Zimbabwe

This afternoon Tim flies to Pretoria where he will meet up with Kobus van Niekerk, YWAM's acting Field Director for Africa. Together they will drive to Zimbabwe where they will meet up with the few YWAM staff who are left in the country. They will also be transporting food for the team, since there is so little available to them there. Amazingly YWAM Zimbabwe has continued to offer residential discipleship courses throughout the ongoing troubles but this has been incredibly challenging. Recent visits by international outreach teams have ended badly, with their vehicles being flagged down and impounded by police. In the last month a Member Care team was able to visit and offer the staff a weekend of loving support, along with good food, counseling and debriefing. There is hope that this experience can be repeated before too long.

We are trusting that as far as this trip goes there will be no mishaps at the border or along the roads. Kobus has made a number of similar trips and may be known to some of the security forces ... which could be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on who deals with them at customs. This is a bit of a mad dash - they will be gone just 48 hours - but we trust that support like this can make a difference to the YWAM staff there, strengthening them to persevere through the circumstances.