| In spite of the lines, the church grows in Africa  BY VICTOR SAWYER I recently spent a week in Zimbabwe. I was also in Zimbabwe three years ago. The economic situation is much worse today than it was then. In the capital city, Harare, almost every block has one or two banks. Everyday, six days a week, the lines of customers start forming at the bank at 5 a.m., with people waiting to withdraw cash. By 9 a.m., the line has curved around the block, in some places two or three blocks long. When the customers finally get inside the bank, cash withdrawal is limited to $5,000 Zim per day. A loaf of bread costs $1,000 Zim. People have to get in line every day in order to obtain enough funds to live. T he hardship is not only created by the shortage of cash, but also by the shortage of fuel. The official price of fuel is $450 Zim per one liter, but no one sells fuel at that price. The unofficial rate is $1,500 to $2,000 per liter. All the gas stations are closed and gasoline is obtained at special centers. I went out with several pastors when they tried to obtain fuel. In one case, we drove seven miles to a center where fuel was available. With 10 cars in front of us, the process took 90 minutes. In another place, we were waiting in line when another vehicle got in front of us. We yelled that we were waiting in line. The driver responded, amused, that we were in a fuel war, and he was going to win the war. I was invited to preach at the North Convention Programme, a five-day revival-like celebration. The program was organized by the women of the district, and held at the Nyakatsapa Camp Ground in Mutasa in Nyanga District. More than 2,500 people attended the program (2,000 women, 300 men, 200 children and youth). They slept, cooked, ate and worshipped together, a unique experience of the church alive in a Pentecost-style celebration. As we drove from Harare to Mutare, we saw the farms that once produced enough maize and wheat to feed all of southern Africa. Today these farms are wastelands. Zimbabwe, once known as the breadbasket for southern Africa, if not for all of Africa, is now facing a serious food shortage. With no foreign exchange to pay for imports, and inflation exceeding 400 percent, there is a crisis of hunger and starvation. Our connectional system, though, is making a big difference here. The General Board of Global Ministries, through the Zimbabwe Annual Conference, has provided $80,000 to buy food to continue the feeding programs at orphanages, schools and churches. This is our apportionment dollars at work. The HIV/AIDS crisis still threatens the survival of the nations 2.8 million people. It is estimated that a quarter of the population is infected; 5,000 deaths are recorded every month. The antiretroviral drugs are not affordable to many of the people who need them. The cost of the drugs per month per person is $325 in U.S. dollars. While in Zimbabwe I also preached at the Inner City UMC in downtown Harare. The church, with a membership of 1,500, has started construction on a five-story building. It will house a program to work with children made orphans by the AIDS crisis. The name of the program will be Wonderful Mercy. Amid the crises in Zimbabwe I felt that mercy. The spirit of God is moving. We must remember our brothers and sisters in Africa. The Rev. Victor Sawyer is pastor of Locust UMC in Columbia and chairman of the Baltimore-Washington Conference Committee on Africa. | 
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