Posted on 01/18/2004 6:41:03 PM PST by Clive
Dear Family and Friends,
Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube said this week that people in Zimbabwe were going for four or five days without a meal and that he thought as many as ten thousand people had died of malnutrition during 2003.
The Archbishop's words pounded in my head as I watched a little girl this week and knew for sure that she too would soon be dead.
Standing barefoot and in a filthy and torn dress, a wild eyed and desperate little girl of perhaps eleven stood in the middle of four lanes of traffic. The girl's hair was matted and had the characteristic orange colour that indicates malnutrition.
On the little girl's back, wrapped in a towel, was a baby. It cannot have been her own baby but was perhaps her brother or sister. The little girl just stood, counting filthy twenty dollar notes in the middle of the road as luxury cars streamed past her. Perhaps she was trying to work out that she would need 100 of those dirty bills to buy the baby one litre of milk, or 125 of the notes to buy herself just one loaf of bread. For an eleven year old girl begging on the highway, a loaf of bread or litre of milk would represent a miracle.
For days the image of the little girl has haunted me and I cannot banish it, particularly now with the news that an evangelical church gave Z$30 million to President Mugabe as a gift just before Christmas.
Hear the Word Ministries in Harare confirmed last week that they collected the money from members of their congregation. Pastor Tom Deuschle, defending the gift made by his Church, said that the scriptures dictated that "we should honour our leaders".
I am no expert on religious matters but having been brought up as a strict Catholic I do remember that the scriptures also say: Suffer the Little Children. Frankly I am almost at a loss for words as to why any Church of any denomination would find it necessary to give money to the leader of a country whose people are threatened with starvation.
I am utterly horrified to think a supposedly Christian church could give a personal gift to a President who had 22 trips out of Zimbabwe in 2003, accompanied by very large delegations of government officials.
The Z$30 million that Hear the Word Ministries (formerly Rhema Church) gave to President Mugabe could have bought 12 thousand loaves of bread or 15 thousand litres of milk and saved the lives of hundreds of little begging girls standing in the middle of busy highways.
That same $30 million dollars could have been given to school children who are now sitting at home because their parents cannot afford the fees or to people dying of Aids who cannot afford retrovirals.
As a Zimbabwean who has chosen to see and share the suffering of ordinary people I am disgusted and appalled and just wish that I could have scooped up the little begging girl and her baby and taken them home for a decent meal and a little bit of love.
I am also very confused as to just what people's Christianity really means to them, because apparently it starts and stops in Church.
Until next week, with love, cathy.
I'm glad the author didn't go there. She is right. The government of Zimbabwe is the problem. And I would say that anyone who cared about the negroes living in that terrible place would call for a boycott of the entire nation.
Anybody seen Rev. Jesse?
Why couldn't she?
I don't know; but think they surely could be more discretionary in their dontations.
That said, Zimbabwe must be saved from this hideous existance.
corr. That would be. . .donations. . .time to fold it!
"Welcome to Hear the Word Church, Harare, Zimbabwe. We understand the reality of living in a real world with real problems, real opportunities, real challenges and real people.
We've seen the power of God transform lives in deep ways, practical ways, always! Our church is committed to bring you vision for your life and empowering you to change your world for the better."
http://www.htwm.co.zw/TomBonnie/welcome.asp
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How many children would you expect her to rescue?
Take into account that:
A1DS is at about 1/3 of the adult population,
Many children of this age have been left as head of families,
Starvation is being used as a weapon,
Over half the population of Zimbabwe is dependent on foreign food relief.
inflation is officially at 600 percent but actually over 1000 percent,
Store shelves are empty so even those who have money have trouble feeding their families,
... the list is endless.
No, it actually happened.
You want to help, but you have no way of knowing what actually happens to your donations, whether they be personal or through your government.
Africa Wins Again.
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