Life is getting harder in our twin town of Kadoma, Zimbabwe. Food has become more expensive to buy, meat has become unaffordable to some people and with taxes continuing to rise dietary needs are taking a back seat. Some people in the more remote rural areas have experienced malnutrition and, needless to say, the children and elderly have been the first to suffer.

SO WHAT DID JESUS DO?
Jesus said to him 'go to the
lake and throw out your line. Take
the first fish you catch'...

Fish was a staple food for the people in Jesus' community and he used it in some miraculous ways to feed people and show them what the Kingdom of God was like. In one account he told Peter, a fisherman, to catch a fish - but this time it was going to be used for a little more than eating!

Likewise, Sungano (Shona for 'unity'), the inter church youth group in Kadoma, twinned with our own Cornerstone, want to bring fresh fish into Kadoma to provide a source of cheap protein for everyone. They have 'thrown out their line' and market-researched the area and found enough potential buyers in the hotels and other bigger local enterprises who will buy fish from them at the going rate. The profit would be used to help fund the project themselves and very importantly to sell the fish much more cheaply to those of their community who need it as a source of protein.

In Kadoma, it is not so much that there is any shortage of food but rather that inflation has made it extremely difficult for the ordinary person to buy high protein food such as meat. Even in this country we recognise that shortage of money is a large factor for the poor in finding a solution to economic demands.

SO WHAT DID JESUS DO?
...'open its mouth and you
will find a four drachma coin'.

Jesus always found an extraordinary solution to an ordinary problem. Imagine Peter's surprise when he opens the fish's mouth and finds a coin - the exact amount to meet their need!

It is very unlikely Sungano will find any coins in the mouths of any fish they catch - in fact without a coin they won't even be able to buy the fish that the project requires. Sungano have approached Cornerstone, hoping that it is possible that the Church in Stevenage, together with others, may be able to p rovide the 'coin' to give them and the Church in Kadoma, the opportunity to develop this project. Without funding to buy the fish, a means of transport and a freezer to keep it in, their hopes will remain a good idea - a dream, which could have 'miraculously' helped their communitiy's situation.

In Zimbabwe as a whole, the general economic situation has taken a serious down-turn. Inflation is running at almost 70% and the country is suffering unemployment at around 50%. In Kadoma the young people are the worst hit, with upwards of 75% out of work. With increased taxes there would be little hope of finding alternative sources of money to fund such a project.

SO WHAT DID JESUS DO?
...'Take it and give it to them
for your tax and mine.'

Jesus covered the debt of his friends in every sense. He knew what it meant to be drachma-less in a society which required taxation as a means of keeping its infrastructure going.

The need of the people of Kadoma is now and we need to consider how to raise the money to share the burden this down turn in economy has brought. Without our help Sungano's project will remain a good idea with no benefit to the community in their time of need. For them the project would not only bring the much-needed protein to their townspeople, but would give the opportunity to employ some of Sungano's young people, 75% of whom are unemployed. It's an opportunity for them to do something in an attitude of service to God out of what they do have. There is no way they can do this on their own but maybe there is something that Kadoma and Stevenage can do together - in the 'fish trade'!