When we have visited the women's homes, we see their Bibles proudly displayed in whichever room is their main room. We have even stopped by and have seen one or two of them in the middle of reading their Bibles. What a joy it is to be able to share the truths of the Bible to people who are so interested in learning as much as possible!

​Every week, the ladies also choose a verse from a list to memorize for that week, in whichever book they are presently studying. ​

Mai Maka is part of the Wednesday group ladies. She also is one of the ladies who recently started her own chicken business. In December, we noticed she had a little tummy (she's quiet petite) when she was at our Christmas party. I (this is Yolanda writing this section) asked one of the other ladies if she was expecting and they said yes. When she was picking out an outfit (as a gift) we encouraged her to pick something that would give her room to grow. Just last week I asked her how far along she was and she said 6 months. Clearly she was mistaken because this past Saturday she gave birth to not only one, but two precious little twin girls!

​Yesterday was a public holiday so we cancelled the Wednesday gathering. Instead Andrew and I gathered some supplies and gifts (past donations) in order to bless Mai Maka with some needed items. We have used our donations very sparingly - we only gift at Christmas time and when a new baby has been born. Our goal has always been not to create dependency to the ministry, but rather to use the gifts as relationship building tools and ways to meet a practical need. Usually when we visit ladies in the hospital or home we give them some cloth diapers, a couple outfits, and a swaddling wrap or blanket. We also give the mother a large bag of maternity pads.

​Mai Maka on the other hand is one of the poorest ladies in our group. She only speaks Shona, but can understand English. We helped her little family last year when they moved to their piece of land. We gave her a no-interest loan so she could add a door and finish the roof to their one room home. The one room is their entire home. Her husband, herself and their 3 children live in the home. Now they have two new little additions to the mix to total 7 people. 

​We knew Mai Maka would have very little items in preparation for her babies, especially considering there were twins. God always provides and His timing is so perfect. A month ago a friend here in Zimbabwe, from the capital city, gifted us with some toys, a pack and play, a baby gym and baby clothes. These were great blessings for baby Western and the other little kids who come every Wednesday. She also gave us a bag full of baby girl clothes, even newborn items. And she also gave newborn disposable diapers. Most babies outgrow those so fast, but we were grateful for the donations and knew in time the right person would receive them. Fast-forward to yesterday and we were able to give the bag of clothes to Mai Maka, the little diapers, along with cloth diapers, swaddling wraps, winter items, and yes maternity pads.

​When we arrived the babies were lying on the one bed in the room, which the whole family shares at night. They were both tiny and yet perfect in every way. The one little girl had a very oversized winter outfit on and a very big thick cloth used as a diaper. The other twin had a piece of cloth tied around her little bottom, which was soaked. She also had a very large little vest. They both had lots of hair and their little cries sounded more like little bird tweets than cries.

​We asked to take some pictures and Mai Maka wanted to change them into some of their new outfits first. Without embarrassing her I told her I would change one and she could do the other. This allowed her to see how to actually put on the little disposable diaper. I reminded her several times that they were single use diapers. I knew this would be a great help in the beginning because the cloth diapers were far too large for them and it's the raining season, so keeping up with laundry and having them dry in time would be a difficult feat, especially as she tends to her chicken business as well. We were trying our best to set her up for success. She tended to the other little girl who clearly had been sitting in her own waste for a while. Mothers often do not change their children as soon as they need to because of the lack of supplies and having the cloths last longer in a day. I encouraged her every step of the way, reminding her what a great mommy she is and how impressed I was with her. She had so much energy for a woman who just had twins and tended to her toddler and other kids and feed chickens, etc. 

​She began to share how her last few days had looked. She spoke about how difficult it had been to walk and fetch water several times a day, then walk to cut wood and still tend to everyone else's needs. She then went on to praise God for her many blessings. She was so sincere in her worship and acclamations to her Heavenly Father. I kept covering her in compliments, side hugs and praises as a woman, a mother, a business woman, and a woman of faith. I truly was impressed and yet was reminded that she had no choice but to take everything in stride. Again and again these women teach me so much.

Once the babies were clean and dressed in their new outfits we were quick to love on them and take some pictures with mom's permission. She didn't want to be in too many pictures because she didn't like the way she looked. She may be impoverished but she still has a desire to be presented well - taking pictures that she appreciates is also dignity giving.

​I explained the maternity pads to her and what they were for. She would be using rags and I knew the hygienic level would be lacking, because constant washing meant more water trips, more work, more time and more energy - not to mention when and how they would dry in this wet and damp weather we are having. She was so excited when I explained what they were and she kept thanking me.

​Knowing we would show up with a bag of items for the twins we wanted to make sure the other kids received some things. Little Tinotenda (who comes every Wednesday to our house and pictured above) got a little McDonald's happy meal toy (a donation we picked up somewhere along the way - it just happened to be our last toy on hand). He was soooo excited and didn't put it down once while we were there. It is most likely his only toy and the excitement was evident. The two older sisters also got to pick out a dress each from a bag of dresses we brought (again donations from some sweet ladies who made pillow-case dresses). You can see in the several photos the size of the room where this family of 7 is living (we had some of the blurry photos as well to give you some perspective of the room).

​While we were visiting, a lady from Mai Maka's church came to visit her and the twins. She brought her 10 year old daughter along who we quickly learned wanted to attend VBS this coming April. An elderly neighbor stopped by too and of course everyone was greeted and enthralled by the fact that these "white folks" were visiting this new momma.

​Andrew was almost too nervous to hold on the little ones because they were so tiny. They were much smaller than baby Western was when he was barely an hour old (the twins were 4 days old at this point). As you can see in the picture above, the little girl's upper leg is almost the size of Andrew's thumb and Andrew doesn't have very large hands. 

​I of course could hardly put them down and allowed them to nestle against me while we visited. Their little tweets of cries were instantly silenced once they were held and loved.

​The girls don't have names yet and Mai Maka insisted she waited for us to give them names. We offered some ideas, but insisted she and her husband make the final decision. Next week we'll find out what they finally chose to name them. 

​When we returned home, Andrew quickly looked at photos of baby Western to compare his size to the twins. Little baby Western was huge in comparison. Baby Western is so chunky at 6 months and is fitting in 12-month clothes. He's a little joy to have around the house and a little menace too, ha ha ha. Our house is filled with baby gurgles, crying, baby gibberish, and little hands that reach out to us whenever we enter the room. He smiles all the time and is such a happy baby.

​Who knew 5 years ago that we would be having an impact on so many little ones while in Zimbabwe - what a blessing to be a part of God's ministry and play a small part in the lives of these kids. Please pray for Mai Maka, the new twins, her whole family, and her chicken business. Please also continue to pray for Baby Western and his parents as they co-parent even though they are divorced. We consider it an honor to love on all the babies around us and within our realm of influence.

The Amazing Race is one of our favorite TV shows. If you aren't familiar with it, teams of two begin in the US and follow clues that literally take them around the world.  In a season, they usually travel to 8 or 9 countries on 4 or 5 continents. While in a city, they are assigned tasks that usually pertain to the culture of their location. There are 10 or 11 legs to the race and the last team to reach the final checkpoint in a day is eliminated. The first team to reach the final location in the US is the winner.

​On the show that aired two weeks ago, they were in Harare, Zimbabwe!  The show was filmed in October, but we were excited to see the contestants in various locations in the city where we have been. They had just flown to Harare from Prague.

​After landing at the airport, they took a train about 45 minutes out of Harare to a game reserve. This was a more rural setting where they saw lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, etc. Below you can see them riding horses and rafts to find clues. After camping overnight, they returned to Harare and went to the crowded markets of downtown (bottom left picture). They had to make deliveries to specific locations, navigating their way on foot (they are wearing blue uniforms as do all laborers). Finally, they had to sing a song in Shona with a band in a park. The park is located just across the street from the American Embassy. In the lower right picture, the pair is being taught the song (one of the lines of the song is shown on the picture).

It was enjoyable to watch them experience different things for the first time and to see not only the country, but also individual Zimbabweans be put in such a positive spotlight. ​

*These pictures are courtesy of CBS.

Friday was a very exciting day for the 9 women who are starting chicken businesses, because we delivered day-old chicks and feed to each of them! We paid for 50 chicks for each lady (with each of them planning to eventually expand to 100 chickens) and the store gave us 6 extra each for free. This is because it's their first time and they are expected to lose 2 or 3 in the early stages just due to inexperience. However, the anticipation of what this responsibility, hard work, and benefit this can have on their families, was overwhelming when we arrived.

​Each woman received 56 chicks, a vitamin mixture to add to their water, 55 pounds of starter feed, 110 pounds of grower feed, and 220 pounds of finisher feed (who knew that these little balls of fluff would eat so much??). They also received additional booklets, calendars, and information on exactly what the process is to successfully raise these birds, which they should already know from the classes they took and our meetings together. Though, it's always good to reiterate important points.

These chickens are broilers, so the women will raise them for 5 weeks and sell them live for meat. This is how they do it here. On the occasions that Elizabeth eats chicken, she buys one from one of our neighbors. She walks in the gate, carrying a live chicken and does the slaughtering, defeathering, and prepares it to be cooked. This eliminates the need for a freezer.​

​Once they are sold, the women will purchase new day-old chicks, vitamins, and feed and begin the process again.

Mai Maka (pictured left) is the only one whose home is not connected to electricity. It is very important that the chickens have a heat lamp and a regular light nearly all the time, especially early on. If they can't see where their food and water is at nighttime, they will die. Mai Maka didn't have any kind of a light source or heat source, so we got her two solar powered lights, since one won't last through the night. Everyone else has a heat lamp, but without electricity, this wasn't an option. One of the other ladies provided her with special containers that hold hot coals, so that the room can be warm enough for the chicks.

​Everybody also has a thermometer, so they know if the temperature is correct or not. It is supposed to be 82-86 degrees at this stage.

​Below you can see that they made signs to put up at their homes, advertising chickens for sale. They know that they need to work to get customers lined up before it's time to sell, because their feed will last 5 weeks and 4 days and obviously can't have chickens on hand without feed. This is just the right amount of time for them to grow to a perfect size for them to sell.

Many of the women live in places where children live who attend our VBS, so as we were delivering the chicks and feed, we constantly heard little voices say, "Mr. Andrew, Miss Yolanda!" Additionally, it is extremely rare for there to be white people in these areas. So when toddlers who didn't know us, saw us pass by in the truck or walk by on foot, they exclaimed, "Murungu!" which means, "white person." Then we would see a bunch of tiny hands vividly waving in our direction.

All of the women were very thankful to God for His provision in getting started with these businesses. They thanked us over and over for it, but they know that it was God who provided. In addition, we know that God provided through many of YOU who gave toward this project and we are thankful to each one of you for making the decision to empower these women to provide for their families in ways they have never experienced in the past. While they will always have many stressors in their lives because of their environment, we are thankful to you for helping decrease their stress levels several notches and help them sleep easier at night.