Link visit to Central Zimbabwe 8th – 15th December

Church of England dioceses are linked to other dioceses across the Anglican Communion so that we can mutually support and enrich each other.  In Southwark our links are with four Dioceses in Zimbabwe and with the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Middle East.  Since we have so many more parishes than the Dioceses in Zimbabwe, each of the Episcopal Areas Links with a Diocese in Zimbabwe – and the Cathedral links with the fourth.

The Croydon Episcopal Area links with the Diocese of Central Zimbabwe, and we enjoy three meetings a year over Zoom.  The pandemic gave our meetings equality over Zoom in that people from both the Croydon Area and Central Zimbabwe were all around the same table as it were and led by co-chairs – Venerable Austin July of Central Zimbabwe and myself for the Croydon end.

Flora Mukembe planting a tree in the bush near St Patrick’s, as part of the Anglican Communion Forest – each Diocese committing to plant trees to help with the climate crisis

Flora Mukembe planting a tree in the bush near St Patrick’s, as part of the Anglican Communion Forest – each Diocese committing to plant trees to help with the climate crisis

But Zoom can be a pain!  It depends on electricity – which isn’t always available in Zimbabwe – and on bandwidth – which sometimes runs out by the time you get out to Surrey.  So, in December Steve Chapman, Reader and Churchwarden from St Mildred, Addiscombe and I went to Gweru to meet our sisters and brothers of the Diocese there.

Steve Chapman at the gold mine

Steve Chapman at the gold mine

We were warmly greeted by Bishop Ignatios and his wife Flora at the airport when we finally got through the queue to get our visas to enter the country, and then driven through a thunderstorm to Gweru.

It was dark by the time we arrived at the Holy Spirit Monastery, a small community of four nuns and a Friar, who live on a farm in the bush about 15 km outside Gweru.  They welcomed us with a splendid meal – which would be the pattern of our next few days – each evening a different group in the Diocese would prepare a feast for us. One evening, the St Agnes Guild, which is hundreds of girls, another the Anglican Men’s Fellowship and another Mothers’ Union and the Anglican Women’s Fellowship.

Bishop Ignatios and those confirmed at St Matthew’s Monomotapa, the oldest suburb of Gweru

Bishop Ignatios and those confirmed at St Matthew’s Monomotapa, the oldest suburb of Gweru

During the day we were busy visiting the projects that the Diocese runs.  We had a great day going out to St Patrick’s – which is about 20 km from Gweru, seeing the clinic which treats people from the area, including helping the women to give birth safely.  We saw the hospital which is on its way to completion, and the secondary school.  The Diocese is particularly pleased to have a new solar panel array which provides electricity for the school and provides an income to the Diocese.

Time and again Bishop Ignatios said that when things go wrong, don’t give up. Instead, think and find the way God is leading you next.  He is keen to invest in projects that will bring an income to the Diocese to enable the clergy to be paid long term. So, we went to see the elution boiler the Diocese had bought.  It was at a gold mine about 40 km from Gweru and every cycle it runs brings $350 (about £283) to the Diocese.

But the real gold of the Diocese are the people – we enjoyed seeing Bishop Ignatios confirm 49 people from two parishes, and admit nine women to the Anglican Women’s Fellowship – a group for women who are ineligible for Mothers’ Union but still want to be in a group to serve the church and witness to their faith.  We enjoyed a meeting with the Zimbabwean members of the link group in person – it was great to see them in 3D!

We rounded off our few days with a trip to the Antelope Park, and saw elephants, wildebeest, zebra and giraffe all in their natural habitat.  In all, a very rich experience and we came back feeling much closer to our friends in Central Zimbabwe.

Relaxing at White Water – one of the reservoirs which serve Gweru, with folks from St Francis church

Relaxing at White Water – one of the reservoirs which serve Gweru, with folks from St Francis church