Prayer Request: Africa

Being a millionaire isn’t what it used to be. Imagine having to travel to another country just to buy toothpaste or lugging around currency that weighs more than the actual purchases you will carry home.

For countless numbers of Zimbabweans, things like toilet paper, toothpaste, margarine, meat and even the customary morning cup of tea with bread have become idealistic luxuries.

In October 2007, CNN reported that Zimbabwe’s currency value reached a record low of 25 million to one single U.S. dollar.  The equivalent of one U.S. $100 note weighs nearly 40 lbs. in Zimbabwean currency, available in bundles of 100,000 and 200,000 notes, at the new local currency exchange rate. This is a result of an annual inflation rate of 7,982 percent -- meaning an eightyfold jump in prices over a year.

Zimbabwe was once considered a regional breadbasket, classified as having regions which, because of soil richness or advantageous climate, produce an agricultural surplus that is often considered vital for the country as a whole. Now the country faces severe shortages of food, hard currency, gasoline and most basic goods.

Now, with the collapse of industry and production in Zimbabwe, store shelves are bare and Zimbabweans have become heavily dependent on imports of basic goods (such as toothpaste, soap, toilet paper and other basic household essentials) and corn meal, a dietary staple.

The latest official poverty line data indicates that in Zimbabwe an average family of five needs a monthly income equivalent to $35 to survive while remaining in poverty. Most general hands and other lower paid workers, however, earn less than $10 a month in an economy also suffering from a record of 80 percent unemployment. Zimbabwe has the highest rate of orphans per capita of any country in the world. Over 25% of all children there are orphans.

We would like to develop funding for the Africa Regional Office of HOPE worldwide to establish new sites and HIV/AIDS programs for orphans and families affected by AIDS in places like Zimbabwe and Mozambique. We need your support for the regional expertise and experience needed to develop these new programs in very desperate situations, which are not covered in any existing grants.Let’s continue to pray for the children of Africa and the funding we need to help them.

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