My route with my horse, Tsedeq, from Mount Carmel farm in the Chegutu district to Mutare and the Vumba
My goals in brief were:
To spend more time praying for Zimbabwe at this turbulent and traumatic time.
To raise awareness of the lack of justice and righteousness within our government.
To call for the regional court of justice, the SADC Tribunal, to reopened and for its judgments to be adhered to.
To assess the state of the former commercial farms 24 years after the land invasions began and to discover how people are surviving under the chaotic conditions prevalent across the country.
To ride across eastern Zimbabwe, having already experienced conditions in the west.
Today I went back to Mount Carmel farm, the property belonging to my late father-in-law, Mike Campbell, in the Chegutu district of Mashonaland West province in Zimbabwe.
Our family was driven violently from Mike’s highly productive farming operation in 2009 by the late Nathan Shamuyarira, a former minister and ZANU-PF politburo member in President Mugabe’s government. He had absolutely no farming experience – or interest in farming – and the entire property is now derelict.
My three children in the rubble of our burnt-out home in September 2009
The ruins of our home on Mount Carmel farm in 2016
At the gates of Mount Carmel I was joined by a group of wonderful friends and read Psalm 37. It’s a powerful Psalm about the land and justice and righteousness. A couple of extracts:
… Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away….
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret — it leads only to evil.
For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land….
(Left) Arriving at the farm entrance with Tsedeq; (Right) Setting off on our journey
My horse, “Tsedeq” (which means “justice and righteousness” in Hebrew) and I then headed off on our prayer ride for justice and righteousness to cover the whole of Zimbabwe. I am taking winding paths, and heading off-road through the bush, sleeping out under the stars and praying. Please join me in prayer. May God’s throne of justice and righteousness be established in us, in this land and in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. God bless you all.
Tsedeq in a contemplative mood
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