Hope For a Barren Land: An article from Zimbabwe by Oria Daleoria dale - 16 Apr 2008

I have recently moved myself to Zimbabwe- beautiful Zimbabwe. Some would say that I have come "for such a time as this". Others have asked, "why on earth would you go there at such a time as this?"  It certainly has not gone unnoticed that I'm choosing to live in a place that thousands and thousands of people have left.

Bad governance and hyper-inflation have crippled the economy here leaving the store shelves virtually empty.  I heard someone recently joke that Zimbabweans have become hunters and gatherers again.  These days its not far from the truth.  In the scramble for a balanced diet, a friend and I often get in the truck and drive to several different stores throughout the city hunting for food on store shelves. After a quick round in the supermarket the other day, I found soup noodles, toothpaste, copious amounts of ketchup, toilet cleaner and local beer.  No milk, toilet paper, rice, flour, oil, sugar, or bread.  This food shortage combined with power and water shortages, an irresponsible and greed driven government, lack of freedom of press and speech, the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the lowest life expectancy in the world today, has made living very difficult for millions of Zimbabweans.

I recently sat in front of a high-school headmaster in a rural area of Zimbabwe. A few of us had gone to visit him and chat about the current situation at his school, needs, concerns, etc.  I sat in front of a tall, strong, very capable and determined man who was holding back the tears as he explained his desperate circumstances.  He had no food and the majority of the teachers he had were not trained properly.  Some of them had just finished high-school themselves.  Everyone else had left.  I will never forget the utter hopelessness i saw in his eyes.  He was barely living one day at a  time; waiting, clinging to a smidgen of hope that something would change to ease his situation. Across the road there was a primary school. They had food thanks to an international NGO feeding program.  We sat with the teachers for a bit and they were beautifully honest with us.  "We are only here still because of the children... things for us are desperate.", they said. Nearly everyone we spoke to said they were waiting for the presidential elections to see what would happen.  A lot of people's hope is riding on these elections.  When a country's unofficial motto is 'hurry up and wait', a prolonged election can drain all hope.

I could go on and on about all the cards that are stacked against Zimbabwe. But regardless, this beautiful country is home for me now.   And as much as I see restoration needed on so many levels all around me, I also choose to see and believe in the good, beauty and strength of this nation.  That's what it comes down to in the end: choosing to position ourselves in a nation or place or sphere or industry that we believe in and want to see Jesus impact and invade for his glory.  I choose to see the gifts and strengths of this place, however hidden they may seem at the  time.  To speak life and love over a place.  To be a part of positive change.  To acknowledge what the enemy has stolen, warped and robbed, but also to help usher in God's redemptive plan.  My journey with this nation is still in its early days, and there is much to learn.  But this much i know already: I am here to champion hope.

And hope is precisely what has been attacked since the moment I arrived here.  Predictable, huh?  I have found, over my travels these last 10 or so years, that often where God asks us to position ourselves and our physical lives and situations in that place often end up reflecting or running parallel to what's going on in the spiritual realm of that place.  Perhaps because we carry around in us the presence of God and he chooses to use us to impact and affect the world around us.  Perhaps because our battle is not against flesh and blood.  And this time, here in beautiful Zimbabwe, this parallel has been a battle to maintain hope in the face of desperation. I have never felt it this hard to cling to this titanium string called hope. I have never found it this hard to believe that the dreams God has put inside me will come to pass. I am struggling to believe that he will indeed carry out to completion the good works he has started.  And yet I recognise that this fight i find myself in is not just about me.  Its never just about us.  Its always so much bigger.  As the saying goes: "No one lives only for themselves."  In my feeble prayers one night I clearly heard God say:
"This battle you are in to hold onto hope is a tiny glimpse into the fight my beautiful people of zimbabwe are in right now and have been in for quite some time.  Stand with them in this and don't take your eyes off of me.  Set your face like flint."

In my "hopeless freak-out", I had forgotten that actually HE is our hope. Hope is never totally void.  Yes, it really can deliver the hardest punches, seem impossible to continue on with it, and sometimes even seem to hide from us altogether.  But it is never void and it is relentless in its ability to bring life and strength to all who choose to fiercely hold on to it... to Him.  And that gives me the strength to go on.  I believe that change will come in this nation, that justice will prevail, that reconciliation and redemption will take place, and that this dream of Zimbabwe will shine again in all its strength and beauty.