Merry Christmas from Zimbabwe!  We are so grateful for your support of the Global Leadership Summit in our country.

Our leaders have been greatly blessed from what they have experienced at the Summit. As you may know, Christian leaders in Zimbabwe are confronted with many challenges. Zimbabwe is the 4th poorest country in the world, as 68% of the country lives below the poverty line. It is also one of the most dangerous and corrupt countries in the world. Leaders in Zimbabwe have been blessed by a message of truth, hope and inspiration through the GLS this year.

Psalm 133:1 fully describes the team work of several different churches to bring about this successful GLS in Zimbabwe: “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”

It is amazing to see so many different people come together at the GLS. We had a wide variety of leaders attend our two sites – church leaders, business leaders, education leaders, representations from social welfare and NGO’s, students, leaders from the agricultural sector, four people from the prison service and 24 prisoners. There was a high level of excitement among all attendees. And even though the economic downturn in Zimbabwe slightly affected our numbers this year, we had more involvement with church leaders, and we were able to reach more broadly into our communities. The furthest person travelled over 500 kms to attend. Of the attendees, some pastors, students and young adults were sponsored because they could not afford the cost.

The topics of succession and negotiation are important in Zimbabwe right now. Zimbabwe is currently being governed by a Government of National Unity made up of 3 different parties.  The topic of negotiation is critical as the country is writing a new constitution, and is headed for elections in the next 6 months, so William Ury’s session on negotiation was very timely. To address the succession issue we had a panel of church and business leaders who have recently gone through a leadership transition. In relation to succession, the topic on the old and the young (Craig Groeschel) was very interesting. We interviewed a very bright 18 year old girl who has a dream to be President of Zimbabwe one day.

The response to the GLS has been overwhelming. The caliber of speakers this year was all very good. Here are just a couple of the many stories:

• One of the exciting things that came out of the GLS was a response for speakers like Craig Groeshel, Geoffrey Canada, and Mark Kielburger who ignited considerable excitement in our youth. This led to one of the business leaders calling for young people aged from 18 to 30 to come together and get involved in community programs, which resulted in a group of 150 young adults rising up for the opportunity to be involved. This meeting took place two days after the Summit and was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, who addressed the young adults using GLS material. Because of the response, we will be doing this gathering from now on.

 

• A woman was inspired by Patrick Lencioni’s session. She immediately used the tools she was given during his talk to draw up values for her vision to start a school

Thank you for your prayers and support,

-GLS Leader from Zimbabwe