This excerpt is from an article by Zimbabwean journalist RW Johnson, published on January 7th, 2007.
SUFFER the little children is a phrase never far from your mind in today's Zimbabwe. The horde of painfully thin street kids milling around you at traffic lights is almost the least of it: in a population now down to 11million or less, there are an estimated 1.3 million orphans.
Go to one of the overflowing cemeteries in Bulawayo or Beit Bridge, and you are struck by the long lines of tiny graves for babies and toddlers.
Hyena attacks on humans, previously unheard of, are increasingly common."So many babies, not all of them dead, are being dumped in the bush that hyenas have developed a taste for human flesh," a game ranger said.
A staggering 42,000 women died in childbirth last year, compared with fewer than 1000 a decade ago.
A vast human cull is under way in Zimbabwe, and the majority of deaths are a direct result of government policies.
Ignored by the UN, it is a genocide perhaps 10 times greater than Darfur's and more than twice as large as Rwanda's.
(You can read the remainder of the article here.)
The crisis in Zimbabwe has escalated to an unimaginable point. We MUST do something to help the victims of this humanitarian travesty.
- UNICEF is reporting that almost 1 in 4 children are now AIDS orphans.
- The inflation rate is estimated at around 1200 percent.
- Unemployment is over 80 percent, forcing citizens to desperate measures such as illegal mining.
- Controversial land reform and forced eviction programs have left thousands of people homeless, displaced, or dead.
- Food shortages are a growing problem.
- Medicine is in short supply, hospitals are in crisis, and now doctors have been on strike for the past two months. Average life expectancy has dropped to a meager 36 years.
- Laws restricting humanitarian organizations are keeping much-needed assistance from the people.
- Prime Minister Robert Mugabe was named the world's 4th worst dictator by Parade magazine. Political corruption and governmental abuses are rampant.
- Economist ranked Zimbabwe as dead last internationally in quality of life.
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007
We need to get the word out to as many people as possible!!! Prayer can change the course of a nation. Prayer can heal a broken people.
6 comments:
Kiki,
Is there a reason you chose this day over others? Just curious.
--Angie
Angie, it's their independence day.
Angie,
Yes, It's Independence Day. But I also just felt led to that date.
1) It's on a Wednesday, when a lot of churches are already gathering for prayer.
2) We needed time to publicize/mobilize, and decided that would take about two months.
3) If we can get the media involved, which we would eventually like to do, then that's Independence Day is a more natural time for them to profile Zimbabwe.
We're already getting an incredible response. The facebook group has almost hit 300 already, and I've gotten several responses by email or word-of-mouth. In just two days.
The cool thing is that God is totally in control of this. We're just the pawns. If He truly gave Peter this idea, and then brought us all together (which I believe He did) then He's the one who will make it happen.
Keep letting the Church know of such opportunities, Kiki. Thank you for your faithfulness.
Hi Kiki,
I work for a Christian relief and development agency in the UK and we are leading prayers for our organisation on Wednesday 18th April. We wanted to focus on Zimbabwe, and when I typed that into google your blog came up. Is it still happening, and if so can we be involved in anyway. We will have apprimately 220 who we would like to mobilise on this issue.
Please let me know if anything has come of this and if there is anything we can do to get involved.
Thanks,
Hannah
Hannah,
Absolutely! It's so good to hear from you.
Yes, there are definitely ways you can be involved. We are getting such an amazing response from the UK! You guys are the best!
There are now over 120 countries on board with the Day of Prayer. We are also starting to get letters from inside Zimbabwe, thanking us and saying that it gives them hope to know the global church is standing with them.
Please send me an email at either jkikicherry@hotmail.com or kiki@prayzimbabwe.org, and I'll send you some more info. Also, check out our website at www.prayzimbabwe.org.
Blessings!
Kiki
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