December 24 - Pray for: Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe faces one of the world’s worst HIV/AIDS challenges. Around 1 million AIDS orphans need care, and, at one point, over 2,000 people died from AIDS-related illness each week. Thank God the rate of infection began to slow in recent years. Life expectancy in Zimbabwe got as low as 40 years. So much death robs the nation of trained professionals and leaders, and devastates the workforce. Pray for wisdom to help the nation cope with this great loss of life. Pray for churches to engage with the moral, spiritual, and economic effects of AIDS.

As the Church has grown, so have the challenges. Pray for:

• The relationship with the government. The Church must be a prophetic voice engaged in the politico-economic life of the nation. Any such engagement has brought heavy-handed reprisals from the government including the intimidation and harassment of pastors and the destruction of certain church buildings. Some denominations have compromised their testimony by blindly endorsing Mugabe; others have spoken against government policies and suffered for it. The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance and the Save Zimbabwe Campaign are examples of churches engaging in the political process to catalyze change.
• Social action. With much of the country in decay, it is increasingly falling to churches to feed the hungry, care for orphans, protect the vulnerable and heal the sick. With assistance from ministries based in South Africa and around the globe, Zimbabwe's churches are doing this, but they could benefit from further mobilization, training and, of course, financial resources.
• Theological training and education - crucial as the church grows but threatened by widespread instability and want. There are at least 23 Bible colleges and seminaries, but the real growth is in modular training and TEE. Positions for study exist here and in broader university religious study programmes as well, but funding in the present economic environment is scarce to non-existent. Pray for effective teaching and discipling of those called to serve the Lord.
• Spiritual unity. Divisions and splits still occur, especially within Apostolic and charismatic groups. The gap separating evangelicals, mainliners and African Independent Churches (AICs) makes collaborative efforts difficult at a time when a unified mission of the Church is greatly needed. The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe links over 121 denominations and 20 organizations, and Fambidzano/EFZIM links AICs for fellowship and theological instruction. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC), Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC), National Pastors' Conference and Ministers Fraternal all hold influence and therefore opportunity.
• The purity of the Church is often compromised by traditional African practices that are incompatible with the gospel, often by outright witchcraft and occult activities. The growth of AICs is commendable for cultural relevance but not at the expense of theological orthodoxy. Pray for churches to find truly Zimbabwean expressions of biblical faith rooted firmly in God's Word.

Scripture distribution. The Bible Society continues to print and distribute Scripture in these difficult times when demand is great. Significant developments include modern translations of the Bible in Ndebele and Shona as well as translations in Ndau (by SIM/UBS), including an audio version in Shona.

Audio-visual tools are extremely valuable. Good News Media and GRN combined to produce gospel materials in 65 languages and dialects. CAVA (Christian Audio Visual Action) produces literature and audio-video which focus on evangelism and discipleship to peoples with primarily oral traditions. They remain the only major publisher of literature in Shona.