Driving home after dropping off Janeece from the airport We are back in Zim! We arrived safely last week after spending 5 days with Yolanda's mother and brother. Janeece did a wonderful job for us while we were gone. We are so thankful for her willingness and abilities that fulfill this unique role of a missionary relief worker. We took Janeece to the airport to send her on to her next assignment, which is in South Africa for the next few months.
We wrote before we came back about the cash shortage in Zimbabwe. In preparation for that, we brought a month's worth of cash so that we could have a cushion in case we couldn't get what we needed from ATM's, which have limited withdrawls to $100-$300 at a time (that is, when the machines have cash). The situation has turned out to be much more severe. The new rule is that you can only draw cash from ATM's at a bank where you have an account. Since we don't have accounts here, we are unable to draw any cash. For many personal expenses, we are able to use a credit card, such as grocery stores or restaurants. However, most of our bills for ministry expenses require cash, whether it's electricity, security company, city taxes, phone, internet, or gas.
Thankfully, my (Andrew's) parents and sister are arriving here next week for a visit. This will be their first trip to Zimbabwe. The board agreed that we would be able to take 3 weeks off from work, as this will be our first "vacation time" since Yolanda and I were married. We plan to show them around the country, and of course our home and town. The blessing is that they are able to bring extra cash with them. For security reasons, I won't write the amount, but they are bringing several months' worth of cash for us. How amazing it is that God worked it out so that they were coming at this time when we need it!
For the future, we are looking into options for paying bills electronically, which are all different depending on who you are paying (it would be much easier if each store had a credit card terminal, and thankfully, some places are adding them, such as gas stations). As we stated in our last blog, they have been talking about printing Zim bond notes to be in circulation by the end of the year. They have also been talking about using the South African Rand as the main currency. Until something changes though, cash is very scarce. We have also heard that sugar, cooking oil, and fuel will become less available. We don't know everything that is going to happen and the rumors seem to change daily, but we (Yolanda and I) are extremely blessed to have our needs met. We pray and ask you to pray for average Zimbabweans who deal strictly with cash. Hard times in Zim have just gotten harder and they say that relief is coming, but when? We don't have all the answers, but we know that God is in control. Please be in prayer for the leaders who make decisions, as well as the regular people who will be affected by them.
One of our supporters that we stayed with while in the U.S. hand made about 100 bookmarks for us to put in Shona Bibles before we hand them out. She did all of the artwork and wrote different phrases on them in Shona. Of course we won't receive the Bibles until the end of the year, but Yolanda couldn't resist and gave one to Elizabeth. She was very excited to receive it, as seen in the picture below, to the left. The picture on the right is at the British Museum, which contains all kinds of historical artifacts, dating back 2,000-3,000 years. The picture was taken in a room with money, coins, bills from all different eras and centuries. Ironically, on this wall was a poster of a newspaper from Zim showing that in the height of inflation, it was cheaper to print the newspaper on Zimbabwe dollars than purchasing proper printing paper.
We wrote before we came back about the cash shortage in Zimbabwe. In preparation for that, we brought a month's worth of cash so that we could have a cushion in case we couldn't get what we needed from ATM's, which have limited withdrawls to $100-$300 at a time (that is, when the machines have cash). The situation has turned out to be much more severe. The new rule is that you can only draw cash from ATM's at a bank where you have an account. Since we don't have accounts here, we are unable to draw any cash. For many personal expenses, we are able to use a credit card, such as grocery stores or restaurants. However, most of our bills for ministry expenses require cash, whether it's electricity, security company, city taxes, phone, internet, or gas.
Thankfully, my (Andrew's) parents and sister are arriving here next week for a visit. This will be their first trip to Zimbabwe. The board agreed that we would be able to take 3 weeks off from work, as this will be our first "vacation time" since Yolanda and I were married. We plan to show them around the country, and of course our home and town. The blessing is that they are able to bring extra cash with them. For security reasons, I won't write the amount, but they are bringing several months' worth of cash for us. How amazing it is that God worked it out so that they were coming at this time when we need it!
For the future, we are looking into options for paying bills electronically, which are all different depending on who you are paying (it would be much easier if each store had a credit card terminal, and thankfully, some places are adding them, such as gas stations). As we stated in our last blog, they have been talking about printing Zim bond notes to be in circulation by the end of the year. They have also been talking about using the South African Rand as the main currency. Until something changes though, cash is very scarce. We have also heard that sugar, cooking oil, and fuel will become less available. We don't know everything that is going to happen and the rumors seem to change daily, but we (Yolanda and I) are extremely blessed to have our needs met. We pray and ask you to pray for average Zimbabweans who deal strictly with cash. Hard times in Zim have just gotten harder and they say that relief is coming, but when? We don't have all the answers, but we know that God is in control. Please be in prayer for the leaders who make decisions, as well as the regular people who will be affected by them.
One of our supporters that we stayed with while in the U.S. hand made about 100 bookmarks for us to put in Shona Bibles before we hand them out. She did all of the artwork and wrote different phrases on them in Shona. Of course we won't receive the Bibles until the end of the year, but Yolanda couldn't resist and gave one to Elizabeth. She was very excited to receive it, as seen in the picture below, to the left. The picture on the right is at the British Museum, which contains all kinds of historical artifacts, dating back 2,000-3,000 years. The picture was taken in a room with money, coins, bills from all different eras and centuries. Ironically, on this wall was a poster of a newspaper from Zim showing that in the height of inflation, it was cheaper to print the newspaper on Zimbabwe dollars than purchasing proper printing paper.
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