| BELEAGUERED Christians in Zimbabwe are urging the worldwide Christian community to “pray against fear”, in the light of concerted efforts to attack schools in the rural areas.
Amid the uncertainty about a possible run-off election, one Anglican told the Church Times last week: “The message to the teachers is, ‘One vote for the MDC in your village, and we will kill you.’”
Thousands of teachers acted as polling agents to supplement their incomes. Those suspected of campaigning for the MDC have had their homes burnt down, and some have been arrested.
As happened after the dismissal of Anglican clergy by its pro-Mugabe bishop, Nolbert Kunonga, a government anxious to keep up appearances has reportedly substituted unqualified teachers in the schools. War veterans and youth militia have been arriving at rural schools demanding rooms and food.
Catherine Philp, The Times’s correspondent in Harare, reported last Friday that, after a six-week election break, 9000 teachers failed to turn up to work, kept away by intimidation or simply poverty. Her report said that St Peter’s Secondary School, in Harare, had been less affected than some other schools: “Teachers say the faith-based ethos has kept them loyal to the profession, despite their own crushing economic needs.”
Zimbabweans will be afraid to return to the polls unless run-off elections are internationally monitored, said Alouis Chaumba, head of Zimbabwe’s Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, in a telephone interview with the Catholic News Service on Sunday.
Polling agents were being accused of being enemies of the state; so “few will want to be involved in monitoring the run-off,” he said. He also called for an impartial body to facilitate the process.
Churches were bearing the brunt of the country’s instability. “Many of those who are fleeing after being beaten and tortured are finding solace in churches. So many people are internally displaced, and those who would normally be providing for families are now looking for assistance for themselves.”
Votes for Morgan Tsvangirai were being successfully eroded, though the violence was stopping short of murder, Harare residents told the Church Times. “Many young blacks, to escape the violence and intimidation, are thronging to the border posts into Botswana. With a Zimbabwe passport, no visa is required for Botswana.
“Last time, many of these hired buses to return home to vote in the 29 March election. The buses were held up at the border. This time, the government have already had five weeks to set up such schemes.”
Anglican church services are still barred from taking place in Harare on Sundays, and the township churches have seen incidences of violence, including the arrival of a lorry, full of police with whips, at St Paul’s, Highfield, last Sunday. Church buildings have been locked, and their gates padlocked.
USPG: Anglicans in World Mission has said it is “heartened and overwhelmed” by the response to the call to prayer for Zimbabwe, issued for Sunday 27 April by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York.
The general secretary of USPG, the Rt Revd Michael Doe, said on Wednesday: “We’d like to follow up the Archbishops’ call to ask for the prayers of individuals for the specific needs of those dioceses, and to share some of the good work that is continuing there.”
The Bishop named USPG’s work in the diocese of Harare in partnership with Bishop Bakare; joint work on small projects in conjunction with Lambeth Palace; and the Zimbabwe Relief Fund, which will be used to pay the stipends of clergy.
He asked for prayers for the development programmes in the dioceses of Manicaland, Masvingo, Central Zimbabwe, and Matabeleland. |
back to News
previous story
|
next story 
.gif "New, nearly new, and used cars for church and charity © site")
