How are our Missionaries in Zimbabwe Doing?

Zimbabwe’s political climate has taken a turn this week and many are unsure of what might be the outcome.

Yesterday morning, Zimbabwe residents woke up to their military in control of the government.The Washington Post reported that the military announced  that “it had placed President Robert Mugabe and his family under its protection, stressing that it had guaranteed their safety.”

Many have described the events of yesterday morning as a military coup d’état, even though The Post also mentioned that the military has been very careful in not calling their actions a “coup” and have rather stated their actions to be an attempt to protect their president against unknown criminals.

As for our LDS missionaries, DeseretNews quoted Eric Hawkins, spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, saying, “All missionaries are safe in the Zimbabwe Harare Mission. They have been instructed to remain indoors and have adequate supplies.”

According to the facts and statistics found on MormonNewsRoom.org, The Church has only 1 mission in Zimbabwe, 75 congregations, and a total of 29,570 church members living there.

While the atmosphere is full of uncertainty for Zimbabwe’s future, The Washington Post has interviewed many people from Zimbabwe and have found the citizens to be nervous but optimistic for the future.

They hope the military is only doing this to ensure a fair transfer of power in the government as their president is 93 years old and appears to be, according to some speculation, trying to ensure that his wife will be his successor.

For now, most businesses remain open and many have been going about their lives as usual. I hope, for the sake of Zimbabwe, its citizens, and our missionaries, that whatever changes occur, they occur amicably and peacefully.