Some good news from ZImbabwe

Having heard about the recent violence at a political rally it Chitungwisa, you are probably wondering whether there is anything positive going on in Zimbabwe. I would like to share the testimony of somebody from my congregation in order to encourage you.

Jane (not her real name) is involved in Alpha Zimbabwe, who ran what was called a Prison GAT in August. Yes, I kid you not – a Prison GAT! Now I know that sounds like some sort of firearm designed to keep prisoners in order, but actually it means: Prison Global Alpha Training. A Prison GAT is a course designed to train prison Chaplains to run Alpha courses in prison. Right, now that we have cleared that up, it is worth noting that the Prison GAT was a great success, attended by over 70 prison chaplains from all over Zimbabwe, four of whom gave their lives to the Lord and were born again. It helps when chaplains are actually Christians!

So the Prison GAT took place in August. But what has been happening in the prisons since then? Let us turn our attention now to John (you guessed – not his real name). John is a friend of Jane, and he lives near a small Zimbabwean town. In a telephone conversation with Jane last Friday, he related the following story:

John had been having trouble with a local n’anga or spirit medium, who was eventually arrested and imprisoned because of the trouble she gave him. However, John received a call from the Chaplain of the prison to say that the n’anga had been born again, and now she would like to ask John for forgiveness. So John headed off somewhat reluctantly to prison where he was in for a powerful surprise.

Not only had the n’anga been born again, but as a result of the Alpha course that the Chaplain was running in the prison, so had many of the prisoners too. In fact, the prisoners sang worship songs non-stop whilst John was visiting the prison. The Chaplain said that the prisoners have taken to singing in their cells for long periods of time. One cell will begin a chorus; the next will pick up the descant and so on until the whole prison sounds like a cathedral.

John was deeply moved. And so was Jane when she heard about it. “There were prison chaplains from all over the country at the GAT, and if this is what is happening in one prison, what is happening elsewhere in the country?” What indeed? Perhaps God will use prisoners to spearhead revival and transformation in Zimbabwe? After all, He does have a way of using the "foolish" things to confound the "wise".

Cheers for now - Ian