I have emerged from Zimbabwe relatively unscathed. The only broken bone I have is from a self induced fall, rather than from a policeman’s baton, unlike many others within Zimbabwe.  During my time in Bulawayo I met a grandmother who was recovering from burns inflicted when her house was set on fire with her and 5 others still inside.  Mugabe’s thugs came to their village to extract revenge and warn people ahead of the sham vote on June 27.

She escaped alive but with burns.  Thankfully I did not get to witness or experience any of this first hand.  I did have numerous encounters with police, but all but one of these incidents were purely about extracting bribes to augment a salary that is meaningless.  My last encounter with police was a PR exercise.  After being pulled off the side of the road the police officer proceeded to assure us that there was no violence or killing in Zimbabwe and that the media just wanted to create negative headlines.

We nodded vigorously in agreement, just hoping to get away. Everything in me wanted to debate the point but logic never prevails in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe.  Logic rarely prevails in much of Africa really.  Africa has a logic of its own, and the sooner you wrap your head around it the more relaxed you are.

The big problem for me on my return to pastoral life is how I relate to the ‘problems’ that people will bring to me.  After interacting with people who are living in a genuine nightmare the ‘problems’ that people have back in comfortable middle class suburbia seem trivial in comparison, and in many cases that is exactly what they are: purely trivial.  However, I minister in this context, so I cannot apply the other, or so I’m led to believe.

I do have one prized trophy which will be attached to my office door as a constant reminder of the people of Zimbabwe.  It is a Morgan Tsvangarai MDC poster, liberated from a lamppost by a brave friend at a traffic junction a few days after the run-off election that never was.  I want it to serve as a reminder of the freedom and provision that I have, that can in part be used to bring the dame to those who are denied these rights and privileges.