What a Way to Start:
Cancelled flights. Delays. Bad communications. Six hours at the border and a nightmare with customs! What seemed like a miserable way to start a mission turned into one of the most successful missions I have yet been on yet. As we made our way through Zimbabwe, it was apparent that God had prepared the way for us. We had successful conferences, seminars, sermons and Film outreaches which kept us busy almost every single day.
 The Spiritual State:
Zimbabwe is a country whose people have had to overcome the worst inflation rate in the world. They went through a financial drought, where shops and supermarkets were completely empty. Food was scarce and people were desperate. Sadly this caused the nation to become a rich breeding ground for greedy cults. Zionists, Branhamites and all sorts of prosperity cults have sprung forth from Zimbabwe’s depression. People are drawn to them like moths to a flame. As you ride through Zimbabwe on a Sunday you can see large amounts of zionist sects gathering outside in open empty fields. People are clinging onto anyone, or anything, that promises them wealth and health.
Discipleship:
Praise God that we were able to hold conferences, with Discipleship being a main focus. The need for Biblical discipleship is evident. Television seems to be the main source of “discipleship” and a weak prosperity gospel is what is being preached. “Come to Jesus to get rich” and “come to Jesus to get healed” seems to be a common salvation message. Thankfully we could address these issues and teach on true Salvation and Discipleship to leaders and Bible students.
 The Hunger:
Even though there is such a large breeding ground for cults, there is still a hunger for God’s Word and dedicated men and women of God still stand. Pastors, leaders, Chaplains and the like were hungry for Bible based teachings. Some of what we taught may have cut against the grain of what they have learned in the past, but when we could back it up with Scripture, it was gladly received. We spoke about issues regarding Salvation. We were flooded with opinions and questions. People were happy to hear Biblical answers, even if it wasn’t the answer they wanted. The dedication of the local congregations was very encouraging. Even when there were power cuts they gathered at the pastor’s house to listen to the Word being preached by candle light. The spiritual hunger of the people needs to be filled by sound Biblical spirituality before false teachings make their way into the hearts of the people.
 Film Evangelism
To draw crowds we used the Jesus film in Shona. The Jesus film is an amazing evangelism tool as it shows the authority and sinless nature of Jesus. It also portrays His death and glorious Resurrection. At one instance we started showing the film and the electricity failed. The crowd had already been drawn however, which gave us a good opportunity to do some open air preaching. While preaching I interacted with the crowd who all claimed to be Christian. I asked them what makes it possible for a sinner to have his sins forgiven. I received a variation of answers: “God is merciful”, “you just need to repent” and “You need to believe”. There wasn’t an understanding of the work Jesus did on the Cross, which is where Atonement for sin was made. Later that night, the electricity came back on and we could show the film and make a challenge for people to surrender to Christ.
 God Can Use a Power Cut.
Again we were showing the Jesus film in a rural area. This time we were showing it right in front of a house of revelry. The residents at this particular house were well on their way to being boozed up and were playing blaring worldly music. Of course the music they were playing was a big distraction to the evangelism we were doing. As we started the film the electricity provider of Zimbabwe decided to perform one of their many power cuts. This time we had a generator. Suddenly we were the biggest show in town and our friends next door had to put an end to their party. Many people came to watch the film including drunkards, Christians and Ellen G White followers. Many people bowed their knee to Christ that night.
Divine appointment:
Just before showing the Jesus film I spoke to a man and asked him how he knew he was going to Heaven. He replied by saying that he would go in because he believes that if you grow up in the Church you will go to heaven. After we discussed what the Bible says about salvation he thanked me and said that he believes God set the appointment up for us to speak to one another. Later on we showed the Jesus film. It was raining so we found refuge under the roof of an outdoor market place. Despite the bad weather, many people came to watch the film and as the challenge to come to Christ was made, there were some young men making a big noise. They were trying to distract everyone from the message. The louder they got, the louder the preaching got and at the end some brave people came forward to surrender to Christ; despite the loud hooligans poking fun at the preaching.
Conned Convicts:
One of the days when we were in Zimbabwe, we were told that we were going to do some prison ministry. We arrived at the prison unannounced and the prison commander didn’t seem too happy about our surprise arrival. After some persuasion he allowed us in to go and speak to all the inmates. A sense of sadness came over me, as I asked the prisoners: “who of you are Christians?” and they all put up their hands. Now this doesn’t seem sad at first but when I asked them what it means to be saved, most of them failed to answer me. I was staring into the faces of over a hundred murderers, thieves and rapists and they all thought they were going to Heaven! No one could tell me about the conviction of the sins they had committed and how Jesus set them free. We shared the Gospel with them and I pray that God by His Holy Spirit will bring them to repentance and Salvation.
Chaplain Training:
One of the most exciting parts of the ministry God allowed us to do was speaking to the chaplains. I was so encouraged to see the dedication and conviction of many of the chaplains who are ministering to the prisoners, army and police of Zimbabwe. They too, have a real concern for the false teachings and cults out there. We were able to spend 5 days speaking to the chaplains and we were so blessed to be able to give them literature and audio/visual material. We spent time with them finding out what challenges they face and how we can help them.
Preaching:
Every Sunday we had opportunities to preach. We understood that we were speaking to people who may have possibly come to Christ hoping to improve their lives, instead of coming to Him under the conviction of sin. We knew that this issue had to be addressed and we did address it every time we preached. It wasn’t easy because you don’t know how the people are going to respond to the message, but we had to do it lest their blood be on our hands.
 Fearful People:
Robert Mugabe maintains his reign as president using fear and intimidation tactics. People are held up at gun point during election times and are told to vote for ZANU PF or die. The opposing party, the MDC can’t even hold rallies or meetings without being attacked by Mugabe’s thugs. Speaking to people on the ground, we found that voting is not private at all; in fact many people refuse to vote for this very reason. Most of the people seemed somewhat defeated. Almost as if they have given up on their country, just waiting for age to take care of Mugabe.
The Hope:
Amidst all the money grabbers, politicians and other countries that are putting a burden on the Zimbabweans, I see hope. There are a vast amount of people who at least claim to be Christian. Even though there is a lot of deception there is also a willingness to learn and to grow. On top of all this, they have the ability to stand together for common Biblical principles in the future. If we can help them understand the importance of pro-life, Christian education, a Godly constitution and similar things of that nature, they will be able to stand on their feet one day.
“If My people who are called by My Name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
  John Clifford
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021 689 4480
Email: Jclifford@frontline.org.za
Web: www.frontline.org.za
A printable pdf version of this newsletter is available here
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