The country of Zimbabwe is in a crisis.
In recent years they have experienced a 100,580.2% rise in inflation - that is not a typo. They call this dramatic drop in value of currency and rise in prices hyperinflation...and I complained about the falling value of the US dollar!
Zimbabwe has unbelievable food shortages. These are believed to be a result of government policies by the ruling president Mugabe who has been in power for nearly 30 years.
There has been mass, undocumented violence since the recent presidential election. Mugabe was once a very popular leader. He had tremendous influence over his people and was even considered a hero. Over the years of his reign corruption has reigned. His former Finance Minister tried to run against him in the last Presidential election - he was nearly killed. That did not deter him. He put his name on the ticket again. It is believed that he won the election of March 29, 2008 by a landslide - the parliament election of the same day decisively gave power to the opposition party, it is logical they would also elect the presidential candidate of that party. I say "it is believed" because the announcement of the voting results has been postponed many times...postponed, then postponed, and postponed again. There was a small window of opportunity a few weeks back where it looked like Mugabe was going to concede, but then he changed his mind and chose to hold on to power instead. The violence has been brutal, fear is rampant, but you probably don't hear about it every day on the news. Why? Because prior to the election all reporters were kicked out of the country. Most reports are coming from people fleeing from Zimbabwe for refuge in neighboring countries. Every now and then news reports are given, but the brutality is largely undocumented.
I can say this with confidence, because we have staff inside the country who have been able to contact us and let us know what is happening. We have longstanding partnerships with other organizations in country. I was recently corresponding with one of our partners in the field and asked how things are going. Her response, "it's everything you've heard and worse, much worse. Please pray for Zimbabwe."
I am passing that request on to you. Pray for the people of Zimbabwe, that the violence would stop and peace would reign. Pray that the decision on who is in power will be resolved peacefully...and while your at it that it will be handled honestly. Pray for the people of Zimbabwe who have already seen so much hardship in recent years. I thank God for their courage. Through their vote they stood up to a dictator with a cruel reputation; they were not intimated - they voted their conscience. There are many that are choosing to stay under very difficult circumstances because they love Zimbabwe. I admire their determination. Pray for Zimbabwe.
In recent years they have experienced a 100,580.2% rise in inflation - that is not a typo. They call this dramatic drop in value of currency and rise in prices hyperinflation...and I complained about the falling value of the US dollar!
Zimbabwe has unbelievable food shortages. These are believed to be a result of government policies by the ruling president Mugabe who has been in power for nearly 30 years.
There has been mass, undocumented violence since the recent presidential election. Mugabe was once a very popular leader. He had tremendous influence over his people and was even considered a hero. Over the years of his reign corruption has reigned. His former Finance Minister tried to run against him in the last Presidential election - he was nearly killed. That did not deter him. He put his name on the ticket again. It is believed that he won the election of March 29, 2008 by a landslide - the parliament election of the same day decisively gave power to the opposition party, it is logical they would also elect the presidential candidate of that party. I say "it is believed" because the announcement of the voting results has been postponed many times...postponed, then postponed, and postponed again. There was a small window of opportunity a few weeks back where it looked like Mugabe was going to concede, but then he changed his mind and chose to hold on to power instead. The violence has been brutal, fear is rampant, but you probably don't hear about it every day on the news. Why? Because prior to the election all reporters were kicked out of the country. Most reports are coming from people fleeing from Zimbabwe for refuge in neighboring countries. Every now and then news reports are given, but the brutality is largely undocumented.
I can say this with confidence, because we have staff inside the country who have been able to contact us and let us know what is happening. We have longstanding partnerships with other organizations in country. I was recently corresponding with one of our partners in the field and asked how things are going. Her response, "it's everything you've heard and worse, much worse. Please pray for Zimbabwe."
I am passing that request on to you. Pray for the people of Zimbabwe, that the violence would stop and peace would reign. Pray that the decision on who is in power will be resolved peacefully...and while your at it that it will be handled honestly. Pray for the people of Zimbabwe who have already seen so much hardship in recent years. I thank God for their courage. Through their vote they stood up to a dictator with a cruel reputation; they were not intimated - they voted their conscience. There are many that are choosing to stay under very difficult circumstances because they love Zimbabwe. I admire their determination. Pray for Zimbabwe.
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