Thoughts on our South Africa & Zimbabwe Trip

On Saturday April 10th, I will begin the journey back to Africa.  Due to the generosity of friends, my wife Elizabeth will be joining me for the first two weeks of the trip.  This will be her first time in Africa and I'm so excited to introduce her to the people and land I so dearly love.  It was just a few months ago (Sept. 2009) that I returned to Africa for the first time since 1987.  Twenty-three years ago after burying sixteen of my friends in the soil of Zimbabwe, I left never planning to return.  I thought that forever Zimbabwe would be known to me as "the place of pain."  For over twenty years, I wrestled with many conflicted thoughts and emotions as a result of the untimely and tragic deaths of the members of The Community of Reconciliation.  I never conceived that somehow God would bring life out of death.  The fact that their amazing story is about to be shared with all of Africa, is for me truly a profound thought.

It is always dangerous to guess what God is up to but I do believe that He is on a mission to heal Zimbabwe.  It started for me personally in late 2007.  It was at that point when I started feeling this gentle prompting to write a book about The Community of Reconciliation.  Initially, I was resistant to the idea as I was terrified of writing.  If I was going to even consider doing something like that, it was going to have to be honest and written from the heart. The problem was that if it was from the heart, I would be opening myself up to reliving my pain and that was something that didn't appeal to me.  In time the divine pressure kept building until I finally gave expression to what was inside of me and started writing in early 2008.  I was amazed to find that in the process I found personal healing.

In Sept of 2009, I returned to Southern Africa to take the next step in this unfolding saga.  It was time for me to reengage with the family members and friends who had survived the massacre after all these years.  This too was a bit terrifying!  I was re-entering the lives of people who had moved on.  They had long since compartmentalized the tragedy along with its bitter emotions.  Now I was showing up in their lives and even worse telling the whole world their very personal story.  It would have been understandable if they had shunned me and kept me out of their lives.  I was prepared for that eventuality.  Again, God had a different plan and this time it was to heal family and friends who had survived...both black and white.  I watched and participated in amazement as God's grace was on us all to take the next healing step together.  I left Africa in Oct. of 2009 with my heart overflowing with gratitude and looking forward to returning this year.

Now we stand at the threshold of another stage of the journey and that is the healing of the people of Zimbabwe worldwide.  From the initial response of those in Africa who have read the book, they feel the release of "Saving Zimbabwe" this coming weekend, is the next phase of God's unfolding plan for healing the nation.  I pray they are right. If so, He will be producing life out of death and I will have been obedient to God's initial charge to me..."Do not let your friends lives be shed in vain." - Bob Scott

http://blog.compassionatejustice.com

On my 2009 South Africa trip I decided to journal my experiences on my blog. I was shocked to later find out how many people around the world were actually following the whole experiance with a great deal of fascination.

For those of you interested in following along on this journey, I will endeavor to post a blog entry every day. This could get more difficult as we venture into Zimbabwe and face power outages and limited access to the internet. In some cases I may need to post 2 or 3 entries at once when I find access. Thabani and I will be returning to the site of The Community of Reconciliation together for the first since December 1987. I'm sure it will be an emotionally charged moment.

For convenience, there is a place on the blog website for you to actually subscribe and when I post an entry you will be automatically notified.

We had expected by the time we sent out this edition of the newsletter, our container of medical supplies would have arrived in Harare. Unfortunatly that is not the case as its taking longer than expected for the container to make its way to Harae via the railroad. The good news is the supplies are now scheduled to arrive the week before we get to Harare! We (Thabani & I) will get  there just in time to share in all the excitement and participate in the planning process of how the supplies will be dispersed throughout the country. Once I can get an opportunity to take some photos I will post them on our Facebook page.

Over the last couple months we have been doing some intense research on the question of "where do used textbooks and library books in America go?" It turns out that most end up being ground up and recycled. I was stunned to learn that one school district in the Kansas City area sent two semi-truck loads to the recyclers last year! Given the serious lack of books in Zimbabwe, this seems to be a terrible waste. I plan on meeting with Zimbabwe's Minister of Education David Coltart in early May to discuss which if any of these textbooks can be rescued and used in Zimbabwe.

Also, we have recently developed a relationship with the Heartland Book Bank which is stacked floor to ceiling with books to be given away to needy schools. It is my hope that after returning from Zimbabwe we can begin to collect and prepare thousands of books for their journey to Africa. I know that all across Zimbabwe there are millions of children who's eyes would light up at the sight of books to read.

Compassionate Justice International website:  www.compassionatejustice.com

Saving Zimbabwe book website:  www.savingzimbabwe.com

CJI Director Bob Scott's Blog:  http://blog.compassionatejustice.com

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/compassionatejustice

Besides the monthly financial support we need to cover overhead costs, here are specific needs we currently have;

• Vehicle for picking up supplies
• Medical Supplies
• Educational Supplies
• Funds for Shipping Containers ($15k per container)

Needs that have been met in 2010:

• New warehouse space
• Fork lift
• Airfares to South Africa