9/13: New Deal for Zim; holding breath

I've been asked a lot of questions this week about the new deal for Zimbabwe. My apologies for taking so long to post something about it here.

I think there is a great sense of optimism that a new Zimbabwe is around the corner, but also a great sense of anxiety -- "we've been down this road before" kind of an approach. I don't blame my friends.

This weekend, I'm spending a lot of time with Victor Nakah - President of the Theological College of Zimbabwe - who just preached and spoke around Central PA this past week. He's now doing the same in Boston. Last night we talked at length about the new deal, without knowing a lot about it yet. We agreed that foreign aid would come pouring in (could be good or awful), optimism would grow, but next few months would be key.

So my 1.5 cents on the matter is this: PRAY. Pray for Zimbabwe's government, the people, its neighbors, the international community (especially EU, World Bank, IMF), and wisdom for all involved.

Our last century is full of cases where there were severe governance challenges, change in power, then the international community flooded the new "power" with cash...only to make the situation worse and encourage more corruption.

I don't want to take joy out of the situation... I've just seen it before. We all need to pray for wisdom.

Check out these 2 articles:
1) Details of new agreement (BBC News)
2) Muted reaction to Zim Deal (BBC News)