Pray For Zimbabwe

My heart is sore for the beautiful land of Zimbabwe and her people.

When Mugabe was deposed in 2017 and Emmerson Mnangagwa became President there was genuine hope for the future. But sadly, it appears that the old adage about leopards never changing their spots remains true.

Mnangagwa was the person responsible for the Matabeleland massacre (known as Gukurahundi) in '83 & '84 in which thousands of Nbelele people were slaughtered, estimates range between 2000 and 20000 murdered with countless others raped and tortured.

This massacre was orchestrated by ZANU-PF the ruling party of Zim and it was lead by the man who is now president of Zimbabwe.

Pray For Zim

We had the privilege of calling Zimbabwe home for almost three years from 2000 to 2003 and still to this day carry a torch for the nation. Zimbabwe is quite simply the most beautiful country we’ve ever been to. Zimbos are the warmest and friendliest people you will ever meet and visitors are always bowled over by the reception they receive.

Sadly though, all has not been well in the former ‘bread basket of Africa’ and since 1999 has been the basket case of Africa, and that can be attributed to one man and his colossal ego.

Mr & Mrs Mapanda Return

I had the joy and privilege of going to Belville to pick Ziggy & Mercy up this morning after their eipc bus ride home from Harare. They set off on Tuesday!

It's great to have them back and we're grateful to our awesome God for making straight paths for them. They belong to us (Tree of Life) and we're delighted to have them home!

Despite having been gone for just a few weeks I had forgotten what it's like chatting to good friends who are grounded in scripture, they truly are a breath of fresh air.

Zimbabwe Thoughts

In South Africa we regularly use the expression "we'll make a plan" or "ons sal 'n plan maak" but up in Zimbabwe they actually do it! There's no talking about making a plan, just the reality of having to get on with it.

I loved every minute of being back in Zim, despite the constant power cuts, water shortages and shocking roads. I loved how the locals don't waste their time complaining and moaning about how bad it is but rather get on with life. I loved every minute of being back there because it made me realise just how much of my heart I left there when we were thrown out in 2003.

Westgate Revisited

For most of our time in mission we've been involved in sowing seeds and rarely got to see the fruits of our labours. This is why I'm so thrilled by what I'm seeing in Zimbabwe.

This morning I went to River of Life Westgate, the church we were instrumental in planting back in 2002 with a team from River of Life Mount Pleasant.

Those were exciting times as we gathered at Westgate as a small team with a giant vision to see a church planted and a variety of social outreach projects established.

A Special Day

When asked how today went I simply replied: "Today was one of the happiest days of my life!"

Ever since we left Zimbabwe so abruptly in 2003 I've longed to return to see our many friends that we never got to say goodbye to.

So to be here for the wedding of our dear friends Ziggy & Mercy and to get to meet up with Linus, Emilia and Shepherd was a real privilege.

Blogging From A To Z Challenge - J

J is for Juggling

One of my favourite things!
Juggling is great because it's really easy to learn and looks very cool, especially once you learn a few simple tricks.

I love to juggle with fire because people are easily impressed by this and I also love the diablo as again the basics are very easy and even the simplest tricks can wow an audience.

Blogging From A To Z Challenge - G

Whilst blogging about my passions I seem to have had a few rants so here is a post dedicated to something I despise with a passion. I promise to be more positive for H!

Guinea fowl are the spawn of satan!

If you're one of those weird nut jobs that likes them I pity you.

My loathing of these hideous creatures stems from our time in Zimbabwe. Harry our landlord kept guinea fowl along with chickens and turkeys, each of which had the ability to be annoying. However, the guinea fowl took the prize for winding me up.

Happy Birthday Zim!

Zimbabwe wakes up to being 30 years old this morning.

Happy Birthday Zim!

Sadly there's little to party about as the Desperate Despot continues to cling to power despite having wrecked the economy, beaten, raped, tortured, murdered, falsely imprisoned etc etc just about anyone who has ever expressed any opinion other than the zanu pf party line.

Read more on the Beeb: Zimbabwe celebrates 30 years of independence

Warning To Zimbos

It's now clear that the African Union (AU) has desperately failed the people of Zimbabwe and as such Zimbabwean's are now on their own. No-one is going to come to the rescue! The international community can't intervene without consent from other African nations and the African nations have sent a clear message to the world that they don't really mind having the Desperate Despot in their 'exclusive' little club.

Desperate Despot Rattled

I've been at a loss as to what to post about Zim since the farcical one man show that was called an election. Of course the Desperate Despot won with a landslide because he was unchallegnged. Still, that doesn't stop him from crowing from the rooftops.

Thankfully the Kenyan prime minister has spoken out very clearly against the Desperate Despot and has called for action to be taken.

Madiba Speaks Out

Nelson Mandela finally spoke out against the Desperate Despot last-night, describing the situation as a "Tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe". A brief sentence of a few simple words which could have a massive impact upon Zimbabwe. The Desperate Despot will of course ignore Madiba, but it is very likely that many other African leaders will not ignore him but will be stung into action by the great man.

If Madiba can't motivate other African leaders to take a stand against the Desperate Despot then no-one can!

"Only God Can Remove Me"

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves." Romans 13:1-2

The Tragedy That Is Zimbabwe

I've been wondering what to write about Zim for a while now as each time I read my favoured Zim blogs or hear from friends I simply want to cry. Zim is in a total mess all because the Desperate Despot won't let go!

Tonight we received the following email from our best friends in Zim. All I would say about this email is that in all the years that we've known these friends they've never once expressed any notion of leaving the country they love so dearly nor have they ever expressed any fear, until today. Read it and draw your own conclusions.

So What Is Wrong With Africa (and the BBC)?

On Saturday Mbeki made an idiot of himself (see post below) on his way to the emergency summit in Zambia in which a variety of African leaders convened to discuss the electoral impasse and subsequent crisis in Zimbabwe.

Tragically, the summit came out in favour of the Desperate Despot and virtually dismissed Morgan Tsvangarai and the MDC as a sideshow. Despite their clear victory in the parliamentary poll and seemingly obvious win in the presidential poll. If Desperate despot had won we'd know about it!!!

Quiet Diplopmacy = Sitting On Your Butt Doing Nothing!

THE HANDSHAKE SAYS IT ALL

One should always be a bit wary of being too critical of the president of a country in which one is a guest, but equally, one can only take so much rubbish before one has to speak out.

Desperate Despot!

How can anyone call for a recount in an election before the results have been declared?

Well believe it or not that is exactly what Mugabe and his Zanu PF lackies are doing. Quite unbelievable. Next they'll be claiming that the elections weren't free and fair!

So here we are, nine days after the poll and still the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has failed to declare the results of the presidential election.

The Waiting Goes On

It looks like the Mugabe circus has picked itself up, dusted itself off and got back to business. The MDC are once again being harassed and intimidated with arrests being threatened and the Meikles Hotel was raided apparently for this very purpose. The MDC have been quoted on the BBC website as saying: "Mugabe had unleashed a war after security agents ransacked its offices in Harare on Thursday." also, at least two foreign journalists have been arrested by Mugabe's circus. The inevitable state crackdown has begun.

Results So Far - Pending "Verification"

It would appear that I'm due a large serving of humble pie as the election results from Zim' indicate that Mugabe is losing and has little hope of making up ground on Tsvangarai. However, the results are pending official "verification" so the MDC could well snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with a little help from uncle Bob.

According to the Independent Results Centre the MDC are ahead in the Presidential poll and the Parliamentary poll.

The results so far are:

Breaking News - Mugabe Wins Election

I know that the election isn't until the 29th, but based upon previous knowledge of the Zim' election process and past behaviour by Mugabe and ZANU-PF the election result isn't really up for discussion.

Maybe I'm just overly cynical but I prefer to think of myself as a realist (it's a fine line between the two) and as such I see little reason to get excited about the prospect for change.