You may be wondering, with all of Yolanda’s health issues the last couple months and her surgery and recovery, what ministry, if any, has been happening and taking place. Ministry has continued. Read below to learn about some items from January.
Emily
Emily During the first week of December, I (Yolanda) was invited to a women’s Christmas gathering. A few ladies in town got together and sang some hymns, prayed together, made a Christmas ornament, and enjoyed lunch and fellowship. A homeschool mom traveled from the capital to also share a wonderful Advent devotional with all of us. At that gathering, I met another fellow Zimbabwean, named Emily, who lives nearby. She had returned to Zimbabwe from Ethiopia, after being away for 17 years. While in Ethiopia, she led a weekly Bible Study Fellowship group for 15 years. She had been back in Zimbabwe for just a year and was wondering why God had brought her back. She missed teaching the Bible to women and building relationships and having a purpose. She had spent the past year finishing the building and renovating of their new home and helping acclimate her children to a Zimbabwean school after only knowing international schools with a large American base. Emily had been teaching online weekly zoom Bible Studies with women from several different countries since back in Zimbabwe, but she desired more and asked us all to pray for her.
What Emily didn’t know is that I would have surgery in a month’s time and I would be out of commission for almost 2 months and was looking for a way for the Tuesday and Wednesday groups to continue with in-depth teaching. At the end of the Christmas gathering, Emily and I swapped numbers with a promise to follow up. I called her later to meet in person and get to know each other a little better, to find out what she believes, her teaching style, her passion, her family, and what she felt God was calling her to now. At the end of our lunch, it was obvious that Emily would be a great fit to fill in for me while I had surgery and recovered. She was clearly capable and had a desire to teach women the Bible and she was a Shona woman herself. God knew! I shared with Emily my idea, asked her to pray about it, and get back to me. That was right before Christmas and soon after, she got back to me excited to move forward in this endeavor.
At our last Ladies gathering of 2023, I had mentioned to the Tuesday and Wednesday groups the possibility of someone taking over for me during my recovery. I told them we would have to start groups up sooner than usual in the new year if that was the case, so that I could introduce her to them and them to her, etc.
Emily met at our home early on January 2nd, to go over everything that I usually do and prepare for with the weekly ladies gatherings. I showed her the whiteboards I write notes on, showed her how I usually plan my lessons. I told her I’d give her our water cooler, cups, and juice to use when she meets with the women. We discussed how she envisioned she would lead the group, what times she would start, where they would meet (it just so happened that she and her husband have an additional home in the high density area where they rent out several rooms - common here to rent out rooms). She planned to meet in one of the unrented rooms, in the high density area, in that home. The women would meet after lunch, which would give Emily enough time to pick her kids up from school and get them home and fed before heading out to Bible study.
I did a stand-alone lesson on the Image of God, which highlighted multiple verses in the gospel of John. This gave Emily an idea of the type of format we do during our gatherings. Unbeknownst to me, Emily had decided to focus on the book of John during her teachings and I had already touched on some introductory points - the Holy Spirit at work!
I gave Emily her first Shona Bible - all her Bibles were in English - so that she could use it as her base when teaching. Like me, she still teaches in English, but introduces a lot more Shona too. She and the women connected straight away. She was excited to start teaching and the ladies were excited she would be teaching them. I had to work hard to keep up with all their Shona conversations on that day, as they shared stories and got to know each other - that was a good sign.
The following week, I went into surgery, schools started up, and the week after that, Emily started teaching. We usually take a break after Christmas until the week after schools start. I had to meet earlier due to my surgery date.
Emily has kept me abreast with their weekly Bible lessons and the women enthusiastically share what they are learning in our WhatsApp group.
When we met on January 2nd, we also decided as a group that we would all read through the entire New Testament together this year. This is the first time we’ve chosen to do this and the ladies are really excited to hold each other accountable. Emily spends the first 15 minutes or so of each weekly gathering going over the past week’s Bible reading. All the ladies have a reading plan that they follow and I’ve heard they are hardcore at holding each other accountable. They ask each other what they read and scold each other if someone missed a reading. They are quick to follow up with offering to meet with that lady to read with her in order to catch up.
Most recently, the ladies all had questions on their reading that past week and Emily said that their answers were in that day’s Bible lesson she had prepared - again, the Holy Spirit at work.
What Emily didn’t know is that I would have surgery in a month’s time and I would be out of commission for almost 2 months and was looking for a way for the Tuesday and Wednesday groups to continue with in-depth teaching. At the end of the Christmas gathering, Emily and I swapped numbers with a promise to follow up. I called her later to meet in person and get to know each other a little better, to find out what she believes, her teaching style, her passion, her family, and what she felt God was calling her to now. At the end of our lunch, it was obvious that Emily would be a great fit to fill in for me while I had surgery and recovered. She was clearly capable and had a desire to teach women the Bible and she was a Shona woman herself. God knew! I shared with Emily my idea, asked her to pray about it, and get back to me. That was right before Christmas and soon after, she got back to me excited to move forward in this endeavor.
At our last Ladies gathering of 2023, I had mentioned to the Tuesday and Wednesday groups the possibility of someone taking over for me during my recovery. I told them we would have to start groups up sooner than usual in the new year if that was the case, so that I could introduce her to them and them to her, etc.
Emily met at our home early on January 2nd, to go over everything that I usually do and prepare for with the weekly ladies gatherings. I showed her the whiteboards I write notes on, showed her how I usually plan my lessons. I told her I’d give her our water cooler, cups, and juice to use when she meets with the women. We discussed how she envisioned she would lead the group, what times she would start, where they would meet (it just so happened that she and her husband have an additional home in the high density area where they rent out several rooms - common here to rent out rooms). She planned to meet in one of the unrented rooms, in the high density area, in that home. The women would meet after lunch, which would give Emily enough time to pick her kids up from school and get them home and fed before heading out to Bible study.
I did a stand-alone lesson on the Image of God, which highlighted multiple verses in the gospel of John. This gave Emily an idea of the type of format we do during our gatherings. Unbeknownst to me, Emily had decided to focus on the book of John during her teachings and I had already touched on some introductory points - the Holy Spirit at work!
I gave Emily her first Shona Bible - all her Bibles were in English - so that she could use it as her base when teaching. Like me, she still teaches in English, but introduces a lot more Shona too. She and the women connected straight away. She was excited to start teaching and the ladies were excited she would be teaching them. I had to work hard to keep up with all their Shona conversations on that day, as they shared stories and got to know each other - that was a good sign.
The following week, I went into surgery, schools started up, and the week after that, Emily started teaching. We usually take a break after Christmas until the week after schools start. I had to meet earlier due to my surgery date.
Emily has kept me abreast with their weekly Bible lessons and the women enthusiastically share what they are learning in our WhatsApp group.
When we met on January 2nd, we also decided as a group that we would all read through the entire New Testament together this year. This is the first time we’ve chosen to do this and the ladies are really excited to hold each other accountable. Emily spends the first 15 minutes or so of each weekly gathering going over the past week’s Bible reading. All the ladies have a reading plan that they follow and I’ve heard they are hardcore at holding each other accountable. They ask each other what they read and scold each other if someone missed a reading. They are quick to follow up with offering to meet with that lady to read with her in order to catch up.
Most recently, the ladies all had questions on their reading that past week and Emily said that their answers were in that day’s Bible lesson she had prepared - again, the Holy Spirit at work.
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Some messages I have received from Emily:
“They are very interactive, I mix both English and Shona during my lessons. I have been so impressed with their questions and knowledge just from their daily Bible readings.”
“It’s really been a blessing learning with the ladies and how God is working through both their daily Bible readings and the John study.”
Messages I’ve read from the ladies in the WhatsApp group:
“My sisters, we are so happy with the teaching we have received today from the book of John, we thank Sister Emily for her teaching and are so blessed.”
“We are understanding more and more and that is making us believe even more from the teachings.”
“Today we learned a lot, especially on identity… Not only am I learning but I am understanding.”
“They are very interactive, I mix both English and Shona during my lessons. I have been so impressed with their questions and knowledge just from their daily Bible readings.”
“It’s really been a blessing learning with the ladies and how God is working through both their daily Bible readings and the John study.”
Messages I’ve read from the ladies in the WhatsApp group:
“My sisters, we are so happy with the teaching we have received today from the book of John, we thank Sister Emily for her teaching and are so blessed.”
“We are understanding more and more and that is making us believe even more from the teachings.”
“Today we learned a lot, especially on identity… Not only am I learning but I am understanding.”
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Each of the groups, at Emily's house, taking notes (above) from the whiteboards (below)
Mai Maka and Family
Above is on the road to Mai Maka's house. You can see the piles of garbage below, where people dump it, because it's not collected.
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Several months ago, Mai Maka’s husband requested to take out a loan from us. Our micro-loan program exists to help those in poverty with a step-up and, hopefully, a step-out of their poor economic situations. It works in conjunction with our micro-enterprise program (small businesses). These loans are interest free, small in nature, generally given in order to increase income, and are only given if there’s a plan of action on how to repay the loan within a reasonable amount of time. The receiver of the loan signs a basic contract of agreement and with each monthly repayment, they sign on the dotted line. This contract is to encourage them with their progress as well as to hold them accountable. In several years of this program, not a single woman has not paid back her loan in full. Our pool of individuals who can apply for a loan has only been the women in the Tuesday and Wednesday groups. And yes, there have been a few occasions that we have denied a request for a loan, due to the lack of parameters being met, i.e. a reasonable amount of time the loan can be paid back, the loan being too large (relative to the individual’s personal economic situation) or merely because we didn’t find it a wise financial decision. Our goal is NOT to keep these women in financial bondage and enslave them to debt. Our goal is to help them out of difficult financial predicaments, financial predicaments that exist merely because we live in a country with an economic collapse, a local currency that constantly decreases in value, and earnings that still put these women at earning $3 USD per day.
The US Dollar rate to the Zimbabwean Dollar has continued to grow. Three weeks ago, it was $1 USD = $11,000 ZWL. Two weeks ago, it was $1 USD = $13,000 ZWL. Last week, it was $1 USD = $14,000 ZWL. This week, it is $1 USD = $15,600 ZWL. So now, you only need about $70 USD to be a millionaire in Zimbabwe ($1,092,000 ZWL), which can only buy you about 11 gallons of gas, or 13 gallons of milk, or just over 8 bags of mealie meal (which makes sadza, the staple diet). If you buy any of those, you’ve spent over $1 million ZWL. Of course, in the past month, nobody who earns Zimbabwe Dollars has had a pay increase.
Needless to say, Mai Maka brought us a letter from her husband (that no doubt her eldest son wrote, as it was in English and neither parent can write or speak in English). He requested a loan to be able to add a roof to the new portion of their home he had built. The rainy season was coming and during the previous season, the children woke up to their rooms being flooded and almost in knee deep water each time there was a hard rain. Of course all their belongings in those rooms were also being damaged in the process. The children had been sleeping in those rooms without a roof or with a makeshift roof of plastic. Baba Maka (Mai Maka’s husband) had just started a new job, which paid him $90 for a full month’s work as a night guard. As a family, they were very excited for this job and this opportunity and this income, as minimal as it may seem to most. The loan he requested would mean $70 of his monthly income would go for monthly repayments (a number they came up with - note that they were functioning without this income before and are also part of our Food Hamper Program). We understood why they felt they could not wait to save the funds and they had a means to pay it back. We agreed. Immediately, he put up their new roof and not long after, Mai Maka asked us to come to their home so we could see it.
After Christmas, we made a home visit to the Maka family. Usually it’s just Mai Maka and a couple kids who are there when we visit, but this time, it was almost all the children and both parents who welcomed us. There were lots of smiles and Baba Maka took us around his home into each room explaining it’s purpose (boys’ bedroom, girls’ bedroom, living area, bathroom, etc.). The building was still very rustic, bare brick walls with farm bricks (softer, often poorly formed, mud bricks) and slapped together with cement and dusty, dirt floors and yet, this was a home of beauty and a huge step up for them. They told us about their goals and dreams, what they envisioned their home would look like. Presently, the bathroom was an empty little room. Outside, they had a more useable “bathroom” space - a 3 room building with a curtain, a few buckets for water to bathe and a long-drop (deep hole in the ground) as a toilet - a huge blessing compared to the public facilities that are a half mile walk away, with no locks on doors to keep the children or women safe.
The US Dollar rate to the Zimbabwean Dollar has continued to grow. Three weeks ago, it was $1 USD = $11,000 ZWL. Two weeks ago, it was $1 USD = $13,000 ZWL. Last week, it was $1 USD = $14,000 ZWL. This week, it is $1 USD = $15,600 ZWL. So now, you only need about $70 USD to be a millionaire in Zimbabwe ($1,092,000 ZWL), which can only buy you about 11 gallons of gas, or 13 gallons of milk, or just over 8 bags of mealie meal (which makes sadza, the staple diet). If you buy any of those, you’ve spent over $1 million ZWL. Of course, in the past month, nobody who earns Zimbabwe Dollars has had a pay increase.
Needless to say, Mai Maka brought us a letter from her husband (that no doubt her eldest son wrote, as it was in English and neither parent can write or speak in English). He requested a loan to be able to add a roof to the new portion of their home he had built. The rainy season was coming and during the previous season, the children woke up to their rooms being flooded and almost in knee deep water each time there was a hard rain. Of course all their belongings in those rooms were also being damaged in the process. The children had been sleeping in those rooms without a roof or with a makeshift roof of plastic. Baba Maka (Mai Maka’s husband) had just started a new job, which paid him $90 for a full month’s work as a night guard. As a family, they were very excited for this job and this opportunity and this income, as minimal as it may seem to most. The loan he requested would mean $70 of his monthly income would go for monthly repayments (a number they came up with - note that they were functioning without this income before and are also part of our Food Hamper Program). We understood why they felt they could not wait to save the funds and they had a means to pay it back. We agreed. Immediately, he put up their new roof and not long after, Mai Maka asked us to come to their home so we could see it.
After Christmas, we made a home visit to the Maka family. Usually it’s just Mai Maka and a couple kids who are there when we visit, but this time, it was almost all the children and both parents who welcomed us. There were lots of smiles and Baba Maka took us around his home into each room explaining it’s purpose (boys’ bedroom, girls’ bedroom, living area, bathroom, etc.). The building was still very rustic, bare brick walls with farm bricks (softer, often poorly formed, mud bricks) and slapped together with cement and dusty, dirt floors and yet, this was a home of beauty and a huge step up for them. They told us about their goals and dreams, what they envisioned their home would look like. Presently, the bathroom was an empty little room. Outside, they had a more useable “bathroom” space - a 3 room building with a curtain, a few buckets for water to bathe and a long-drop (deep hole in the ground) as a toilet - a huge blessing compared to the public facilities that are a half mile walk away, with no locks on doors to keep the children or women safe.
Baba Maka spoke with pride about installing windows and preparing the wood beams himself for the roof. He ran his rough hands across the rustic and quite primitive mushed together, broken brick interior walls. “This will be our living room,” he says in Shona, smiling. He continues, “This is where the family will all sit together.” The room has an old corrugated tin roof, leaning against one wall, a big opening for a door, and a smaller opening for a window on the opposite side. They have learned to dream, to think big, and yet realistically, to plan for their family’s future and betterment.
Baba Maka and Mai Maka, excited to show us the progress on their house
They are thankful for the roofing sheets, especially during this rainy season
We asked if we could take some family photos and promised to print some out for them too. Immediately, Mai Maka sent all the kids inside to change into their Sunday best - matching white little dresses for the twins, shoes for the only boy (the eldest son was not present), a maroon dress for the eldest daughter, and a striped dress for Makanaka (yes, the name that both parents have taken and are called). At first, Baba Maka stood to the side, but then we asked if he’d like to join in the photo. He finally did and we cracked some jokes to ensure the whole family smiled
Almost the entire family, just one son missing from the picture
Baba Maka, picking a couple mangoes from their tree to give to us
Baba Maka and Mai Maka both continuously and profusely thanked us for the loan, then thanked us for the food hampers and pointed out the mealie meal in their kitchen (a room with a single bench, a table with some plates and pots and a few food items in the corner) and then thanked us for school fees for the kids, as they pointed to school uniforms hanging on bent wire hooks attached to protruding bricks from the walls.
Education Sponsorship Program
It’s a new year and that means a new school year too. Zimbabwe has year round school, with the school year starting in January and ending in December (with 3 one-month breaks every year). Thank you so much to those of you who sponsor a child in our Education Sponsorship Program! You are greatly easing the burden from parents and you are allowing a child to earn an education. We apologize for not doing a better job in keeping you updated with each individual child, but please know that these children, their parents/guardians, and we are so incredibly grateful for your partnership in this program!
Our Education Sponsorship Program (ESP) not only covers school fees, but all school related costs. It covers school fees, school uniforms, books, stationary, exam fees, extra lessons (all kids in our program get to have extra lessons which has vastly improved their grades and educational understanding). In some situations it also covers transport or school lunch and other special school activities. The women are diligent in handing in receipts for all expenses and sending pictures of supplies bought and even sharing their kids’ report cards and homework.
Our Education Sponsorship Program (ESP) not only covers school fees, but all school related costs. It covers school fees, school uniforms, books, stationary, exam fees, extra lessons (all kids in our program get to have extra lessons which has vastly improved their grades and educational understanding). In some situations it also covers transport or school lunch and other special school activities. The women are diligent in handing in receipts for all expenses and sending pictures of supplies bought and even sharing their kids’ report cards and homework.
School shoes (above) and stationary items and uniform (below)
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School related expenses are a huge concern and financial burden for most families. Often, girls don’t finish their education, so that their brothers can continue in their education. Girls who don’t finish school often end up in child marriages or early marriages and even in teen pregnancies. A high school graduate with good grades is the minimum requirement for some of the lowest paying jobs.
This program has been the most transformative in families lives - meeting a financial need, educating the future generation, keeping children out of trouble and safe (in afternoon programs), and empowering the next generation to do even better than their parents.
We are looking for more monthly partners to help meet the financial needs of this program. Some children have finally reached school age, while others have entered secondary education (increased fees). When a child first enrolls in elementary school or high school, their fees are exponentially higher - this is called “desk fees.” They include application fees and the full uniform and other supplies that are just one time fees. These fees are usually a few hundred dollars - often impossible for many parents to cover. Monthly extra lessons can cost the same as a full term of schooling. These extra lessons are important, because the teacher will continue in the extra lesson from where she left off in the classroom. Then the next day in the classroom, she will continue on from where she left off in the extra lesson. So if a child misses those lessons, there will be big gaps in learning. The extra lessons also provide the teacher with extra income, which is good for them, since teachers’ salaries are extremely low. School shoes required for all kids are the same, whether in private schools or public schools and yet, the divide in economic status is vastly different.
We have some donors who commit to one year, so the start of a new year means we are always in need of new partners for this program. We have other donors who, for multiple reasons, are unable to continue their partnership. We also have lots of extra expenses that monthly ESP donors do not cover, such as first time students in elementary or high school. Presently, monthly ESP partners give $25 each month. New students pay $250-$500 (a one time fee) in January. In addition, post Covid, there has been a great need for extra lessons for kids needing to play catch up and monthly extra lessons cost $20 (that’s per subject for kids in the last 2 years of high school).
For this year, we are about $1,500 short for our Education Sponsorship Program. If you would like to give to make up for this difference OR if you’d like to commit to being a monthly donor for the ESP please give by clicking on the button below. If you have any questions about it, send us an email at [email protected]
Thank you so much for your consideration!
This program has been the most transformative in families lives - meeting a financial need, educating the future generation, keeping children out of trouble and safe (in afternoon programs), and empowering the next generation to do even better than their parents.
We are looking for more monthly partners to help meet the financial needs of this program. Some children have finally reached school age, while others have entered secondary education (increased fees). When a child first enrolls in elementary school or high school, their fees are exponentially higher - this is called “desk fees.” They include application fees and the full uniform and other supplies that are just one time fees. These fees are usually a few hundred dollars - often impossible for many parents to cover. Monthly extra lessons can cost the same as a full term of schooling. These extra lessons are important, because the teacher will continue in the extra lesson from where she left off in the classroom. Then the next day in the classroom, she will continue on from where she left off in the extra lesson. So if a child misses those lessons, there will be big gaps in learning. The extra lessons also provide the teacher with extra income, which is good for them, since teachers’ salaries are extremely low. School shoes required for all kids are the same, whether in private schools or public schools and yet, the divide in economic status is vastly different.
We have some donors who commit to one year, so the start of a new year means we are always in need of new partners for this program. We have other donors who, for multiple reasons, are unable to continue their partnership. We also have lots of extra expenses that monthly ESP donors do not cover, such as first time students in elementary or high school. Presently, monthly ESP partners give $25 each month. New students pay $250-$500 (a one time fee) in January. In addition, post Covid, there has been a great need for extra lessons for kids needing to play catch up and monthly extra lessons cost $20 (that’s per subject for kids in the last 2 years of high school).
For this year, we are about $1,500 short for our Education Sponsorship Program. If you would like to give to make up for this difference OR if you’d like to commit to being a monthly donor for the ESP please give by clicking on the button below. If you have any questions about it, send us an email at [email protected]
Thank you so much for your consideration!
 Ryan, just starting 1st grade, wearing his formal school uniform |  Keith, just starting first year of high school, wearing his school sports uniform, and displaying a typical teenager expression when mom asks you to pose for a picture :) |
These are for Mai Makas twins in their second year of preschool (like kindergarten), so you see 2 of everything. There are workbooks and also child learning laptops. All are required by their public school.
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