The Church Beyond the River

Pastor Tim Hight of Gracelife Baptist Church in Christiansburg, VA recently came to Zimbabwe with Randy Aldridge, staff member with the Virginia Baptist Convention as an evangelism and church planting strategist. Gracelife Baptist Church has adopted and engaged the Ndau people of Zimbabwe and have been coming several times a year. On this trip, the men came to teach evangelism, discipleship and church planting to the church leaders of the Chipinge - Chimanimani Baptist Association.

About 50 church leaders came to participate in the training which was carried out at the local primary school near Birchenough. This is a rural area of eastern Zimbabwe best known for the Birchenough Bridge which was the longest single suspension bridge built in Africa.

(The bridge spans the Save (sah vee) River Bed which remains dry except during the rainy seaon. The Bridge is seen in this picture overshadowing the Birchenough Hotel. Ralph Freeman, the bridge's designer, was also the structural designer on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and consequently the two bridges bear a close resemblance, although Birchenough is only two-thirds as long as the Australian bridge. It was built by Dorman Long and completed in 1935.[ At a length of 1,080 feet (329 m) it was the third longest single-arch suspension bridge in the world at the time.)

During the first evangelism training session Randy used the new Three Circles Witnessing Presentation which is being put forward by the North American Mission Board. (See www.namb.net and search Three Circles.) This presentation was easy for the participants to learn. After the training session, participants divided into teams of three and went out to witness in the community. Pastor Tim teamed with a church leader and businessman who also happens to be blind. The man learned the presentation by memory and shared it with his neighbors (man in white shirt and brown pants in back of picture), while a friend drew the circles in the sand.

Another team found a group of soccer players whose game came to an end when their ball deflated. After the witnessing presentation to the team, about 20 soccer players prayed to receive Christ in addition to their coach!

One church leader had brought a soccer ball to the meeting and he loaned it to the team after that so they could finish their game! The coach told Pastor Tim that when he comes again he wants volunteers to come to the school where he teaches to preach the gospel to all the students!the The coach brought several friends with him to the services.(Seen here on the left is a friend, in the middle is the coach and on the right is Randy.)

One night he brought his aunt who was a traditional religious practitioner. That night she prayed to receive Christ. Later she brought all the items she used to practice divining and interacting with the spirit world to the local pastor and he helped her burn them all. At the time of the meeting, the local pastor had been leading a small church on one side of the river. He had been feeling the need to plant a new church on the other side of the river and organized for the meeting to be in the new area. Local people were invited to participate in evening worship services with the leaders. The local community was very responsive to the invitation. Pastors Tim and Randy stayed at the nearby Birchenough “Hotel” and even the manager, cook, and assistant manager of the hotel came to the evening services. (Pastor Tim with hotel staff.)

On the final night of the meeting over 150 people came to worship. There were so many that they could not fit into the classroom and had to meet outside. The following morning, Sunday, another large worship service was held and a new church was initiated at Birchenough.

Altogether 43 people came to know the Lord in 3 short days due to the evangelistic efforts of the church leaders. Pastor Randy, who was in Zimbabwe for the first time, said, “I’ve never before seen such evangelistic fervor. It is very exciting to be a part of this.” Most of the local community had an opportunity to hear the gospel. When the associational meeting was over, Pastors Tim and Randy went with the local pastor to another village where the pastor feels a church needs to be planted.

They were able to witness to several people and have a worship service there. Several men came to know the Lord and there is an indication that there is great potential for another church plant here.

Easter Rally in Zimbabwe

Today Gregg and I were blessed to be a part of the Easter Rally at our Baptist Camp.

This Easter rally began a number of years ago as an annual Baptist youth meeting, but a few years ago it became an event in which all the Baptist Churches were invited to participate. It also started small, but last year there were about 400 participants. This year the attendance is booming. Tents were set up outside for the crowd which was believed to be over 600 by this afternoon.

The seminary students were there helping with various aspects of serving the people, including working in the camp kitchen to prepare food for the masses. The music was amazing.

The dancing was pretty good too!

Even the little ones joined in.

Gregg was invited to be the guest speaker today, and of course he preached about the crucifixion events and how those events have impacted our own lives.

After lunch the kids went off to play.

The adults enjoyed fellowhipping together and catching up with folks they hadn't seen for awhile.

Things to see and do in Zimbabwe

Living in Zimbabwe has its ups and downs, but it is a beautiful country to explore. We would like to share with you some of the beauties and fun things we enjoy living here. Victoria Falls is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. It is a mile wide and a football field deep!

Pix. After viewing the Falls we enjoy “High Tea” at the historical Victoria Falls Hotel.

In the evening we enjoy eating at the Boma where we eat a wide variety of game meat and enjoy the dancing and drumming of local entertainers.

We also enjoy camping in the bush.

And relaxing in game parks while watching for game.

The Chinhoy Cave is an unexpected treasure. The water in the cave is so deep that divers have not been able to ascertain its depths. The water is a stunning sapphire blue.

Great Zimbabwe is an ancient ruin whose purpose and origin is quite a mystery today. Zimbabwe is derived from “dzimba dza mabwe” which means “houses of stone”.

At the top of the hill is another enclosure where five mythical carved stone birds were found. One of them has become a symbol for the country of Zimbabwe.

Another beautiful sight is the Bridal Veil Falls in the Chimanimani mountains.

The Matopos rocky hills are fun to explore and one can find many different caves in which are found Bushman paintings.

One of my favorite views of Harare is from a hill overlooking the city, especially when the Jacaranda trees are in bloom.

In the Nyanga mountains one can see many beautiful waterfalls like these – the Inyangombe Falls.

Cruising on Lake Kariba in a houseboat is also a fun thing to do!

Because of the dust in the air during the dry season, our sunsets are incomparably beautiful and colourful.

Building God's Kingdom

In February, a team of six men from Oklahoma came to minister to folks in and around the Baptist Caring Center in Mberengwa. Paul, pastor of Bartlesville Southern Baptist Church, brought 4 other men with him from his church. Paul is a missionary kid from Zimbabwe. Pastor Jim, also a missionary kid from Zimbabwe, came representing his church, First Baptist Church of Watonga. Bartlesville Southern Baptist Church has been in partnership with the Orphan Caring Center for several years now. (See previous blogs for more information.) On this trip they had several purposes: oversee the construction of a storage building for the caring center, do some leadership training, and spend time fellowshipping and building relationships in the neighborhood around the caring center.

While there were three professional paid builders from Harare who were in charge of the construction, we enjoyed working alongside them to erect the storage building.

The building was about 12 yards X 5 yards and when completed had 4 rooms for different uses. One will be used for storing food, supplies, and cooking pots, etc. which are used by the caring center. The second room will store tools, garden implements, etc. which are used by the caring center. The third room will be used by the new male caretaker who will be overseeing the boys who are staying at the caring center. The final room will be a multi-purpose room (for studying, storing a small resource library, a gathering and eating place), especially when it is raining.

This was Robert’s first trip to Zimbabwe. He said, “I was amazed at the dedication of pastors (unpaid lay-leaders) to God’s Work. Even this week when they were invited to come for leadership training most of them had to walk several hours to get here. Just to hear what their life is like on a daily basis was almost unbelievable. It reminded me of Jesus. They don’t have much of anything but they are faithful to God.”

Matt, who has been to Zimbabwe several times said, “The thing really stood out for me this trip is how much God has blessed the Orphan Caring Center from when I first saw it in November of 2011. How everything has come together is truly God’s Hand at work. It was also exciting to see how much the kids have matured, both physically and spiritually. God has just allowed it all to happen in a way beyond even what we could have imagined when we first began.”

“The thing I enjoyed the most,” said Pastor Jim from Watonga, “was teaching the church leaders. They were like sponges. They asked really good questions and soaked up everything you could teach them. I also got to spend quite a bit of time getting to know the local folks and building relationships with them. Preaching on Sunday to the local church was also a highlight for me.”

Butch, a first time volunteer to Zimbabwe was touched by the orphans themselves. “I particularly enjoyed spending time with one young man who tried very hard to teach me how to speak Shona. There was also a girl that wanted to talk to me a lot and we became good friends. There were also several young Christian men who came to Mberengwa to translate for us while we were here."

This was Mark's second trip to Zimbabwe. He shared, “We and several local church members worked alongside the professional builders. We were mostly gophers just doing whatever needed to be done. It was really amazing how much we enjoyed getting to know the folks here and working with them to complete the building."

"There was also a man who owned the truck that brought the building supplies from Harare. I learned that he doesn’t have a regular job so he hires out his vehicle to transport goods to earn money to support his family. He was an older gentleman, a believer. When I prayed with him about his family and financial situation you could tell he was deeply touched that I cared so much about him." Team leader Paul commented, “I always love to see what God does in and through the team when they come. It’s great to see and hear how God has been at work in their lives while in Zimbabwe. For me, just being with the people is what meant the most to me. I have a great love for kids at caring center. They are like family to me and it is always a pleasure to see how the kids are maturing and growing.

The teaching time we offered to the lay-leaders was well attended, and Sunday for worship time there was probably about 100 people crammed into a classroom. After worship, people walked about 2 miles to a baptismal hole where 38 were baptized. Five of them were orphans from the caring center!”

Matt summed up their trip like this: “Even though our main purpose in coming was to build a building, God used us to build His kingdom.”

Till We Meet Again

Several weeks ago Pastor Titus Sibanda was traveling in the back of an open truck and there was an accident and he was thrown out. He never really regained his health after that. Titus (pictured below) leaves behind his precious wife and ten children, some of whom are grown and married. He was an overseer of at least 5 churches in Tongaland and the many people from those churches who came to bid farewell were testimony to His love for God and His people.

I would like to share some of the images from the funeral and share briefly some of our experiences. Leaving Gweru, we took three pastors with us. As we began to descend the escarpment into Tongaland the road grew noticeably worse.

The shoulders had not been maintained to the degree that thorn trees were encroaching on both sides and at times it was like a one-lane road instead of two.

As we approached his village we saw smoke rising from the where the women were cooking and people huddled in groups.

We were invited under the tarp where the other pastors were sitting who had also come.

I believe there were about 12 pastors altogether who managed to come. Soon after we arrived we were served sadza and meat and we ate while the pastors organized who would do what for the funeral.

As the service began about 12:00 noon the sun was bright and hot. But the people joined in singing and dancing as they participated.

Many of the pastors there were given an opportunity to speak. Others helped carry the coffin to the nearby burial site.

I had never been to a Tonga funeral before and was disarmed by the amount of wailing. It was very hard emotionally to hear the desperation in their cries. Several of the pastors, including the final speaker at the graveside sought to encourage the family and church members by reminding them that this is a graduation which all Christians will experience one day and that God will be with us until we all meet again on the other side.