Zimbabwean Lives Matter – Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe Stands in Solidarity with the Catholic Bishop’s Conference

By the Association of Evangelicals in Africa
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) issued a solidarity statement with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference (ZCBC) on the 17^th of August 2020 following rising unrest in Zimbabwe and called for dialogue to address the underlying causes of the current national crisis.
The ZCBC had issued a stinging statement condemning the Government of Zimbabwe for its culpability in the country’s current socio-economic crisis. “We stand with the truth that the Catholic Bishops so ably articulated; a truth that affects our people on a daily basis; the truth of a multi-layered crisis of the convergence of economic collapse, deepening poverty, food insecurity, corruption and human rights abuses among many others. “The ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire “; we stand with this truth as depicted in Micah 7:3 and articulated by the Catholic Bishops. We stand with the truth “that the government is focused on things other than national democratic priorities” The statement read.
“True democracy is not built on threatening and criticizing those who speak up or speak out; it is not in denying inconvenient and unpalatable truth; it is not demonizing those we disagree with. Democracy welcomes truth. Democracy is built on the search for truth.”
EFZ had in a previous pastoral statement warned that the arrest of citizens and prohibition of mass action will only yield more resistance and unrest in the country. The growing human rights abuses eventually gave regional and international attention to the #ZimbabweanLivesMatter movement that went viral. EFZ pastoral letter also noted, “Arbitrary arrests, abductions, torture and suppression of people’s anger can only serve to deepen the crisis and take the nation into deeper crisis”.
Read Solidarity Statement with the Zimbabwe Catholic Bishops Conference’s Pastoral Letter on the Current Situation in Zimbabwe of 14 August 2020
The Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe (EFZ) has been leading 90 days of National Prayer for Zimbabwe that kicked off on the 1st of June 2020. To join in and pray with the Church in Zimbabwe, please click here.
EFZ incorporates 845 member bodies representing over 4.5 million Christians in Zimbabwe]]>