Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe

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Pastoral Letter #3

"See, the Lord is making the earth waste and unpeopled, he is turning it upside down, and sending the people in all directions. And it will be the same for the people as for the priest; for the servant as for his master; and for the woman-servant as for her owner; the same for the one offering goods for a price as for him who takes them; the same for him who gives money at interest and for him who takes it; the same for him who lets others have the use of his property as for those who make use of it. The earth will be completely waste and without men; for this is the word of the Lord".

  1. Zimbabwe  and  the  whole  world  are  experiencing  the  scourge  and  affliction of COVID-19 none have been spared; the rich and the poor, the mighty and the powerless. The Church in Zimbabwe and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe(EFZ)in particular has set aside 90 Days of Prayer. These 90 Days of Prayer have given the Church in Zimbabwe an opportunity to reflect, introspect and repent regarding the state of the Church, the nation and the collective narrative and legacy that we have built and will bestow to our children. They have also given the  Church  the  opportunity  to  pray for  the  recovery  and  restoration  of  Zimbabwe  from COVID-19, an ailing economy and a toxic and uncertain political state of affairs. None has been spared as Isaiah 24:1-3 states.

  2. Regrettably  the  number  of COVID-19 cases  have  continued  to  rise,  partly  due  to  the predictable inability of ordinary Zimbabweans to observe social distancing, sanitization and washing  of  hands  due  to  the  peculiar  socio-economic  conditions  that  are  prevailing  in  our country,  in  particular,  the  fact  that  the  vast  number  of  Zimbabweans  are  in  informal employment and any restriction to movement or engagement in daily enterprise has a direct and immediate significant impact on their livelihoods and their families. This has forced many to  risk  life  and limb in  the  face  of  COVID-19  and  other  risks,  in-order  to  put  food  on  their tables and keep soul and body together. Corruption, poor service delivery, drought and other extraneous  factors  have  not  helped  the  situation. We  are  now  reaping  the  fruit  of  the convergence of these unfortunate circumstances.

  3. It is these hard and harsh circumstances and choices that have created a restive and restless populace, that has no hope to effectively fight COVID-19, no hope to effectively survive or let alone revive the economy much less a locked-down economy, while the privileged few gorge themselves at the table of corruption.

  4. It is these underlying causes that are giving birth to general sense of frustration and agitation and the  potentially  explosive  and  risk-laden  call  for mass  action  on  the  31stof  July.  As  the Church we believe that this potentially explosive confrontation can and should be avoided by addressing  the  root  causes  through  engagement,  dialogue  and  collective  responsibility  to transform  our  nation  and  build  the Zimbabwe  we  all  want.  Without  this,  the  arrest  and detention  of  individuals  may  deflect  or  delay  the  rising  momentum  of  desperation  and frustration,  but  will  be  futile if  it  does  not  deal  with  the  underlying  pressures and  tensions caused by the prevailing socio-economic and political conditions.

  5. While  the  reset  of  more  strident  and  stringent  conditions  for  the  new  lockdown  are understandable and even laudable, it calls to the same authorities to press for a reset process in  order  to  bring  our  economy,  politics  and  corruption  pandemics  under  control  so  that ordinary citizens are not exposed to the risk of death by COVID-19 or death by hunger, poverty or poor health delivery institutions.

  6. We call upon all political and government leaders to find the same resolve and response to the socio-economic and political pandemic that has haunted Zimbabwe longer than COVID-19. We call for national engagement, dialogue and collective responsibility for we all have been affected by all the challenges that face Zimbabwe.

  7. We  call  upon  our  police  and  military  to  act  with  restraint  and  respect  the  meager  and  few remaining  freedoms  that  people  still possess; the  least  of  these  being the  right  to human dignity.

  8. We call upon all Zimbabweans, locally and abroad to protect their own lives and those of loved ones and all those connected to them by doing their vigilant uttermost to observe COVID-19 guidelines, to wash their hands regularly, sanitise, wear a mask and observe social distancing at all times.

  9. We continue to call upon Almighty God to bring full and complete restoration to Zimbabwe. May God restore His people and heal our land.

BY ORDER OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

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