Zimbabwe Crisis
Update - September 2010
In December, 2008 Newfrontiers churches around the world raised over £530,000 for the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Due to this generosity, William Spohr reports that these key outcomes have been achieved to bring practical help to the crisis situation:
- Foundations for Farming publications have been produced and used to train over 10,000 farmers in Zimbabwe
- Two boreholes with waterpoints installed to help avoid cholera in two communities
- 14,000 people supplied with food for three months
- “Oral Bible” developed and leaders from fourteen churches trained in Chronological Bible Storying
- Foundations for Family programme developed, and Family Champions from eight churches have been trained
- Church leaders from twenty churches across Zimbabwe were equipped in Theology and Leadership Training for their churches to impact their communities
Update - January 2009
The response has been amazing and donations are still being received. To date over £300,000 has been raised from 8 nations! This includes an amazing offering of £68 from one very poor church in India - a living example of 2 Corinthians 8. Praise God for sacrificial giving.
So far only emergency rations have been distributed. A further 290 tonnes of maize and soya meal are about to be transported from South Africa.
The next phase:
- Direct response to the cholera epidemic. Supplies are difficult to obtain and are expensive, but recent contact with a Christian NGO looks promising.
- Food relief - as above.
- Additional seed and fertiliser, and training for sustainability through Foundations for Farming.
Appeal - December 2008
 To download the presentation click here.
Zimbabwe is a nation in crisis. Poverty is rife, chronic malnutrition is widespread and aid agencies are warning that 5 million people, almost half the population, face starvation by early next year.
The economy is in meltdown, the rate of inflation is the highest in the world and the country's infrastructure is in a state of collapse. There is a severe shortage of water, electricity, fuel, communications and cash. Tension is mounting on the streets as Zimbabweans stand in queues for hours on end to withdraw a daily cash allowance that will not even buy a loaf of bread.
A cholera epidemic has already claimed the lives of hundreds, has infected thousands and is spreading fast. The outbreak is largely a result of the breakdown of basic water and sanitation services. A lack of even the most basic medical supplies is severely hindering treatment and is resulting in needless deaths from dehydration.
 It's a bleak picture, yet in the midst of this humanitarian catastrophe the church in Zimbabwe is declaring hope and truth. Churches have united to run a campaign to ‘Feed the Nation' through Farming God's Way*, a method of farming developed within the Newfrontiers churches that results in yields which are typically 10 times higher than conventional farming methods.
 A mobile road show has visited Zimbabwe's major towns and cities ahead of the planting season. Thousands have been taught how to apply Biblical principles to farming and pass on what they have learned in their communities. A TV series has been produced and is currently being aired at prime times on Zimbabwe TV. Instruction booklets on Farming God's Way* are being produced and distributed in their thousands. The church is doing everything possible to get the nation Farming God's Way*.
 In spite of chronic seed shortages, Zimbabweans are being encouraged to be faithful with what they have - the land - and trust God to add to it.
At a recent road show event attended by over 1500, God demonstrated his faithfulness incredibly:
At the end of the day, in a question and answer time about Farming God's Way*, an old man stood and said,
"But I have no seed - how can I farm?"
One of the speakers stood and reiterated what he had been teaching about faithfulness. He asked the man,
"Do you have land?"
"Yes" the man nodded.
"Do you have a hoe?" asked the speaker.
 The man nodded again.
"Then you must be faithful with what you have and prepare your plot. Trust God and He will add to it."
At that moment, a leader of one of the churches stood up and said, "You won't know this, and we didn't either, but we have just heard that someone here has arranged for seed from South Africa. A truck has just arrived outside with enough maize for everyone." Not surprisingly the place erupted!
The leader then asked people to make a paper cone from the A4 flyer they had been given. As they left every single cone was filled.
In an agriculturally-based economy, the impact of this increase in production would be huge and hope is returning to people throughout Zimbabwe. If one million people start Farming God's Way* this season, the impending food crisis could be avoided and the nation could be fed.
In just one season a farmer adopting Farming God's Way* methods can experience transformation in his lifestyle and:
- Feed his family
- Have seed left over to plant the following year
- Sell the surplus, thereby alleviating poverty and bringing dignity
- Give from his surplus to others in need
So far, in 24 Newfrontiers congregations around the country, teams have been mobilised for training people in Farming God's Way and have this season linked hundreds of farmers to markets for their excess produce.
 Programmes are being run for the practical and spiritual equipping of the churches in both urban and rural contexts. The objective of the training is that the churches will be practically self-sustaining in all areas of life including food, health and education, as well as theologically self-sustaining with elders being appointed in each church and mission as a fundamental focus.
A senior leader of the Newfrontiers Churches in Zimbabwe says, "We are expectant that as churches turn to Jesus with singular wholeheartedness, refusing the compromise and lure of the world, we will see radically relevant preaching of the gospel in words and actions. I believe that through this crisis many churches will be planted and strengthened and that God's kingdom will be advanced with great power and eternal effect".
 To make a donation please send cheques, made payable to Newfrontiers, with a note clearly identifying it for the Zimbabwe Crisis Fund and sent to:
The Finance Department
Newfrontiers
The Matrix Complex
91 Peterborough Road
Fulham
London
SW6 3BU
* Farming God's Way has recently changed its name to Foundations for Farming is an apostolic initiative for preaching the gospel, strengthening & planting churches and extending the kingdom of God with an emphasis on sustainable agriculture as a model for life-transformation of individuals, communities and nations. |
