17 2.3 THE CHURCH AS THE PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVE As a religious organisation the Church embraces the vast majority of the people of Zimbabwe. It is closest to the people. They trust their religious leadership and we can claim to know their desires and aspirations better than any other organisation. Together we know every home and every family, including the non-Christians. We can therefore be their voice, and perhaps, the only credible voice they have. 2.4 THE CHURCH IN ZIMBABWE AS PART OF THE WORLD-WIDE BODY OF CHRIST. We are members of a universal institution in which all its members are bound together in a family relationship through faith in Jesus Christ. When one member of the family suffers we all suffer (1 Cor.12, 26). During our struggle for liberation the entire Christian family throughout the world was in solidarity with us, either individually or through the World Council of Churches and other bodies. When God’s people anywhere are groaning or are suffering, all the people of God feel the pain and hear the groans. This means that the Church in Zimbabwe has the potential to unleash global support and solidarity for a holistic reconstruction of Zimbabwe. The global family of Christians is feeling the pain with us; it wants to walk with us and to listen to our story just as Jesus walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24, 13-35). We believe that the solution to our current difficulties in Zimbabwe lies with the people of Zimbabwe. It has to be home grown. Our sisters and brothers throughout the world want to walk with us. We need to show them where we want to go and advise them on how together we can walk that journey. The Church in Zimbabwe, therefore, has the potential to assist with the building of bridges within Zimbabwe and help our nation to once again connect with the rest of the world. The Church can also help explain our situation or play an advocacy role outside Zimbabwe. We have that potential and we can make a positive contribution in this regard. 2.5 THE CHURCH AS A SIGN OF HOPE In our message of love, forgiveness, peace, justice and reconciliation we have all that that is needed for the healing of the nation. We have God’s promise: “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chron. 7:14). We want to take seriously our task as the Church in Zimbabwe to work for the reconciliation of the people of Zimbabwe and to bring about national unity. Through this document we seek to make a positive contribution towards a national vision for the reconstruction of our nation. Thus the Church, as God’s divine incarnation, has a moral duty to contribute to the creation of social,