Grace and Peace, which is given to us freely through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. You might have noticed that Zimbabwe is in the news internationally as a result of the ongoing Clean-Up Campaign launched by the government. I thought of providing you with some update as it relates to the impact on the church and on the people in general. The campaign has affected all the towns and cities as well as growth points, that is, some upcoming peri-urban centers in and around the rural areas.

Many people have been rendered homeless because the illegal shelters were all they could call home. Others have trekked back to the rural areas if they had a home there. While the government has set up a transit camp to provide temporary shelter to those stranded in Harare, other towns don’t have such a provision and, hence, they are sleeping in the open. This is true in such cases as in Mutare as far as reports coming to me indicate.

Economically a lot of people have nothing to lean on since their trading shelters have been destroyed. Hunger and extreme forms of poverty have been ushered in on many families.

The church’s response

The church’s response is somehow hindered because the authorities are restricting what churches can and cannot do.

Initially the policy was that no help should be given to displaced people. But now there has been a shift in that help can be given provided permission to do so is sought first from the authorities. In any case, I had instructed that local churches with buildings should open doors to those in need. Pastors have taken their displaced members into their three-room parsonages. Others are housed in church halls.

The situation is easing up somehow as people find alternative means of shelter. Still, a lot of people are sleeping in the open.

Direct impact on the church

Most of our emerging congregations were still working hard to construct permanent church buildings. But no matter how hard they work, it is costly to build a church in the urban areas and usually takes years to complete one as they take time to pull resources together. The government has given an unspecified grace period for churches to build, after which all temporary worship structures will be demolished.

If and when that happens, it will be a crisis in this Episcopal Area. The majority of our United Methodist congregations, averaging 500 or more members per congregation, are at different stages of building. It is hard to imagine where they will go for worship services.

I have instructed relevant organs of the church at all levels to take a careful audit of the needs with the hope of seeing what can be done within our own capacity and where we need help from the agency of the general church.

A tour of hope

From Friday, June 24, to Sunday, June 26, I toured congregations in the Harare Districts in the company of district superintendents and lay leaders. The approach was to meet with congregations for 30 minutes each and share some message of hope mostly around Psalm 23. People welcomed these visits, and on Sunday they converged at one place, for those who could manage, and we had Holy Communion together.

I cannot tell whether I was under some watchful eye of someone or not, but there has been no incident to bar this process. I say so because one of my pastors had been called by police in matters connected to this Clean-Up Campaign.

For now all we can do is to do what the church does best: pray for God’s mercy upon the people.

Grace and Peace,
Eben