Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A piece of bread could buy a bag of gold...

I recently read a news article about Desmond Tutu and his cry for Zimbabwe. For the last few months I have been less active in bringing awareness to the issues going on in a country I so dearly love. I guess I feel like I am making little difference, and that people are getting tired of me pushing the issues. I now feel conviction for not doing all I can do for a country for which God has given me a burning compassion.

Currently Mugabe still holds on to power as tightly as possible. As of yesterday the inflation rate was 231 million percent. A loaf of bread, if you can find it, costs about 25 billion Zimbabwe dollars. This amount is several days wages for the mere 18%of the population that is employed. Cholera has claimed well over 2,000 lives, and the W.H.O. estimates the actual numbers to be much higher, seeing as hospitals are unstaffed so many deaths are going unreported. The outbreak continues to spread steadily. These are just a few of the major concerns plaguing the country.

If you have read this information it is yours to do with as God directs you, but I would encourage you today to prayerfully consider joining Desmond Tutu and myself in weekly fasting and prayer for the nation of Zimbabwe. These are our brothers and sisters who are suffering. Please remember them in this time of desperation.

Shalom,
Rebecca

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi, I am always happy to hear of others who have a heart for Africa. I have traveled to Swasiland three times and plan to go back this summer. On my second trip our guide was a great Zimbabwean young woman named Ros. From her I learned a little bit about the problems of that country but I recently read two books that were really informative about the politics and economics there in the last quarter century. "Casting With a Fragile Thread" by Wendi Kann is a story of three sisters growing up in Zimbabwe, and "When an Elephant Eats the Sun" by Peter Godwin is an excellent autobiographical story about a family and their love and ties to Africa and Zimbabwe. Great reading if you are interested.
Sandi

Shebecomes said...

Thanks Sandi. I will definitely take your suggestions and read those books! God Bless!