Passion for God’s Word: the driving force behind Bible work in Zimbabwe

Susan and Ticha live in Sunningdale, a suburb of Harare. Their home is among those being demolished by the government in its Operation Restore Order campaign to remove illegal housing. Zimbabwe. Photo: BSZ/Edward Mutema (ZIM05DJ-11.JPG)

HIV/AIDS “I think we are now realising the role that the Bible Society can play in HIV/AIDS intervention. Recently the Health Authority has asked for Braille material for visually impaired people with HIV/AIDS. We need to do more in this area. We also need to do more in liaising with other organisations so we can then provide Scripture materials. “Every working Zimbabwean is taxed three per cent of their salary, which is distributed to those living with HIV/AIDS through the National AIDS Council. It dispenses these funds to the most needy, but still it is not adequate.” (This report refers to project ZIM801.)

Interview by Diana Leigh,
British and Foreign Bible Society

ZIMBABWE — Edward Mutema heads a Bible Society in a country in crisis. Inflation is at a staggering 600 per cent and rising. Over 70 per cent of the population is unemployed. HIV/AIDS is ravaging the nation, with over 200,000 people estimated to be dying of AIDS-related illnesses each year. A further 2.3 million Zimbabweans are infected with HIV and there are over a million HIV/AIDS orphans. After Botswana, Zimbabwe has the world’s highest infection rate, with one in every four people HIV-positive.

If this were not enough, the implementation of Operation Murambatsvina (translated by the government as ‘Operation Restore Order’but also known by its literal meaning of ‘Drive out rubbish’) has seen the homes of some 700,000 city dwellers demolished. Thousands of desperate Zimbabweans are in need of shelter; others have gone back to their rural homes, while some have edged into city areas as yet untouched by what some are calling the ‘tsunami’. However, the government has promised to provide shelter for the homeless.

In the face of such pressures, Mr Mutema is praying that God will move mountains. He and his staff are working with passion, perseverance and faith to see God’s Word change lives. Mr Mutema’s personal faith owes much to his family – and he pays tribute to his mother’s prayers for him at a pivotal point in his experience.

Personal Saviour

“When I was about 13 I accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour. But when I went to secondary school I went astray for a few years. Then I heard a sermon on 1 Corinthians 3 v 11-14: ‘For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ’ (NIV). I realised I had to re-dedicate my life to the Lord. That to me was really a launching pad in terms of my active Christian life.”

His re-dedication, at the age of 19, was a great joy to his family.

“My mother and father were committed Christians. My initial acceptance of Christ was very important to my mother, but when I re-dedicated my life and became really involved in God’s work, that was a bonus to her. I remember her saying, ‘Now I can go and be with the Lord’.

“When I was backsliding, I came back from a gig with some friends one night. We were sitting on the veranda and we heard someone praying inside the house. We just listened. I heard my mother praying, ‘Lord, before I die please reveal yourself to Edward, that he would really know you as his personal Saviour’.

Support from the Scriptures for all “Last year a man came into my office and said he wanted a Bible. ‘Are you employed?’ I asked. ‘Yes, I’m employed as a security guard but I can’t afford to buy a Bible’. “Our policy here is that at least you contribute something because you are working. If you value the Scriptures you can pay something. So he put something in and got his Bible. As I talked to him, I felt he was not really a happy person. We talked and talked but he didn’t reveal anything. So I gave him the booklet Living in Hope and the audio cassette of Who is My Neighbour? He went away. One month later he came back, came to my office and said, ‘Thank you very much for these materials. They have helped us in our group and given us hope’. ‘What is your group?’ I asked. ‘Oh, didn’t I tell you? I’m HIV-positive, and our group meets every lunch hour. I played the tape and I explained about the booklet and it has encouraged us all’. “This young man came in, didn’t reveal his status, got Scriptures and left, but I am encouraged for the hope it has given him and his friends. We gave him more booklets. His wife had just left him because of his status. The Bible Society was able to support him; we just had the right things at the right time.”

Left a mark

“We cried and wondered why she really bothered about me that much at that time – it was gone midnight. But it really left a mark to realise that we should pray for our children and that God does answer.

“Much later I visited her in hospital and she said that she didn’t have much longer. I said, ‘You can go now, it’s OK, I have Christ with me. You did your best and you can go’. Two days later she passed away. I’ll always treasure that conversation, and I have always told my kids that is what we are here for – to pray for our kids.”

Mr Mutema’s own children – 18, 16 and 12 years of age – have all now made their own commitment to follow Jesus. “The tradition that my mother left me has now been fulfilled, and the family is united in Christ.”

Mountains and opportunities There are other mountains that Mr Mutema is praying for God to move. One is the mountain of the economic challenge around foreign currency. The Bible Society cannot remit enough money from sales to pay for its work and print more Scriptures. The government introduced a foreign exchange auction system last year under which organisations bid for foreign currency. The Society has made several applications but has been unsuccessful so far. This puts it in a difficult position where it is heavily dependent on outside donors to pay for projects. It cannot print and produce Bibles, for example, unless there is a project that brings in the money. The Society is ‘cash-blocked’. “We have tried to impress upon the government about the need – that the answers to our challenges are in the Scriptures if we could invest the money to produce the Scriptures – but the message has not got through yet! “Demand for Scriptures is very high. Recently I was surprised that one our largest financial institutions sent someone to buy luxury Bibles for its staff and for its library. It is encouraging its senior management and the rest of the staff to read the Bible. Schools now want the RSV as their main text. We need to print and distribute 100,000 copies each year. We do not give material to schools at the moment, except for limited copies of Bibles and HIV/AIDS materials. But we have noticed that our New Reader Portions can be used in language classes. There is a procedure here where it has to be approved by the Curriculum Development Unit. Once approved, schools can either purchase Portions from us or funding can be provided for us to give them. This is something we wish to pursue but it will mean that we need to drastically increase our production to millions of copies for that market. The opportunity is actually there.”

After a university education in the UK, Mr Mutema returned to Zimbabwe and became headmaster of the same school where his mother had taught many years before. Then came a time as a civil servant working on developing moral and religious education for schools. Lecturing in further education and religious studies came next, followed by a post at the Ministry for Youth Development with responsibility for youth services and training centres. But that was not the end of the road.

Another door

“One night, this overwhelming conviction came over me that I had done enough for the government and it was no longer the place for me. I phoned my wife and said, ‘Let’s pray for God to open another door because I don’t feel I am in the right place’.

“At that time the Bible Society was advertising for a General Secretary. One of our pastors encouraged me to apply. I was unsure, but we prayed and I was accepted.

Enormous task

“The passion I have is for God’s Word, seeing people reading God’s Word and lives being changed. I have tremendous conviction that this is what God really wants me to do.

“I have found that the skills I gained along the way were all preparation for Bible Society work and I say, ‘God, thank you for preparing me for this enormous task and its challenges’.

Hope for the homeless

Talking Bible project The Tonga people have gratefully received Scriptures in their own language in recent years (see World Report 375/26). The Adult Literacy Association of Zimbabwe has found these materials very useful for work with the adult learners, targeting both literacy and spiritual nourishment. However, there is a need for more audio Scriptures. “The Bible Society is looking to set up a project based on the Talking Bible, as there is a shortage of cassette players run by solar power. So the project is to distribute these to 1,000 villages. It means a village can have the Talking Bible and everyone can gather round to listen. Pastors say they can lead discussion after people have heard the tapes, whether they can read or not.” (this report refers to project ZIM007)

The demolition of thousands of homes has left many Zimbabweans in turmoil and despair. It is not a situation that will be resolved quickly. While in the short term Harare looks a very ‘clean’ city, more still needs to be done as the problem has not disappeared. Mr Mutema says that the critical question is ‘Where have the people gone?’

“Most have gone back to rural areas. Others have been asked to return to their original homes and families in the towns. But this is difficult – most have nothing and to be asked to go back to relatives they left 10 to 20 years ago is not easy. The government has started a programme to build houses for those displaced, dubbed Operation Garikai (‘Live Comfortably’). Churches and para-church organisations are trying very hard to feed people and provide shelter but it is not easy at all.

“There are many young men and women with nothing to do. Some may resort to crime. There are serious psychological problems for many families.

“Our challenge as a Bible Society is to continue to come up with materials that address those needs. We are translating relevant materials into Shona, Ndebele and other languages to reach those families under stress. If we could distribute more Scriptures it would help.

“We printed a pamphlet to distribute to the holding camps called Who is My Neighbour? We are hoping the 20,000 copies in English, Shona and Ndebele (along with other pamphlets) sent to the centre in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe’s second-largest city) will be helpful.

“We have many stories. People saying, ‘When I was reading the text, it really encouraged me and gave me hope’.

“I remember talking to one young person. He read the Scriptures because he had nothing to do. When he has nothing to do and reads Scripture it encourages him to have hope.