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Zimbabwe Territory adopts new Territorial Strategic Plan.
The Salvation Army in Zimbabwe, led by Commissioner Stanslous Mutewera, Territorial Commander, recently launched a new Territorial Strategic Plan. To facilitate the plan and provide new direction for the territory over the next five years, the Territorial Executive Committee adopted a new territorial mission statement and established a strategic planning team comprised of officers and soldiers.
Territorial Strategic Plan
The plan incorporates a vision statement and a set of core values to complement the new mission statement. It also outlines seven objectives, considered crucial for the territory to achieve over the next five years.
While the ongoing purpose of the Army remains the same, the new mission statement identifies more clearly the Zimbabwe Territory’s specific path. The vision statement reveals where the territory hopes to be in five years, and the values are the defining characteristics of the territory.
Mission Statement: The Salvation Army Zimbabwe Territory is part of the Evangelical Christian Church. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, make disciples and meet human needs without discrimination for the glory of God.
Vision Statement: To be an evangelically focused, spiritually mature, caring, efficient and self-reliant Territory.
Territorial Values: Christ-centered, compassionate, self-reliant, integrity, distinctive, unity in diversity, passionate (Army spirit)
For more on Zimbabwe’s Territorial Strategic Plan, go to www.salvationarmy zim.org.
Current programs
Despite the unsettled economic and political climate in Zimbabwe, The Salvation Army there is making significant progress in many areas. The following, taken from a recent quarterly report, exemplify achievements as well as continuing needs.
Child sponsorship is a constant need in Zimbabwe. Out of 729 children under sponsorship at the beginning of this year, only 322 children were able to receive assistance. This is particularly due to the country’s current hyperinflation as school uniforms and fees rose 200 percent.
The Zimbabwe School of Youth Leadership, where youth spend a year undergoing discipleship training, recently held a weeklong training course at the Masiye Camp, which focused on learning how to provide psychological support and grief counseling.
The Chihota dairy project is imparting farming skills to people in the community and is developing a water and sanitation facility and milking shed to be used by the residents. The Chihota community established a committee to ensure sustainability and project management.
The Tshelanyemba Mission Hospital continues to care for the medical needs of people in the area. A number of projects have also begun, including sheep rearing and vegetable growing. Working with the Development and Projects Department, an irrigation scheme is underway and is expected to generate revenue.
The new administration at Howard Mission Hospital has assembled an advisory board and is in the process of overseeing the building of additional staff quarters for trained personnel. The hospital has experienced an increase in patients from outside its usual area because of ongoing healthcare challenges in the country. New facilities are needed but funds have not yet been allocated.
At the Arcadia Girls Hostel, the advisory and management boards are working to develop income-generating projects to enhance the home’s meager earnings, including growing and selling mushrooms. There is need for an additional $3,000 to finish a property-surrounding wall that was started for safety concerns and for a small car to assist in errands for the home.
The Bumhudzo Home, once in financial difficulty, experienced a boom as a result of the management and advisory boards working together for a worthy cause. Bumhudzo is operating rabbit, vegetable, and chicken rearing projects to generate income but is still not able to make use of its total holding capacity.
Compiled by Karen Gleason