[amc] [Fwd: Fw: Zimbabwe call for intercession]
- From: Garland Robertson <pastor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Austin Mennonite Church <amc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:11:16 -0500
Members and Friends of Austin Mennonite Church
I am sending the information below for your awareness.
May it go well with you. Sincerely,
Garland Robertson
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Fw: Zimbabwe call for intercession
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:54:09 -0500
From: Nancy Funk <wdc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: WDC <wdc@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Dear sisters and brothers:
Below and attached you will find a copy of our news release on
*Zimbabwe* dated June 10. We particularly want to call your attention to
the *call for prayer and fasting, June 26 and 27*.
Please help us distributing this information to as many of your member
churches as possible. Our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe need the
support and prayers of our global family of faith.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Anna Sorgius
Executive Assistant
Mennonite World Conference
************
Mennonite World Conference
A community of Anabaptist-related churches
www.mwc-cmm.org <http://www.mwc-cmm.org> <http://www.mwc-cmm.org/>
/
/News Service
June 10, 2008
*MWC sending deacons to troubled Zimbabwe, calls for intercession June
26 and 27
*
Strasbourg, France ? Mennonite World Conference is sending a deacon
couple and calling for two days of prayer and fasting, June 26 and 27,
as Zimbabweans face a tense run-off election on June 27.
It has also appealed to the heads of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations (UN) to
intervene in the troubled country.
?Zimbabwe is at a highly volatile time of crisis, and the threat of
long-standing violence looms over the run-off and its aftermath,? stated
MWC president Nancy Heisey in requesting intercession from the global
Anabaptist faith family (see sidebar).
?The Brethren in Christ Church in Zimbabwe (BICCZ), led by Bishop Danisa
Ndlovu (who is also MWC president-elect) is urging sisters and brothers
around the world to support them at this time by praying and fasting on
the day before and the day of the run-off election, June 26-27,? said
Heisey.
Dan Nighswander and Yvonne Snider-Nighswander, Mennonite Church Canada
Witness workers in South Africa, will go to Zimbabwe for two weeks,
beginning about June 18. MC Canada has released them to serve as deacons
of the MWC community to provide encouragement to Bishop Ndlovu?s family,
pastors and others under stress. They will also watch for and report
additional ways for the global Anabaptist family to stand in communion
with Zimbabwe?s churches.
?We consider this invitation a sacred call and we cannot refuse it,?
said Dan. ?In our previous visits we have seen their [BICCZ] great
courage and faith, their hope and the difficulty of their
circumstances.... By representing the concern and prayerful support of
the global communion of Anabaptist churches, we trust we can make a
difference.?
The Nighswanders expect to accompany the Ndlovus as they go about their
business and will help however they can in response to advice from the
Ndlovus and other church leaders.
?Our hope is that by walking alongside, the persons to whom we relate
will experience the MWC practice of demonstrating solidarity,? said Yvonne.
?This visit is not about programs or activities but about
relationships,? explained Dan. He acknowledged that there are some
risks, as there are everywhere, but those risks are ?less compelling
than the urgency of the call for support from our sisters and brothers
who have become our friends.?
He said they were motivated by Galatians 6:2, 10: ?Bear one another?s
burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.? So then,
whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and
especially for those of the family of faith.?
The Nighswanders were part of an MWC Koinonia (deacon) delegation to
Zimbabwe last August and attended the global assembly in Bulawayo in 2003.
Their Mennonite Mission Network colleague in South Africa, Phil Lindell
Detweiler, offered his blessing for their short-term mission.
?Zimbabwe is constantly on our hearts and in our prayers as the unrest
and violence in our own country is so closely tied to the situation
there,? said Detweiler. ?Our prayer is that the Lord will make a way for
transition, healing and restoration that brings hope to the country
instead of more pain.?
A June 3 letter sent to H.E. Levy P. Mwanawasa, Chair of the SADC, H.E
Jakaya Kikwete, Chair of the AU and to H.E. Ban Ki-moon, UN
Secretary-General cites the distress and concern of international
churches over the deepening crisis and rising violence in Zimbabwe.
It calls for an international peace force to be present during the June
27 run-off, for international (SADC, AU, UN) election observers with
freedom to circulate, that persons displaced due to fear and violence be
protected and brought back to vote, and that election results be quickly
and independently confirmed.
The March 29 election results, withheld for more than one month, were
never independently verified. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission declared
that incumbent President Robert Mugabe received 43.2 % of votes cast and
his challenger Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC candidate, 47.9 percent, short
of the 50% plus one vote required to win. The MDC has claimed that the
run-off is inappropriate, since according to their count, Tsvangirai won
a majority of 50.3%.
The letter also calls for the ruling and opposition parties,
representatives of the military, security forces, churches and civil
society to come to a negotiating table to map out future directions for
the country. Signed by Larry Miller, MWC general secretary, it was
co-signed by the general secretaries of the Reformed Ecumenical Council
and the World Evangelical Alliance. The complete text of the letter is
posted on the MWC web site (www.mwc-cmm.org)
"MWC's initiatives serve to let our sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe
know they are not forgotten, and remind us that when the church suffers
anywhere, we all suffer," said Heisey.
Officials from BIC North American headquarters reported that Bishop
Ndlovu will attend the Brethren in Christ General Conference in Toronto,
June 27-30. He is scheduled to preach at the service on Sunday, June 29,
which will be dedicated to the Zimbabwe BIC Church. The service will
include a time of focused prayer for Zimbabwean brothers and sisters and
a special offering for the Zimbabwe BIC Church.
Mennonite Central Committee spokesman Bruce Campbell-Janz said that MCC
will continue to provide some funds for Habbukuk Trust, a Christian
non-government agency in Zimbabwe that trains and directs election
monitors, and does civic education on elections. MCC has suspended a
school feeding program around Bulawayo, conducted in partnership with
the BICCZ, since Mugabe has ordered humanitarian groups to quit working
in the country.
- Ferne Burkhardt
MWC News Editor
SIDEBAR
*Intercession call
*
Mennonite World Conference encourages people to fast and pray on June 26
and 27:
v that God will intervene in a visible way to end the violence and
suffering that have afflicted Zimbabwe;
v that the churches of Zimbabwe will be signs of God?s love and justice
in the midst of this struggle;
v that those who have been intimidated will be able to exercise their
right to vote without further threat;
v that election monitors will be permitted to play a credible role to
assure integrity and lack of violence at polling stations;
v that the government in power will allow honest results to be reported;
v that, whatever the election results, the government in power will
agree to come to the table with opposition political leaders, military
and security forces, and church and civil society organizations to map
out a workable path for the future of the country
v that African and United Nations leaders will play a strong and clear
role in pressing for the above outcomes.
***
Mennonite World Conference is a communion (/Koinonia/) of
Anabaptist-related churches linked to one another in a worldwide
community of faith for fellowship, worship, service, and witness.
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