Troubled Election in Zimbabwe Opens Door for Bible Society Evangelism

The parliamentary election in Zimbabwe last week has sparked waves of controversies. Many Christians and churches have condemned the election process, but a majority of them however, have expressed their thanksgiving and appreciation that the recent elections were carried out with an atmosphere of peace and calm, compared to previous ones. In addition, the Bible Society of Zimbabwe has reported that a new door has opened for evangelism in the midst of political instability.

"We are grateful to members of the UBS fellowship for praying for peace and tranquillity during this time," Edward Mutema, the Society's General Secretary stated in a press release.

Before and during the elections, the Bible Society of Zimbabwe had distributed hundreds of thousands of copies of the Election Selection throughout the country in partnership with churches, the Zimbabwe Christian Council, Scripture Union and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe.

The Election Selection - Choosing Leaders God’s Way - attracted particular interest from Christians. The publication is an adaptation of the Selection God's Choice for President, which was distributed during the 2002 presidential elections.

The Bible Society celebrated the success. Through the election, the word of God was able to be distributed to President Robert Mugabe and Vice Presidents Joyce Mujuru and Joseph Msika, as well as to all 120 Members of Parliament.

"We have not yet received any feedback from them but we are pleased that God's Word was placed in the hands of those leaders who can make a difference. Our prayer is that they will lead in accordance with the Bible," Mutema added.

Till now, the feedback from the churches have proved to be positive. A pastor from the Glad Tidings Fellowship in Harare came to Bible House after seeing a copy of the Selection in order to seek more material about biblical leadership. A Methodist leader, too, said he planned to distribute the new publication to Methodist Churches throughout the country.

Currently, the most desperate need to keep up with this amazing trend of evangelism is to publish more Shona Bibles.

"...we ran out of Shona Bibles just before the elections, and many people who came in search of Bibles during this crucial time were greatly disappointed," said Mutema. "Also, as our next consignment is only due in two months' time, we will have to continue to disappoint people. Please pray that the new Bibles will arrive on time because it is so frustrating to have to turn people away."