John Stanko and the hope for Zimbabwe
John Stanko is in Zimbabwe for the next week. I personally don't expect to see him, but have been very interested in the Open Letter to the Citizens of Zimbabwe he wrote before coming. (This is not just another link - go there and read it!).

Over the last few years of what, were we Irish, we could have called "The Troubles", it has been interesting to watch every Tom, Dick and Philemon coming up with their version of where there was hope for Zimbabwe. Commonly (and reassuringly), the Christian voices have said that our hope rests in God. The difference comes in what they add on to God. Trusting in "God and ..." must be different from "God alone".
How far do we take this? A hermetic stance of total separation from the world, the flesh and the devil is commendable - but possibly over simplistic. The other extreme is working for change in our own strength and submitting mangement reports to God in the form of prayer of a regular / occasional basis. This is equally unbalanced.

The problem of Zimbabwe is a problem of human dimensions. None of us are guilt free and we all have a responsibility in the fixing of the problem. The challenge we face is thus three fold.
= We need to mobilise the people at all levels to do the work. We need folk in the community to be loving and caring for the AIDS sufferers; people to be sourcing and distributing critical food stuffs to starving people. We need people who are tired of bleating about what this newspaper said that that newspaper said; people who are commited to addressing the real issues.
= We also need the people to be aware of what needs to be done. There is no point campaigning, for example, for political change if one political party is as likely to be as able to solve the problems as another. These activated people must be looking above the man-made barriers and institutions, using them as means rather than ends.
= We therefore need, more importantly than the other two, people whose hearts are right. Not just people who will not step outside the lines of the Public Order and Security Act, but people who can walk humbly with their God.

This is impossible - except that it's happening.
One of the reasons for John Stanko being in Zimbabwe at this time is for the 20th anniversary of Hear the Word Ministries. Well done Tom & Bonnie. We're proud of you for what you have done since you joined us as Zimbabweans. Hear the Word and other churches are being seen to be making the difference.
In fact it is not Tom and those like him who are making the difference. It is God.
He alone is the hope for Zimbabwe. In Him alone can we achieve the unity in the bond of peace and the love that will let us work for the common good.

What is the future of Zimbabwe? I dunno. But with God, it's good.
Trust me on this!

(To view John Stanko's letter, you will need the Free Acrobat Reader)