Sanyati Makeover Completion Celebration

Just as many different groups of people played an important role in helping Nehemiah rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, so many different groups of people played a role in the refurbishing of Sanyati Baptist Hospital. This is how missionary Barry Robinson introduced the makeover celebration service in the chapel at Sanyati Baptist Hospital.

Representatives from the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe, the IMB, BGR, volunteers, as well as local community leaders and people joined the hospital staff in the celebration service.

Dr. Mark Byler, long term volunteer at the hospital, shared that in 2007 Zimbabwe was in dire straits and this had a huge impact on the services the hospital was able to provide. There were food shortages, drug shortages, and the plumbing to the hospital had disintegrated so that there was rarely running water at the hospital. In addition to this, electricity shortages caused the power at the hospital to be off more than it was on. Dr. Byler wondered if they could even continue to keep the hospital open. He began praying about what to do.

Within a week he received an email from Mark Hatfield, the BGR (Baptist Global Response) representative for Africa, asking if they could help the hospital in any way: water, drug supplies, or needs of HIV+ patients. Mark said, “I am ashamed to say I didn’t know anything about BGR, but I knew Mark Hatfield.” That was enough for him to say,” Yes!” Soon after that, Hatfield made a trip to Sanyati Baptist Hospital to see the needs firsthand. He was shocked by what he saw. The hospital was empty because there was no running water. Many of the windows were cracked or broken. Ceiling boards were caving in and falling down, the electricity was off and there were limited medicines in the hospital. Hatfield shared that the first BGR project which began immediately was to completely revamp the water system so that there would be a steady supply of potable water to the hospital. They also provided funds with which medicines could be sourced and purchased.

But the needs Hatfield saw he realized could not be met by BGR alone. In 2008 he had the chance to meet with a select group of men in Tennessee. These men thought it would be good to have a five year refurbishment plan to give the hospital a complete “makeover”. Soon after that these men came to Zimbabwe to tour the hospital themselves and develop the plan. Pastor Peter Sierson was instrumental in the plan and became the stateside contact person for volunteer groups desiring to take part in the makeover. He helped match group skills with jobs that needed to be done. (To learn more about the events of the Makeover and see its progress check out these previous blogs: 9-5-2010; 5-20-2011; 11-25-2012; 9-10-2012; 8-26-2013; and 8-5-2014) The makeover began in earnest in 2011. For the past five years over 600 volunteers have sacrificed their money and vacation time to spend time working at the hospital. Some of the projects which have taken place in the overall makeover are: new roofing over the massive hospital complex, painting inside and outside, new electrical wiring with the installing of solar panels for use when the electricity is off, carpentry work and the installing of metal cabinets. Registered Nurse Gora stated that before the makeover there was a lot of disease in the hospital because the staff could not wash their hands and they did not have clean drinking water.

We are so much better off now and there is not a spread of disease now as there was then. She also mentioned that while most of the Sanyati area remains in “darkness” that the hospital is in the “light”. Now the doctors can operate whenever they need to, especially in cases of emergency. The electricity also helps us use the machines to sterilized equipment and run the lab as well as keep the incubators going for our premature babies. It has also helped us have improved communication and keep our medicines requiring refrigeration from spoiling. Mrs. Dhliwayo, a pastor’s wife and community leader shared how many of the volunteer teams also participated in evangelism and discipleship in the community around Sanyati. They shared meals with the folks at Sanyati.

She challenged those from the local community to learn from the volunteers who had come. We need to be sharing the gospel, we need to be discipling. We also need to have pride and take care of our hospital so that it will remain in good condition for a long time. There are many things each of us can do to help keep it up and it doesn’t cost anything to sweep! We want our children to have the opportunity to be treated here. We should not expect money for our work, we need to do it for God, just like the volunteers did. When the five year plan for the makeover was first presented and Hatfield saw the amount of money that would be needed and number of volunteers and man hours it would require, he said in his heart he wasn’t sure we could accomplish the task. “I was right,” said Hatfield, “we couldn’t. But God was able.” Volunteer representative Coy Webb closed by saying how valuable each volunteer team had been. Each had done different jobs, and money trickled in for building supplies from many places.

Many were faithful to do the job God called them to do and with His help the task was completed. This building is a testimony to His greatness! “We are here today to celebrate not what the volunteers have done, but what God has done. We have a mighty God.”

School supplies for orphans

More than 50% of the kids in most schools in Zimbabwe have only one parent living as a result of HIV AIDS. About 1/3 of the students are orphans. As a result, these children are at risk of not receiving their education. Thanks to several churches in the U.S. who have donated funds to purchase school supplies and Baptist Global Response who has paid for exercise books (like spiral notebooks) we have been able to help many students in rural schools in Mberengwa, in and around Gweru, in Bulawayo and in Harare this year.



After the school supplies are obtained, we go and visit with the headmaster (principal) of each school and seek to obtain a list of the most needy children in the school.



Then we ask him to assemble these children and we pass out the supplies to the children themselves because we want to ensure that the pupils receive them. Then the headmaster usually allows us to address the students and give a brief witness to the students and pray for them.



We have been able to supply children in primary (elementary) schools and secondary (high) school. We do not have middle schools in Zimbabwe.



It is such a wonderful experience to see the excitement and gratitude on the faces of the children who receive the school supplies.



“O God, you are the helper of the fatherless . . .You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed. . . God sets the lonely in families.” (Psalm 10:14,17,18, Psalm 68:6a NIV)

Pray for the orphans of Zimbabwe that God would be their helper, that He would listen to their cries, encourage them, defend them, and give them families that will love them and take care of them.

Tongaland

Before school let out for the April holidays, Gregg Fort and our pastor from Mkoba asked the headmasters (principals) of the schools in town to identify the 100 most needy school children to receive exercise books. After praying with the students, the books were distributed to the students.



These exercise books are simply books of bound notebook paper for which the Baptist Publishing House has been printing covers. The notebook paper and blank covers were supplied by Baptist Global Response. The covers have different messages, but they all speak of moral purity and tell the students how to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We used cultural stories to teach biblical truths.After praying and thanking God for His provision for these students, each child was given his/her books.



Even though school is out right now, we are still busy delivering the exercise books. The books in this picture were delivered to a pastor in Tongaland who will see that they are distributed to the students in the 5 schools near his church when school resumes in May.



While Gregg was in Tongaland distributing the books he was excited to see that the pastor had an excellent harvest of maize from the seeds we distributed last year which were also supplied by Baptist Global Response. (In this picture you see a raised hut full of maize.)

We are so grateful for people all over the U.S. who contribute to Baptist Global Response to help meet the very real needs of people in Zimbabwe. Ministering to people’s human needs helps them understand that you care for them and gives you the credibility to discuss their spiritual needs with them as well.



Pray with us that the harvest of souls among the Tonga people will be as fruitful as this year’s maize crop has been in Tongaland. We are also anticipating an outreach into an area known as ‘Denmark’ sometime in the next several months in this area of Tongaland.