Online Archives

Bishop calls for prayer for Zimbabwe

by Dean Snyder
UMConnection Staff

Bishop Felton Edwin May has issued a call for United Methodists to pray daily for Zimbabwe during their worship services, Sunday school classes and personal devotions for 30 days from Feb. 10 through March 11.

Our sisters and brothers in Zimbabwe are experiencing tense times, socially, politically and economically, Bishop May said during a meeting of the Baltimore-Washington Conference Cabinet. As much as anywhere in the world Ive been, the United Methodists of Zimbabwe believe in the power of prayer. We can not make political decisions for them, but we can diligently keep them in our prayers.

A heavily contested presidential election is scheduled in Zimbabwe on March 9 and 10. Opposing parties have accused each other of attempting to unfairly influence the result through the threat of violence or by rigging the election process.

Because the United Methodist Women of Zimbabwe are such a powerful force for hope and healing in their land, I hope every United Methodist Womens group in the United States will make a special effort to organize prayer vigils on behalf of their Zimbabwean sisters, Bishop May said.

Bishop May also asked for prayers for Bishop Christopher Jokomo, the Cabinet, staff and clergy of the Zimbabwe annual conferences.

Zimbabwes President Robert Mugabe has been criticized for alleged efforts to control the outcome of the upcoming election. Britain has threatened to suspend Zimbabwe from its Commonwealth because of new laws restricting journalists and prohibitions in voting and campaigning.

The Methodist Church in Southern Africa, the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa and the Botswana Christian Council have issued a joint statement asking Mugabe, who has been in power for 22 years, to step down.

On the other hand, Mugabes followers have accused members of the Movement for Democratic Change of organizing riots and even of murdering an opposing politician.

Mugabes primary opponent in the March election is Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change.

In addition to political tension, Zimbabwe is experiencing high levels of unemployment and inflation. A quarter of the adult population is infected by AIDS and a fifth of the countrys children have lost at least one parent to the disease, according to the United Nations.

It has got all the potential for trouble ahead, said Michael Quintana, editor of Africa Defense Journal, in an interview with the Washington Post.

However, Professor Rukudzo Murapa, vice chancellor of Africa University, believes any trouble arising in Zimbabwe as a result of the election will not mirror the destruction that has taken place in other African hotspots such as Rwanda or Sierra Leone.

Zimbabwe is nowhere near that, far from it, both in terms of the tensions that exist now or even the propensity for confrontation, Murapa said.

The Rev. Isaac M. Mawokomatanda, a former United Methodist superintendent in Zimbabwe who now serves as the pastor Mt. Washington UMC in Baltimore, said Zimbabwean United Methodists have been advocates for justice since the countrys struggle for liberation.

Under the leadership of Bishop Abel T. Muzorewa, now retired, who served as head of Parliament before Mugabes election in 1980, United Methodists played a critical role in Zimbabwes struggle for independence, Mawokomatanda said. When we see people suffering, the church also suffers, he said.

Bishop May is vice president of the board of directors of Africa University, a United Methodist-related school in Zimbabwe that serves students from throughout Africa. As president of the United Methodist Council on Ministries from 1988 to 1992, he supported the establishment of Africa University and its colleges in Mutare, Zimbabwe. He first visited the site of what is now Africa University and met with church leaders and educators in 1974.

Written prayers and thoughts will be posted on a Web site by the Baltimore-Washington Conference Department of Communications at www.prayersforzimbabwe.org. Prayers may be mailed to Zimbabwe Prayer Vigil, 9720 Patuxent Woods Drive, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21046, e-mailed to or posted directly to the Web site.