A l’approche de la décision de la SADC, il est important qu’elle porte toute son attention sur les mesures qui permettent de garantir l’équité de traitement entre les protagonistes. Sans modifier le texte de la feuille de route, les autorités ont la possibilité de prouver leur volonté de garantir la neutralité du processus, afin que l’opposition soit libre de faire le choix d’entrer ou non dans cette transition sur une base équilibrée. Le rejet des autorités de ces mesures exposerait leur absence de volonté de voir se dérouler une transition et des élections crédibles. Il démontrerait également leur choix de plonger le pays dans l’instabilité plutôt que d’accepter des mesures qui renforcent la transition. Le refus de l’opposition d’adhérer au processus ne pourrait plus être justifié par un déséquilibre de la solution proposée.

A return to protracted political crisis, and possibly extensive violence, is likely as Zimbabwe holds elections on 31 July. conditions for a free and fair vote do not exist.

Zanu PF's limited commitment to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) and the resultant institutionalisation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) is why the party began to push for elections as from 2010, a strategy seen as steering the total collapse of the agreement.

Is Angola about to become a global player? Luanda’s recent diplomatic charm offensive means the country is running unopposed for one of three African nonpermanent seats on the United Nations Security Council for 2015 and 2016. Angola is no stranger to projecting power and influence. It has expanded its financial interests well beyond the African continent into Asia, Latin America and Europe. It is intent on developing regional and international influence and is poised to become a key interlocutor on a range of African issues. But this will bring with it potentially heavy responsibilities.

Slight miscommunication between OM workers in Israel leads to an unplanned chance to share the Gospel with a railway attendant.

An employee is surprised when two Christians come back to visit her a second time, over a year after their first conversation.

The Passover season leads to a young Israeli woman asking about the Passover Lamb.

Over 1.2 million people have been affected by the earthquake that hit Guatemala on 7 November. OM Guatemala asks for prayers.

As a climax to OM´s just-completed Love Guatemala outreach, six teams carry out aid distribution and evangelism in an impoverished area.

When specific medicine is not available during a medical outreach, OM Guatemala sees God miraculously provide for one mother in need.

Puerto Barrios, Guatemala :: Logos Hope's volunteers bring an international aspect to a motivating festival for young people.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala :: Guatemala's First Lady visits Logos Hope and thanks the crewmembers for sharing knowledge, help and hope to the nations.

Are we really going to bet that we can go back to life as normal without proper coronavirus tracking in place?

OM Malawi endeavours to make its projects and workers self-sustainable, while transforming lives and communities at the same time.

The Africa Trek ladies connect with local ladies in a village, who want to know more about Christ after watching the Jesus film.

The care the head teacher of Chiyembekezo School shows to her pupils even outside the classroom has a ripple effect on the larger community.

Over an eight-day period, 18 Ride2Transform cyclists travelled 690 kilometers, participating in a personal journey with the Lord and praying for the country of Malawi.

OMer MacDonald shares how a church in rural Malawi started and has started reaching out.

Miraculous healing from sudden paralysis gives an OM worker opportunity to preach the gospel in a community.

Forty-five women from around the world begin their trek on 9 April to Mt. Everest Base Camp and summit of Kala Patthar Peak in Nepal.

In spite of difficult circumstances and a change in plans, the Freedom Climbers did what they set out to do.

CNA Staff, May 5, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- Poland’s bishops have intervened in a debate about whether presidential elections scheduled for May 10 should go ahead despite a nationwide lockdown.

A statement from the permanent council of the Polish bishops’ conference April 27 urged politicians to work together to ensure that the election would be regarded as legitimate by all sides. 

It said: “We appeal to the consciences of those responsible for the common good of our homeland, both those in power and the opposition, to work out a common position on the presidential elections in this extraordinary situation.” 

Poland’s ruling coalition, led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, has rejected calls to postpone the election, due to take place this Sunday. 

The state began introducing lockdown measures March 10, which it is now starting to lift. Poland, which has a population of almost 38 million, had 14,242 documented coronavirus cases and 700 deaths as of May 5, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The Polish Senate began debating legislation May 5 that would allow the election to be held by postal vote, rather than at polling stations, due to the pandemic. 

The Sejm, the lower chamber of the Polish parliament, will have the final say on the legislation. 

The bishops called on lawmakers to resolve the issue while upholding the principles of Poland’s constitution. They emphasized that they were not seeking to engage in “purely political disputes over the form or timing of election, let alone to advocate this or that solution.”

The bishops’ permanent council said: “We encourage dialogue between the parties to seek solutions that would not raise legal doubts and suspicion, not only of a violation of the current constitutional order but also of the principles of free and fair elections adopted in a democratic society.”

“We ask that, guided by the best will, they would seek in their actions the common good, which today is expressed both by the life, health and social existence of Poles, as well as broad social trust in the electoral procedures of a democratic state jointly developed over the years.”

The bishops continued: “In this difficult situation that we are experiencing, we should take care to cultivate a mature democracy, protect the nation of laws, building -- despite differences -- a culture of solidarity, also in the political sphere.”

If parliament approves the postal vote, the government could delay the vote to either May 17 or May 23 to allow more preparation time, according to Reuters. 

Opinion polls suggest the incumbent President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, would be re-elected by a significant margin if the vote were held soon. 

Bishops’ conference president Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki entrusted Poland to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and to Our Lady, Queen of Poland, at Jasna Góra Monastery in Częstochowa May 3.

Over 300 women work in Yat Lau Yat Fung – one woman, one-room walk-ups. OM works to bring each woman “Yat Mong” – one hope in Christ.

God not only rescued Kamil and Klaudia's marriage but also transformed their relationships with Him.

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 03:10 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, said that the Church must return to “normal life” after the governor announced plans to ban large gatherings until a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment is available.

Earlier in the week, the state’s Governor JB Pritzker unveiled a five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan that bans gatherings of more than 50 people until a vaccine or treatment is available, or the virus has stopped spreading for a sustained period of time. Health officials have said that a vaccine for the new coronavirus (COVID-19) might not be available for 12 to 18 months. 

Currently, people in the state are allowed to attend religious services of 10 or fewer people, but no gatherings of more than 10 people are permitted until phase 4 of Pritzker’s plan, and the state wouldn’t even be able to “advance” to phase 3 until May 29.

“The Church has certainly done her part in making great sacrifices to slow the spread of this virus,” Andrew Hansen, director of communications for the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, told CNA on Friday.

“That said, the Church must return to her normal life of liturgy and communal worship,” Hansen said, while emphasizing precautions such as social distancing “will likely be the appropriate path longer term for the return to some version of normalcy for the Church.”

Previously, in-person or drive-in religious services were banned in the state. The Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of a church in Lena, Ill., on April 30. Later that evening a paragraph was added to the governor’s executive order allowing for people to leave their homes to attend religious services of ten or fewer people, the society’s president Peter Breen told CNA.

The next day, May 1, the archdiocese of Chicago announced it would be resuming public Masses with 10 or fewer people.

According to the “Restore Illinois” plan, there could not be any gathering of between 11 and 50 people in size until phase 4 of the plan—“Revitalization.”

That phase can start only when certain conditions have been met: the positivity rate of COVID tests is at or under 20% and doesn’t rise by more than 10 points over 14 days; hospital admissions don’t increase for 28 days; and hospitals have at least 14% “surge capacity” in ICU beds, medical and surgical beds, and ventilators.

Pitzker clarified in a Wednesday press conference that religious services would be part of this 50-person limit in phase 4, and schools would not be allowed to reopen until then, raising questions of how tuition-dependent Catholic schools might fare in the fall if remote learning is still widely utilized.

The state’s superintendent of education has said that at least some schools might have to begin the new school year with remote learning, or with students attending classes in-person only on certain days.

“So we continue to hope and pray schools will reopen next school year. Certainly, when our schools reopen, new measures and precautions will be in place,” Hansen told CNA.

The president of DePaul University, located in Chicago, announced earlier this week that the university already plans to “minimize our footprint on campus this fall,” and that an announcement of the fall plans could happen by June 15.

Thirteen young people from Latin America, including several OMers, spent their summer working in India. Eight of them are from Mexico, five from Costa Rica. They were on an exposure programme with India por Herencia, a partner organisation of OM Latin America.

During an outreach in the community of Chiapas, the OM Mexico team could see fruit from seeds Pastor Alonso had planted.

When Carmen Cervantes started attending OM Mexico’s workshops on missions, she never thought her six-year-old son would be interested too.

Veracruz, Mexico :: Workers from Central Asia share their stories and challenge event participants to think about their part in global missions.

After 10 years in North Africa, an OM worker sees a change in the hearts of neighbours and friends.

Ethnomusicologists visited a North African country to help local singers and a Sudanese Nubian believer write a worship song in his language and style.

Short-term participant uses Transform trip to confirm God’s call for long-term work in North Africa.

God uses a Latino-American couple to gather and train local believers, who form a small church in North Africa.

God uses a Latino-American couple to gather and train local believers, who form a small church in North Africa.

An OM worker visits an islamic university while trying to build a deeper relationship with a religious friend.

Worker shares how OM’s storytelling course revitalised her English classes and friendships.

A new generation of Sudanese church planters, trained by an Arab OMer in North Africa, revive OM’s ministry in north Sudan.

The Director of Public Ministries aboard Logos Hope on leading a multicultural team and the inspiration that shapes his life

After eight months of maintenance and improvements to prepare the vessel for future service, Logos Hope sets sail from Subic Bay, Philippines.

Name: Lynchee Buakham Home: Chaing Rai,Thailand Born in: April 1983 Joined OM Ships: January 2013 Previous employment: Marketing assistant Current job on board: Hotel Services team member

Logos Hope :: A tribute to Clive Musendami

In 1999, national bitterness and divisions were set aside on board Doulos, which facilitated an historic reconciliation after conflict in the Pacific islands.

With a team of 6 people, OM Peru recently went on an outreach to an area called Alto Piura.

OM Peru medical outreach occurs simultaneously with a Global Missions Council meeting to mobilise Peruvians for missions in the Muslim World, and at home.