Tail End of Furlough

Speaking at a small group gathering at Lander Free Church (WY)

We find ourselves on the tail end of furlough. In a month or so, we’ll find ourselves back in Zimbabwe. However, we are working hard on living in the present as we make our final visits, final presentations, final meetings over a meal or cup of coffee. We don’t want to be so fixated on what’s coming next and life in Zim and miss the opportunity of being with YOU in person.

April/May Happenings

At Midway Airport, leaving for Boise

We do hope you had a blessed Easter. We were blessed to spend it with family. What a privilege we have to experience eternity with God because of the beautiful sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Easter truly is a blessed reminder of Jesus’ resurrection!

On Easter Sunday

As well as Easter with family, we were able to celebrate Andrew’s birthday with family - always a blessing while stateside. Andrew’s parents have a tradition of going through his baby photo album on his birthday, to go through memories. It’s a beautiful tradition that his mother especially appreciates.

Andrew's birthday

April also found us meeting with friends and ministry partners, but unfortunately we did not remember to get a selfie with most of them. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed meeting with each and every one for a catch-up.

Visiting Andrew's 5th grade science teacher

Back in the Western Part of the US

The end of April saw us make our way back to the West of the US, to Idaho. Our first stop was in Boise. We stayed with a board member while in town, visited with multiple friends and ministry partners. We also spent a day in Bruneau and Mountain Home, visiting with individuals. In addition, we had a board meeting (some in person and some online). Several of our Boise visits are pictured below.

Although this was a shorter stay in Boise for us, we were fortunate to host a gathering of friends to share about JM2Z and all that God is doing in our little corner of the world. We had a wonderful turnout of about 17 people and it was such a joy to see so many from my (Yolanda) Boise Bible College days. In addition, Yolanda was able to briefly share about ministry life and such, in a classroom setting at her alma mater with a few students on their last day of classes for the year.

Speaking in a class at Boise Bible College

We also spent a Sunday visiting and speaking at Weiser Christian Church, which is always a blessing and joy. We really enjoyed visiting with everyone there at the potluck afterward! We had some wonderful interactions with people. That wrapped up our time in Idaho and then we made our way to Wyoming. 

In Lander, we visited and spoke at Lander Free Church. We were very blessed to have 30 minutes to speak in the main service, so everyone in the church could hear our update. We visited with ministry partners, shared at a morning gathering, and met with the mission team and their families. It has been a lovely time of fellowship and sharing all about JM2Z, which is our passion and calling! We have also been able to visit with friends, friends who we consider family!

A family in WY who are dear to our hearts and have meant much to us over the years

Lunch with some ladies from church in Lander

Above is a dinner in Lander with several from the church. One (pictured below) pulled out something that Yolanda had given him 2 years ago during our previous visit. When Yolanda spoke with the youth group, she used pennies in an object lesson. She taught them about what it means to be a missionary. She uses pennies because on the back, they say "one cent," which reminds them that a missionary is one who is sent. This gentlemen, who was helping with the youth group, added a penny to his keychain 2 years ago as a reminder! We were excited to see that he still had it with him!

Back in Zim

Water shortages, power cuts, and so forth, continue in Zimbabwe. For the most part, life goes on and things are peaceful, even after some March happenings (we are intentionally vague). 

April saw the start of the school holidays in Zimbabwe. Ironically, Yolanda started receiving WhatsApp messages from kids who have attended Holiday Bible Fun (kids’ program) in the past. They just send greetings, but the hint was obvious as they were fishing to find out if there would be an April kids’ program. This just points to the joy that so many kids have in attending these events. Both Western jr. and Angel had holiday homework and showed up with report cards for the end of term, as all school children do. They are both excelling! We hear positive reports from the ladies concerning their children and grandchildren who are also in our Education Sponsorship Program. Janeece also got to celebrate Angel for her 5th birthday - cake, balloons, and even a tiara - she was clearly ecstatic! 

Little Western with his report card

On Angel's birthday

The women continue to meet either with Janeece or Emily, to gather and get plugged into God’s Word. In addition, one of the Wednesday ladies, Mai Maka, recently gave birth to a new little baby boy.

One of the discipleship groups meeting with Janeece

We are very excited to report that some work has been done on the ministry building in our absence. The welder, with a small team, showed up with burglar bars and security doors for the new ministry building porch. Upon their arrival, it was obvious that the frames they had built based on measurements they had taken, were not accurate, because the floor was not perfectly straight. But they put their skills to work and cut individual bars and re-welded them into place. The security gate opened from the wrong direction, but after much angle-grinding and welding and no doubt MacGyvering, they were able to fix all the errors and put all the bars into place. Janeece was an excellent communicator with us and overseer with them. In the end, the finished product looks great - burglar bars made to fit, bars repainted and touched up, security door opens the correct way, handrail installed, etc. - overall, we are very happy with the outcome. 

Since we’re now already well into May, the next school term has started and Janeece has handled covering school fees, transport, and other such educational needs for those in our Education Sponsorship Program. She paid out $2,500 in fees. We received multiple thank you’s from ladies while stateside - thank YOU for making that happen. 

Since it’s already been 2 months since the last food hamper deliveries, food hampers were delivered again. And once again, we received a barrage of thanksgivings for God’s provision.  Many thanking our “friends in America,” which are YOU. A portion of the food hampers are pictured below.

Fundraising Campaign

We are sooo excited with how many squares have been filled so far with our fundraiser! We have a whopping 84 squares filled out of 100! That means there are only 16 squares left to fill. We have no more churches or small group gatherings to meet with, but our hope is that if YOU are reading this and you are not presently a monthly ministry partner, we would love for YOU to pick a square and commit to giving that amount monthly to JM2Z. Pick any square that is not covered by a logo below.

Donate Now

If you would like to become a ministry partner with us, just follow this link to give online or give by check monthly. We so appreciate YOU!

It goes without saying, and yet we’ll say it anyway, THANK YOU, to the many of you who have picked a square and partnered with the ministry of Jesu Ministries 2 Zim! Thank you for helping us be the hands and feet of Jesus, on the ground in Zimbabwe, Africa. Thank you for helping us carry out all the different programs in Jesus’ name. 

Upcoming

We are done meeting with all our supporting churches. Now we are visiting individuals, friends and family, as we wind down our time stateside. We are presently in Wyoming, from here we fly to Denver for a few days. We will then head back to Illinois. We have plans to visit northern and central Michigan in June and possibly a few more locations in Illinois. By mid-June we’ll be making our final preparations for packing and returning to Zimbabwe. Our exact return dates have not yet been confirmed, but are in the works.

Prayer Requests

We know that so many of you pray for us and do so on a regular basis. Thank you for your prayers on our behalf, we so appreciate it! Please be praying that:

• We finish strong while stateside
• We make the most of our last time with family
• We live in the present, not looking for what’s to come
• For Janeece, as her time in Zim winds down
• For all the ladies in our discipleship groups
• For continued traveling mercies