A Quick Visit with Rain
We hope you had a great time of Thanksgiving with family/friends this past week. We had a wonderful day on Thursday, just the two of us. We were grateful for the technology to be able to Skype with my family while we ate. Over the weekend, rain poured just about non-stop for 3 straight days, which is a major answer to prayer! We aren't sure how much the rest of the country got though. On Saturday, we had a 24 hour power outage (while Yolanda's brother and his family were visiting for the weekend). We were very thankful that the rain brought cool temperatures while fans weren't an option. There must have been something wrong with our street, because houses merely a mile from here only lost power for 7 hours.

​ICOM Online
Last weekend, was the annual International Conference on Missions, which took place in Lexington, KY. This is an incredible 3-day event in which missionaries, families, and students gather to take in all kinds of missions related workshops, speakers from around the world in main sessions, praise and worship times, and mingling with missionaries at hundreds of booths. Yolanda has attended 8-9 times and I've been twice. We knew quite a few people who attended, including Janeece (who fills in for us while we are gone) and Ben Pennington (one of our board members). Boise Bible College always takes a group, and this year, a former professor and mentor of Yolanda's were both involved in speaking. Again, we were thankful for technology, as we watched the main sessions via live streaming on our TV. This event is very special to us and is a perfect reminder for us that JM2Z is exactly what God wants us to be doing. One of the quotes I took away is that, "Disciples are hand-crafted, not mass produced," which is exactly what we are trying to do here; not focusing on numbers, but rather on each individual.

​Paper Bead Project
​       The ladies are thoroughly enjoying the group and are doing really well with the paper beads. As far as comradare goes, it came up that an adult daughter of one of them prints t-shirts. One lady suggested that they get her to make a group t-shirt for "their club," as they call it. Everybody agreed. So they came up with what they wanted on the shirts; a group name and a Bible verse.

Today, the ladies are at our house for 7 hours. After they measure and cut the paper and roll them, the paper beads get strung on fishing line and dipped in clear varnish. Once it dries, they must dip them 2 more times and then the beads are nice and shiny and look like glass. Then they are taken off the fishing line and they design and make the necklaces with various sized beads, colors, etc. The number of beads the ladies made today, totaled about 3,000.

​We served them a lunch of sadza, beans, and green vegetables, a typical Shona meal. Scroll through the slideshow below to see the process, as well as their children who came with them.

​Bond Money
The bond notes were introduced into the market yesterday. One story from the day was that a driver who was passing through Zimbabwe from Mozambique to Botswana came to a tollbooth. He paid in U.S. Dollars and received change in bond notes. He explained that he needed U.S. Dollars, as he would be in another country later in the day and bond notes would be useless there. The toll worker would not budge (the g0vernment is trying to get U.S. Dollars and give bond notes). So the driver pulled out a knife and demanded U.S. Dollars. The toll worker gave in and gave up the cash. While this was taking place, the policemen, who are there to uphold justice, just watched and did nothing, obviously taking the side of the driver.

Today, I bought some fishing line for the ladies to use for their beaded jewelry. It was $4, so I asked if he had change for $5 (yes, that is a legitimate question when at a small shop). He said he did and slapped a brand new $1 bond coin on the counter. He laughed, as if he was pulling a prank on me and said he would go find a U.S. Dollar to give me instead. As we have said before, we don't know what all of the ramifications will be, but people are definitely concerned. For some though, the opportunity for cash is a welcome sight, while others are viewing it as Monopoly money. We pray that unnecessary panic would not ensue and that the Lord would provide.

​VBS and Recovery Update
Yolanda has had physical therapy for her feet for three weeks now. Prior to starting it, her ankle and toes had been feeling much better. However, after her first appointment, it was clear that she wasn't where she thought she was in the healing process and her feet hadn't been getting as much movement and exercise as we had thought. She has been in quite a bit of pain these weeks, as she not only does her exercises, but throughout the day while she is on her feet. After her first therapy appointment, we thought ahead to our VBS, which was coming up in a few weeks. With 100 kids, the two of us, and just 3 or 4 other adults, it was going to be very difficult if Yolanda was immobilized. After much prayer and thought, we made the hard decision to cancel the event for December. We are extremely disappointed that we will not be able to serve the children in this way this time, but are now thankful that we know we made the right decision. Yolanda's ankle swells up after not having her feet elevated for just an hour and especially with the heat we are currently having. Please pray for continued healing, as the recovery time has been longer than expected, which is hard physically and emotionally. We researched to see if there are any holidays off school in January so that we could do the VBS then, but unfortunately, there are not. Our next VBS will be in April when we have our first missions team, coming from Santa Clara Church in Eugene, OR.

Ear-Warmers
Keep your eyes open in the next day or two for another blog advertising ear-warmers the ladies made. We will be making them available for purchase and they will be shipped directly to you. All of the information for that will be coming shortly!

Because Yolanda hadn't been able to meet with the ladies since her injury, we decided to invite them to our house and have the group here. However, it took some thought and prayer before we decided to do this, because with their extreme poverty, we didn't want to embarrass them or make them feel uncomfortable. We wanted to present a warm, welcoming environment. We think we were able to accomplish that. This took place last week for the first time. I picked everybody up at the usual location and drove them back to our house. All 13 women and 6 children piled into the Hilux. They asked me if we could stop by a store on the way, so that they could buy a get well card for Yolanda. How sweet was that? They pooled their few dollars together and it was very special. They all signed it and presented it to Yolanda when they arrived. I played with the children outside, including snacks, coloring, soccer, etc. Yolanda introduced the ladies to paper beads. She showed them an already made paper bead necklace and they couldn't believe it was just paper. She started at the very beginning and they were having trouble with the basic skills of measuring and cutting. She reminded them that sewing, crocheting, knitting, etc. were all difficult when they first began, but they were able to master those skills. They left encouraged and eager to continue. Since it seemed to work well, we will have them back to our house next week as well. The ladies wanted to cancel this week's meeting, because there is someone campaigning in the area. Anyone who attends the rally was promised an amount of seeds and maize. The ladies wanted to take this opportunity to get some extra food for their families. Of course, the food is usually aid from overseas, but the people are told that it comes from the leaders here.

At the moment, there is much uncertainty within the country. Most of the cash has been exhausted. The new bond notes (Zim's new bills, which are supposed to carry the "same value as U.S. dollars") are to be introduced into the market any week now. People are worried that this will turn into 2008 again, with inflation running rampant. It is also unknown how this will affect stores' abilities to import goods, with a currency that will not be accepted in any other country. The pictures to the left and below are people waiting in lines at ATMs to withdraw the maximum allowed amount of $20 or in rare cases $50. The line forms anytime between 10 pm and midnight to have a chance of getting to the front of the line before the ATMs run dry the following day, which obviously means sleeping there overnight. "We are forced to sleep here, because if you don't, you won't get any money. I have tried coming at 4 am, but it's a waste of time," a woman was quoted in a BBC Africa article. In order to keep it "fair," security guards hand out pieces of paper with a number on them, which indicate a person's place in line. Most people hang on to it like gold while waiting, but others sell their paper tickets to those who don't want to sleep outside the bank.

Please pray for the continued electricity situation throughout the country. While we have enjoyed shockingly reliable electricity this year in our area, there's a chance that could be changing. Zim is tens of millions of dollars behind in paying the South African company that has supplied us with a significant amount of electricity in 2016. It has given Zim until the end of the year to pay it back or else it has threatened to pull the plug. Also, the water again is so low at the dam near here where the power plant is that provides 70% of power for the country. If it gets too much lower, the plant will need to shut down until the water is at a functional level. Another reason for the need for rain. How thankful we are for the gift we received last Spring which will cover the cost of solar power for us if it comes to that.

Please pray for people here who are in need of access to food and water. This is very general, but we don't have many details, other than knowing that there are 80,000+ children in danger of starvation at this point. It is very dry and it can be difficult to find water. This, combined with a lack of rain for the last 7 months in the dry season has made it nearly impossible to grow any food, which is a problem for those who are nowhere near a store.

Please also be in prayer for Western and Elizabeth, our gardener and housekeeper. They are continuing to grow in their work and doing very well in their duties. However, in recent months, they have been having several marriage problems. While we have made it clear to them that we care about them and are more than willing to help them reconcile and have done as much as we can do to that end, we are still their employers. Because of that, and combined with the Shona culture, we know that they will do things or agree with us just to please us, even if it's not want they want. We hired a counselor, who came to our house to meet with them for several weeks in a row. For confidentiality purposes, most things were kept between them and the counselor, but we do know that there are a wide range of issues. Plus, after the initial sessions, they stopped taking it seriously. Families play a major role in Shona culture and, in this case, are not helping the situation. Western and Elizabeth have come to the conclusion that they do not want to be married anymore, which of course saddens us. While we have done as much as we can, and even as young as they are, they are still adults who must make their own decisions. They told us that they and their families have taken part in the customs/traditions to signify that the marriage is over. We have clearly communicated that they still have jobs here, we are pleased with the work they are doing, but that they must work it out to be able to function as they are choosing to live in separate rooms in the domestic quarters, yet still close in proximity.

We do covet your prayers when you think of us or the women and children to whom JM2Z ministers. There are items we didn't mention, such as VBS next month that we are gearing up for, Yolanda's physical therapy appointment on Monday, and that we would be able to receive our order of Shona Bibles sooner rather than later. Additionally, there are praises; positive relationships and respect being built with the women, them growing in the Lord, their realized feelings of empowerment and contribution to their community, being able to bless children with proper footwear and meals when needed, and the list goes on. Thank you, thank you, thank you for those of you who pray regularly for JM2Z and those we work with. We believe prayer to be powerful and we don't take yours for granted. We would love to pray for you also. Please do not hesitate to contact us on here or via e-mail. We truly believe in the partnership of our relationship and would consider it an honor to pray for you more specifically.