Daily Life in Zimbabwe

Living in Zimbabwe has its interesting moments.   This week Gregg was given a goat as a gift!  He staked  the goat in a grassy area inside the fence that separates our yard from our vegetable garden.  But the goat doesn’t like being back there alone and he keeps getting out of the fence and follows our poor dog around who is totally cowed by this strange beast!    He keeps running away from the goat and then of course the goat chases him and he thinks the goat is trying to get him . . . Quite entertaining.

Something which brought me great joy recently is a phone call Gregg received from a young couple getting married and wanting Gregg to do their wedding.   He told Gregg how he had been under my teaching at church during his teen years and had also attended the True Love Waits classes we taught and that he and his wife had remained pure and wanting Gregg to do their wedding.   We don’t get many calls like that!  Praise God

Police blocks are becoming a dreaded part of daily life.   Whether in town or on the road between towns one never knows what to expect.  One of our friends got a ticket for having his exhaust on the wrong side of his car.   (Like that was HIS fault – not the way it was manufactured by Toyota!)  Some visitors from the states were traveling in a nice bus that was pulled over.   The driver was charged with driving with his lights on and had to pay a fine. After paying the fine he turned his lights off.  At the next police block – about 5 miles up the road – the driver was charged with driving with his lights off and they had to pay another fine.   If it wasn’t so frustrating it might actually be humorous.

A friend of ours from Zimbabwe was recently traveling in the U.S.   He had gotten lost so he had pulled over on the side of the road to look at his map.   A few minutes later a highway patrol car pulled up behind him.   He said he got a really bad feeling in his stomach and was trying to figure out what he had done wrong. . . The officer walked up to his car and asked him if he had a problem or needed any help.  He couldn’t believe it.   He thanked the officer and the officer drove away.    A few minutes later another patrol car pulled up behind him and again the officer asked if he needed any help.   He said it was shocking to realize how differently police are in the U.S. from the way they are here.

One item the police often check for is reflective triangles.   Every vehicle is required to have two.   This week I saw a large semi broken down on the side of the road.   Instead of triangles warning you that he was stopped though, he had two bright red Styrofoam hamburger "to go" boxes announcing his breakdown.  WOW – I could have saved a lot of money – and had lunch too if I had thought of that!

Money is getting tight again in Zimbabwe.  (I didn’t study economics so this will be the “blonde lady’s” version.)  Even though we are using US Dollars, more money is being externalized than internalized so cash flow is a problem.   Right now you can ONLY get money from the ATM of the bank where you have an account with your card.   Those who don’t have bank accounts struggle to get cash.   The limit is set at $200 per day which is rough when your expenses for the day exceed $1,000 because you are doing a feeding project. You can imagine the anger and unrest which this stirs among people who have so little to begin with.

Pray for our country and for us, but above all pray that God’s Holy Spirit would be at work at this time drawing all men and women and children to Himself and that He would be faithful to provide for His children.

Tongaland Visit

Gregg Fort recently traveled with Pastor G. Mugoni (new Ex. Dir. Of Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe) to Tongaland.   They visited in Gokwe, Nenyunga and all the way up to the Bumi Hills area on the shores of Lake Kariba.  They traveled a very bumpy and winding road so it took most of the day to get there.  This part of Tongaland is isolated from the rest of Zimbabwe by the escarpment that forms the borders of the ancient Zambezi River Valley.   The large hills effectively cut off most communication and transport from their area.

They set up their tent in the middle of Pastor Kongobwe’s village.  After a meal of cooked ground millet meal they prepared for the worship service the first night at his church, Magoverera Baptist Church.   This church building is a long thatch roofed shelter and benches built into the ground with red clay dirt.  The only light for the service came from Pastor Kongobwe’s cell phone.   

The next day, they traveled with Kongobwe to another village where a small church had been started.

Gregg preached about the difference between the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Darkness.  That night 9 people prayed to receive Christ.

Pastor Kongobwe has started three churches besides the church he pastors and he is training lay-leaders in each of the three to lead their own people.  

Pray for Kongobwe and the lay-leaders he is training that God will continue to strengthen them, provide for them and use them to spread the Good News from village to village among the Tonga people.

Drought Relief

All over the world the weather patterns are changing.   In some places this does not create too much of a hardship, but for countries who depend solely on the seasonal rains coming at just the right time to produce a harvest, these changing weather patterns have been devastating.  This has been one more year in a string of years where the rains did not come in time to save the corn crops.   Thanks to Parkview Baptist Church of Baton Rouge Louisiana who took up a challenge offering in honor of former missionary to Zimbabwe, Dr. Wana Ann Fort, we have been able to supply 22 tons of corn meal throughout Zimbabwe to Baptists in the worst hit areas.  Pictured below are the grateful recipients of one delivery of food relief in the Mberengwa area in south central Zimbabwe.

In Zimbabwe, people clap their hands to say thank you.   Here you see this grateful Grandmother expressing her deep gratitude.

 After the food was distributed, the next challenge was to get it home.  Various modes of transport were used. . .

Thank you Parkview Baptist Church.

Zimbabwean Lay-Leaders Do Construction at Nenyunga Clinic

A number of years ago the old Nenyunga Baptist Clinic in Tongaland was declared unfit for use because erosion from the nearby river was undercutting the foundation and the roof was collapsing.   Volunteers from the states came about 5 years ago to help build a new clinic, but the work was never completed and the clinic has not been in operation for at least that many years. 

In December 2015, in addition to its regular Lottie Moon Offering, Parkview Baptist Church of Baton Rouge, Louisiana took up a “Wana Ann Fort” challenge offering to honor the life of this former missionary doctor to Zimbabwe who had passed away earlier in the year.  

The challenge offering was given to meet needs in Zimbabwe.  About 40% of this sacrificial gift has been used to purchase building materials and supplies needed to help complete the Nenyunga clinic. 

In February of this year Lay-Leaders Mr. Shumba from Shauro Baptist Church in Mberengwa and Mr. Dhubani from Sibomvu Baptist Church in Lower Gweru recently joined Pastor Mabvumba and traveled to Nenyunga in Tongaland to work on the clinic building.   Pastor Mabvumba also hired local Tonga men to help with the work.  

 During the time they were there each morning Mabvumba gave a devotional from the book of Nehemiah.  After that the men got to work.   They put the ridge on the roof, installed window panes and bricked up the gable ends of each building and then plastered them inside and out.  In the evenings the men fellowshipped together.  Much work was accomplished during their short stay at Nenyunga.

Because the drought in Tongaland has been so great, the workers were paid in corn meal.

On the way back home, lay-leader Dhubani asked Mabvumba when they were going to do another project like this.   He said, “It was like a revival to me.” 

The Hills of Matopos are Alive with the Sound of Music!

After two short days in Harare, the music team traveled onto Bulawayo where they were hosted by Ramona Beam and Bulawayo Baptist Church.   Here they led a songwriter's workshop on two consecutive evenings.  Pictured here is team member Aaron Blanton teaching principles of songwriting. 

The team were also able to share their music and testimonies at several schools outside Bulawayo in the Hills of Matopos. 

Musicians go on Safari

Thanks to Gordon and Debbie Putterill (and their daughters Abbie and Eden), the music team spent a day at their game park, Bally Vaughn, outside Harare,  Members of the Worship Team from Chisipite Bible Baptist Church as well as Gregg and Donna Fort also joined them for the day.  Pictured here are some of the highlights of their safari.