Sanyati Women's Meeting

This past weekend team member Ramona Beam traveled to Sanyati to be a guest speaker at a women’s conference held at Lozane Baptist Church. About 130 women from the area came together for a weekend of worship, fellowship, and study of God’s Word. Here is her report.



The trip to Sanyati from Bulawayo is a five hour journey, partly over roads that are interesting, to say the least. The final leg of the trip is a 70km stretch of 1-lane pavement that is so full of pot-holes and broken places that many times it is much easier to drive off the pavement on the side of the road. At one point, we had to detour through a village because the road was practically impassable.
We arrived safely at the Sanyati Mission Station late in the afternoon on Friday, and spent a great evening with Angie Byler, the wife of Dr. Mark Byler, the doctor at Sanyati Baptist Hospital.
Then, on Saturday morning, we traveled to the church to join the conference. As we drove, we met many women in their purple and blue WMU uniforms, walking to the conference. Of course, we stopped to pick them up along the way, so by the time we arrived, my van was filled to capacity with women, joyfully greeting each other, catching up on news of families, and just enjoying being together.
Upon arrival, we were escorted into the pastor’s house, where all the pastors’ wives were gathered, having their morning tea. Angie and I were invited to take tea with these ladies, and introductions were made all around.

Shortly it was time for the morning session to begin. We all went into the church, and oh, what singing. There is just something about African women raising their voices in worship of our Mighty God that is so very awesome. And the dancing. These women really do know how to worship.



After a time of worship, we went into our break-out sessions. I had been asked to speak to the widows, being a widow myself. As we gathered outside, under a tree for shade, with the songs continuing as we went, I just prayed a silent prayer that God would speak through me and that the words I spoke to them would encourage and uplift these precious ladies. As I looked out over the group, I saw that so many of them were young women. The ravages of HIV/AIDS and other diseases are so evident here, with so many widows—about 40 of them in this group of just a little over 100.



I was able to share with them that God has a special place in his heart for widows, showing them the many stories in Scripture where He provided for widows and orphans. I also encouraged them to live holy lives, and to be examples in their homes and villages of what it means to live in purity and holiness.



Our time together was over so quickly, and when I had finished speaking, one precious lady stood and said, “We have heard what you have said to us today, and I thank God for what you have brought to us. Many times as widows we are made to feel that we are worthless, and that we have no value. When something bad happens, the widows are blamed. You have shown us that God loves widows, and that He will provide for our needs if we follow Him.”
God is their Provider, Jehovah Jireh. As we were leaving, Angie and I both had the same thought. I had brought with me several boxes of exercise books provided by Baptist Global Response, intending to leave them with Angie for her to distribute as needed at the hospital. Why not show these sweet ladies an example of God’s provision by giving these books to them? All of them care for children and/or orphaned grandchildren, and money for school supplies is many time hard to come by. So, we drove back to the mission station, loaded up the books, and brought them back to the church, distributing books to each widow. How joyful they were to receive this small gift. Please pray for these ladies, that God will continue to show Himself faithful. Life is difficult where they live. Pray that the joy of the Lord will be their Strength.



I can’t end without telling you about another adventure we had. We discovered that, since more ladies came than were expected, there was not enough food to prepare for their evening meal on Saturday. So, we loaded up and drove to a nearby village to purchase chickens for them to prepare for dinner. Ok, so, when we in the states think of buying chickens, we think of going to the supermarket, heading to the meat counter, and buying nice oven stuffer roasters, or chicken parts already cut and prepared for cooking, right? Not so here. When we went to the village and asked the farmer for chickens, they were brought out to us in a box, still clucking and flapping their wings! I’m just glad they stayed in that box on the drive back to the church.

Sanyati Makeover Team - Great Beginnings

After traveling to Sanyati for 5 hours in the big Overland bus, it felt good to get out and walk around on level ground for a while. But it didn’t take long before this construction group, made up of mostly Kentuckians, was ready to explore the hospital and spy out where they would be spending the next few days “breaking ground” for the Sanyati Baptist Hospital Extreme Makeover. With 17 team members, 4 workdays,
1 hospital, and 0 roofing materials, the scene looked challenging but this group was up for the task.



Early on Day 1, after a short devotion and a good breakfast, these murungus (white people) could be spotted easily on top of roofs and ladders in the section of the hospital that housed the pharmacy stocks and old medical records. By faith, they began tearing off the leaky, rusted, metal roofing sheets and piling them in a nearby storage facility. This revealed some very termite ridden trusses that had to be replaced as they literally just crumbled to the ground. The new roofing material was on the way, maybe.



In other parts of the hospital electricians were busy crawling up in the ceiling spaces trying to follow old wiring systems that would shock any professional into a heart attack even though the wires weren’t hot. Their goal was to get the wiring set up for the new solar system that would be set in place as a part of the Makeover. The Solar system would eventually be able to power key parts of the hospital such as Xray and ultrasound equipment, lighting for Labor and Delivery and the Operating Room, and the refrigerators for the immunizations and lab rooms.

One of the team members, Tina Weitkamp, is a Clinical Nursing Instructor at Cincinnati University. Her participation took on a little different aspect of the Makeover. She spent time teaching the nursing students and full-time nurses techniques in neonatal resuscitation and how to help the newborns that may be in distress. Just trying to find a clear spot to teach in the clinical instruction room was a challenge the first day, but it spurred her on to do her own interior makeover of the skills lab which thrilled the Nursing tutors. Developing relationships with the staff and working side by side is part of the dream of this makeover and Tina, along with other team members did a great job of this.



By the end of Day 2 the roofing material arrived and after four hours of offloading heavy steel sheets by the light of the moon and our pick up truck, the team was exhausted. What seemed like only hours later on Day 3, the new gleaming white roofs were in place and skillfully being fastened down. Most of the wires were pulled through the ceiling and being attached to new outlets for solar use only. Day 4 was spent touching up, applying cement, and finishing repairs on baby warmers, X-ray and suction machines, borehole pumps and various other little projects that were being done along the way.



These generous, hard working, dedicated men and women did more than just put up roofs and wires, they ministered to people they’d never met before in many ways. They shared words of encouragement and prayers with people of the community and patients, they shared devotions with the staff in the morning,they shared a meal at a local village of believers, and they preached and shared the Word of God at two different local churches. They unselfishly shared their skills and hearts in a way that will last long after the new ceilings start to fade and leak. God’s love shown in this practical way is making an impact at Sanyati Baptist Hospital. Thank you for a great Beginning!



A Special Thanks to the Sanyati Baptist Hospital Extreme Makeover First team:
Gerald and Bobby Thornton
Coy Webb
Matt and Sue Stickel
Seth and Amanda Mishne
Calvin McFarland
Tommy Floyd
Jimmy Rousey
Randy Foster
Jeff Free
Glenn Hickey
Ray Fultz
Tom Westerfield
Larry Hunt
Tina Weitkamp

Easter at Mberengwa

Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life . . . He who believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

What a joy it was to fellowship with members from the seven Baptist Churches in Mberengwa which have begun in the last 12 months. About 150 people came together to celebrate Easter together. Some walked for 6 hours or more with their luggage and bedding to get there for the weekend. Our meeting place for the weekend was a large shed, once used by a farmer, but now subdivided into schoolrooms for the local primary school age children. We met in one of the rooms. The other rooms were used for sleeping quarters and places to eat out of the cool misty rain which enveloped us most of the weekend.



From early morning till late at night on Friday and Saturday the believers sang and danced, studied God’s Word together, heard God’s Word preached, prayed, ate and fellowshipped together.




One of the highlights of our time together was the men’s choir! The audience enjoyed them so much they kept getting requests to sing more songs! What a blessing to have so many men in our new churches.



On Saturday, the leaders from all seven churches met together to pray and discuss ways they could carry on the kingdom work together during the next year. They decided to form an association and called themselves the Mberengwa Insiza Association.



About 40 believers from the seven churches were baptized on Sunday morning by Pastors Chiasaru and Green at a nearby pond. The people then re-assembled at the meeting place and the Lord’s Supper was celebrated. After a short time of worship everyone began to head back home.

Mr. Mamvura's Testimony

One of the men who has been helping to renovate the huts for the orphan care center is Mr. Mamvura from Shauro. Recently he shared his testimony with us:

“I had reached the position of Second Prophet in the Zionist Church in the area where I live. (The Zionist Church is a mixture of African Traditional Religion and the Old Testament.) I was always eager to “prophesy” for money. It was an easy way to make a living. But there was no knowledge behind my prophecies. It was all a lie. I also enjoyed drinking a lot and was not on good terms with some other people.

Then some people came to Shauro to preach the gospel. I realized that I had not been living my life in a good way so I repented. With great joy I was baptized with eleven of my family members. (He has 2 wives and 14 children.) God has helped me change my life. I don’t drink anymore and I am on good terms with others now.

God is teaching me how to take better care of my family. I spend a lot of time working with my family in the fields, but we never work on Sunday anymore. Now we got to church and worship God.”

Orphan Care Center in Mberengwa #2

Recently, we had an opportunity to sit down with Pastor and Mrs. Mabvumba, the Baptist Convention Evangelist, and the ones who are overseeing the establishment of the Orphan Care Center in Mberengwa. They gave us an update about what is happening there.



Mabvumba says there is still much work to be done to prepare the center before it can be approved by social welfare and take on boarders. It is hoped that the facility will be ready to take in orphans as boarders for the new school year beginning in January of 2012. There are 16 huts which were originally built with cement so the walls are strong. But the roof, doors, and windows must be replaced. Presently three huts have been fully refurbished, including painting the inside a white color so that it will reflect light better. Baptists from Zvikombe and Shauro have been working together to accomplish this task.



Pastor Mabvumba says other work to be done includes: solar powered lights so the children can study at night, toilets and bathing areas, a kitchen and eating area, as well as a house for those who will be overseeing the orphans. He is hoping to have bunk beds built so they can put 4 children per hut which would allow for as many as 64 orphans to be able to live on the premises and attend school.

When asked how the orphan care center would choose which orphans would live there, Pastor Mabvumba said they would be relating to families caring for orphans, the village headmen, as well as the headmaster, and teachers of the school to identify the children with the greatest needs. In some cases, it is hoped that with a little additional help to the extended family, the children would be able to continue to live with relatives and continue to attend school. Children who receive assistance from other aid and non-government organizations will not be stay at the center. The children who stay at the orphan care center will have their school fees paid for them and they will not be charged for the rooms in which they stay or the food they eat.



The greatest concern, according to Mabvumba, at this point is getting the right people to run the orphan care center. Ideally it would be good to find a Christian couple who feel called by God to this ministry. A couple who would minister not only to the physical needs of the children, but to their mental and spiritual needs as well. He hopes this will be a place where children come to know the Lord and are discipled so that when they leave (graduate from) school they will be “equipped for every good work”.