabwe. We are dying.' (by Andrew B.)
+ Download Andrew's full report (warning: graphic images).
Tandi,
Kotwa, Mudzi North province:Four of us were walking together and we saw the ZanuPF Youth approaching. We ran but they caught me and forced me to the water. "You have to surrender your information to us. You are a son of ZanuPF. We baptize you in the name of ZanuPF."
I was drowning. My mind started to go dark as I prayed to God. I do not know what happened but suddenly the men holding me under the water were gone and my feet found the ground. I lay on the bank of the river coughing and choking. My friends found me and took me to Harare in a man's car.
We are punished because we do not accept ZanuPF as God. This is why we are punished. Many days in a row we go without food. Sometimes we are forced to drink standing water. They take. They burn Zimbabwe. We are dying.
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Comments
More please, we need to see this.
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Posted by: Payshun | May 7, 2008 4:34 PM
Thank you for sharing this. Not enough people see what is happening in Zimbabwe!!
Posted by: Krista | May 7, 2008 5:17 PM
I feel impotent in the face of such horror. I almost turned away, but felt compelled to read and look. There is something horribly wrong in our world when these things occur in a nation while most of the world stands horrified but somehow unable to find a way to stop it.
Posted by: Conrad Steinhoff | May 7, 2008 5:49 PM
I know it will probably be said that it's my job to figure out, but what can be done here?
Posted by: Robb | May 7, 2008 8:53 PM
Tragic ...
As an African I am ashamed of the fact that most of our political leaders pretend that there is no problem in Zimbabwe.
Some possibly envy Mugabe his 'impunity'! African leaders have the best chance of making the man see sense, applying a little subtle pressure ...
Sadly, with so many other pressing concerns elsewhere (Darfur, Somalia, Burma etc), that have gone on for longer and have hardly attracted effective international intervention, I fear that the Zimbabwe situation may degenerate into a truly horrible catastrophe.
Maybe they need to discover lots and lots of oil there!
May the good Lord have mercy on the poor Zimbabwean people.
Robert Alu
Dar es Salaam
Posted by: Robert Alu | May 8, 2008 2:39 AM
Reading about the lives of these people compels me to ask, "What can we as Americans do to help people in this situation?"
Do I write my representatives in government, do I send money to a specific organization? I want to help, but need direction on where to take my efforts.
Posted by: PAOS | May 8, 2008 6:05 PM
I was in Zim in Nov 07. Times were very hard. I have friends who are on their way from Cape Town to Harare right now. They are bringing supplies to local churches and orphanages.
Its really sad.
Posted by: Chris Marlow | May 8, 2008 7:15 PM
The situation is truly horrific and our faith compels response. These photos and so many stories make it clear that the election, and many previous elections in Zimbabwe over the last 28 years, have never been free nor fair and that Mugabe and his loyal generals are waging war against his own people. What can we do? For Americans, generosity, solidarity, advocacy and prayer would be good places to start. If pacifism is not passive, then for Africans especially, the time is now to imagine and act upon what Martin Luther King would do. There are a few ideas listed at the bottom of the article I wrote for SOJO on Zimbabwe a few months ago, called “A Dream for Zimbabwe: Resisting a state at war with its people.” It can be found here: http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj0804&article=080441b
God bless-
Joy Kauffman
Posted by: Joy Kauffman | May 9, 2008 4:53 AM
Hi Andrew Breitenberg,
On this, the 4th day that your article has been posted here it has attracted a total of 8 comments!
God's Politics posts usually generate a lot more interest, going very quickly into hundreds of comments - where American right and left wing positions present opportunities for adversarialism, although, of course, that has never been the intention of Jim Wallis and friends. If this was their aim they would have called it God's AMERICAN Politics (I guess)!
I have said it here before, and will say it again, the evident lack of compassion (generally speaking), which is what I call it, is astonishing.
God bless you Andrew and Joy Kauffman, Jim Wallis and friends, AND ALL THE AMERICANS WHO DO CARE, liberals and conservative, Christians and non-Christians, God bless you!
And, for the rest, may the good Lord open up your eyes to see beyond America ... As the Swahili people of east Africa say "aliyekupa wewe ndiye aliyeninyima mimi".
The reality is that we could not even wish ourselves into being born where we are, but, most definitely when we choose to follow Christ we are to have a pespective that is beyond a nationalistic outlook,
Baraka!
- Alu
Dar es Salaam
Posted by: Robert Alu | May 10, 2008 3:00 AM
I believe God has chosen Zimbabwe in this end time to manifest his power and glory, Revelation 10 vs 6+7 I was given at the beginning of this year 2008, prophetically meaning the time has come for the hidden mystery of God to be manifested fulfilled beginning in Zimbabwe, I see a political revolution and I also saw this dream in words wwritten America and Africa has God Habakkuk 1 vs 5 God says I AM going to do something in your days that you will not believe even if you are told I see great revolution in this end time there is going to be a change,where government is concerned I see God turning around tables in Africa, I also see God raing people like Esther, Moses, Jeremiah, and Elijah end time prophets of deliverance Revelation 11 vs 6, I have got more to tell the world, America and Africa, God bless EDNA
Posted by: edna ngwenya | May 10, 2008 7:28 AM
thanks for your encouragement Rob - it means more than you know. It's been very hard to watch the evident apathy with which americans approach the situation in Zimbabwe but I have heard back from many people here in south africa who are expressing a deep interest in action and change there. I organized a pentecost service with my buddy for our community on Friday and we spent most of it inviting the HS to lead us as regards our further action in Zim.
One of the best lines to come out of it was 'I will love Robert Mugabe.'
Posted by: Breitenberg | May 10, 2008 11:46 AM
Andrew-
How awesome to hear that "many people here in south africa who are expressing a deep interest in action and change there." Your work was amazing and I shared it with abotu 200+ Mennonites across the country who have been forming a prayer network over the past year. Rob- thanks for your appreciation. I sure haven't been willing to lay down my life for my friends the way that Andrew must have been to do his work, but I do feel called to a deep love for Zimbabwe and have been so inspired by the faith of people there.
It would be great to hear of the action that people plan to do and to pray for it. Is there any discussion of what if there were an African lead, transnational, Martin Luther King style "freedom summer" (or winter as the case may be)? What if Christian people, especially Africans (since having a bunch of whites show up wouldn't be helpful at this point) were willing to appeal for Mugabe as a Christian, modeling the call of the verses from Matthew 20: 25-28 "Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.’?
As for the American apathy, I am convinced that we are really sick in the Global Body of Christ. I believe that here in the US, we here are sick with the highly contagious, chronic, neurological disease of spiritual leprosy, that prevents us from feeling the pain of parts of our body that are stuck in a meat grinder like Zimbabwe. Otherwise there is just no way of understanding our general lack of response. I am in spiritual leprosy recovery and by allowing God to scrape away the callousness of my heart, I am feeling again and I can not ignore the pain. Response is essential to my Body's survival. I thank God for the process and hope to join with others that want to be in recovery as well.
I would love to be in touch. I know we can't put e-mails on here but several SOJO folks have it if you could ask them.
For the folks that want to give something, most denominations have people working in Zim and I'm sure all of them would love donations.
God bless,
Joy
Posted by: Joy Kauffman | May 10, 2008 11:37 PM
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