Divine appointments in Zimbabwe

On Sept. 11, 2003, our team of seven volunteers from the Richmond, Va., area and Tampa, Fla., arrived in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, for a two-week mission project. We knew that God was leading us from the very beginning-from choosing the members of the team, all the way through to providing finances and materials we needed for Vacation Bible School at the Emtwazini Children’s Home and other ministry opportunities.

The morning after we arrived, it was off to a village in the Matopos National Park area, to hold eye clinics and evangelistic services. A missionary ophthalmologist led the eye clinics, in which we saw more than 250 patients in two days. It was awesome to have the opportunity to help so many with their physical sight, and to share with them how to find their spiritual sight as well. Team members also led Bible stories, games, and songs with almost 200 children in the village. During evening evangelistic services, the JESUS film was shown in the Ndebele language followed by preaching by one of the team members. Many decisions were made, and team members had the opportunity to counsel with those who responded and get their names so that the local church could follow up with them.

After returning to Bulawayo, the team spent the next few days prayerwalking in the Mahatshula area in the mornings alongside national Baptist friends and holding VBS for the 65 children who live at the children’s home during the afternoons. Our prayerwalks were special in that we had many divine appointments during those mornings. Not only did we prayerwalk, but our teams had opportunities to talk to the people we encountered on the streets, and a total of 15 decisions to accept Christ as Savior were recorded during the two mornings we spent in Mahatshula. Several people we visited with indicated that they would be willing for small group Bible studies to be held in their homes. We also were able to have a special prayer time for a church to be started in that area, which is a new suburb of Bulawayo, and we have since received word that the first church service has been held. Praise God for this new church start! Pray especially for Vu, the pastor of this new work.

The last day of our ministry involved a food distribution in the rural village of Mawabeni. We were able to distribute eight tons of corn, rice, peas, and cooking oil to approximately 450 people, over 300 of whom are AIDS orphans. The headmistress of the school in Mawabeni told us that had we not come on that day, many of the children would have had nothing to eat, since their food supplies had become depleted.

How humble it made us feel, to know that we were a part of God’s mighty work in Zimbabwe. Our lives will never be the same! We will never forget the friends we made there, and we are most definitely committed to missions more than ever before.

Ramona Beam, Volunteers in Missions Department
IMB