From Aaron:
We received this note from a Zimbabwean pastor a few weeks ago. After receiving his approval, we are posting his message. Those of us on the IDOPZ Lead Team sincerely hope that it will generate discussion which will remain civil and not hostile. Already amongst our team, this note has generated considerable debate. Also know that we are using a pseudonym as we have in most stories. Thank you for contributing your input through our Comments at the bottom of the page.

Everything that you say on your webpage is true. But I think that in the midst of the darkness you have overlooked the light.

At this time in Zimbabwe we have an openness to the Gospel that is unique and encouraging. I am aware that the situation is making people turn to Him at this time, but what a privilege it is to be here working for Him in the fields.

We have a government that is basically pro-church. The churches have a freedom to preach the gospel anywhere that must be the envy of Christians in most nations. (I acknowledge that if the church gets involved in politics it gets wacked - helps us keep our focus!). The church here, with its many weaknesses, corruptionsand disunity, is noticeably getting stronger and stronger. The group we have been ministering to - the Tonga people - have moved out of their classification as a least reached people group in the last few years. That is Good News.

We have a government that abhors abortion and homosexuality and actively promotes ‘family’. The incidence of AIDS is significantly dropping.

I fear that a new government will swing to the West, adopt its culture to get its money and aid. We will then have to put up with the scenario we have in South Africa, increasing crime, increasing AIDS, increasing tolerance of gross sin, accompanied by a slow but inevitable closing of the doors to gospel.

When you pray please pray with God’s heart and not human understanding. Wealth, comfort and stability are not our goals. The situation has opened the doors for us that we have never had before. Pray that the church will be so empowered by God’s Spirit that our witness will be such that His name will be glorified, His Kingdom will come and that His will will be done in Zimbabwe. Pray for the Manifest Presence of God in our midst so that those that cannot afford doctors will be healed, that those that have no food will find their jars and bowls never empty, that those who have sought solace with the demonic will be released to the glory of His name.

Matthew James, Pastor

The hospital is crowded…overcrowded in fact. Each bed filled, and the open spot on the floor beside that bed also filled with a patient. Resources are stretched extremely thin…often 1 nurse per 40 patients, and 1 Doctor per 100 patients. Outpatients arrive at 7:00am, and often don’t get seen at all the first day. They sleep outside and return again the following day, now closer to the front of the line. Often the journey to the hospital is 2 days or more, yet still they wait patiently.

Not a complaint is heard. No one demands faster service. No one cuts in line. There is a certain understanding among them. An understanding and acceptance that the hospital staff is doing the best they can, and that they are here to help the patients. An understanding that others have needs also, and that the world does not revolve around their own schedule. I admire the Shona people for that.

Many have almost no money, unable to even pay for food, but still they bring what they have to pay for their medical care. Knowing full well that even if they could not pay a single dollar towards their bill, they would still be treated, they voluntarily pay.

To an outsider, the Zimbabwe situation seems hopeless. HIV/AIDS is rampant, tearing apart families and communities like a plague. Hundreds of thousands of orphaned children are left with a mere child taking over as the head of household. Daily in the hospital we performed 15 or 20 HIV tests….a negative result was a rarity that was celebrated. Even in the face of sickness, suffering and death, the Shona people have hope. A ferociously strong religious culture, Christians in Zimbabwe have had their faith tested and proven. Prosperity and an easy life are not the hallmark of Christian desires. Sharing and living out their faith in Christ on a daily basis is emphasized. Responsible stewardship of what little God has given them is displayed at a level I can only imagine when I look at my American middle class brothers.

Paul knew full well what hard times were like when he wrote to the church at Philippi, saying “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7 NIV). I can’t think of a better example of how true this verse is applied in our world today than the faithful in Zimbabwe who recognize that their treasure not of this world, but rather reserved for them in Heaven with their Wonderful Savior.

Pray for Zimbabweans, because those without Christ truly have no hope: No hope of a better life, and no hope for eternity. Their country is in shambles, they live in poverty, and as far as they can tell, the civilized world has turned its back on them. I learned a lot in my 2 summers in Zimbabwe as a nurse at the mission hospital. This experience showed me what was really important, and what I can do to help those in need. I pray that you take the Zimbabwe cause to heart, and commit to pray and help in whatever way possible.

The voices carried throughout the small home as we sang “Amazing Grace” with the pastor of the church at Harare Farm. Thirty people had packed into his small 10′ X 10′ home. We had spent the day worshiping with adults and children, prayed as we walked through the village and spent time playing games with the children and teaching them what we knew about God. It had been a fantastic day, our first day in Africa.

We stepped outside the pastor’s home and prayed for the land that would soon be home to a new church building, then walked back to our vehicles. We climbed into the vans to drive away, but didn’t leave. After a few minutes, one of our group leaders told us we could get out of the vans and continue playing with the children, because the pastors needed to take care of some things with the leaders at the farm.

As we played and sang with the children, the sun began to set. Trucks pulled up and men jumped out of the back and stood around us. After an hour or so, it was obvious we would not be leaving anytime soon. The sun set, and as anxiety set in knowing we were in trouble, but we continued singing and praising God with the children. The sense of calm I felt in those moments was tremendous.

After four hours, we were told the authorities were taking us into custody. A war veteran on the farm had reported us to the police and they had been questioning the pastors for those four hours. We filed into our vans, and I sat face-to-face with a Zim police officer on that long ride. As we turned down long, dark, dirt roads, one of the girls from our team called out, “Let’s pray.” And we did, with the police officers sitting right next to us.

The two-room, village police station had lists of those incarcarated on the walls — written in marker on pieces of cardboard. The traditional picture of President Mugabe hung on the front wall.

One pastor had avoided telling his wife he would be late, but as the encounter carried on for hours and hours, he realized he would need to tell her what was taking place. She called together the women of her church for prayer. She also called her sister in Bulawayo who gathered the women of the church there. Within hours of our release, the US State Department had been contacted by the wife of one of our group leaders. On a flight to Victoria Falls a few days later, we rode with an assistant from the US Embassy and told him of our experience.

Influential Zimbabwean businessmen heard of our encounter with the police and convinced the authorities we were causing no harm. We discovered later that the police had been planning on putting us in jail for a few days. But for what? Loving on God’s children, apparently. We also learned that the President’s Office was informed, the Secretary of Justice knew of our ordeal, and police and military leaders came out to the farm.

Looking back, it was obvious that the people of God came together in prayer and support for their brothers and sisters. That was Saturday night, our first day in Zimbabwe. Sunday morning’s worship was the greatest worship experience of my life. Just a few hours earlier, we didn’t know if we would be able to be in church on Sunday, yet there we stood, praising and worshipping our God who answered our prayers and the prayers of our new family in Zimbabwe.

Grace fell like rain throughout my whole trip. When arriving at our destination, we were told of how it had not rained in months and that if it was not going to rain in the next two weeks that all the crops would die. This would cause an increase in the already famined land.

My heart just broke for these people, so I turned to the Lord in prayer and asked Him to show His mercy upon His people. As I prayed I felt the peace of the Holy Spirit surround me, and I knew in my heart that it was going to rain. That morning I awoke to a wet tent. The Lord had answered my prayers, and the prayers of many others. I knew right then and there that the Lord would be evident this trip.

One morning, three of my team members and I went on a beautiful prayer walk. While walking, the Lord placed on my heart to pray that our mission would not be about how many people came to the Lord, but who the Lord wanted us to speak to. That morning, one of the other women that joined me in the prayer walk, Johann, was my partner.

Each day we were partnered up and were sent into the villages with translators to share the gospel. Throughout the day the Lord was directing us exactly where we needed to go. He was evident in where He was calling us. It was amazing to experience that. That day, thirty people came to know Jesus as their personal savior, and it was truly amazing. I do believe that since our hearts were completely focused on Him and nothing else that He was able to speak with the people that He needed to that day.

We spent some time with some patients in a clinic, and there we meet Sister Mlausi, a nurse on staff there, she asked us if we would return to speak with her after her shift ended.

Later that night, the four of us went back to Sister Mlausi’s house. When I entered her house the Lord told me that she was the women that He wanted me to give my Bible to. After a little while I privately asked Darlington, my translator, if it would be culturally acceptable for me to give her my Bible, and he said yes. Not even five minutes after Johann asked if Sister Mlausi had a Bible.

Chills went up and down my spine. Her response was that she had left her Bible at her last job, and she only had a small Bible (referring to the New Testament, Psalm and Proverbs). While we were there, she completely broke down and told us of her testimony. She just poured out her whole heart. She shared a little of about how her husband passed away and how her son was living with her in-laws.

I began to share with her a little of my testimony of how my mother died when I was young and I understood the loss that she was experiencing. I told her that it doesn’t matter how much time she allows to go by, if she never allows herself to go through the grieving process she will never heal. I told her how the only person that will be able to fill that void is the Lord. No other man will be able to comfort her as the Lord can.

We spoke with her for an hour or two and then prayed with her. You could tell by the time we had left that the Lord had spoken to her heart. As I was walking out, she looked at me and asked me if I would give her my Bible. I stood there in awe for a couple of seconds, and then told her that I would bring it to her tomorrow. As I left my heart was filled with so much joy. I knew that this is why I was called to go to Africa.