A week in Harare
Everybody says ‘what good can come out of Zimbabwe?’
I say ‘My glory, My glory will come on the dry bones that laid slain.
I have breathed My life into a mighty army of God, the bride of Christ.
Like a city on a hill, Your light so shines.
‘And My glory shall be seen in the whole earth as the waters cover the sea.
And the whole world will look to this nation and they will believe’.
These stirring words were sung at an evening of prophetic singing led by Lou Huck at the Champions Conference in Harare in early March. They epitomise the spirit
of hope and expectation in the church at this time.
All recognise that the church has a significant role to play.
Wherever I travelled I was impressed by
– The quality of leadership
– The levels of faith in the midst of difficulty
– The unity of vision
– The desire for the church to come together across the streams and denominations
– …and much much more
Following an enjoyable time of worship and preaching one Sunday in the River of Life Church, Westgate, I went to a very poor rural church 12km away where I had the privilege of joining their worship and of being able to preach at their afternoon meeting. The level of poverty was not over-conspicuous – until I learnt that the offering from over 40 people came to just $4. However, I had visited some of their homes last May and was aware of the very low quality housing they lived in so was not totally surprised.
In the midst of this they have learnt Foundations for Farming and had superb crops which I enjoyed seeing later the same day. This was making them self-sufficient in food, having relied for several months on the handouts made possible from the Newfrontiers Crisis offering launched in late 2008.
Champions Conference
This conference is held each March and September to gather the representatives of Foundations for Farming across the sub-Saharan nations (including Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Botswana) and to train others for the first time. This year’s conference was entitled Foundations for the Nations since it included Foundations for Farming, Foundations for Health and Foundations for the Family, all areas which are being addressed as bringing sustainable nation-rebuilding opportunities to the nation. Foundations for Education will be included as another stream on future occasion. 2 Kenyans also attended and have been enthused and equipped to return home to launch Foundations for Farming in their nation.
Brian Oldreive, visionary and developer of Foundations for Farming, fathered and hosted the conference. He was supported by Scott Marques and Dr Goodwill Shana (President of Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe) as main speakers, a powerful and equipping line-up! Adrian Willard shared the vision for Operation Trumpet Call, an initiative to feed 5 million within 5 years by training famers through the church in the techniques of Foundations for Farming. There will also be a worldwide day of prayer on September 26th.
Next week I shall continue with a report from the Bulawayo area