Blessings
In our last couple blogs, we mentioned about the possibility of purchasing the ministry vehicle if enough funds came in. We are grateful to report that since then, $11,100 has been raised (one person gave $100, one couple gave $1,000, and one couple gave $10,000). Of course, it is not enough to be able to purchase the vehicle, but how awesome are our supporters that they stepped up in just a couple weeks to be able to do this much! We still have just about another week or so until we will have to say that we will wait until next year, but even if that happens, what a great start to our ministry vehicle fund! God is good.

We also recently received a donation from a little boy, with this note attached, "I am donating $13.27 of my own money. Please use it to buy toys for kids to play with. Thanks." We are so thankful for any and all gifts, and I especially get excited when it's children, because it reminds us and them that everyone can be involved in missions, not just adults. So, thank you Joseph for blessing us with your gift, and we'll make sure that children benefit from it!

Marriage Seminar
Yolanda and I were able to take last Saturday for just ourselves. We just happened to see a magazine in a bookstore that is put out by a Christian counseling center in Harare (we didn't even know there was one). In it, they mentioned about a marriage seminar that was happening on Saturday at a lodge where there is an animal orphanage. We enjoyed the marriage retreat we went to last year in St. Louis so much, that we decided to go to this day seminar. We were so glad that we went. Being in Zimbabwe, we weren't sure what to expect. There were two sessions, which were run by two different couples. The second couple was with Family Life, which runs the most prominent series of marriage retreats in the U.S., including the one we had attended. Their presentations were both excellent, and after each one, they gave time for each couple to do a project (discuss what they had been talking about). We were interrupted during our second project, and below is a video of what happened :-)

We very much appreciated the content of the seminar, the speakers, and the other couples (about 15) who attended. There were couples of all ages, one who had just gotten engaged, all the way to a couple who had been married 35 years. The two workshops addressed stress in marriage and communication. We decided these were timely topics, as we are in a time of transition, change, and deal with common stressors in Zimbabwe, such as a lack of electricity and clean water, crazy drivers, and security. We definitely hope to continue to attend seminars like this, whether in Zim or the U.S. After lunch, they took us on a drive around the grounds, where we saw zebras, buffalo, impala, and sable to name a few. These were all roaming freely. Then, we saw 2 three year old lions who the owners have had since cubs, in a pen near their home. We enjoyed being so close, and even got to touch them. At one point, while we were looking at the lions, the zebra from the previous video wandered up behind us. Here is a video of how the lions reacted when they saw it, getting all ready to pounce.

Then, we went to another area of the sactunary, and we saw an adult, male lion. He was with a female and a cub. We didn't get to see them up close, but he definitely ran over to us and made his presence known. The owners raised him too as a cub but at 22yrs old they dare not enter the fenced off area.

Although the animals were a fun part of the day, Yolanda and I very much enjoyed the seminar, and appreciated the sessions most of all. Even though we are still "newly-weds," we think it's a blessing to be able to take opportunities to enrich our marriage whenever we can.

An Opportunity
I (Yolanda), have a great opportunity to speak at a women's group from a church this coming Saturday. Our Shona teacher invited me to come and share at this gathering. The ladies are very excited to have me come and share with them and I am equally excited to have the opportunity. 

I had hoped to take Andrew out to some of the areas that I will be ministering in, but unfotunately the political situation in our area will not allow for that right now. I will be brief in this area and can't really go into details, but we have been advised NOT to go to any rural locations in our area due to our safety and the safety of those who we will be ministering too. Again, this will be something we will share about in more detail once we get stateside, either in person or in snail mail. 

The church I will be sharing at is a new church plant made up of predominately women and children and people of low economic status. Many of the ladies do not have jobs due to the high unemployment rate in the country. Most of the women I will be talking to are single mothers. I will be going with my Shona teacher to the high density area, an area I have not yet visited. I feel safe, although I'm sure my husband would prefer it were elsewhere :-) 

I have been given the freedom to talk on any topic I decide (as it relates to Scripture). After prayer and consideration, I have decided to prepare a presentation on "A Woman's Worth." I feel these women especially can benefit from information, knowledge, and truth in this area. I have spent the last few days preparing something along these lines. Our Shona teacher said they would be gracious and allot me only an hour rather than the expected 2-3hrs that most African speakers utilize. I believe there will be singing, visiting, and tea-time that will also take place. I'm also well aware that by no means will we be done within an hour, this will most likely be a whole afternoon event, but we will see. 

The reason this is such a great opportunity is because not only do I get to minister to these ladies, but it will also allow word about me to spread (remember, we are keeping the name JM2Z low key here). This allows me the opportunity to possibly be invited to new locations in rural areas as time allows. Building relationships with these urban women, who no doubt have rural homes, will open the door to village visits and the continued work of JM2Z. We are so ecited for what this means. It is unfortunate that we leave in about a month just as new doors of opportunity are beginning to open, but we are confident that they will stay open until we return next year.

Please pray for me for this coming Saturday. Pray that the Holy Spirit will work through me. Pray that my delivery will be timely and necessary. Pray for my continued preparation this week. Pray for these new relationships and where they might lead. Pray for open hearts and open ears. But especially, pray for Jesus' name to be shared and exalted and that the Gospel would be heard.

In closing, we ask that you prayerfully consider giving towards our vehicle fund since our time is soon running out to purchase it this time around with a great savings for the ministry. It would be such an unexpected blessing to be able to purchase it before we return to the U.S., especially since we have these tax-free opportunities for this brief window.

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers. We appreciate YOU!

Even though all of our big projects for the house are finished for now, we are still continuing to do small ones. For example, Yolanda just got some curtain rods and material for curtains. This will replace the blankets and towels we have draped over the burglar bars in some of the rooms. We are also hoping to have our cabinet put in our bathroom soon, so that we can finally move into our bedroom and unpack our suitcases.

Our Shona lessons also continue to go well. We are making sentences and working on different tenses. Yolanda is doing a great job. A lot is coming back to her, but she is also a fast learner. I am working on memorizing my vocabulary words and doing my best with pronunciation.

Last week, we received some great news. One thing we have been trying to do since we arrived here is find someone who could stay in the house while we are back in the U.S. for a few months this winter/spring. It is very important to find someone honest and trustworthy, especially with all of the work that we have been doing on the house. It would also be unsafe to keep the house empty, and would almost guarantee break-ins. Plus, it would be extremely dirty, dusty, and full of bugs if left alone. The leads on people who we had hoped to do it didn't pan out, and we were getting a bit worried, as we only have a few weeks left. However, we were excited when we found out that a woman, who is from Indiana, will stay here. She is a missionary relief worker, meaning that she fills in for missionaries when they return to the U.S. on furlough. She fills in for them in whatever capacity they need, Bible studies, Sunday schools, paying bills, looking after the house. We were glad to hear that even though we are just starting out, her agency approved her to come. She and her husband (who has since gone to be with the Lord) filled in for the minister and his wife in Masvingo (Yolanda's hometown) when Yolanda was growing up, and has been one of Yolanda's biggest supporters and encouragers ever since. Even though she has had assignments all over the world, she has always thought of her previous assignment in Zimbabwe as one of her favorites (or Yolanda likes to think so). So, we are excited that she will be here on the 26th of November. This allows us a few days to show her around, explain anything important, give her necessary directions and instructions for while we are gone and leave keys or whatever else with her. It will be good to spend Thanksgiving with another American as well (Yolanda has promised something good to eat :-) although this hot weather doesn't call for turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie). Praise be to God for this answered prayer.

We received another piece of exciting news as well. Each December, the students at Wheaton Christian Grammar School (K-8, in Illinois) raise money to complete some type of project for an organization. Each class does something different, and this year, the seventh graders picked JM2Z! A project has not been decided on yet, but we are looking forward to working with the teachers and students to see how they might bless women and children in Zimbabwe through blessing JM2Z. We are very thankful for their willing generosity.

After getting quotes from multiple security companies, we are going to go ahead with updating our alarm system. Our existing system will be used, and all that needs to happen is to add 3 sensors (in one room and on two outside doors). We will also have a new battery, which will be used in the case of no electricity. The battery can last for a day and a half, which is good because of our electricity situation, or lack thereof :-) The good news about this company is that if the alarm goes off, they say that they will be at your house in 4 minutes, which they are 90% of the time. Their office is just down the road from us, so that shouldn't be a problem.

We hope your week is off to a great start, and we continue to thank God for you and remember you in prayer, as we are trusting that we are in your prayers too.