“The
Lord tapped my shoulder three times and said, ‘Cuthbert,
resign from the Guardian Royal Exchange Company’.”
That is exactly what Rev. Cuthbert Makoni of Harare, Zimbabwe
did back in 1976. Cuthbert Makoni is a man whose life has
been led by what he believes God has told him in a series
of three dramatic visions. He is now the pastor of a thriving
independent indigenous church in the Belvedere area of Zimbabwe’s
capital, Harare.
Return
to roots brings mixed emotions 
It
is impossible to describe the emotion that overcame us as
we set foot on African soil. We hugged one another and tears
came to our eyes. We experienced many feelings. We remembered
our ancestors had been uprooted from this continent during
the time of slavery and now we were here meeting brothers
and sisters with similar faces and colour. It seemed as
though our blood was crying out, wanting to be recognised
again in the Motherland.
ECLOF
at Decade Festival Visions Beyond 1998
Last
November, around one thousand women plus a few men took
part in a Decade Festival that preceded the Eighth Assembly
of the World Council of Churches in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Church
expands its community work
Colombian
children and families have begun to benefit from an ECLOF
loan to the Disciples of Christ Christian Church in Santafe
de Bogota.
Faced with increased demand for childcare, family counselling
and small conference facilities, as well as the need for
a church building in which to hold worship services, the
Disciples of Christ applied to ECLOF for credit to help
establish a community service centre.
Living
with drought
North
east Brazil suffered a major drought last year. Food
prices rose dramatically and despite food solidarity
campaigns drought victims did not receive enough to
meet their needs. People in the rural regions found
it necessary to eat food nor-mally given to animals.
In some areas, landless peasants were so desperate they
resorted to pillaging grocery stores.
Micro
leasing
Rosita
López, a peasant farmer in the town of Oruro,
Bolivia, learnt her father’s skills for growing
vegetables as a little girl. Later, when she had to
earn an income for her own family she found that very
few, if any, institutions were willing to lend to peasant
farmers. Rosita needed to buy a motorised pump, which
cost US$800.
Rosebud:
Many orders but inadequate working capital
Ethern
Rosebud in Harare, Zimbabwe is a partnership of five
people. Two women and three men began the project
in April 1997 to make garments and specialise in children’s
wear. The partners came together on the basis of the
various skills they have and the common need for creating
self-employ-ment and income generation.
Prizes
for science projects
“Using
fruit peels to make pectin” was the title of
a project that won first prize for Niño Jesús
de Praga Parish School in Tarma, Peru. A six-year-old
girl in the first grade devised the project which
was chosen to represent the school at district level.
It went on to win first prize in a provincial competition
where 80 schools took part.
