Healing Zimbabwe

I first visited the nation of Zimbabwe in 1984. I had been looking for years for a place where people were living out Jesus peacemaking  mandate under difficult circumstances. I was desperately in search of a Peace & Reconciliation project I had heard about located there. I was told I would find it in a community just outside the southern city of Bulawayo in a part of the country then in the midst of a genocide. What I discovered at The Community of Reconciliation was truly amazing. Former enemies in an armed conflict had found the courage to face their painful past together.  They each invested heavily in frank dialogue, asking forgiveness for the wrongs they had committed and learning to forgive each other. The result was a racially integrated, agriculturally based community were they lived as equals while respecting and loving one another. This incredible group of people became both friends and spiritual mentors to me. I loved them dearly. 

Their vision for a unified and peaceful Zimbabwe was not shared by all. On November 25th 1987, 16 members of the community were brutally massacred and the infrastructure they had worked so hard to build was burned to the ground. Besides the intense emotional pain, the economic devastation was equally harsh as a whole community was driven back into poverty. On a personal level, it was a crushing blow which I had no idea how to process. 

After two decades of living in a state of confusion and despair and having found no way to cope with it other than compartmentalizing my pain, I finally found the courage to deal with it with the help of a trauma expert. Part of the healing process for those with Post Traumatic Shock Disorder is to begin to tell your story which I did in a book titled "Saving Zimbabwe" Life, Death and Hope in Africa".  On the one hand it was cathartic and healing for those of us close to the people who had been murdered. On the other hand, the book became highly controversial in Zimbabwe and I was threatened with arrest should I ever set foot in the country. Those who were in possession of the books hid them from the authorities.

In an amazing turn of events, I was invited back to Zimbabwe earlier this year to speak at a Peace & Reconciliation conference. As a result of my speech, a whole series of doors has opened up for me to become more intimately involved in the national healing efforts so urgently needed by this polarized nation. One of our first Compassionate Justice projects will be to restore the memorial site where my friends are buried. Due to neglect over the years, it has become overgrown and the fencing torn down.

I will be returning to Zimbabwe for another three month period starting in September of 2018. On November 25th, we will be hosting a significant event at the refurbished site which will be attended by dignitaries from all over the nation. The people buried at the memorial were the first national healers. After 30 years of their story being suppressed, and the work they had done seemingly destroyed, its time they were honored for the great sacrifice they made.  With the news media exposure, it is my hope that we can signal to other Zimbabwean communities that its time to come home and heal.

The funds I am hoping to raise will cover my airfare and expenses for the three months I will be in Zimbabwe with possible stops in Rwanda and South Africa currently being discussed. They will also underwrite the costs of putting on such a significant event including all the logistics involved.  I have a number of other significant national healing projects in the planning stages which I will announce in due course.  Your continued support is greatly appreciated and will be integral in the healing of a nation of people exhausted from decades of being pitted against each other by those driven by selfish ambition and greed. Despite all they have been through, when I returned, I found Zimbabweans still so full of hope, spirit and compassion. The people of Zimbabwe are ready to heal and I would appreciate your support in helping them realize their dream for a peaceful nation We are grateful.