Youth Camp

Ramona Beam had an opportunity to teach at the Youth Camp which was held at Airport Baptist Church in Bulawayo. Here is what happened while she was there: Recently I was invited to speak at a youth camp here in Bulawayo, hosted by Airport Baptist Church and attended by around 80 youth from many Baptist churches in the area. I was the first speaker on the program for this Monday morning. When I arrived at the church, about 10 minutes before I was scheduled to speak, I was greeted by the youth leaders and one of the deacons of the church. I discovered that the ladies who were to cook breakfast for the youth had overslept, and were just starting to prepare the meal. “Africa time” strikes again! But what could have been an inconvenience was turned into a blessing as I was able to sit and visit with some of the youth leaders for the Baptist Convention of Zimbabwe as we waited. That’s what it’s all about here in Zimbabwe. It’s not about time, or schedules, but it’s all about relationships. What a wonderful example of one of the most appealing aspects of the culture here. Sometimes in our fast-paced culture in the US, we forget—or don’t have the time—to stop and just visit and chat with folks. We miss out on so many rich blessings by not taking the time to pour into people’s lives, and allow them to pour into ours. This morning, I was reminded again about how important it is to allow God to speak to others through us, and to allow Him to speak to us through those around us.

After breakfast was over, everyone made their way into the church, and the day started with singing. And dancing. Unlike what we think of dancing in the states, this dance was a dance of worship and praise to God, a praise offering of pure joy. After about 30 or 45 minutes, I was introduced as the guest speaker. Only about an hour and a half after my scheduled time, so it was good. I had been asked to speak on “Relationships”, with a focus on dating relationships for students and young adults. Of course, I took the opportunity to bring some of the concepts and lessons from True Love Waits, a faith-based abstinence program for teens that started in the US in 1993, and in Africa in 1994. True Love Waits teaches sexual purity until marriage, unlike so many other programs that promote “safe sex”. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to talk to these youth about how to realize their dreams for the family they will have one day, and to demonstrate to them through Scripture how the choices they make now will affect the rest of their lives.

The lesson drew a comparison between King David, who gave in to the temptation to commit adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), and Joseph, who fled temptation when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him (Genesis 39). The youth were challenged to make the right choices now, in order to have God’s best for their lives. Then the discussion turned to talking about “how far is too far”, leading them to think about how far it is ok to go before crossing the line from temptation into sin. After that, they were given the opportunity to share skits about what they learned.

Hebrews 4:15 is a helpful verse in this area, so the group was led and encouraged to memorize this verse that tells us that “We do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet without sin.” Jesus is there to help us through our temptations, and knows exactly what we are going through. Please pray that just knowing this will help these young people through the temptations they face every day. My time with the group ended with a look at another Scripture, this one taken from 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. This passage tells us how to live a life pleasing to God, a life of holiness and honor. God has not called us to a life if impurity, but a life of holiness. The kids were given an exercise, to paraphrase this passage in their own words, written as if it were a letter to their school friends. This helped them to personalize these verses and know how to apply them to their own lives. Please pray for the youth of Zimbabwe, that they will make the right choices as they grow to adulthood. Pray for those who work with the youth, for wisdom and holy discernment as to how to lead them along the right path, to Jesus Christ.

Insight Ministries

About three years ago, Pastor Paul Rummage, who grew up as a missionary kid in Zimbabwe, was listening to a sermon by podcast. From the message, Paul felt convicted of the need to be involved more personally in caring for orphans. Soon after that Paul made a trip to Zimbabwe where he was involved in church planting in the Mberengwa Resettlement area.

While Paul was in Mberengwa, Pastor Isaac Mabvumba (pictured below)shared his vision for establishing a caring centre that would care for orphans like a boarding facility while school is in session. Paul felt this was the ministry God had been preparing him to be involved in.

With a population of about 12 million, over 1 million are orphans, primarily due to AIDS. Orphans are often left to fend for themselves, as extended family do not have the means to care for them. Only about 1 in 3 children in Zimbabwe has both parents alive. Another 1/3 has only one parent. The final third have no living parent.

When Pastor Paul returned to his church, Bartlesville Southern Baptist Church (OK), he shared his vision with his church and the opportunities for ministry in Zimbabwe. Soon afterwards a new ministry was created. Insight Ministries is a registered, non-profit organization with five board members. It is not directly related to Bartlesville Baptist Church. It seeks to receive and channel funds from anyone in the world, directly to ministries involving orphans.

Currently they are only involved in the Baptist Caring Centre in Mberengwa. They hope to expand their ministry in the future. If you would like to know more about INSIGHT MINISTRIES, check out their web page: INSIGHT-Ministries.org or write to them at info@insight-ministries.org.

TRUE LOVE WAITS

Robyn Allison and Jennilee Phillips have begun teaching “True Love Waits” lessons with pastor Vu Lusinga at Coghlan Primary Girls School. They meet every Friday afternoon for an hour with about two hundred 7th graders in the school auditorium.

Robyn explained, “We always tell a Bible story that teaches God’s truth about relating to Him and relating to members of the opposite sex. Then the girls act out skits related to our topic for the day. Then we ask them some questions and give them opportunities to answer and discuss what we have talked about.” Jennilee says, “The most challenging thing about teaching this large group of students is being able to speak loudly and clearly enough to be heard. They understand British English, but our American English and vocabulary is sometimes hard for them to understand.”

“At first I was very intimidated,” says Robyn, “when I saw how many kids we would be teaching and I wondered if we would be able to get them to respond to our questions and interact with us. But it wasn’t a problem, they were very responsive.”

A number of the girls chose to sign the True Love Waits commitment cards.

Pray that these precious young girls who are being exposed to the Truth will embrace it and live their lives in relationship with God and according to His guidelines.

NESHURO ORPHANAGE

Kristen Fowler and Jenna Clendinning are university students from Mississippi who came to Zimbabwe this summer as participants in the One Life Student Ministries. One Life ministry projects are promoted and funded by Baptist Global Response for college students who want to be involved in human needs missions on various levels; praying, giving, and going. at the orphanage at Neshuro in southern Zimbabwe. Living at the orphanage was a different lifestyle than the girls were accustomed to. Jenna laughingly told us that, "One of the challenges was washing our clothes by hand."

They both agreed that the highlight of the summer was getting to know some of the kids who lived at the orphanage.

One of their frustrations was not being able to speak their language, but they felt they were able to overcome the language barrier through playing games and singing songs with them.

Jenna mentioned that, “One Sunday we were able to lead a Bible Study on holiness and leadership. One of the young men in the group encouraged me through some of the insights he shared. I discovered that he was a real prayer warrior with very strong faith.” One day the girls had an opportunity to teach a Bible Lesson at the elementary school. “That was one of my favorite days,” said Kristen. “The kids all sat under a tree as we taught. I never thought I would teach that many kids at one time.”

“We didn’t get to spend as much time with the high school kids as we would have liked to”, said Jenna “because they were busy in school during the week and had sports at the schools on weekends. But we attended the sports functions and watched them with the other high school students. While we watched, students would come one by one to visit with us, talk to us, and ask us questions.” It seemed like we had the most impact in their lives during these informal visits.

BULAWAYO STUDENT MINISTRY

A group of six students from Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, TN, spent 4 weeks in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe this “summer” as participants in One Life Student Ministries. One Life ministry projects are promoted and funded by Baptist Global Response for college students who want to be involved in human needs missions on various levels; praying, giving, and going. Kelli French, Haley Jacobs, Jessica Painter, Shaina Tilley, Seth Williams, and Emmy Winfree divided their ministry time between several orphanages. The Isaiah Home is a Christian operated facility which houses newborn infants up to 4 year olds. This little one named Keith is one of the older orphans (aged 4) who lives there.

The students spent time playing with the orphans, and helping to feed them

They were able to meet the needs of physical touch that an orphan has and even put some down for naps before leaving.

The children over age five from the Isaiah House which do not get adopted locally are filtered into two other homes: Wendell’s or Rehoboth. These are considered “Forever Families”. They live in a house with house parents who will take care of them until they reach the age of 18. The students from Tennessee helped the house parents by assisting with cleanup after meals, played games with the older kids, sang songs with them, and helped them with their homework. Kelli shared that it was encouraging for her to see how much the kids felt as if this was truly their home. They had become a family of brothers and sisters of varying ages. The most difficult place emotionally to visit was the home for girls who had been taken out of abusive situations. Many of the girls, as young as 12 and 13, come to the home pregnant. They are taken care of through their pregnancy and delivery. They are also given Christian counseling to help them deal with the abuse they have experienced. They are assisted in completing their education. The babies are taken care of as well. The girls physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are all looked after. Girls who receive Christ are discipled. The older girls get additional training so they can support themselves and not feel the need to resort to prostitution when they leave the home as young adults. The students from TTU also had several opportunities to help out in the soup kitchen at Bulawayo Baptist Church. Every Tuesday and Thursday a lunch is provided for destitute and homeless folks. There is a time of singing choruses and a devotional is given as a witness to those who come in off the streets. *One Life ministry projects are promoted and funded by Baptist Global Response for college students who want to be involved in human needs missions on various levels; praying, giving, and going.

Boiled Eggs

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…” Hebrews 4:12 This "summer" we have 12 university students in Zimbabwe working with our team. One of these students, Megan Scott, a recent graduate of Samford who will be doing graduate work at UAB this fall in Birmingham is here working with her partner Courtney Dunkerley. (Megan is on the left in the picture below.

Megan and Courtney are volunteering at the Baptist Orphan Care Center in Mberengwa. They are living in a small hut that has been refurbished by Baptist church members in Mberengwa for use by the Care Center.

Megan shared this testimony: There are seasons in my spiritual life where reading the Bible is like boiled eggs. Now I love eggs almost any which way but boiled. I seriously dislike eating them. But, since I’ve been at the Caring Center, somehow or other it was communicated to our caretaker that we like boiled eggs, so we’ve been getting them. Every day. The first day we were served one, I decided that even though I despised them, I would eat it so I wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings. Also, I figured it would be good for me (protein and all that) – even if I didn’t like the taste, it was still a good call. Then the next day we got another one; and the day after that, and the day after that. It finally got to the point where I couldn’t say anything about not liking boiled eggs. I knew that would raise the question “Well why are you eating them?” or they would thinking I was disposing of them some other way instead of eating them.

So, I just kept eating them. Then, something strange happened. I began to actually look forward to that boiled egg every morning. And just as suddenly, we stopped getting them. Well wouldn’t you know it (and I grudgingly had to admit it to myself), I actually missed that boiled egg. I felt unfulfilled the rest of the day. I never satisfied my hunger, even with the other snacks I was eating. I realized the egg I was eating in the morning was in fact helping me, as much as I held a grudge against them in the beginning. I was gaining something everyday I ate an egg, and I didn’t realize it until it was gone. Like I said, sometimes I view reading the Bible like I did boiled eggs. If I was consistent in reading for a while then got off track, I dreaded going back to the Word. I felt as though God would be angry with me if I didn’t read the Bible every day, and I also believed that I would be seen as less of a Christian by others. This discouraged me even more from cracking it open. I didn’t despise the Word itself, but rather the guilt I felt because I was not burying my nose in the Bible everyday. I never felt like I had enough discipline, enough time in the day…pretty much just fill in the blank for an excuse and I’m sure I’ve used it. My motivation was fear. Recently though, I began to see the Bible in a different light. A.W. Tozer says: “the Bible will never be a living Book to us until we are convinced that God is articulate in His universe... [people] may admit that they should accept the Bible as the Word of God, and they find it impossible to believe that they words there on the page are actually for them.” That has been my attitude far too often. But I know that our God is an articulate God in His universe. I’ve experienced His presence, in the African sunsets that take my breath away, in the ringing laughter of a child He’s created, and even in the air I breathe, day in and day out. I know my God is a living God, so the words He speaks through His word are living also. And that makes me want to love the Bible. It makes me want to soak in its truth and drink in what God wants to say to me. So I started reading. Every day. And wouldn’t you know it, if I miss a day now, I can feel it. Achingly so. Like a hunger that hasn’t been satisfied, I ache. And it makes me want to stop whatever I’m doing to go find my Bible and spread it wide open, eating of it’s truth and rejoicing over the fact that His word is Living, and it is good.

Retreat for Pastor's Wives

In March, Ramona Beam and Donna Fort hosted a Pastor’s Wive’s Retreat at the Serenity Lodge in Antelope Game Park, near Gweru, Zimbabwe. The theme we chose was “Planting Yourself in the Lives of Others.” Esther Burroughs book, A Garden Path to Mentoring, was the inspiration for our group sessions. We shared that no matter how busy one’s life is that the basics of mentoring can be applied through the daily activities of one’s life. (Like in Deuteronomy 6:7.)

In the final share time, one lady said she had not realized before how important it was to take time to teach our children basic life skills when they are young that can be built onto as they mature. She said that as a mother she had failed to show her child how to do certain things that she expected her child to do, and that as a result she was often disappointed with her child’s performance. She realized that she was being unfair and unreasonable to her child. She said she planned to go home and begin to spend time with her child showing her how to do things she was capable of doing the right way.

Ramona Beam was our “chef” for the weekend and we ate very well. One night the women helped her prepare dinner and got a cooking lesson in return!

We learned some things about the way they cook and they learned some things about the way Americans cook. It was a fun cultural exchange.

One afternoon we all piled onto a donkey drawn carriage and went for a game drive.

Other activities included: learning to fold cloth dinner napkins in decorative ways, arranging flowers for the dinner table, bubble baths (a rare experience for women who only have showers in their homes) and manicures done by a recent graduate from cosmetology school.

This first time event was such a success the ladies informed Ramona and I they wanted to do it again “next month”. We told them we would try to do it again “next year.” Pray for the pastor’s wives of Zimbabwe. Pray that God will take the little they have and multiply it like the loaves and fishes so they can meet the needs of their families and those who come to them needing help. Pray for them to be godly examples and mentors not only to their own children, but to the girls and women in their churches as well. Submitted by Donna Fort