We are very thankful for electricity this evening, as it was off yesterday for 22 hours and today for 12 hours. Due to the drought we are having, we are also thankful for the sights and sounds in the video below, which occurred this afternoon for quite awhile!
We have been quite busy in the last few weeks since our last blog update, with more to come throughout the next several weeks. Yolanda held another women's gathering, which brought about three times the number of ladies as the previous one. We know that numbers aren't important, but it is good to know that interest is continuing to increase from the women who are being invited. There were even a few women there who attend a Roman Catholic church. Yolanda shared about what it means to not only become a Christian, but what it means to be a true follower of Jesus. She shared practical steps such as hearing the Gospel message, believing and having faith in Jesus, repenting as we make a U-turn from our old lives and sinful life, confessing that Christ is Lord of our life, being baptized by immersion and then living an obedient and faithful life as a Christian. Addressing the areas of confession and baptism with a group of women who came from the Catholic tradition seemed to pose a concern in evangelical terms, but Yolanda constantly referred back to the Bible (she printed multiple Scriptures in Shona and gave copies to each lady) and insisted that the truth is found in God's Word and that no speaker, preacher or church defines that truth, but rather the written Word as they can read for themselves. In the culture, so many times people add Jesus to their list of gods that they follow, without understanding what that really means and that there is no other true God. Yolanda also addressed some religious-cultural issues that are plaguing the country at present, such as purchasing so called "anointed oils" or "holy water" for ailments or wealth or some other good luck charm mentality. The health and wealth gospel has been a major stumbling block for the Church here in Zimbabwe. The many so called "prophets" take advantage of the poor and make them poorer by charging them for bracelets (keep you safe from evil spirits), the oils and waters I mentioned and even pens (they promise good grades to any student - this is the time of year for final exams). If none of these things work then they place blame on the person's faith or usage of the item, i.e. how the water was sprinkled or how the pen was held, etc.
 Yolanda speaking to the women  They played with soccer balls donated to JM2Z |  Yolanda's great-aunt playing with the kids  The pastor's wife with their new daughter |
Below is a video of the children singing a song that one of the ladies helped them organize while Yolanda was speaking with the women.
Yolanda's great-aunt was visiting us from South Africa during this time. She was very helpful for the women's gathering, helping with the set up and playing with the children. She also helped us with lots of work at the house. She painted, organized, opened some of the final boxes that we brought a year ago, and put some pictures up on the wall, which help make it feel more like a home. These things have gotten pushed to the back burner, as they aren't as important as our JM2Z work. However, they are still important to us and there is still much to do, but she helped give us a push to get some of those things accomplished. The last night she was here, she washed each of our feet, which is a tradition dating back to when she visited her sister (Yolanda's grandmother). Her symbolic act of service for us was meaningful as it capped off two weeks of service for us while she was here.
Yolanda has also been counseling a woman on a weekly basis. She can't share too much, due to confidentiality, but the woman is in an abusive marriage and the husband is openly having multiple affairs. He doesn't give her very much money to take care of her and their 2 children. Once, he gave her $2 and she was expected to feed them for an entire week. Yolanda is doing what she can to help her in a practical way. One thing is putting together a resume for her, in order to help her find a job and hopefully be able to get herself and the children away from this situation. Please pray for this lady and family when you are able.
This past Sunday, we returned from being in South Africa for one week. Due to our experience last year, I was not at all looking forward to this trip. However, it was a necessary one and proved to be very productive as we completed all of our items of business. The Sunday before last, we drove 6 hours South to Masvingo (Yolanda's hometown) and stayed overnight with friends. The next day, we drove 3 hours to the South African border. On the Zim side, since there were no lines of people everything went quickly. We drove over the bridge to the S.A. side. They have a nice looking building, but immigration was set up outside at a trailer. It had 5 windows; 2 of which were in use. There were about 100 people and instead of forming two lines, it was a mob of people in front of these two windows. A couple hours of waiting in "line" and in the scorching sun, we were on our way. We drove 1 more hour to our destination of Makhado. This town was perfect for us to do everything that we needed to. We got a service done on the Hilux (which was free under the warranty package). We looked at inverter systems. We visited multiple stores and found out some good information. We came close to purchasing one, but decided not to be hasty and think it over. In the next few months, we have the option of having someone transport it here for us if we decide to go with this one. With the exchange rate, we got 14.2 South African Rands to 1 U.S. Dollar (last year it was 10.8). On a personal side, we purchased toiletries, non-perishables and other essentials that we needed. For example, the tin of instant coffee that we buy costs $11.80 here, but in S.A. the same one was R74, which was $5.21! We got many items for half the price as in Zim, which was a huge savings for us. We were also able to save money for JM2Z.
In addition to the next women's gathering at the end of the month, Yolanda will be leading a sewing class. There is a possibility of having another American lady visit us during this time and if that happens she will lead this sewing class. She will teach the ladies some basic sewing skills (all by hand). It is planned as a 3 day seminar where the ladies will learn how to mend clothes, as well as how to make a skirt for themselves. Each lady will walk away from this seminar with a skirt that they themselves have hand made. Within the new year Yolanda will be working with a small group of women who are either widowed, HIV/AIDS positive, single mothers and/or impoverished. She plans to teach them how to crochet and make ear warmers (head bands). The goal is to sell these in the U.S. on our next return in order to help give them an income. We were able to purchase all of the needed thread, needles, crochet hooks, yarn, elastic and buttons in S.A. for a fraction of the price.
In December, we will be having a Vacation Bible School for the children. We have chosen to name it HBF - Holiday Bible Fun as that would be more descriptive for people to understand. We will have 4 different age groups with 25 children in each, for 100 total children. The theme will be "Heroes of the Old Testament," featuring a different character each day. So last week, we also purchased materials for crafts, games, and snacks.
On Saturday, we drove back to the border, which was extremely hot. It was 125 F! Sometimes there would be a breeze, but it was just hot air blowing. I had never experienced heat like that before. This time at the South African immigration, we were in the building, in a room with no airflow and 75 other people waiting in "line." Again there wasn't much of a line. It was so cramped that we were on top of each other. The sweat was just dripping off of everyone that you didn't want to be too close, but if you weren't close enough, someone would cut in front of you (similar to the driving around here). If you can imagine people pushing us from the back and once we finally got to the front and had our passports stamped, we had to maneuver our way through the crowd to get to the door. As we brushed by people, we got wet from their sweat and were just too close for comfort. When we got to the Zim side, we were nervous about how much tax we might have to pay on the items we were bringing into the country. We were each able to bring a few hundred dollars of things for free, but they would inspect the vehicle to see everything we had. Miraculously, when they "inspected" the vehicle, all they did was look in the rear window. We were very surprised that we didn't have to unpack anything! So they didn't ask us to pay any tax (which would have been 30%-40%). Thank you God!
In December, we will be having a Vacation Bible School for the children. We have chosen to name it HBF - Holiday Bible Fun as that would be more descriptive for people to understand. We will have 4 different age groups with 25 children in each, for 100 total children. The theme will be "Heroes of the Old Testament," featuring a different character each day. So last week, we also purchased materials for crafts, games, and snacks.
On Saturday, we drove back to the border, which was extremely hot. It was 125 F! Sometimes there would be a breeze, but it was just hot air blowing. I had never experienced heat like that before. This time at the South African immigration, we were in the building, in a room with no airflow and 75 other people waiting in "line." Again there wasn't much of a line. It was so cramped that we were on top of each other. The sweat was just dripping off of everyone that you didn't want to be too close, but if you weren't close enough, someone would cut in front of you (similar to the driving around here). If you can imagine people pushing us from the back and once we finally got to the front and had our passports stamped, we had to maneuver our way through the crowd to get to the door. As we brushed by people, we got wet from their sweat and were just too close for comfort. When we got to the Zim side, we were nervous about how much tax we might have to pay on the items we were bringing into the country. We were each able to bring a few hundred dollars of things for free, but they would inspect the vehicle to see everything we had. Miraculously, when they "inspected" the vehicle, all they did was look in the rear window. We were very surprised that we didn't have to unpack anything! So they didn't ask us to pay any tax (which would have been 30%-40%). Thank you God!
 One of many mini-twisters (dust storms) along the road  Bought these trip essentials at a gas station, drinks and toilet paper; in return, we got some candy for change  Thankful for the Hilux; our small car would have gotten beat up on this road; not nearly as smooth as it looks |  There were many Christmas items for sale, one of which was this "Instant Snow."  One of many wide loads along the way; not much pavement to work with as we passed  One of many things to learn is how to change a plug on an appliance, depending on the outlet it is plugged into |
We were thankful to make it home safely on Sunday afternoon. We had 20 total hours of traveling on the highways and we are extremely blessed to have made it safely. The roads are just 2 lanes and narrow, without a shoulder and a couple inches drop off from the pavement to the gravel. There are many semis carting stuff from South Africa into the country. There are huge buses of people with giant trailers. You never know what you might see when you come around a bend. A car might be coming at you in your lane as they pass another one, a herd of cows might be crossing the road, there might be a cyclist, there might be pedestrians crossing, there might be a broken down semi parked in your lane. As we drove the last hour and a half from Harare to Chinhoyi, we saw a major accident with 5 ambulances (and it is rare to see an ambulance here). People were running from all directions trying to see what happened. Several times we have seen overturned cars on the side or ones that had obviously been on fire. So we are blessed and thankful to have traveled safely that whole distance.
Please keep in your prayers: Upcoming women's gatherings, counseling sessions, sewing classes, and children's VBS.
Please keep in your prayers: Upcoming women's gatherings, counseling sessions, sewing classes, and children's VBS.
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