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Monday, April 14, 2014

Travel Report: 2014 Solusi University -- Zimbabwe

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Travel Report: Solusi University, Zimbabwe
Adventist Men’s Organization (AMO
Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division (SID)
Theme: “Men of Courage”
April 1-5, 2014

Zimbabwe

It is now officially called the Republic of Zimbabwe although it was formerly known as Rhodesia when the British governed it.  It is a landlocked country located in southern Africa.  The capital is Harare.  There are 16 official languages with English, Shona and Ndebel being the most common.  The economy in Zimbabwe is weak as can be imagined with an unemployment rate of 80%!  Inflation rose from an annual rate of 32% in 1998, to an official estimated high of 11,200,000% in August 2008 according to the country's Central Statistical Office. Zimbabweans are permitted to use other, more stable currencies to do business, alongside the Zimbabwe dollar. While it has its own currency the more common currency is the U.S. dollar.

Solusi University

This was my first visit to both Zimbabwe and Solusi University.  Over the years I have heard much about Solusi so I looked forward to my visit.  The enrollment has decreased to just over 900 full time students but projections for next year are higher.  It is about 45 minutes over a very rough pot-holed road from Bulawayo—the second largest city in Zimbabwe (a  population of about 650k) located in the southwestern part of the country.  We were told that it would be quite possible to see snakes at night as we traveled – such as the large python but we saw none. The university was established in 1894 and is the first private institution of higher education in the country.  It follows the American grading system.  The Vice Chancellor is Dr. Joel Musvosvi.

Solusi University is located within the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division—a division with over 3 million members.  The Zimbabwe Union is the second largest union with over 630 thousand members.  The Zambia Union is over 900 thousand members and yes these are “unions”!  The division has over 3 million members and growing rapidly. From my own personal observations the phenomenal growth that is taking place in this division can be attributed to a strong sense of prophetic identity, the unifying influence of the Spirit of Prophecy and the dominate role of the laity.  In addition to these characteristics is a lack of a dominant secularism which often plagues much of the western world.  Poverty is a disadvantage but it also has its advantages as far as helping create a need that is not covered-up with material assets or blessings. Pastors often have 8 to 10 churches causing each pastor to serve as a “district” leader leading them to reinforce lay ministry and lay training.  The enthusiasm for this message and the zeal to share is inspiring!

The Meeting:  Adventist Men’s Organization

This was the first division-wide congress of the Adventist Men’s Organization (AMO) held in the Southern Africa-India Ocean Division.  Over 400 men were in attendance.  Many of the 9 union presidents were in attendance.  The visionary behind the event was the very capable Pastor Passmore N Mulambo, the division director for Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Department.  The theme was “Men of Courage” which was designed to strengthen the men’s spiritual role in the home, in the church and in the community. Built around Africa traditions when older men would sit together  and share counsel with fellow men as to “how to live and behave in society.”  (I’m not sure about my counsel but I did fit in with the “older” men part! J )  There were several speakers but two of us carried the bulk of the speaking appointments..  I was very impressed with the presentations of the other speaker, Pastor Debleaire  K Snell, pastor of the First Huntsville, Alabama  Church.  He taught homiletics and gave examples of biblical narrative preaching.  Excellent! I spoke for 10 of the meetings with my presentations on Special Needs Ministries (Deaf, blind, etc), stewardship principles and a couple devotionals.  It was a very full schedule but extremely rewarding for all of us.  A special bonus for me was to see three students (seasoned workers) who were in the MBA class I taught at the Adventist University of Africa (AUA) in Kenya last year.  To see them in their own environment was really special.

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