Pray for: Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe faced years of seemingly unending national emergencies, wrought by the corruption and ineptitude of its own ruling party. It once exported food, and then was no longer able to feed its own people, even with international aid. Rewarding war veterans with formerly white-owned farmland destroyed a once-rich agricultural sector. Hyperinflation was so bad that Zimbabwe’s own currency was rendered worthless, and people only used money from other nations. Millions left the country to seek a better life elsewhere, including many leaders in education, business, healthcare, and the church. Poverty grips millions who remain. The education system, once the envy of the continent, has been gutted by brain drain and poverty – a quarter of parents cannot afford to send their children to school. Pray for God to restore this once-prosperous land and to use His people to bring relief to the decades of suffering.

The exodus of literally countless millions from Zimbabwe to neighbouring African nations and beyond. This “brain drain” includes much of academia, the business community, opposition politicians and spiritual leaders. Their emigration, even temporary, is a serious loss to Zimbabwe. Pray for the swift and safe return and reconciliation of these people to help rebuild a nation on its knees. Pray for strength of community among the Zimbabwean Church in diaspora, currently dissipated, and for unity befitting their role in reconstruction.