God's Provision for Street Vendors

The pastor of Bulawayo Baptist Church felt a great burden for the neighborhood surrounding the church. As he began walking the streets around the church, praying and speaking with those whom he came in contact, he  developed a heart for a group of ladies who work at the street vegetable market located just a couple of blocks away from the church. As he visited with these ladies, many of whom are widows, he asked them, “How can the church help? What is the thing you need most?”

Almost as one, the ladies responded, “We are hungry. We are working, but it is not enough to provide food for our families. We need food.”

Knowing that church did not have resources available to help these ladies, the pastor prayed for them, asking the Father to please provide for their needs. He then asked others in leadership at the church to pray with him for these widows.

Within just a few days, he received an unexpected phone call from the US. The lady on the other end of the phone said, “You don’t know me, but my church has committed to provide food for someone who is hungry, and we want to help someone there in Bulawayo.”

Of course, the pastor said, “Well, let me tell you what God has just done. We needed funds to provide food for some widows here, and your phone call is the answer to our prayer.” The church took up their offering, and instead of the $1000 that was pledged, they raised $4000!

Because of the prayers of the church in Bulawayo, and the generous giving of the church in the states, fifteen widows will now receive food assistance every month for the next six months! During this time of drought in Zimbabwe, God is providing for the needs of these precious ladies and their families. Each lady will receive a packet containing 40 lbs of mealie meal (corn meal, the staple food for most Zimbabweans), a half a gallon of cooking oil, 10 lbs of dried beans, 5 lbs of salt, and a tray of fresh eggs (2 ½ dozen).

Missionary Ramona Beam will be heading up the ministry to these widows, helping to organize the monthly food distribution, which will be at the church after Sunday morning service once a month, and meeting with the ladies to share the gospel and disciple believers among them. Praise God that several of the ladies have already started coming to church. Please pray that as they receive needed food to assuage the effects of the physical drought in this country that they will also receive showers of blessings to assuage the spiritual drought in which many of them live.

John Ivins Worship Band Ministers in Zimbabwe for Second Time

The John Ivins Worship Band from Richmond, VA, paid their second visit to Bulawayo in October. Last year in December, the band came to lead worship for the annual youth camp at Bulawayo Baptist Church, so this most recent visit helped them to solidify and build on relationships that were begun at the camp.

During a whirlwind two weeks, the band was able to help with several ministries, by leading worship at Bulawayo Baptist, sharing with the youth and young adult ministries, the twice weekly soup kitchen, and in several area high schools.

One of the highlights of their visit was an afternoon block party and braai (barbeque) on the street in front of the church, where the band played (and I, Ramona Beam, got the opportunity, once again, to sit in with them on keyboard).  Several local choirs and dance groups also had an opportunity to share. 

There were jumping castles for the kids, candy floss (cotton candy), and hamburgers for all of the more than 400 people who came out for the Saturday afternoon fun. It proved to be very effective as an outreach to the neighborhoods around the church. The pastor of the church has declared that this was the “first annual” block party, so hopefully we can convince the Ivins Band to return again next year for round two. Please pray for the church as follow-up is done during the coming weeks with those who came who are not members of the church.

The following week, the band was asked to come and share music and a devotion at the bi-weekly soup kitchen at the church.

 That morning, as we arrived, a man met us as we were getting out of the car, asking for help as folks often do. He approached one of the band members specifically, but I sort of brushed him off and we went on inside. After the band started playing, I was just sort of roaming around, taking pictures, helping to serve tea, and all that. I noticed that this same guy was there, and he was really into the music, even getting up and dancing around. I just felt a really strong sense that I needed to go and talk to him. 

As he told me part of his story (his name is Malcolm), I found out that he was raised in a foster home, and his foster parents were missionaries. I also found that he knew lots of things about the Bible, so I just bluntly asked him, “Have you ever accepted Jesus as your Savior?” His answer was, “No, but I would like to.” Well, how easy is that?!?

So I was able to share the Gospel with him, and as I shared, I noticed that the guy sitting next to him was listening, very intently. At the end, both of them accepted Christ. I was able to talk more, about baptism, and the need to share what Jesus has done for them with family and friends. As I watched Malcolm the rest of the day, I could see a new joy on his face. And I did notice that he was talking to other guys around him, sharing his new faith with them. Praise God!!

 

One of the most helpful aspects of the band’s ministry for my strategy was time spent at the Bulawayo street market, playing music, and visiting with some of the vegetable and curio vendors. This area has become a significant outreach for the church, with a specific ministry to a group of widows who work there. The band’s music and sharing will help serve as an introduction for me to begin further ministry with these widows and others at the street market, through Bible study, holistic ministries, and just loving on them.

One of the band members said about this most recent visit, “Our first time in Bulawayo was limited to leading the youth camp. Though we did a few other things, that was our focus. This time has been so much richer, because we not only were able to build on relationships and friendships started last December, but we have seen deeper insights into the lives and culture of the people of Bulawayo.”

Singing New Songs to the Lord

James Tealy, adjunct professor of music at Belmont University in Nashville Tennessee, and Worship Pastor at Redemption City Church, brought a talented team of songwriters and musicians to Zimbabwe in March.  They arrived late on Saturday night, but were up early, despite jetlag, to prepare to lead worship at Chisipite Bible Baptist Church in Harare.

 Tealy led the worship group in song and the sharing of scripture.

Aaron  Blanton, songwriter, as well as singer, guitarist and drummer, shared some of the songs he had written and glorified God with these various instruments. 

Mackenzie Davis (left) and Emily Dempsey (rt.), both sing beautifully and write songs as well.  Their sweet voices added much to the worship.

Another talented songwriter, musician and vocalist is Taylor Agan.

 Sunday afternoon the team led a songwriter's

workshop. Several churches from Harare sent
their worship team members as well as a church
from Kadoma.  Tealy gave some basic universal elements and principles to good song writing.

Then the 40+ participants were divided into small groups and given 30 minutes in which to compose and write lyrics for a new song. 












The groups began by getting to know one another and spiritual truths that were on their hearts.
From there sprung an idea for a song, and the
words began to flow with the help of the professional song writers!
After that came the melody.   It was amazing the
songs which were written in such short period of time!

Reaching our Cities for Christ

The Urban Conference in Bulawayo brought together pastors and church leaders from 15 churches in 5 major city centers in Zimbabwe and from 2 different Baptist Conventions. While we seem to have a handle on rural evangelism in this country, we are not reaching the lost in our cities. The realization of our failure, the desire to succeed, yet questions as to how to accomplish this all worked together to make this a perfect time to have a conference to address these issues. Bulawayo was chosen as a site for the first urban conference as it is the second largest city in Zimbabwe.

While it moves at a slower pace than the hectic capital of Harare, it is full of people who need the Lord.

Bulawayo Baptist Church graciously allowed us to meet in their facilities. Gregg Fort, began each session with vision casting for what needs to be accomplished in our cities.

He shared with the participants what a healthy church should look like and that we need to look at new ways of “doing church” so we can include people who don’t or can’t come to our already established churches. One example he gave was of how to reach the taxi and small bus drivers in our cities. Most of them work from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. He challenged the group to think of ways to start a church that could include these men.

Kurt Holiday, Urban Strategist from Johannesburg, was our guest speaker for the conference.

He shared some interesting facts with us to get us thinking about the future of our urban centers. One statistic that astounded us all was that by 2050 about 75% of the world’s population will live in major cities. While many city dwellers “take” what they can from the cities, Holiday challenged us to “give” to our cities. As Christians, we need to aim to purposefully influence all aspects of city life. Only in this way can we be assured that our children can grow up in a “Christian” city.

We need also to be constantly starting new churches to reach more people. A few big churches will not reach the many different pockets of lostness in our cities. Not everyone will feel at home in a large church. We need to meet them in their neighborhoods and at times when they are available. We may need churches which cater to different languages or cultures. Participants were asked to consider the problems and challenges their city faces as well as ways in which God is evidently at work at present.

During a latter session, participants were divided into groups, given instructions in mapping a city, and then went out to explore parts of downtown Bulawayo to see what they could discover. Hearing the discovery reports was interesting for us all.

Holiday encouraged us to explore our cities more than once as each time we walked we would discover something new. He also challenged us that as we explored our city and God opened our eyes to spend time in prayer. Being open to opportunities to witness to people along the way is also important. Our final challenge came from 2 Peter 3:9. Because God is not willing for any in my city to perish. . . I will . . .