Gosforth minister David Bedford has had a relationship with the Nkulumane church in Bulawayo since a sabbatical spent in Zimbabwe in 1992. At the beginning of this year he learned that the church that he had helped to found had now grown to a 150 strong congregation and was struggling to construct its building in a context of hyper-inflation. David & the congregation of Trinity Church, Gosforth felt the need to help. This trip was to cement this relationship and see how it might develop further.
There are times in one’s life when you feel totally helpless and our visit to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe was one of those times. Having been there in 1992 the contrast today was enormous. Here is a nation in meltdown, a nation trashed by the harsh years of the Mugabe regime, and now reeling from the latest attempts of ‘Bob’ to fix the re-run of the Presidential Election and cling to power.
So what was our (I and another member of our Church Council, David Lowry) experience? Not the rarefied experience of election observers or the denial of other Africa leaders; ours was a grass roots experience based in Bulawayo and specifically the Nkulumane High Density Housing Area (which comprises 16 areas and has a population of around 500,000).
We travelled on the roads, many of which have more potholes than not; we visited the supermarkets with empty shelves, and we bartered for petrol on the black market and learned to siphon expertly. We returned to a few of the tourist sites I had visited in 1992 and witnessed the complete absence of tourists. At the Victoria Falls no more than six Westerners were spotted; in the Hwangi National Park we saw no one else and witnessed the demise of the infrastructure; at Chipangalli Wildlife Orphanage, we were the only visitors and saw animals in a terrible state.
We empathised with the average in-work Zimbabwean who receives Z$8 billion to last a week and feed the extended family (let along visitors like us). Petrol was Z$1.1b per litre, a dozen eggs Z$1.2b, cereal Z$1.1b. Bread was the same price as the ‘bus’ to Church: which would you choose for your family?
And what is the view about the elections? Everyone we spoke to knew that Morgan Tsvangirai had won not just a parliamentary majority but the presidential election already: they believe he will win the re-run but fear the desperation of ‘Bob’ clinging to power. We were told of huge numbers of irregularities in the March elections - most provable yet not found by monitors – and, for the coming re-run, we were told that violence in the rural areas is growing daily (not in the urban areas because they might be filmed or found out).
We heard that residents of hospitals, old people's homes and children’s homes have all been told that if they don’t vote for ‘Bob’ they will be on the streets; that police and army will again use the postal vote system which in March recorded a unanimous vote for Zanu PF over ten times the size of said organisations; and, now that aid organisations’ food distribution has been stopped, food will only be given out if they hand their voting card into the authorities, thus negating their right to vote.
Ask anyone on the streets and in their homes and they want Mugabe out: the attitude was that he can do whatever he will do but on June 26th we will vote MDC.
Should Church Leaders in Zimbabwe speak out? That’s a hard one. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches did call for a day of Prayer for their nation on April 26th 2008, to which many across the world responded, but perhaps the story of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, and his call for Zimbabweans to overthrow their president is instructive. At the time, he accepted that he may lose his life for opposing Robert Mugabe but, instead of creating a martyr, Ncube was within days accused of an adultery scandal sufficient for him to have to resign and go into exile. The Minister we stayed with (who had a high position Church-wise and knew Ncube well) said that he was as saintly as they come.
So what of the good people of Nkulumane? To say that those people are the salt of the earth would be to understate their grace and faith. The Minister made the introduction to the congregation we had decided to partner and support in their plight and, especially, in the task of building their spiritual home (a project that had stalled because of the hyper inflationary context in Zimbabwe). Having been blessed by God in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, with a new and refurbished modern complex of buildings on the High Street costing £3.25m, we knew that we needed to pass on the blessing (‘those to whom much has been given’). An Offering at our Grand Opening celebration raised £4300 and since then we have received a further £1000. Some of the money had been sent to them via the banking system. Now we were to visit them to establish a real relationship and celebrate our ‘family relationship’ in the Body of Christ.
To say that they were welcoming would again be an understatement: they embraced us as friends, sang songs to and for us, showered us with rich hospitality and gave us gifts personally and for Trinity Church. Why so enthusiastic? Because they realized we had taken a great risk in coming; we had chosen to stand with them as brothers and sisters in Christ in solidarity, and we had given them hope at a time when hope was a scarce commodity. To be with them was a privilege hard to explain but in our so-called sophisticated Western society we have lost the wonder of the ordinary, the blessing of extended family and supportive community, and our trust on God is minimal. They had a richness few of us have experienced and as they gave their offering in the Sunday service with such joy I was in tears, humbled by their faith.
So what can we do at this time of endless pain for the nation of Zimbabwe, what can we do for the good people of Nkulumane and the Church building they are seeking to build?
I am grateful to the United Reformed Church International Relations Department for funding my trip and encouraging me to go even when the Foreign Office advised against all but essential travel. To go as an Ambassador of Christ was a privilege indeed; to realize quickly that they were stronger spiritually was humbling. To open the door to a partnership of equals and a flow of missionary zeal is surely a gift the British Church needs to receive afresh.
URC / Methodist statement on Zimbabwe