Restore Zimbabwe Service

Masikati and the Lord be with you!

When Jesus Christ wanted people to know what he was doing, he chose a passage from the Old Testament to describe his mission.

Kate Hoey MP, read it for us.

It was all about:

· justice for people being treated unjustly and in poverty

· release for oppressed prisoners

· forgiveness for past wrongs

· new life for the present

· hope for the future

This was written to encourage a disillusioned and demoralised people.

And it looked forward to a new day

God's day –

the day when God would free them.

President Robert Mugabe was right when he said only God could remove him. That's exactly what happens in human history.

No tyrant lives for ever. No cruel regime lasts. God acts. And he is acting – the G8 led by our Prime Minister has woken up to the illegitimacy and brutality of the Mugabe regime.

Yes! God puts down the mighty from their seat

And raises up the humble and meek.

God has not created this world so that evil triumphs.

That does not mean we should wait and do nothing.

God has given us the responsibility to manage this world for Him -

· if we do it badly

· or if we do nothing

we shall answer to Him for it.

The late Dr Martin Luther King Jr said,

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."

Mugabe may well brand Gordon Brown a "colonialist" or an "imperialist" for any action he takes, but the people of Zimbabwe look to us and to others, to heed the cries of their suffering and the voices of our own conscience.

More than 20 years ago, Joshua Nkomo gave an address at the funeral of Lookout Masuku who had been imprisoned for an alleged plot to overthrow Mugabe.

This is what he said:

"We cannot blame colonialism and imperialism for this tragedy. We who fought against these things now practise them. Why? Why? Why?

...  Our country cannot progress on fear and the false accusations which are founded simply on the love of power.

There is something radically wrong with our country today and we are moving, fast, towards destruction.

There is confusion and corruption and, let us be clear about it, we are seeing racism in reverse under false mirror of correcting imbalances from the past.

In the process we are creating worse things.

We have created fear in the minds of some in our country. We have made them feel unwanted, unsafe.

... You cannot build a country by firing people's homes.

No country can live by slogans, pasi (down with) this and pasi (down with) that. When you are ruling you should never say pasi (down) to anyone. If there is something wrong with someone you must try to uplift him, not oppress him.

We cannot condemn other people and then do things even worse than they did.

....We cannot go on this way. People must be freed to be able to speak. We invite the clergy to be outspoken. Tell us when we go wrong."

Well, here's one of the clergy who will tell. We cannot sit by as silent observers of the carnage.

Furthermore, here in the UK we have to do far more than we are doing at present to assist exiled Zimbabweans.

It would be a real tragedy for those who are skilled, experienced, willing and energetic, not to be allowed the dignity of being able to contribute to life in this nation, whilst waiting to return to a restored Zimbabwe.

If there's one thing I want to say to our Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the British Government today, it's this:

I applaud your pressure on other nations (though I'd like to see it greatly intensified) but you can do something right now, here at home:

Give back to our brothers and sisters their human dignity.

Do it now. Show your humanity. Show your statesmanship.

Heed the passage chosen from the Old Testament by Jesus Christ and let these exiles live in justice and mercy.

Stopping forced repatriation of the current failed asylum seekers is laudable and greatly welcomed. Why not take the next logical step of granting them a conditional exceptional leave to remain for a year and a day! Please do it now!

The Psalmist says,

"Shout to the lord all the earth!"

We are just going to do that and make a shout of hope three times:

"The Lord Reigns"

"The Lord Reigns"

"The Lord Reigns"

We will also make a Shout of Command:

"Restore Zim!"