March Madness

We started writing this blog post in March, but we never had an opportunity to finish it while on our travels to send it out - so here it is in April. Where does the time go? It has certainly felt like March Madness for us with a very busy schedule.

We have had a full 6 weeks of travels (7,104 miles), speaking engagements, church presentations, ministry partner visits, and all-around JM2Z updates and stories. Although this can be very exhausting for us, with often multiple speaking engagements in one day or back to back church visits, we do consider it a joy to share all the JM2Z happenings with so many of you. Thank you for being interested, asking questions, visiting with us, telling us what’s been happening in your lives and showing interest in all that God is doing in Zimbabwe, Africa, in our little corner of the world!

Oregon Church Visits

With our hosts (and friends) in Eugene

The pastor praying for us and JM2Z during the service

Our first church stop was Santa Clara Church in Eugene, where we stayed for a week. We spoke during the full sermon time on Sunday morning, but in addition, attended small groups, senior gatherings, American Heritage Girls’ Group, as well as enjoying dinners in homes with multiple families. We also met with multiple individuals during lunch times, mid-afternoon coffee breaks, and even brunch gatherings. 

As our first supporting church (17 years ago), Santa Clara will always hold a special place in our hearts. They grabbed ahold of the mission long before any other church chose to partner with us. We were blessed to fill 18 squares of our fundraiser during this week. So many of the individuals (couples) have known us for years and have grabbed ahold of the vision of JM2Z personally. We are so incredibly grateful for their partnership in ministry!

---

A satisfied customer of one of the beanies

Speaking at an American Heritage Girls' group

Speaking at Keenagers (a group for seniors)

We visited with Violet, one of JM2Z's board members

The next week, we packed up and headed to Myrtle Point, Oregon. We spent a week with Myrtle Point First Christian Church. As they’ve done in the past, they set us up in a cabin near a river with food and snacks and all we would need for the week. In fact, our biggest problem was trying to consume the many food and snack items they blessed us with before leaving, because we found ourselves being invited out to restaurants for many meals as the week went on. 

Yolanda was their keynote speaker for their Faith Promise Weekend (a mission-emphasis weekend, when individuals pledge their financial gifts for the year toward missions the church supports), which was a great success. They far surpassed their financial goal for missions for the upcoming year - Praise the Lord! The theme was H.O.L.Y. and Yolanda felt privileged to share not only for their Faith Promise service, but as well as a regular JM2Z update during the second service.

The decorations for the weekend included a Shona Bible

Once again, it was a full week of speaking engagements with small groups, Good News Clubs, and special mission related events. What a joy to share about all that God is doing through JM2Z and visit with so many wonderful partners in ministry! MPFCC is JM2Z’s largest supporting church and even though we value every single one of our supporting churches, it’s worth mentioning the generosity of this church as they give to the ministry of JM2Z, above and beyond their regular tithe.

Thank you for loving not only the ministry of JM2Z, but for loving us personally as missionaries with such care and consideration!

With Michael and Pamela (a JM2Z board member), who had visited us on a mission trip last year

Speaking at an adult small group

Speaking at a kids' Good News Club

A sweet note from one of the children in the church

Following our week with MPFCC, we drove up to Warrenton, OR. We spent the weekend with new friends and had the opportunity to share Saturday night with a few in attendance and a few minutes Sunday morning during the 2 main services. This was our second visit to Warrenton/Knappa Christian Church. Reconnecting with relationships built and making new ones is such a joy for us! They welcomed us with open arms and great interest in all the happenings of JM2Z. 

On Sunday evening, we attended their Knappa campus and had an opportunity to share a few minutes in the service. Although this was a smaller gathering, we were blessed with individuals picking squares on the Fundraiser that made a significant difference! What a blessing!

Quick Seattle Trip

Washington was just across the bridge from where we were in Oregon at Warrenton/Astoria

We had a few open days between our last 2 Oregon churches, so we planned for a quick Seattle trip to visit friends and ministry partners. We always try to make the most of our time and spend it wisely, visiting with friends and fellow supporters. We were able to connect with friends from Yolanda’s Boise Bible College days, catching up with relationships that were created over 15 years ago. We are especially grateful for the individual partners who we often don’t get to see face-to-face while stateside, due to them not being in any of our supporting churches or within close travel distance - thank you for YOUR partnership - we appreciate YOU! We have multiple individuals throughout the US that fit this description. One of them, with a missions mindset, had a great description of furlough. She recognized that furlough is not vacation or break but rather that it is merely, "A different pace, in a different place." This fit exactly what we've been experiencing!

---

With a friend from Boise Bible College

Back in Oregon

We returned to the Astoria area in northwest Oregon, to new friends who hosted us, as we visited with our last supporting church in the state. We spent the weekend with Lighthouse Christian Church. We visited LCC for the first time 2 years ago. We are excited to mention that they have officially partnered with JM2Z. We are excited for this partnership moving forward! What a joy it is to have new churches grab ahold of the mission and vision of JM2Z in Zimbabwe, Africa!

We shared to a smaller group Saturday evening and then had a few minutes in the main service Sunday morning. We had a great response from so many, even from first time attendees. It was the first time we had our display table items for sale too, which everyone was very excited about. We love the interest from everyone, at all our churches, concerning the many craft items the ladies have made. What a blessing the profits of these items will be to the women in our discipleship groups!

Speaking at Lighthouse Christian Church

Saying goodbye to our final Oregon church for the next 2 years

California Visits

When we left Oregon, we traveled to southern California. We were blessed to spend a week with Yolanda’s best friend and JM2Z board member, in Pine Valley, CA. We had a lovely time with Jess and her husband, Dan and their 4 boys! We also got to visit with multiple other people, some who have spent time on the mission field. It was a lovely break from our busy schedule before visiting our next church.

A picture with friends who are like family

Next, we flew to Sacramento and drove to Willows to visit Willows Christian Church. Although Yolanda visited WCC, 2 years ago, along with all our other supporting churches, it had been 4 years since Andrew had visited. Last time, Andrew flew back to Chicago, earlier, in order to help his parents, as his father was undergoing shoulder replacement surgery. Everyone was excited to see Andrew after 4 years and Yolanda after 2 years. We visited with the elders and church leadership over dinner and enjoyed the full sermon time Sunday morning for a JM2Z update.

We even had a couple from an Oregon supporting church drive to Willows (just over an hour, from elsewhere in California) to visit us and hear an update, as they were not home while we were in Oregon sharing our ministry updates. We love when people are this excited about JM2Z happenings and make the effort to connect with us - thank you!

Reconnecting with friends after 2 years

Unfortunately, Yolanda was not feeling well. She had her hernia act up a few times over the past several weeks and unfortunately two of those times were during church visits and gatherings. Most would not know that she was not well and dealing with a lot of pain, as she hides it well. In addition, she was fighting a cold with all the regular symptoms. Yolanda often fights with sickness during our travels, due to a compromised immune system from all the traveling, lack of sleep, stress, and busy schedule. It meant that Andrew attended the church game night alone on Sunday evening.

Thank You

We just want to say once again, a very big thank you to the MANY of you who have hosted us in your homes, provided us with a place to stay or a warm meal to eat, lent us your vehicle or done airport runs on our behalf. Thank you for the many ministers who gave up their sermon time so we could give a JM2Z update or even allowing us a few minutes during the main service - it is much appreciated! We are so grateful to have met with mission boards, elders, church leadership, and staff. Thank you for the many small groups who welcomed us into their homes or even combined to host us. Thank you for the flexibility of your schedules and your willingness to hear an update and a story of what God is doing in Zimbabwe. Your interest, your partnership, and your friendship is not taken for granted and we consider it great joy to have shared the last several weeks with so many of you!

Coming Up

We are presently back in Wheaton, IL (Chicago area) with Andrew’s parents, our base while stateside. We will stay in the area during the month of April. We will have the opportunity to spend Easter and Andrew’s birthday with family. We will, however, also spend this month visiting with individuals. We will make a few short trips, those in driving distance and possibly some short flights - presently our schedule is quite flexible. We both have a mountain of paperwork to catch up on after 6 weeks of travels, so that will be the first thing on our agenda. 

In May, we will visit our last 2 supporting churches. 
​
- 5/4 - Weiser Christian Church (Weiser, ID)
- 5/11 - Lander Free Church (Lander, WY)

In Zimbabwe

Back in Zimbabwe, ministry continues. Final building construction was completed on the ministry base domestic quarters to provide an additional room for Western (our groundskeeper) and his family. They were incredibly grateful for the additional room for their growing family!

The last 2 years, little Western has received multiple accolades from school and now that his little sister has started preschool, she has started to join him. We are so glad that she gets to have her moment in the spotlight. She got a silver medal for a sports day race.

Angel, excited to show off her award

Food hampers were delivered once again to all the families as part of our Food Hamper Program.  We are so grateful that so many of you have been picking a square on our 100 to 100 Fundraising Campaign with the Food Hampers in mind. As a reminder, it costs $55 a month for a food hamper (it is worth noting these increase in price every 4 months, or so, due to inflation).

Mai Innocent, with the delivery of her food hamper

Some interesting things have been happening in Zimbabwe, specifically on March 31st. A quick google search will tell you more on that matter, but due to security reasons, that is all we can say on this matter. We continue to pray for the trajectory of the country.

The discipleship groups continue to meet with both Emily and Janeece. And even now, we stay in communication with the women, via WhatsApp. We’ve also been in contact with ladies who have moved away in recent years and stayed up with prayer requests and all that is happening in their lives. 

Please continue to keep the country of Zimbabwe and all the women in our discipleship groups, in your prayers! 

On a funny note, Janeece, our missionary relief worker, is a real prankster. She loves April Fools Day jokes and had a good one this year. She messaged us to let us know that she has a bout of elephantitis, with the attached picture below. Yes, that is an old stool made from a real elephant leg (a piece of furniture we did not buy, but existed at the house when we first moved in). She wrapped a table cloth around her waist and rested her one knee on the stool - needless to say, laughter ensued. 

Janeece enjoys a good joke

100 to 100 Fundraising Campaign

We have made some excellent headway on our Fundraising Campaign that we started in January and that runs until May, after meeting with our last supporting church. We still need to do a Facebook live on the JM2Z FB page this week to update a few more squares from our last church visit, but presently, we have 63 squares out of the 100 squares picked. That means we have 63 new monthly donors for JM2Z and this is very exciting! Our hope for the month of April is that friends on the JM2Z Facebook page and those on our mailing list will prayerfully consider partnering with the ministry of JM2Z. Our goal is to have 10 squares picked this month through those who are not in our supporting churches (or did not make a decision when we visited) but pray for us, read our updates, and are passionate about JM2Z. If you would like to pick a square (that's the amount you commit to giving monthly) click on the link below for directions on how to give online or via check. 

Donate

For the many of you who have partnered with us - JM2Z - THANK YOU!!!