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Rustling of Members' Cattle in Zambia
Visit Prayer Page Home Updated December 11, 2011 While the cattle issue in Zambia has yet to be fully resolved, much progress has been made to restore the livelihoods of members living in that African country. Both LifeNets and the United Church of God have moved to positively intervene to ensure that members whose cattle were taken were able to find other means to plant their crops and continue on with their lives. MORE Updated November 18, 2011 In recent weeks, a number of people have weighed in concerning what they claimed happened or is happening regarding members of the United Church of God in Zambia. This includes one person who directly wrote to a family member of a former UCG COE member, copied to leadership of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association (COGWA), asking that an “open letter” be published on anti-United Church of God websites “and anywhere else......MORE Updated October 14, 2011 Police have ordered that ALL LifeNets cattle that were stolen must be returned. We are just going to wait until after the FOT for the matter to be resolved. Thank you for your prayers to protect our beneficiaries' livelihoods! Updated October 10, 2011 GREAT NEWS!! In one of the areas where the cattle given by LifeNets "Pass on the Gift" program was taken, the police ordered that four head of cattle be returned to owners immediately without conditions. We have not heard yet from the other area which is some distance away. We are appalled by the false stories circulating minimizing the huge consequences on poor people. We are leaving for the Fall Festival in Estonia in a few moments, but wanted to get this update to you. After the Festival, we will have written reports exact detailing all that happened. We thank you for your prayers and are thankful for the redemption. Victor Kubik Updated October 9, 2011 Updated Statement and Prayer
Request Since the announcement of the worldwide prayer request for members of the United Church of God in Zambia who had their cattle taken from them and their livelihoods threatened, a number of people have asked for additional information. Also, a considerable amount of outright fabricated information making false accusations has been posted on the Internet. To help people understand why a prayer request for Zambia members - which is still valid -- was initiated, following is a timeline of events. As noted in the original prayer request, God is fully aware of the scope of these events and what truly happened. We appeal to Him to intervene and set matters aright. Despite what is falsely alleged in recent postings on the Internet, Victor Kubik made numerous attempts to contact Kambani Banda in Zambia during 2011, including several attempts during a trip to that country earlier this year. Those attempts to achieve peaceful resolution were all rebuffed. To claim otherwise is sadly ludicrous. Regarding the current situation, here the facts. These documents can speak for themselves: September 25, 2011: The first report of stolen cattle came from Wilson Nkoma to Victor Kubik “Willard Katapya and Armstrong Maninga are the two in the Kasumpa area with five(5) oxen. Willard lost two and Armstrong three, all taken by force ………..” “ The two men who took the cattle promised to come back later to collect the plough and other implements.” September 28, 2011: Victor Kubik contacted Kambani Banda by e-mail regarding the reports received from Zambia of cattle being taken from UCG members (read entire e-mail here) . The e-mail carefully documents the nature and history of the oxen program. The e-mail requests that the oxen be returned. September, 30, 2011: Kambani
Banda responds back two days later with an e-mail that is
fragmented in content October 1, 2011: Another report comes from Zambia that two more cattle were taken from UCG members, which now makes a total of seven cattle that were reported to us to be taken from UCG members. October 6, 2011 In the absence of further communication from Kambani Banda and in light of additional reports of oxen theft being received, it is decided to ask members worldwide to pray and ask God for the resolution of the matter. A formal prayer request is prepared and distributed. October 6, 2011 In the absence of peaceful resolution by other means, the UCG members in Zambia go to local police to solicit assistance. Following these events, a number of outright fabrications have appeared online, which do nothing to resolve the issue. Another "response" from Kambani Banda, this one dramatically different from his original communication and highly polished in tone, has appeared with numerous fabrications. The sequence of the events outlined above (together with the attendant documents and facts) will set the record straight. October 5, 2011 The church’s home office was recently advised that some seven head of cattle have been tragically and wrongfully taken from members of United Church of God in remote areas of Zambia. This creates a terrible and completely unnecessary crisis for these members, and prayers from Church members for resolution and protection are urgently requested.
You can read about the work that LifeNets has been doing in Zambia since 2000 by clicking here. In Zambia, when these heifers become oxen they are not only able to produce calves to rebuild lost cattle and to provide dairy products and manure for fertilizer and fuel, but they are also the “living tractors” for these subsistence farmers to plow their fields. With planting season taking place just after the Feast of Tabernacles, the loss of these oxen will dramatically affect the members’ ability to plant their next crop. For them, this act of thievery could not have come at a worse time.
In any event, while United is doing what we can to recover the cattle taken and is working to prevent further confiscation of members’ cattle in Zambia, we know that God is aware of the entire scope of what is going on. He ultimately will provide resolution. Accordingly, prayers are now urgently requested by members in that country that God will immediately intervene and grant them protection; that their livelihoods will be sustained without harm or fear of want; that cattle that have been taken will be peaceably returned; and that this sort of unconscionable behavior will not be repeated or continued. Victor Kubik
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These
stolen cattle were for the most part offspring of heifers
that were given to these members years ago as part of a
LifeNets International program to help United member farmers
(and other beneficiaries) rebuild livestock lost to a
devastating cattle disease a decade or so ago. This program
of gifting heifers to needy people by LifeNets was patterned
after the Heifer Project International headquartered in the
United States with an office in Lusaka, Zambia. The cattle
are the personal property of the individuals to whom they
were given, not some other organization or group.
The
unhappy report that we received and verified related that
these cattle were forcibly taken away by former friends or
acquaintances of these victim-farmers. These former friends
now belong to a Church of God fellowship largely comprised
of former members and former ministers of the UCG. It is
also our understanding from this report that the leader(s)
of that fellowship refuse to intervene to stop the theft of
these cattle by their members, nor have they condemned the
actions that their members are taking.