From The Right Reverend Dr Sebastian Bakare,
Bishop of Harare in the Province of Central Africa,
and his wife, Ruth.
Holy Week is a time when we fell particularly connected with all of you and the suffering humanity in many parts of the world, including our own. Holy Week reminds us of the suffering of Jesus caused by the religious and secular authorities of his day. He suffered rejection because he stood for truth and justice, love and care - values that counted little then and still are not popular even today. In our own day, the world continues to suffer from oppression, injustice, terrorist attacks and the like, making it a more and more insecure place to live in..It does not matter where in the world one lives, one cannot run away from suicide-bombs and natural disasters. The Haiti and Chile incidents have brought it home to us how fragile our lives are.
We in Zimbabwe continue to experience persecution, harassment, violence, abductions and the like. As most of you are aware, the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been going through a Holy Week experience for almost 3 years now, but this suffering we are going through is not without hope. It connects us with the story of Jesus. Like him, we are truly victims of our own political and socio-economic systems. Yet Jesus was victim-victor, and his victory can only be understood on Easter morning which brought joy and hope to the disciples who had lost all hope and resumed their old life-style. It was business as usual for them until the risen Lord changed their lives for ever. This is where we draw our strength and hope from - Christ's victory over the forces of death and hell makes us rejoice and remain hopeful. Where we may be tempted to give up, the resurrection re-energizes us and gives us the courage to stand for truth and justice whenever it is called for.
We ask for your continued support in prayer as we also remember you in our daily prayers. May our solidarity in the risen Christ continue to bind us together across national boundaries in our global village.
Easter greetings to all of you.
Ruth and Sebastian