Musicians Bless Bulawayo Youth

In early December, the John Ivins Band from Powhatan, VA came to Bulawayo for 10 days to minister to the youth of Bulawayo Baptist Church, by leading their annual youth camp, plus a number of other ministries. After flight delays, the team arrived in Bulawayo on a Sunday afternoon, and immediately dove into ministry, leading the Sunday night youth service at the church. Even though the team was tired, it was an awesome experience for everyone.

Early the next morning, we left for a whirlwind visit to Victoria Falls and Hwange National Park. During two short days, we were able to visit the Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, and a World Heritage Site, spend a night at a lodge by a watering hole in the game park, game drive (where we saw lions!), and still be back in Bulawayo in time for the group to participate in The Crave, which is weekly service held on Wednesday nights at Bulawayo Baptist for the young adult group (ages 19-30).

On this week, the band members led out in a panel discussion, answering questions relevant to these young adults. The topics covered centered around healthy relationships and marriage, and included what do families look like in the states, how did you choose music for your ministry, how does your ministry impact your family, and for Billy and Amy (the one married couple in the band), how did you meet and fall in love, plus lots more.

On Thursday morning, the band had the opportunity to visit Mazwi, a relocation area for people who had formerly lived in a squatter camp. They were able to lead a short worship service for members of Mazwi Baptist Church and others in the community. It was certainly a lively time, with lots of singing, dancing, and celebration. And all with a couple of acoustic guitars and a djembe! That was quite a different experience for the band, who are used to playing with electric guitars, a full drum set, and all the electronics! But God was glorified in all they did.


 Friday was the first day of the youth camp. After spending the morning setting up, sound checks, etc., the opening service was held on Friday evening. What an awesome time! There was great music, and the youth really did worship the Father during the evening.

Since the band's bass player could not make the trip, Mthabisi, one of the young men in the church joined the band for the weekend.  A gifted musician, he really did an awesome job. 
                                     

 John (Ivins) was also the keynote speaker for the camp, and all during the weekend he brought powerful messages based around the theme for this year’s camp, Making a Difference.”

 John led them first through understanding that if they want to make a difference in the world around them, they must first determine what they believe. From there they can impact those around them. He showed them how their choices affect those they come into contact with. And he helped them to understand some of the ways God speaks to us to guide us in our lives to make a difference. During the final service, each of the small groups shared the Lord's Supper.  What a meaningful way to close out our camp weekend. 

This was a very special time for me (Ramona Beam), since these are old and dear friends, who came to ministry alongside me here in Bulawayo. I often had opportunities to play with them before coming to the field, and it was a very special blessing for me to have the chance to sit in with the band once again on keyboard.
                                    


Thanks, guys, for this very wonderful time. I’m hoping this will be the first of many visits to Bulawayo for the band. Of this trip, John said, “We have visited in many different countries doing this type of ministry, but it was mostly just a one-time thing, and we were content to leave it at that. Never before have we all felt that we really need to come back and continue to develop the relationships we have started to form here.”

Submitted by Ramona Beam, Member of Zimbabwe Evangelism Team

Student Retreats January 2016

This year we did not have one student retreat, but three. One of the major reasons we did this was to try to include more young people and give them the opportunity to experience a discipleship retreat. We had retreats in Gokwe, Gweru and Sanyati. Our longtime partnering and supporting church, friends, brethren, family from First Baptist Murray State KN were three this time, Sanyati boy Warren Edminster, his daughter Lauren and a young man named Joel. I am so grateful for their support and their efforts to come here. I am amazed how they go out of their way to remember Zimbabwe and have a burden to see Zimbabwe’s young people grow in their faith and transform generations. The Theme for the three retreats was from 1 Peter 2:9-10: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his glorious light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy." Our lessons were based on this scripture and we also used discipleship material from a book by Watchman Nee: The Normal Christian Life.

The Gokwe retreat was held in Gokwe Central Baptist Church at the Gokwe Center. We had young people from most of the different areas of the Gokwe association. Some also came from Kwekwe, Gweru, Bulawayo as well as Tongaland. We had over 50 young people and a few even joined us from the nearby Methodist Church.

Pictured here are Warren and some of the young people from Gokwe and Kwekwe, also with him are Pastor Bongola from Tongaland (standing 2nd from right) and student Pastors at the Baptist Theological Serminary Shakie Chekai (standing 1st right) Norman Ncube (seated). P

Rev Lackson Chiombera is seen here relaxing with some of the advisors. I (Willie Green) am wearing a hat. Also pictured is the new Gokwe Association youth chairman.

The second retreat was in Gweru at the Baptist Conference Centre. Even though there was a much smaller group of young people at this retreat, we had young people from Chinhoyi, Kwekwe, Bulawayo, Harare and some student pastors from the Baptist Seminary.

We had great sessions on the theme just as in Gokwe, but also because of our numbers we had a different touch to the retreat, we had opportunities to go into discussion groups with different questions based on the discipleship materials.

For some this was a time of renewing acquaintances with young people from different parts of Zimbabwe. For others it was a time of making new friendships.

Some of the young men in this picture met together on the last night of the retreat and had a very special and deeply spiritual time of sharing and discussion. They testified to other young people how these retreats had shaped their walk with the Lord and how much they had benefitted from this. The final retreat was at Sanyati at the mission station where we had youth from all the surrounding churches in that association.

We had more than 50 young people join us for the evening services.

One of the sweetest moments at Sanyati was working with the children at the Vacation Bible School. The students who had come for the retreat went out and invited children to come and participate. They hoped about 30 children would be able to come, but over 140 children participated! It was great to see the young people learning how they themselves can minister to others and teach them what they have learned.

We hope and pray to be able to do more retreats in future years and we see ourselves having these in different areas but more particularly in the remote areas so more young people will be able to participate in these discipleship opportunities. God bless our friends from First Baptist Church of Murray, Kentucky, Warren Edminster, the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe, our Youth Director Rev. Lackson Chiombera and all the young people who benefitted from these retreats. Submitted by Willie Green, President of the Baptist Youth of the Baptist Covention of Zimbabwe.

A New Vision for the Baptist Leaders in Zimbabwe

Missionary Gregg Fort invited 15 key pastors and leaders of the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe to a retreat where they were introduced to the church planting training that we attended earlier this year. Fort shared a basic overview of the training and then spent time casting vision for reaching the 10 million lost people in Zimbabwe. He stressed that EVERY person in Zimbabwe needs to be able to hear the gospel in their own language, in a way they will understand completely, and be given an opportunity to respond. Highlighted was the importance of implementing strategy which liberates the gospel through empowering EVERY new believer to become not only a disciple of Jesus Christ, but an evangelist and disciple of others as well. None of this can be done effectively unless fervent and strategic praying is made a vital part of the overall church planting strategy. After that, Fort shared with the group how large the gap was between the number of saved and the number of lost in Zimbabwe and that if we continued to do things the same way in the future, that very few new believers or churches would be added to the kingdom of God. An examination of the scriptures is vital to identify the difference between church culture and tradition and God’s Way of doing things. When we do things our way we fail, but if we do things God’s way we will be amazed at the way God works through us to achieve His Kingdom plans and purposes.

Such questions as “What is church?”, “Who can lead a church?”, and “How do churches naturally multiply?” were asked of the participants and they sought answers from the scriptures. They discovered that: • “pastoral leadership is a spiritual gift and that this is what qualifies a man to lead a church”. Then this spiritual gift may be “trained and refined” through various ways which do not necessarily require a seminary education. • “Baptism should be done as soon after salvation as possible.” • “That the one who baptizes does not have to be an ordained minister.” • “We must be willing to train and release all believers to be evangelists and disciple makers.” The pastors expressed their desire to “repent”, to change their minds and their ways of doing things for the kingdom of God. They desired to begin to do things God’s way. They were keenly desirous of building God’s kingdom instead of their own. They expressed their grief that they had been doing “business as usual” for way too long. It was like a spiritual revival as the men vocalized changes they saw that needed to be made. One thought which was expressed over and over as well was the need to learn to love others the way God wants them to. Fort also shared with the group that a healthy church is one in which insiders perform all the functions of the church. (e.g. Baptism, Lord’s Supper, preaching, giving, evangelism, discipleship, etc.) Those present were all too keenly aware that this is not how they had been operating. They were convicted that our convention has way too many “fellowship groups” which are overseen by a mother church and its pastor. (Some pastors oversee multiple fellowships.) They decided then and there that their first order of business would be to make targeted plans to help the fellowships become healthy churches, no longer dependent on the mother church. Pray for the leaders of our convention that they will not lose the conviction they felt as they met together and that they will work together to make helpful changes in the way evangelism, discipleship, and church planting are done in Zimbabwe. Pray that we will be able to calendar a time in 2016 where we can gather many more pastors and lay-leaders to participate in a week long church planting training meeting. Pray that this training would radically change the way we think and work in Zimbabwe so that everyone in the country will have an opportunity to hear the gospel in their own language, in a way they will understand and that they will be given a chance to respond and then be discipled so they in turn may bring others into the Kingdom of God.

Taking the Gospel to villages of elderly in Zimbabwe.

Mazwi is a resettlement area where people who formerly lived in a squatter camp have been given a small plot of land, and enough building materials to build a 2-room cinderblock house.

It is a large area and home to thousands of people, many of them elderly. There is no electricity or running water in Mazwi, no schools, no shops, really not much of anything. Residents have to travel up to 20k just to buy basics like mealie meal and cooking oil. Ramona, IMB missionary in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe is very excited about developments in the Mazwi area. Several months ago she went recently with an IMB Nehemiah team to a Thursday morning gathering in a very remote community.

They went with two national young men who were going to translate for the team. “As we were waiting for people to gather, I overheard a conversation between one of the translators and a member of the Nehemiah team. He was telling her about how God had laid Mazwi on his heart, and how much he would like to see people there come to Christ. Well, obviously that was a God moment, so I joined the conversation.” Ramona says she only had about a minute to share before the meeting began, but she tried to encourage the young man to continue to be involved in the training of church members in evangelism and discipleship. “I figured I'd have a chance to continue the conversation afterwards. But God had another plan. He translated while one of the girls on the team shared her story, but then when she finished and sat down, he remained standing in the front. As he began to speak, I pretty much just sat there in amazement. There he was telling them everything I was planning to tell him after the meeting! God had certainly prepared his heart, and as he spoke, it was so evident that God was giving him the words to speak. And the best thing of all was that he was telling them in their heart language much better than I could have done!”

Ramona reports that as the months have gone by, “Samson continues to show a heart for evangelism, and it’s apparent that he has a true anointing from the Lord on his life. He is eager to complete the church planting training, and take it to more and more of the people of Mazwi.” “We are still meeting on Thursday mornings with the original group. Most are elderly women. Often when we go, we are asked to go and pray for someone who is sick, and in one case recently to pray with a family who had just lost a loved one. Just this past week we arrived to find that one of the ladies who lives just by the church meeting place was very ill, and they were waiting for the ambulance to come and take her to hospital. We went to pray with her, and then continued to pray as we watched the ambulance come and take her away.” “So far, they are in eager agreement that they need to share their story and share the Gospel with their friends and neighbors, but we have not yet seen the fruit. This past Thursday we challenged the people yet again, asking them if they were willing for their neighbors and family members to spend eternity in hell, or were they going to tell them about Jesus.” Considering that most of the residents are elderly time is certainly short for most of these residents. Ramona asks that you, “Please pray for them to be convicted that they must share their faith—now. It’s not enough just to say “amen” when Samson challenges them to go, but they need to actually go. Pray that Samson, Maria, Noma, and I would know how to proceed—stay with this group a little longer, or start looking for a new group.” Please pray for the people of Mazwi, that they will catch the vision and, like the apostle Paul, feel compelled to share the gospel with their neighbors and friends, and that new churches will form all over the Mazwi area. “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” (I Corinthians 9:16b)

Famine of Hearing God's Word

“Behold days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land. Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, but rather for hearing the words of the Lord.” Amos 8:11. The fastest growing “church” in Zimbabwe is a blend of African Traditional Religion and well known stories from the Old Testament. No scriptures are ever read or studied. In fact, members are not allowed to own a Bible or have one in their home. They must listen and obey their leaders – who call themselves prophets.

A Baptist Church member who used to be a prophet in this “church” testified that the only reason he wanted to be a prophet was to make money when he made prophecies for people. He openly admitted that his “prophecies” were fabricated lies that people wanted to hear and were willing to pay for. When he heard the true gospel preached he was convicted of his selfishness, repented, and is now a lay-leader who guides people to the Truth. Recently team member Gregg Fort had an opportunity to speak with some who follow this religion. They had become dis-satisfied and hungry for the Truth found only in God’s Word. Pray that the “famine” caused by the absence of God’s Word will cause these deceived people to Hunger and Thirst for the Truth. Pray that this “famine” will end in an abundant harvest for the kingdom of God.

Farming God's Way

Brett Barnhill of Reclaimed Ministries and volunteer Jesse Carver from Mississippi have spent this week in Zimbabwe to assist us in teaching widows in Mkoba township how to plant their gardens in a way that is based on biblical principles. While “zero tillage” was developed in Texas during years of drought, the idea has been expanded here in Africa. The basic principles of Farming God’s Way are: 1. Plant after the first heavy rain of the rainy season. 2. Plant In a standard/uniform manner.

3. No wastage – no plowing, no burning. Use the grass in the field for mulch to cover the plants and hold in the moisture. This will eventually disintegrate and add to the soil. Holes are dug a specific distance apart along straight rows. Fertilizer, seeds, and water are measured out for each hole.

4. Do your work and reap the harvest with great joy. Take pride in your work. Share what you have learned with others. Use it as a witnessing opportunity to others.

About 30 women participated in the three day workshop. In the morning they were taught the basic principles. In the afternoon the women put what they learned into practice as they prepared an experimental plot on the grounds of Mkoba Baptist Church. The women formed partnership groups based on the neighborhoods in which they lived so they could help one another. This helps build support and encouragement groups for the widows. Carver said he was amazed at how well received he and Barnhill were by the women. “They were respectful, listened, took good notes, they were humble learners and willing to try something new.”

Barnhill noted, “These women are already living out their faith in their community. This is just one more way they can reach out to their neighbors. We have encouraged them to share their seeds and their produce.” Next year Barnhill hopes to return to do a followup training where other important issues such as crop rotation and dealing with diseases and insects will be discussed. Pray for these women that God would take the seeds and fertilizer they have been given to produce an abundant harvest so the widows can take care of themselves and their children, and even have some left over to share with their neighbors. Pray that the women would be faithful to share what they have learned with their neighbors. Pray for their lost neighbors as well, that God’s Holy Spirit will be at work in them to bring about an abundant kingdom harvest.

Impending Drought

Last year was not a great year for rain for Zimbabwe. It apparently was not a great rain year for Angola and Zambia either as their rain feeds into the upper Zambezi River which flows down to Zimbabwe where it makes the stunning Victoria Falls.

About May or June the rain waters reach the Victoria Falls and it will look something like the first picture. Due to poor rains the Zambezi River is running far below normal capacity and second picture shows what the Victoria Falls currently look like.

After going over the falls, the Zambezi River continues through some gorges then becomes part of Lake Kariba. A large portion of our electricity in Zimbabwe is generated by the power station on the dam at the eastern end of Lake Kariba. Because the water level is so low, the generators are only working on 1/2 their capacity. (Our other major power source is currently not working at full capacity either as it is undergoing a three year re-furbishment plan.) SO - we are experiencing major power cuts once again. Even though the rains were few last year, some people were able to grow crops. In most cases, their stocks are now depleted and people don't have money to buy food in the shops. We have been told by weather experts to prepare for another cycle of drought years. Of course it won't only be the crops, but the livestock and the people who will suffer. This is not a pleasant thought at all. Pray that God would find a way to provide for His own living in Zimbabwe.