AFWIS joins OW in prayer for the Republic of Zimbabwe, Africa

Zimbabwe

Republic of Zimbabwe

Africa

See Prayer Information

Geography

Area: 390,759 sq km
Landlocked state in southern Africa.
Population: 12,644,041    Annual Growth: 0.27%
Capital: Harare
Urbanites: 38%

Peoples

Peoples: 44 (7% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: English. Trade languages Shona spoken widely, Ndebele in the West    Languages: 22 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Christian

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	9,861,088	77.99	1.1
Evangelicals	3,910,631	30.9	2.2

Answer to Prayer

Target 2010 is the follow-up to the successful saturation church planting vision (Target 2000) which saw 10,000 new churches planted. Target 2010 aims to address realities facing today’s Church: leadership development, community transformation, prayer and mission mobilization, research, sustainable church planting and healthy church growth. Meeting such lofty goals amid such deprivation will take great commitment and faith across the evangelical spectrum.

Challenge for Prayer

Urgent human needs abound. A web of inter-related disasters combined to create a state of emergency. Pray especially for:
a) The economy. Hyperinflation and economic meltdown have driven millions into gripping poverty from which there seems no escape.
     i Hyperinflation reached ridiculous proportions, possibly up to one billion percent per year with the printing of $500 trillion notes. The government knocked 16 zeros off the currency; Zimbabwean money is regarded as worthless and people demand payment in South African or US currency. The taming of inflation is essential to building up the economy.
     ii Unemployment reached 90%, and those few employed rarely get paid in a useful currency. Negligible recourse to meaningful or gainful work not only impoverishes a nation but destroys its morale as well.
b) The education system, once among the best in Africa, has ground to a halt. Enrolment plummeted from a once admirable 92.5%, as few can afford the $4/term school fee. Entire terms are cancelled as schools and universities shut down altogether. The paralyzation of education robs Zimbabwe of its future.
c) Health care is also in meltdown. Power failures, lack of supplies and inability to pay workers leave hospitals inoperable. Even basic health care is under siege, now provided by NGOs more than by the state. The 2008 cholera epidemic prompted the government to declare a state of emergency, though it continues to lack resources to prevent further spread. Over 100,000 may have been infected.
     For an additional 8 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Zimbabwe.