Zimbabwe

[Gabby]

I get fairly frequent emails and newsletters from a dear friend who works tirelessly in Zimbabwe, specifically Bulawayo. This person left a high ranking job with the government broadcasting company so that he could do God's work full time. His heart is really for the children, the most innocent of the suffering in Zimbabwe.

I have really felt the need to share a bit of the work he tirelessly does each and every day, I am very proud of him. He could have left Zimbabwe just like thousands before him have but he and his family have chosen to stay and struggle along side the most destitute people there.

In the next few days I will post (expect for personal item) his correspondence with us from this past year.

January 5, 2007

Beloved

Wow, the festive season has rolled round again so fast!! 2006 has been a very rewarding, eventful and challenging year. We are happy though that the Lord helped us sail through. How wonderful your visit was!! We always cherish that visit and wish you would visit numerous places next time when you come.

We do hope that you had wonderful times meeting friends and relatives and reminiscing the old days during the festive season as usual on such occasions. Well, we pray that the Lord will strengthen you and give you good health and bless you richly in 2007.

We had good times as well because all members of the family came together for HaileyJohn's wedding and we spent Christmas and New Year holidays together. Shall send you pictures of our grandchildren and the wedding. Oh! we did not realize that we are that old till our bunch of grandchildren came together. We thank God for everything.

We would like to inform you that in Zimbabwe, we are currently having a terrible scenario taking place. A new wave of price increases has welcomed Zimbabweans into the New Year, a development that will worsen the plight of all people here. The prices of goods have shot up by between 50 and 150 percent while those of some services have risen by more than 1000 percent. Most commodities are unavailable in the shops, leaving consumers to buy from the black market. A recent survey of retail outlets in the city showed that the price of two litres of cooking oil, where available, has risen from the pre-Christmas price of $8000 to between $11 000 and $16 000 in the new year. Bread is now between $800 and $1000 a loaf. Most shops in the city center have run out of the staple food in most homes, the mealie meal. The few shops stocking the product are selling it for $1 500 for a 10-kg packet. Sugar is only available on the black market but costs $1000 per 2kg instead of the controlled price of $570. Aside from price increases in goods, Zimbabweans are facing massive increases in the cost of education and social amenities. The rates have shot up by 1060 percent and school fees by a similar margin.Petrol is available on the black market at between $ 2800 and $3 000 per litre. The recent increases is a manifestation of the deepening economic malaise, which needs a multi-faceted approach to tackle. We are in serious trouble. Intellectuals and professionals are leaving the country in droves.
Recently all remaining doctors were on strike demanding more on their salaries to make ends meet and the whole lot in society is mourning silently. Yes, this is incredible but true! We need your prayers in 2007 because if nothing is done soon, economic chaos may ensure.

In His service

[Gabby]

January 12, 2007

Rachele, Orin, Chris & Ron;

Just to let you know that most of the clothing which you left with us we gave them to those two AIDS orphans at Ntabazinduna where we visited during your itinerary here. We went to pick them from their rural home and stayed with them over the Christmas holiday and then asked one of the elders brother Linus Ncube and his wife ( in the picture) to give the clothing to the young girls. Primrose on the left Letwin in the middle and Zinzile on the right. See the picture- they are putting on some clothing you donated. They are all 12. Oh! they were very happy indeed. We included another orphan Zinzile Moyo. We did not want to take the clothing there, otherwise some cruel neighbors would steal from them. We are now planning to help them fix their kitchen hut. Shall send you pictures when we do. Bought some food and school materials for them as well.

In His service

[Gabby]

January 22, 2007

Loving Friends,

The child who is HIV positive, Zipho Sitole, whom we adopted financially, is now taking ARV tablets. The child was sick for sometime and was admitted at Mpilo Hospital but has recovered and is now on these drugs. We really thank the Lord because we had lost all hope that the child would recover. His parents died of AIDS in April last year. This child is being kept by a woman whose husband also died of AIDS some two years ago. Please always remember Zipho in your prayers.

In His service

[Gabby]

January 31, 2007 - World Bible School progress report.


Mom, Christie,and Ron,

Introduction

The year 2006 has rolled round again so fast. It was very rewarding and challenging indeed. The new year 2007 has brought with it a crystal indication and realization that we are all getting closer to our eternal home. This calls for our maximum effort and dedication in the Lord's vineyard in winning the lost and keeping the saved.

BAPTISM

We are happy that during the month in review, 19 souls obeyed the gospel and were baptized. Their ages range between 19 and 65. We pray and hope that these souls will mature spiritually and be able to win others to Christ.

WBS OFFICE

We started the Lord's work at the WBS Office with a "Retreat" at Matopos National Park where we spent a day praying for God's guidance in His work this year. We also brainstormed with ideas on how to improve the work we are doing. We realized that with unity of purpose, good planning and harmony we could do more for Christ. During the month , 33 students visited the Office,
Five completed their Courses and 39 received Certificates. We sent out 157 Courses to various students throughout the country. Our Prison Ministry is progressing very well. We are receiving inquiries from student prisoners seeking for more clarification on certain biblical issues. We are happy because this is an indication that these inquisitive prisoners are taking their Bible studies seriously. We are praying that someday we may be granted an opportunity to teach these prisoners face to face.

Drip Irrigation

Jacob has started distributing vegetable seeds to the rural farmers. His emphasis on this program this year will
be more on assisting farmers practically. We want to see many families than last year feeding their families. If this drip system becomes a means of livelihood for many rural farmers, they will be able to pass it on to others in need in their respective areas. This way, many poor rural families will be able to feed themselves especially this year when crops are already wilting under the scorching sun in many parts of Matabeleland which is prone for perennial droughts.

World Radio

The local Radio Station has indicated to us that it will raise the program fees by one thousand percent because of the hyper-inflationary economic conditions prevailing in the country. Well, we have sent a letter to the Head of the Station indicating to him that our program is non-commercial and we should pay much less than what profit making organizations should pay. We pray and hope that our request will be accepted.

Family News

We had a wonderful time during the festive season when all members of our family gathered at our home. We enjoyed the company of our four grand-children.

Zimbabwe

Shortages of most basic commodities are worsening the lives of many. We pray and hope that a way will somehow be found to bring the country out of this economic malaise.

Conclusion

I would like to end my report by quoting brother Ken Bolden who said: " Being a disciple means " being like Jesus". What did He do? He healed, fed,counseled, clothed and gave HOPE! So, what should we do? Let us do the same!"

In His service

[luv1another]

thanks gabby...our church just raised some money for wells in Zimbabwe. they have a huge drought in some areas and people will travel miles to get water.

[Trout]

:pray:

[Gabby]

Febuary 7, 2007

We started a new congregation at Nesby in Nyamandlovu. We baptized five souls. We give all glory to God! ( see pictures)

In His service

[Gabby]

Febuary 14, 2007

Beloved,

The following and attached messages are for your information so that you keep abreast of what is happening in Zimbabwe economically.

Zimbabwe's annual inflation has leapt to a record 1 593,6 percent, the Central Statistical office reports.

This means that on average, goods and services normally purchased by households for final use in Zimbabwe are about 17 times as expensive now as they were twelve months ago.

I have also included pictures of people in our truck on our way to baptism in rural areas and the fish we caught at the Zambezi river.


In His service

[Gabby]

Febuary 21, 2007

I do hope that this message will find you strong in body and soul.
We understand that snow is everywhere in Canada whereas in Zimbabwe the sun is everywhere and the early planted crops are now a write-off. My worry is: if snow is everywhere, what will happen when it melts? Are you not going to have problems with water flowing everywhere? If it is cold like that, what happens to those ducks we saw in Calgary and animals too. Are these creatures not affected?
This morning, we buried Mr Hleza at Stanhope who became a third person to be buried in as many days. However after his burial something happened. A Kraal-head ( a government official chosen to look after the social needs of people in the area) was given time to thank those who had come to the funeral. He lifted up his voice and said :" I have not been sent by anyone to say these words but this is what comes out of my heart. I would like to urge those who are not members of the Church of Christ to think seriously about it. I say so because we have seen this church in action in our community: converting sinners, feeding the old and and needy during drought periods including our AIDS victims. This church is a light in our area. They do not merely talk by word of mouth but also talk by their deeds. This is why I am urging all of you here present to repent and be baptized and enter this church. Some ( denominations) may complain why I am mentioning the Church of Christ excluding them, but their works speak louder than words especially having assisted us recently in the burial of two villagers. Anyway, thank you for attending this funeral and for digging the grave and so on but when you go back to your homes, please remember what I have said. Thank you." Preachers who attended the funeral include Jacob, Lucky, Nehemiah and I. May the glory to to God on High!! They too where taken aback by what was said by this Kraal-head Mr Ndlovu Siqoqodo. You know what, sometimes I do not feel good if someone praises me in the presence of other people but the point is, he praised the church not individuals, this is why I am telling you. We also praise God as well for using us in this area!!

In His service

[Gabby]

Febuary progress report

The following is our Progress report for the month of February 2007.

Introduction

In Zimbabwe, we are living under very harsh economic conditions. However, we are rejoicing in the fact that we still have the wonderful opportunity of preaching the gospel everywhere, freely, without any hindrance. That is a great boon to us!

Baptism

Eleven souls obeyed the gospel and were baptized during the month of February. We thank God! An old lady whom we baptized at the Gwayi River, began to shake violently as she entered the water. I had to summon the assistance of two other men to hold her tight as we prayed fervently until she calmed down. After coming out the waters of baptism, she never showed any signs of shaking. When we asked her why she acted like that when she was going into the river, she claimed ignorance but we were happy that she accepted the Lord to dwell in her heart instead of the evil spirits which were so manifest. We praise the Lord!

Additional Studies

We have started an additional program of giving more Bible lessons to our students who have completed all Courses but failed to respond positively to the gospel truth. Hailey John conducts such classes with these students twice weekly. We also aim at enrolling them with the Nations University after careful evaluation. Our major objective is to win their souls.

Ndebele Bibles

The Antioch Church of Christ donated US$3 000 which we are using to buy Ndebele Bibles. We appreciate very much this wonderful gift and pray that God's blessings be upon all who have sacrificed so much so that the poor in the rural areas are enabled to own their Bibles and feed on God's Word throughout their lives.

Drip Irrigation

Almost all early planted maize crops in Matabeleland Province have wilted. This has made it paramount for Jacob to exert more effort in assisting the rural farmers in their drip irrigation gardens so that they may feed their families. One major challenge though which is facing these farmers is the shortage of water to use in their gardens as these areas received very little rainfall this year.

World Radio

Here is an interesting question from one of our listeners: " We want to inform you that we listen to More Than Conquerors radio program every Sunday evening because it enlightens us on numerous spiritual issues. Please keep up the good job of preaching the truth to the nation. However, if God so loved the world and sent His son to die for it, why is He now allowing the innocent people to be butchered by bombers in Iraq?" Part of our answer was that: God made men a creature of choice. If we make bad choices, we suffer for them. This is why some suffering in Iraq is self-inflicted. Some suffering is passed on from others who make bad choices and end up causing the suffering of many innocent people. We need not blame God for that. Most suffering in the world is caused by the Devil. Still we cannot blame God for that. To us, such questions from our listeners show that many people listen to our program and we are thankful to God and the brethren at the White Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, Louisiana, for sustaining the program on air.

AIDS ORPHANS

Our brothers and sisters in Canada donated US$ 500 for use
In our work and in assisting the AIDS orphans. We bought food for some three AIDS orphans at Ntabazinduna and a sister in Christ at Stanhope who is a widow and HIV positive. We are currently discussing with various boarding school-heads so that
the two AIDS orphans who are living alone at Ntabazinduna, Letwin and primrose may be accommodated at a boarding school. Our fear is that if they continue to live alone since they are now 12 /13, they may be sexually abused by some wicked fellows.

Zimbabwe

Today's screaming daily headline reads: PANIC LEADS TO WAVE OF NEW PRICE HIKES! A loaf of bread now costs Z$3 000 while the price of cooking oil, sugar, rice and bathing soap have been hiked between 40 and 50% and these items are now more dearer than they were last week.. We still have hope that a way will be found to stabilize our economy.

Conclusion

We appreciate very much your support for the Lord's work in Zimbabwe. May God bless you all!

In His service

[Gabby]

thanks gabby...our church just raised some money for wells in Zimbabwe. they have a huge drought in some areas and people will travel miles to get water.

It's a good work Luv! The people in Zimbabwe have seen so much suffering.

[Gabby]

:pray:

:smile: Thank you Trout

[Gabby]

These two pictures were to be posted with the Febuary Progress report. oops

The two girls are AIDS orphans and have no one, not a grandparent, auntie or uncle to look after them.

[Gabby]

March 4, 2007

Stella lost her brother this morning. He was HIV positive. His wife died two years ago. We received the message during the funeral service of one of our church members who died last Sunday. He is survived by a daughter whom we took into our care after the death of her mother.

In His service

[Gabby]

March progress report



Beloved,

This month, the Lord provided us with wonderful opportunities of reaching out to many people with the Gospel message.

Baptisms

Thirty two (32) souls were baptized and added to the Church during the month in review. We praise God!! Those who responded positively to the preaching of the Gospel did so at some of the following urban and rural congregations which we visited: Redwood, Maraposa, and eNyandeni in Matabeleland; Dangamvura, Garawase, and Maruru Churches of Christ in Manicaland and Marondera Central Church of Christ in Mashonaland East. We thank God because in all these areas, people were receptive to the preaching of God's Word. We are so thankful to God for taking care of during our 1, 656 kilometers itinerary. Yesterday, we drove for 13 hours from Ruwangwe in Nyanga to Bulawayo.

Mutare Bible School

During this long trip, we visited the Mutare School of Preaching which trains men to preach the Gospel. It is situated about 560 kilometers east of Bulawayo. I was invited at this school to go and Lecture for a week ( 26 - 30 March 2007) on challenges which face preachers after graduating from the school. I also spoke during all Chapel sessions. After each lecture, my wife, Stella and I also visited several Christian families whose homes were close to the school. We enjoyed doing this work and were spiritually edified. I lectured for ten hours during the whole week. On Friday, March 31, we left Mutare and visited Churches in Ruwangwe (about 200 kilometers north of Mutare) . We met several preachers there who include the Mazambani and Bowa families who are doing a fantastic work for Lord. I was happy to see them using wisely the drought relief fund which brother Loy Mitchell sent to the area . They bought maize ( staple food) and distributed it to Christians who are facing starvation as Zimbabwe faces yet another severe drought this year.

AIDS ORPHANS

Our profound gratitude goes to our sisters and brothers in Christ in Canada for their strong support for the Lord's work in Zimbabwe. Their help is assisting some AIDS orphans to get food and go to school. May God bless them all.

WBS goes to Nyanga

When we arrived at Nyanga, we met the local preacher brother Sitima, who has enrolled several WBS students in the area. He requested that we send him more Intros because many people in this town are showing so much interest to study the Bible. We will send him more WBS Courses. We praise God!

Prison Ministry

Most of our student prisoners are doing very well indeed. We have very few who are scoring below 60%. Many are sending us messages thanking the church ( Antioch Church of Christ) which provided them with Bibles to use during their studies. Some are writing saying they are enjoying reading the Bible whenever they are given an opportunity to do so. We praise God!

Bibles

We appreciate brother Von Prahl from Texas, who continues to send us the English Bibles to distribute to our WBS students.
May God continue to bless you my brother.

Drip Irrigation

The Zimbabwean government has declared 2007 as a drought year because most crops failed to mature due to inadequate rains. This has made the drip irrigation scheme very meaningful to rural farmers because they will be able to cultivate small vegitable gardens with little water available though in some areas the availability of water is becoming a major challenge. I think this year, most rural farmers will need some assistance to buy maize( staple food).

World Radio

We experienced so much joy when we met a regular listener of the the program More Than Conquerors in Mutare during our itinerary. His name is Mr Munodeyi Mparutsa of Chikanga village in Sakubva. He indicated that he listens on every Sunday to the program with his family. Great! We encouraged him to tell his friends about the program.

Conclusion

"Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread and triumph, just as it was with you." II Thessalonians 3:1.

In His service

[Gabby]

April Progress Report

Our Beloved

Thank you so much for your message. Glad to know that you are all well. Yes, Stella will definitely tell you which medicine is good for her. It has made a tremendous impact on her health. Glad to hear of your travels too. It is good to travel - we enjoy it a lot! Thank you so much for your financial support. Imagine that bread now costs almost $10 000 a loaf. Last week Stella went to a shop to buy some sugar. She had last paid $17 000 for a 5kg packet of sugar but this time she got a shock of her life. It was increased to $65 000 per 5kg from $17 000. Incredible but true. She had to go back home to look for more money. This is why we are thanking you so much for your support. Surely how would we live without your help?

Love

Velaphi


Ray

Baptisms

The word of God has a peculiar force. It searches the heart thoroughly. If well received, it produces eternal salvation. We are happy to report that during the month in review, twenty souls obeyed the Gospel and were baptized. May all glory be to God! With God as our guide, we move on with joyful confidence propagating the Gospel truth and winning the lost for Him.

WBS Office

The total number of our students at the WBS Office in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, now stands at 13 000. We are happy that out of this number 10 706 students are active. 556 have completed their Courses, 341 have received their Certificates and 66 students visited the Office in April.

Outreach

During the same month, we visited the Churches of Christ in Mutare, Nyanga, Marondera, Ntabazinduna, Stanhope and Chesa. Our message throughout these visits was crystal clear: that it is of utmost importance for all Christians to seek to maintain practical righteousness in all its branches, in order for the world to turn from darkness to light. We also attended the Matabeleland Gospel Meeting which was held from 26-28 April 2007 at Nkulumane Church of Christ, which was attended by 502 people and 8 souls were baptized during the Meeting.

Prison Ministry

We are filled with great joy to inform you that the Prison authorities have finally agreed that we should meet our students in a Maximum prison during the first two weeks of May 2007. We praise the Lord!
This will be our first visit to meet our students face to face. We trust and hope that we will get the opportunity of helping many inmates to obey the Lord.

Bibles

Many of our indigenous people are benefiting from the Ndebele Bibles which are now available and are studying the Courses and the Bible in their own language. We thank our brothers and sisters at
Antioch for this gift. Brother Von also continues sending us the English Bibles to help those students studying in English. We appreciate this very much.

Drip Irrigation

Christians at Malunga, Redwood, Ntabazinduna and Mthabezi areas are succeeding in cultivating vegetables in their drip irrigation gardens but they are crying in need of some assistance in buying mealie-meal ( staple food) because all their crops were destroyed by the scorching sun. Our Office has started receiving letters from the Lord's churches in the rural areas appealing for food aid.

World Radio

Our major focus in all our programs in April was teaching people what the Bibles says about the Lord's church. There is so much confusion in our country today concerning the church after the advent of Pentecostalism. Many young people are deceived by the weird teachings and claims of this group thus the need to enlighten them on the truth taught by scriptures about the church.

Conclusion

Our brothers and sisters in Canada and USA, thank you so much for your unflinching support for the Lord's work in Zimbabwe. " It is our holy privilege to tread, day by day, with firm steps, the path of duty, the path of obedience, leaning upon Him in peaceful communion and holy worship, toward our heavenly home."
Cyprian Mckintosh

In His service

[Gabby]

May 5, 2007

Inflation has hit the record high 2 200 percent. No respite!

Yesterday, I sent you some nice pictures but the message was returned- do not why. Hope you will get this one.

In His service

[Gabby]

May 24, 2007


I nearly died on Monday night. I vomited the whole night and had a running stomach. Stella rushed me to the doctor. The doctor said this was caused by food poisoning which I ate when we went to a remote rural area. I thank God that I am now feeling much much better. Shall be careful next time.

Guess what! bread now costs Z$10 000 a loaf and petrol today is at Z$45 000 per litre. Incredible but true. Inflation is now at 2220 percent. Please pray for us always.

Our building is progressing slowly but surely. We are only left with three windows costing Z$5 million and then they will build up to the window level and then we will begin putting the roof on one part and a double storey on the other. We want Orin and Rachele to enjoy when they come to visit us.

We love you!!

[Gabby]

May Progress Report



Beloved ;

We do hope that this message will find you health and strong in the Lord. We trust as well that your family is fine. The report below is for the month of May. We will send pictures separately because our computer is refusing to send the report together with the pictures. We have been trying to do this for the past two days to no avail.

Love

Stella and Velaphi

Baptism

Zimbabwe is currently facing very hard economic conditions. However, we rejoice in the fact that we are still propagating the Gospel unhindered. Thus, 12 souls obeyed the Gospel and were baptized in April: 3 at the Botswana WBS workshop; 2 at Bulawayo Central, one at Stanhope, one at Njube, 4 at Lushongwe and 1 at Cowdray Park. Four of those baptized were WBS students. We give all glory to God!

WBS Office / Evangelism in Botswana

We sent out 439 Courses to various students throughout the country, 54 visited the Office and 23 received Certificates. The WBS Bulawayo Office has extended its work to the neighboring country , Botswana. We conducted a workshop there through brother Tendai together with local preachers in that country and three souls obeyed the Gospel and were baptized. They are using the Hilliard Courses which are easy to photocopy. The Office here in Bulwayo needs additional WBS Courses because our current stock is now depleted.

Outreach

During our outreach program this month, we went to preach in rural areas which include Chesa, Stanhope and Lushongwe. We also visited the congregation at the Bulawayo Airport. Brother Thembinkosi Dube is now on leave and is working with the church at the Airport compound.

Drip Irrigation

We have embarked on a more effective follow up program in encouraging farmers in sustaining their drip irrigation gardens. We visited Mtshabezi, Esigodini and Kumbudzi were we met and assisted many farmers. We also preached the gospel in all these areas and fortified the faith of many Christians and urged them to remain strong in the Lord.


Bibles

We are continuing distributing the Ndebele Bibles to the poor rural people
Who are literate and capable of studying the Ndebele Courses.

World Radio

Our radio program for the next quarter will focus on the book of John which has great fundamental truths concerning God our father, our Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings.

AIDS orphans

The department of health in the city has revealed that a total of 12 530 deaths were registered during the year compared to 11 576 in the previous year. The overall death rate was 14.6 per thousand population compared to 13.8 the previous year. The single most important contributory factor in these phenomena is the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV/AIDS has and will for sometime to come have a profound impact on the demography of the population in the city. We therefore commend our brothers and sisters in Canada who continue to assist some AIDS orphans in Matabeleland. Many of these orphans are left with no one to care for them. We are targeting very needy cases because it is impossible to help them all.

Inflation

Zimbabwe's inflation has climbed to 3720.2%. The cost of many items and basic commodities have also quadrupled. Bread now costs Z$15 000 while petrol is going for Z$60 000 per litre.

Conclusion

As we conclude this brief report, our hearts are filled with joy and peace as we are aware that you are fully behind our quest of spreading the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ in Zimbabwe. May God continue to bless you all.

In His service

[Gabby]

June 22, 2007

2 WBS students were baptized yesterday morning from Bulawayo Airport Church of Christ. We give Glory to God.

The Prison Officer Mr Katsvairo visited the Office yesterday morning to collect courses for the inmates. He indicated that the Local Prison Officials are keen that we go and address prisoners. They are still waiting for the green light from the Headquarters in Harare.


In His Service

[Gabby]

June Progress report

Baptisms

It is the sincere milk of the Word, diligently used and fed upon which results in healthy condition of the soul. We are happy to report that during the month in review, 29 souls obeyed the Gospel and were baptized. We rejoice in the Lord and praise Him!

WBS

The school enrolled 61 students in June, 282 visited the Office and 186 received Certificates. We sent out 396 Courses to various students and six completed all studies.

World Radio

We received good news that beginning on 1 July 2007, the local radio station will repeat our program More Than Conquerors weekly on Thursdays in the evening. This will give chance to those who might have missed the program on Sunday to listen to it on Thursday. We thank the Lord for this opportunity.

Drip Irrigation

Many farmers who are utilizing the drip irrigation system in their areas are not complaining at all. They have enough relish for their families because winter is an excellent season for growing vegetables in Zimbabwe. The cry of many farmers is for maize meal ( staple food) because they failed to harvest anything because of the drought.

HIV/AIDS Orphans

We continue to reach out to the few AIDS orphans with food , medical fees and school needs.

Family news

Our youngest and only grandson Anotida ( meaning: He loves us) surprised us recently. He came across an English hymn book and and sang the first stanza of the hymn: Trust and obey. We laughed because he sang the song opening to a different hymn altogether. Since he is learning to speak, we cannot figure out how he managed to love the song, memorize it and sing it so well?? We are all still puzzled!!

Conclusion

Yes, we trust and hope that with your prayers and support, the Lord's work in Zimbabwe will continue to grow. Thank you for your constant prayers!!

In His service

[Gabby]

July 13, 2007

Stella has just left for South Africa to attend the funeral of her grandmother who died on Monday. She will be buried tomorrow. She was 92. She was the only Stella's living grandma.

Litule is visiting us from South Africa with her child, Ano. Oh! We are enjoying the beautiful noise of all our four grandchildren when they meet. Ano still likes to imitate everyone when they speak. He cannot construct a sentence and thus when he tries to speak faster, its all rigmarole. Funny indeed!
El Hannah is now in kindergarten. She likes singing. Yolander is now a big girl and has a great appetite for food.

Did I tell you that the government is currently carrying what is called: "Price Blitz" forcing all business entities to lower their goods by half. People have flocked to buy cheap goods and shops are now nearly empty as this may lead to the collapse of busineses and worsening economic decline and suffering of people. If this is not stopped, very soon we will have nothing to buy from shops.
Please pray for our country because it is now hurting to live here.

In His service

[Gabby]

July 17, 2007

We hosted a WBS seminar on Saturday and was attended by 15 students. Eight gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized. We praise God!! See attached pictures.

[Gabby]

July Progress report

Christine,
We hope that this report will find you strong in the Lord. We are all fine.
Litule and the baby are visiting us. Hailey and Noma[edit] have found an accomodation. [edit]Rogers, Lungile's husband is doing very well in South Africa. He is an Accountant. All the kids are now on holiday and there is so much beautiful noise at home. We are never lonely at all. It is good to have grand kids. However we lost one AIDS orphan at Stanhope. We were really hurt. Economically, things are just bad: No sugar, no water, no electricity, no petrol, no food in stores. Women spend hours on end waiting for mealie meal ( staple food) at groceries all over Bulawayo. Some brethren at Rainbow Church of Christ sent us some money to buy food for starving christians in the rural areas and we have just done that and delivered some to Redwood. We will move to other rural churches with food soon. We pray and hope that we will get good rains this year.

Baptism

In Africa, some people advocate for African traditionalism as a religion, which does not benefit anyone at the end of the day. But when one yields to God's will and dies to sin through baptism, God promises eternal life. Baptism means submission to Christ and willingness to obey God and live according to His word. I am happy to report that during the month in review, eight souls were baptized and are now learning to serve the Master faithfully.

WBS Office

The Office was privileged when it received visitors from USA namely: brother Ken Delano and his wife Crystal from Alabama and also brother John Reese and his wife from Texas. Brother Ken preached to many people including WBS students and also witnessed the baptism of those who turned their hearts to the Lord. Brother John visited several Secondary schools in Bulawayo , met heads of those schools and addressed hundreds of students introducing them to the WBS Courses. He also had a meeting with many preachers in Bulawayo and encouraged them to work with several schools in the city and adjacent areas so that we may win many young people to the Lord before they are influenced by the world and captured by the Devil. If we win many teenagers, then the church in Zimbabwe will have a great future with a strong and vibrant leadership.We also shared lots of our experiences in working for the Lord. These two families had a "Barnabas spirit" of fortifying the faith of believers. May God bless them abundantly. We encourage other families to emulate these two and visit us next year, Lord willing. You are all welcome to visit us in Zimbabwe. We are always spiritually encouraged by your visits.

World Radio Program

We seem to have hit the nail on the head. I mean, since we started discussing on our programs about the meaning of John 3:1-21, our Office has been inundated with letters, people wanting to know more about the meaning of Baptism or being born again. Some say they have been members of certain denominations for many years but had never heard such a frank discussion on baptism. Glory be to God!

Drip Irrigation

Most of the rural farmers are following proper instructions on cultivating their drip irrigation gardens. We are impressed by their work. The planted local vegetables are doing very well indeed. Some however are facing an acute shortage of water because the country received very little rainfall last summer. The drought in some areas is also taking its tall. We are happy though that the Rainbow Church of Christ has sent us $4, 000 to buy mealie-meal(staple food) for the starving poor rural Christians. We have already started feeding these hungry Christians. May God bless our brothers and sisters who have given so much to such a worthy cause of feeding hungry Christians. If you are willing to assist, please contact the Elders or brother Ray at the Rainbow Church of Christ.

AIDS Orphans

In July, we lost one AIDS orphan at Stanhope Sibusiso Moyo ( 9) who succumbed to the epidemic. We had offered to buy a coffin but when we arrived at the rural home the next morning, the villagers had already wrapped the body with a goat's skin and a blanket and ready to bury her. We obliged and preached at the burial ceremony. We were really hurt because we never expected this little innocent girl to die so soon.

Conclusion

Our brothers and sisters in USA and Canada, we appreciate very much your unwavering support for the Lord's work in Zimbabwe. Thank you so much. May God bless you!

In His service

[carelinks]

God bless your work out there!

[Gabby]

August 20, 2007

Beloved,


We are fine with the kids and grandchildren. Stella is preparing to take more than 80 ladies to the annual women's Lectureship in Mutare this week. She had driven to Johannesburg in South Africa with Litule and Ano our grandson to medical check up. Litule will have another medical check up for her kidneys next month. She is just fine and eating just anything. We thank the Lord all the time. She decided to come back home from her husband just to think it all over. We pray that she makes the right decision.

The Lord's work is progressing very well indeed. Yesterday we visited Kumbudzi in Mtshabezi and preached to more than 200 people. Four were baptized and we praise God! We also distributed some food relief sent by some brethren in USA. Matabeleland did not get any rains last year and people are starving. So far we have distributed food at Redwood, Ntabazinduna ( where those two Aids orphans live), Kumbudzi and Mtshabezi. In the city, it is bad, infact very bad indeed. There is no water,( for hours) no electricity ( for hours), no sugar ( totally), no meat ( totally), no mealie meal ( totally), no fuel( if it comes its just a drop in the ocean), no butter and shelves are just empty in most shops. A local daily said many shops in the rural areas are closed because they have nothing to sell. This is why we are moving with speed in assisting the rural Christians out there. In my life I have never seen so much misery and suffering. If someone goes to hospital, you find no doctors. It is like everything is grinding to a halt.
We do not lose heart though. We know that God will save our country somehow because we cannot continue to suffer like this. They say over 25% of the working population has gone to the Diaspora and many more are leaving by the day. This is the truth. I have attached a picture of women and children lining for water. Pray for us always.

In the Lord

[Gabby]

August 22, 2007

Yesterday's Chronicle headline story reads: " Bulawayo fast running dry." The paper said most suburbs in the city have gone without water for weeks and people were now fetching dirty water from unprotected sources thus risking water borne diseases. Today's publication says: " Water sold on black market in Bulawayo." The paper reveals that : " Enterprising Bulawayo residents have taken advantage of the critical shortage of water in the city to sell the commodity to desperate people, some of whom have gone for more than two weeks without the precious liquid. A snap survey revealed that the precious commodity is going for anything between $25 000 and $ 100 000 for a 20-litre container. In suburbs with few boreholes, some people are spending up to six hours in queues. While some areas have gone for two weeks without water." This is the situation we are in. I have attached a picture of two kids carrying the most precious liquid to their homes.

In His service

[Gabby]

Sept. 4, 2007

We have just come from the Nhowe Mission Lectureship where I was invited to go and deliver lessons last Friday, Saturday and Sunday on Church Discipline. We give glory to God for the eight souls who gave their lives to Christ and were baptized and 19 souls restored. We had a safe journey to and fro.

In His service

[Gabby]

Sept. 4, 2007


Stella with some older women who attended the Lectureship at Nhowe Mission.

[Gabby]

Sept 17, 2007

Yesterday we worshipped with the church at Mtshabezi in Gwanda.
Hundreds of people attended the morning worship service. We then organized that two goats, a bag of mealie meal and cabbages be cooked for these people. After the morning worship service, we had lunch and then we split into five groups and Bible Lessons were taught. Stella took the women class while I taught the men's class on church leadership. Others who assisted in teaching include sister Moyo, brother Moyo, Edmore, Mafu and brother Jacob. Many walked on foot for more than twenty miles to attended the worship service and Bible Lessons. We had organized that two goats, a bag of mealie meal and cabbages be cooked for these people. We belive that if we teach them the truth, the Lord's church will never die in Mtshabezi. Shall send more pictures.

[Gabby]

Sept. 23, 2007

Our camera caught these three AIDS orphans cooking food for us ( joke).
They are from left to right: Ndombe (4) a boy, twin sisters Cathrene(5) and Caro (5). We arranged that they attend a kindergarten school. We will buy them uniforms and shoes. In the meantime we will also try to locate their relatives in Lupane. They are currently leaving with one family at Stanhope.

In His service

[Gabby]

Oct. 8, 2007

We went to preach in Binga and converted nine souls. We praise the Lord. The attached picture shows Stella distributing the food relief, Ndebele hymnbooks and clothing to some of these poor and needy Christians.

Love

The second picture is of some kids being taught the bible in Binga.

[Gabby]

Letters written by Cathy Buckle - Zimbabwe Blog (http://www.cathybuckle.com/october2007.shtml)

Zimbabwe stumbled distressingly through the money change a year ago. Great armies of youths were disgorged onto our streets and they stood at roadblocks demanding to see how much money we had on us. Cars, buses, suitcases and handbags were searched and anyone found with more money than stipulated by the Reserve Bank, had their money seized. On a lower level, people with a million dollars in their bank or savings accounts, discovered that overnight the zeroes had been removed and a million became a thousand. Those lost zeroes are coming home to roost now as many investment centres are announcing new minimum balances of a million dollars - anything less and the accounts are being made dormant. Pensioners and others on fixed and minimum incomes are losing their precious savings again.

[Gabby]

Oct Progress Report
Beloved!!

We hope that this message will find you well. Christie, did the doctors manage to help you in overcoming the health problem which you experienced? Hope so.

We had good rains for the past two days. We hope that the Lord will this year bless us with more rains. We depserately need more rains because in this city we are getting our water for domestic use from boreholes. We do not have running tape water because our dams are dry.

Shall send you pictures on the progress of our house extension. it has finally reached the window level. We trust and hope that we will complete the extension next year. If we do, then we would expect you and your family to come and visit us. That will be in 2009. We know that 2010 will be a busy year since the 2010 soccer world cup games will be played in South Africa. We are expecting many people to visit this country then. If you want to come during that year when many people will be visiting, fine!! But we are expecting you to come soon after we complete the house extension. We are already starting buying one blanket at a time for you from the neighboring Botswana.
We plan to make your visit as comfprtable as possible since you will be bringing the big girl Rachele and the like father youngman Orin.

Below is our monthly report. Shall send pictures separately.

Love

Stella & Velaphi



Introduction

"Life is but a dressing room, as it were, in which we prepare for eternity. If we could only realize how important this interval is: as we build our own lives and that of others."

Baptisms/ Outreach

October 2007 has been very fruitful spiritually as the Lord used us to win 35 souls to His fold. We give all glory to God! These souls were baptized at Kumbudzi, Binga, Stanhope, Chesa and Mtshabezi. These are the areas which we visited during our outreach evangelism program. We are happy to note that many people are enjoying the WBS Ndebele Courses. Prison Officials at Khami have requested that we translate the Hilliard Courses into the Shona language as many inmates are conversant in siNdebele and chiShona languages.

Women Lectureship

Stella attended the Women's Lectureship which was held at Olievenhoutbosch Church of Christ in Johannesburg, South Africa in Mid-October. It was attended by over 400 women from Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Swaziland and South Africa.The topic was: WOMEN OF GOD VERSUS THE DRAGON Rev. 12.

Drip Irrigation

The Drip Irrigation has succeeded at Ntabazinduna, Mtshabezi, Redwood, Malunga and Sikiti. It did not do well in some areas because of an acute shortage of water and the marauding elephants.
We do hope though that since the summer season has kicked off with heavy rains yesterday, many more drip irrigation gardens which had been a source of nutrition for many families will soon be revived. We also managed to assist the rural farmers at Mtshabezi to resuscitate their borehole. They are now drinking fresh clean water and are busy
Fencing their drip irrigation gardens.

World Radio Program

In October, we managed to register 22 new students through the World Radio Program : More Than Conquerors. This proves that this program is very popular in Zimbabwe and is listened to far and wide.
We praise God and thank our brothers and sisters at West Monroe in Louisiana for providing the much needed financial support.

Feeding the Hungry

The Churches of Christ in Matabeleland are extending their profound gratitude to the Churches of Christ in America and Canada who provided the financial support for buying food for 221 families comprising of 1205 individuals in October 2007. During this month in review, we distributed corn and money to buy corn to families at the following congregations: Chesa, Dula, Sikiti, Mazikhelela, Redwood, Mtshabezi, Bayethe and Binga. Maize/Corn meal is the staple food in Zimbabwe. If you want to assist, please feel free to contact brother Ray Cox at Rainbow Church of Christ, in Alabama or call him at 2565473731 during working hours.

Conclusion

"All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other." John 13:35. Thank you so much for your love and care without which we could not do much for the Lord.

In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

Nov 16th
Dear Christine

Attached is a picture which shows the distribution of the Drought Relief at Chesa and Stanhope. At Chesa we distributed Z$57 000 000 to 19 families, at Stanhope we distributed Z$120 000 000 to 40 families. The price of a bucket of maize has catapulted from Z$1 500 000 to between Z$3 000 000 and Z$4 000 000.
The brethren at both congregations are sending their gratitude for feeding their families during this time of need.

In His Service
Velaphi

[Gabby]

Nov. 17th

Christie,

As I am writing this message, we are conducting a Bible Leadership Course for the Christian men from the Airport Church of Christ. ( see picture) HaileyJohn, Tendai and Lucky are leading these Courses.
I only come in where necessary.
You can see Hailey (jr) standing in the picture.




In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

:sad:
Nov. 19th


Christie,


We came face to face with reality yesterday. As we were coming from baptizing the seven souls at Kumbudzi in Mtshabezi yesterday, we met an old lady carrying wild fruits called " isigangatsha" in siNdebele. We asked her whether she was selling these fruits and she declined and told us that that was their meal for last night. She said she and her two nephews were going to eat these wild fruits then drink water and go to bed. She would wake up the next morning and do the same until a good Samaritan comes her way. I felt tears of sadness just falling and failed to control myself. I had come face to face with reality - people who are starving! As if this was not enough, after our church leadership course, another christian brother told us that he and his family had spent 4 days without eating solid food. When we were coming back home, we took him to Esigodini so that he could use the drought relief we had given him ( Z$3 million) to buy a bucket of maize. My brothers and sisters, please continue to encourage our brothers and sisters there to continue assisting these starving christians. The Work Fund which you are sending us is keeping many souls alive. May God bless you!!

In His service

Velaphi

[docjam]

January 31, 2007 - World Bible School progress report.

19 people were baptized, how cool is that?

[Gabby]

Nov 2007 Progress Report (sorry I've neglected this)

November 2007 Progress Report


Introduction

It is amazing how God continues to keep the door of propagating the Gospel open in Zimbabwe despite the harsh economic climate that is currently prevailing in the country. Our God is all-wise.

Baptism

The Lord used us to plant the eternal seed to many hearts throughout the country during the month in review and nine souls responded by obeying the Gospel truth and were baptized. We give all glory to God! Seven were baptized at Kumbudzi in Mtshabezi, one at Lushonkwe and another at Kambuzuma in Harare. Most of those baptized are WBS students studying the Bible using Ndebele WBS Courses.

Evangelism

During the month in review, we visited and preached the Gospel and fortified the souls of the saints at Stanhope,
Sikiti, Dula, Kumbudzi and Kambuzuma respectively. The Njube Church of Christ were Mthokozosi preaches hosted the youth fellowship week and more than 100 youths attended. We were invited to address the Kambuzuma Congregation in Harare on the work of the Holy Spirit. We drove for almost a thousand kilometres to and fro. Some members of the church there are wondering why the Lord's church does not perform miracles as did the apostles of Christ. We think many want to imitate the Pentecostals instead of following what the Bible teaches concerning performing miracles. They fail to perceive that Pentecostals have never performed genuine miracles, its all pseudo or fake perfomances. They have never gone to a hospital and healed the sick in a ward . It is all fake. Another invitation was extended to us to teach the same lesson at another Lectureship which will be held soon in Harare where many Churches of Christ in that city will attend. We distributed Christian books , English hymn books and WBS Introductory Lessons to Kambuzuma Church of Christ during this gathering.

The WBS Office in Bulawayo sent Tendai to Botswana to go and assist the brethren there to distribute, collect and mark the WBS Courses. We as the WBS Office in Bulawayo wish to consolidate the Lord's work in Botswana so that the brethren there may end up running a similar WBS Office as the one in Bulawayo whereby the Batswana teach their own. We are happy that other brethren in Zimbabwe and surrounding countries now recognize the pivotal role which the WBS Office in Bulawayo is playing in propagating the Gospel.

World Radio

We are currently running lessons on the book of John on SFM Radio Station and the response we are getting from our listeners all over the country is fantastic. Many are writing and informing us that they never understood the Deity of Jesus Christ until they listened to the program: More Than Conquerors. Praise God!!

Drip Irrigation

Jacob did not visit many areas during this month because the truck which he uses for the drip irrigation ministry broke down. We are currently hunting for a spare part and hopefully we will get it and get it fixed.

Drought Relief

We distributed Z$523 million dollars in feeding 270 families at
Lushonkwe, Sikiti, Stanhope, Maraposa, Chesa, Madonkini, Dula, Hwayibhetshu, Kumbudzi, Bayethe and Redwood Churches of Christ from October 17 to date. Many brothers and sisters in Christ at these congregations wish if some of you brothers and sisters overseas may visit them here so that they may express their gratitude in person for this wonderful help. They are very thankful indeed. Those wishing to assist please feel free to contact brother Blake Jones at Rainbow Church of Christ in Alabama, brother Ken Starnes at Manson Church of Christ, Manitoba, Canada or brother Steve Ellis at Concord Church of Christ, Tennessee. The brethren in the rural areas will need this assistance until March or April next year when their crops in the fields begin to ripen if we are blessed with good rains. Most homes in the rural areas are surviving from day to day through the grace of God because they do not have mealie meal ( staple food in Zimbabwe).


Inflation

Zimbabwe's year to year inflation rate for October surged to
14 840.6 % as the economic crisis continues. This represents
a 6 848,5% increase from September's 7 982,1%. The inflation rate was 1070% in October last year. All basic commodities are still non-existent in shops. Most people in this country are now buying their groceries including petrol from Botswana and South Africa. The government has informed us that they will change the current currency and bring in a new one with lower denominations. We wonder if this will be a panacea for the ailing economy! Please pray for Zimbabwe contantly. We are groaning inwardly , wishing we could be free from these shackles of poverty, hunger and economic tribulations.

Conclusion

We are happy to note that your financial and moral support enables us to propagate the Gospel and win many lost souls and fortify the faith of many Christians in this country. This is a wonderful blessing we have in Zimbabwe: proclaiming the Word of God unhindered! May "the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you." I Cor. 16:23.

Thank you so much.

In His service

Velaphi & Stella

[Gabby]

Year 2007 Report

Christine, Mom, Rachele, Orin and Ron,

Our beloved, we do not cease to pray for you almost everyday! We love you for the love you have for the Lord and His work. We are doing what we are doing for the Lord because of your love and sacrifice. Please extend our gratitude to the Lord's church there. May God bless each member of the Lord's church in Canada in a special way. We know that even if we may not meet with each one of them here on earth, but we shall shake their hands on that Great Day when the Lord will say to them: " Well done, my faithful servants, what you did to these little ones, you did it to me." Jesus Christ. Below is the Year End Report which we hope you will share with the Lord's Church there. We honestly appreciate your Moral and Financial Support. Things have been very tough here but you have helped us pull through 2007. Wow! Your love for us shall always linger in our hearts.Love is the most potent force in the universe. Little wonder the Bible declares that love never fails. " Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." I John 4:7-8.

We are all fine. We are currently enjoying the heavy rains. We have adopted another AIDS orphan Sinikiwe Moyo.

Stella & Velaphi

Introduction

Today is a Christmas Holiday and yet here I am sitting in the World Bible School Office sending you this Year End Report with so much joy in my heart. I am happy for this one special reason: even if this is the worst Christmas we have ever had in our lifetime with no food in many homes, yet the Lord has not failed us in blessing his work with many souls who have turned their lives from sin to salvation. The physical bodies may be deprived of the physical food and comfort but their spirits are alive and shall on that day attain eternal life and dwell with God forever where hunger shall never ever exist. Rev. 21:4.

2007

As we look at 2007 in retrospect, the following is what was accomplished for the Lord:
198 souls were baptized in 2007;
1435 Souls were baptized since 2002;
12 816 total number of students since 2002;
1860 students enrolled in 2007
634 students completed Courses in 2007;
508 students visited the Office in 2007;
6 Congregations were planted in 2007;
19 Gospel Lectureships and W B S Seminars
Conducted in 2007;
9 Outreach Preaching programs done in 2007;
52 World Radio Sermons Preached;
1 WBS Office being started in Botswana;
1 preacher completed training at Mutare School
of Preaching;
315 Prison inmates enrolled;
5 Prisoners baptized;
2 bore holes resuscited
110 farmers received drip irrigation kits
10 Drip Irrigation Workshops conducted
200 farmers taught drip irrigation farming
5 00 families fed through the Drought Relief
Program;
6 Church Leadership Courses conducted;
300 Ndebele Bibles distributed;
150 Ndebele hymn books distributed;
148 English Bibles distributed;
5 Overseas visitors received and
12 AIDS Orphans were assisted.

2008 Objectives

- Distribute WBS Introduction lessons to new areas
- Intensify follow up on WBS students
- Conduct several WBS Workshops
- Continue to support WBS work in Botswana
- Plant churches in rural/urban areas
- Intensify Church Leadership Courses in rural
Areas
- Continue with the Prison Ministry
- Continue assisting farmers cultivate gardens
Through the drip irrigation method
- Continue to produce World Radio Programs

Conclusion:

We would like to thank our the Churches of Christ in USA and Canada for their continued support for the Lord's work in Zimbabwe. We want to assure you that we will never let you down. We will work tirelessly in propagating the Gospel of Christ with an ardent desire to win many lost souls to the Lord.
In all our prayers, we "always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phil. 1:3ff.

In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

Jan 22, 2008


Our Beloved,


The Lord is good to us. We all started 2008 in good health. We only have Stella's young sister to her mother who is bedridden. She was attacked by diabetes some years back and this has resulted in her being bed ridden.

The Lord blessed His work this month when 15 souls gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized. We give all glory to God!

Economically, its from bad to worse! Bread now costs Z$2 million. This tells it all. Vimbai's school fees is Z$500 million.
Vimbai is our AIDS orphan. She is now at a boarding school at St James in Nyamandlovu. When we visited hospital this morning, an old lady told us that their ward has gone for four days without water and for six days without electricity. Can you imagine sick people going for that long without water and electricity? Yes, it is happening here. They are being fed isitshwala and cabbage without fat. They have few blankets and nights are just nightmares. Our roads are full of huge potholes and its easy to hide newly born babies in them. You would be shocked to see someone driving straight but we are now all used to drive as if we are snakes - avoiding potholes. We truly need God's intervention!

We are happy though for the good rains across the country. There is hope that the current food shortage will come to end in April when rural farmers begin to harvest the early crops. Please remember us in our prayers always!!

Our love to all.

In His service

[Gabby]

Jan 29, 2008

Our Beloved,

Thank you so much for sending us the xxxxxx gift for the Lord's work here. We appreciate that very much. It will go a long long way in assisting us in our work here. Life is now very very tough indeed in this country. We just do not know where we are herding. National and Presidential elections are due in March this year. We trust and hope that this will be a window of opportunity to bring sanity to this country's economy. We earnestly need your prayers daily.

One of our AIDS orphans who is now in Form three at St. James Mission ,Vimbai, has been turned back from school. She has developed a problem of bleeding continuously during her menstruation period. She had been treated by a particular doctor last time but it looks like her problem does not want to recede. Please remember her in your prayers. Stella's mother's sister is also at home and is bedridden. She is suffering from a combination of Blood Pressure and Diabetes. The later is giving here terrible health problems . She has been deteriorating for the past few days and refusing to eat anything solid. Please remember her in your prayers as well.

Thank you so much for assisting us when we need you most.
We shall always cherish your love and care.

In His service

Velaphi & Stella

[Gabby]

Jan 2008 Progress report


Our Beloved;

We hope that this message will find you well. Stella and I are just fine. We are only nursing the elder sister to Stella's mother. She is bedridden and is currently in bad shape. We have also lost my grandmother Thandi Khumalo who was 94. She died of cancer. We will lay her to rest this afternoon at the Lady Stanley Cemetery. Please remember us in your prayers. Below is our monthly progress report.

Love

Stella & Velaphi



January 2008 Progress Report:

Baptisms

We are happy that the Lord is providing us with ample opportunities to serve Him and win lost souls to His fold. During the month in review, 16 souls obeyed the Lord and were baptized. We praise God! Lord willing, we may plant a congregation in the near future at Madlulani in Nyamandlovu. Madlulani is about 70 kilometres west of Bulawayo. A member of the church who lives in that area has invited us to come and preach the gospel to the villagers. Please remember us in your prayers.

WBS Plans for 2008

The World Bible School Team has come up with plans for 2008. Our major objective is to teach the Bible through WBS English and Ndebele Courses to as many people as possible. We will endeavor to reach millions of people with God's Word through the World Radio Program which is beamed to all Southern African countries. We will also spread the Good News to many villagers and farming communities in Matabeleland. We realize that it is impossible to have strong congregations if our leaders are not strong, capable and dedicated to the Lord. We have thus started to intensify leadership Courses in the local congregations. So far this month, we have conducted two Church Leadership Courses at Chesa and Stanhope Churches of Christ respectively. We will soon move with the same program to Mtshabezi Churches of Christ.

Prison Ministry

We are intensifying our thrust of reaching out with the Gospel to all prison inmates in Matabeleland. Some Prison Officials are assisting us in distributing the WBS Courses to prisoners. We pray that this window of opportunity in prisons may remain open.

Drip Irrigation Ministry

Zimbabwe has so far received above average rainfall this year. We think that this will be a good year of teaching rural farmers to practice the drip irrigation in their gardens so that they would be able to feed their families during the years of drought. Jacob has not done much this month because rural roads have been damaged by the heavy rains and floods in many areas. He has only managed to visit and work with rural villagers at Bayethe at Esigodini and baptized eight people. Bayethe is about 65 kilometres east of Bulawayo. We praise God!

World Radio

We continue to receive positive responses from our listeners. Some request for WBS Courses while others indicate the need for more Bible teaching. We are happy that the Lord is providing us with this opportunity to preach the Gospel to millions of people to all Southern African countries through this radio program.

AIDS Orphans

We have paid Z$150 million to three Aids Orphans as their school levy at Sikiti Primay School in Umzingwane District in Matabeleland South. All the three Mthonsi Mthokozisi, Qiniso Ndlovu and Brain Ngulube are in grade four. We believe that giving these orphans education is empowering them to fend for themselves in future.

Economy

Zimbabwe's inflation has hit the 24 000 percent mark and should be the highest in the world. Bread now costs Z$2.6million a loaf, 500 grams of tea leaves cost Z$12.124 million and 2 kg of sugar costs Z$12 million. Some basic commodities are not available in shops including salt and sugar. We continue to pray and trust God to intervene in our country and end this suffering which people are experiencing . We hope too that the Presidential and National elections may be held peacefully next month.

Conclusion

Thank you so much for your moral and financial support. We would be happy to hear from you. May our almighty God continue to bless you. II Thess3:1.

In His service

Stella and Velaphi

[Gabby]

Feb 25, 2008

Christie, Mom, Orin, Rachele and Ron,


We thank God for a congregation which we planted at Madlulani yesterday. Madlulani is about 65 kms north of Bulawayo. A number of villagers attended the worship service and a man and his wife Mr and Mrs Nkomo gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized. We give glory to God! When we took them for baptism around 5pm we had a puncture along the way. We put on a spare wheel but along the way we had another puncture again. This happened in the middle of the bush and some brethren had to walk for long distances at night to look for scotch-cart hand pump. They came back around 8:30pm and we started mending the tyre. It was a mammoth doing this and driving at night avoiding stumps along the way was a nightmare. We finally got to the Gwayi river and baptized them and took them back to Madlulani some 30kms. We then left for home and arrived at 11:35pm. It was a hectic day but so rewarding because two souls gave their souls to the Lord!!

Inflation has hit 100 000 % but the IMF says it is around 150 000 percent! Wow! How do we survive? By God's grace. We now buy all our grocery needs from Botswana.
Please keep on praying for us. We miss your messages- please never grow weary in writing and encouraging us. This is the time when we need you most!

In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

Feb 2008 Progress report

Our Beloved,

As we write this letter, we are living in great fear. We do not know what the outcome of the Presidential election will bring next month. People want change because if no change occurs, it will not surprise anyone to meet a skeleton walking along the road.
Life is really tough. The good thing is: three people are vying for the presidency this time around. So, there is hope at the end of this dark tunnel. Litule and Morgan are still having problems with their marriage and Litule's in-laws came home to apologize for all the wrongs which Morgan committed against Litu. We told them to go back and bring Morgan so that he says what is in his heart. We do not want Litule to continue being harassed. She has suffered enough. Please pray for them. Lungile and Rodgers and their kids are now employed in South Africa. Their family is with them over there. Hailey jr and his wife Noma are just fine and busy working with the youths. He has managed to raise funds and install some boreholes so that people drink clean water.
Oh! I am missing fishing. WE need to take a break and go out fishing before election fever or violence erupts. Please pray for us constantly.



Baptisms

Hopelessness and suffering continue to reign here but we are happy that God has given us this noble task of preparing the hearts of men and women to receive His love. Brother Bill once said:"When people struggle to survive, they tend to look for something to hang on to, receptivity to Good News soars and opportunities to share the love of God are everywhere." We are happy to inform you that during the month in review, five souls gave their lives to the Lord and among those, two were baptized at Madlulani. This enabled us to plant a congregation at this place which is about 65 kms north of Bulawayo. We shall continue to visit this area and plant the eternal seed to many hearts. Lord wiling, many will turn to the Lord from their sinful ways.

WBS OFFICE

Our Office is inundated with numerous calls and visitors who want to register for Bible study and some who would be pursuing their Biblical Courses. Everyday more people from various social backgrounds come to the Office: students, workers and so on. Thirty people visited the office during the month in review. We did rural preaching at Maraposa, Redwood and Trenance. We sent Tendai to pursue with follow-up work in Botswana. The Lord's work there is growing steadily.

World Radio

World Radio program in Zimbabwe continues to inform people on Southern Africa about the love of God. We are currently producing programs based on the book of John. It is our prayer that everyone who hears this Good News will someday obey the Gospel message.

Drought Relief

We distributed a total of ( Z$850 000) drought relief to the needy at Trenance, Sikiti, Maraposa and Stanhope Churches of Christ. This benefited 109 families about 545 people because each rural family has an average of five family members. All families were very grateful indeed for this assistance. We are happy to report that some rural farmers who planted their crops in October last year, are now beginning to realize their first harvest of corn and pumpkins. Jacob managed to visit two congregations at Mtshabezi and Kumbudzi about 95 kilometres south of Bulawayo. He encouraged Christians and all rural farmers out there to endure these hard times and sharpen their agricultural skills by cultivating their drip irrigation gardens.

Economy

There is a gleamer of hope for many Zimbabweans as they prepare for Presidential and Parliamentary elections. Recent policital events have renewed the longing for change that has been in their hearts for years as we have three candidates vying for the high Office of the Presidency??? We earnestly need your prayers at this juncture.
Zimbabwe's inflation now stands at 100 000% but the International Monetary Fund puts it at 150 000%. The country's domestic debt increased 200% inside one month to $60,8 trillion ( Business Digest). Today's basic commodity prices are as follows: Special loaf of bread - $Z10 million; sub-standard loaf
$4.6 million; 750 ml cooking oil( small bottle) -Z$35 million;
Sugar -10kg - Z$68 million; Eggs ( I ) dozen Z$28million; beef
$37 million per kg. Transport -Z$5 million per trip and cabbage Z$8 million per head. I think this wil give you a rough idea about life in Zimbabwe.

Conclusion

We, alone cannot do much without your unflinching support for the Lord's work in this country. Thank you so much. May God continue to bless you all individually.



In His service

Velaphi & Stella

[Kingsley]

beloved, i fee so sad about the situation in Zimbabwe, i think President Mogabe actually meant well for the country by trying to put the fate of the people of Zimbabwe into their own hands instead of the hand of the greedy English people but unfortunately, the people have all been brain washed to think that the white are right. Nigeria is what it is today because it has refused to allow the Britain to interfer in her internal affairs, please the people should support the policy of Mogabe to restor total surverenty to Zimbabwe and her citizens and say no to British slavery.
my prayer is that the almighty God will help the people of Zimbabwe to see reasons why they should be united to fight the external forces from the white countries in order to have their total freedom just like Nigeria instead of fighting themselves.

Thanks and God bless Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the enteir people of Africa.

Godson Kingsley
Nigeria.

[Gabby]

This thread is not for debate but I will say this. Zimbabwe was sovereign that's what the Rhodesian war was all about! Mugabe had how many years rule!?? and this is what he has to show for it? INFLATION AT 100,000%!!! It's crap, he doesn't care about Zimbabweans, he only cares for himself and his own not the people of Zimbabwe. If he cared for the people of Zimbabwe he would not have continued to print more and more money so as to make it worth less than toilet paper. If he cared for his people children would not be starving and he would make sure every village had a bore hole or access to water. If he cared about his people he wouldn't intimidate them with guns and his beloved military. If he cared for Zimbabwe children would be able to attend school despite school fees. If he cared about Zimbabwe he would have fuel for people to use and food on the shelves of the grocery stores.

Mugabe is an ASS and the people of Zimbabwe have said as much and hopefully he is smart enough to step out of Zimbabwe gracefully and let the people repair their country. No more messing with the vote or the peoples wishes.

So if you would like to talk about how great Mugabe is, first learn how to spell his name and then take it out of my thread to someplace else.

[Gabby]

March 2008 Progress Report

Below is our march 2008 Progress report which we hope you will enjoy reading.

Baptisms

We praise God from whom all blessings fall. We thank Him for providing us with the spiritual wisdom as we continue to reach out with the Gospel to the lost. There is no greater joy which surpasses the experience of witnessing the young and the old alike turning their sinful lives to the Lord. During the month in review, twenty souls obeyed the gospel of Christ and were baptized in Bulawayo, Madlulani, Lushonkwe and Stanhope respectively. They included a 90 year old lady who used her walking stick in supporting her self as she entered the waters of baptism at the Gwayi river in Nyamandlovu. When she came out of the waters of baptism, she expressed so much joy and you could easily detect from her facial expression that she had found something which she had been looking for for the rest of her life. Surely this experience brought tears of joy! The Word of God is alive and active. Praise be toGod!

WBS Office

Forty-eight students visited the Office in March and we posted 192 Introductory Lessons to new students. We visited 11 students in their different homes and conducted one WBS Seminar. No one obeyed the Word on this day. Four Bible lessons were delivered to the students during the seminar and I am happy to report that three students later obeyed the Gospel and were baptized some six days after the seminar. Praise God!

Outreach/World Radio/Drip Irrigation Programs

We went to preach at Madlulani, Sikiti, Chesa, Lushonkwe and in Botswana respectively. Seventeen souls obeyed the Gospel at Madlulani where a new congregation was planted through the World Radio Program called: More Than Conquerors which is broadcast weekly every Sunday and Thursday evenings. People in the area had listened to our Bible discussion program on SFM Radio Station. They wrote and invited us to their village. We instead sent the brethren from nearby Chesa congregation to do the initial visit. When we made some follow up, a man and his wife who were leaders of the SDA obeyed the Gospel and were baptized. They were followed by fifteen other villagers who included thirteen old people and four teenagers. Radio messages in the third world countries are very powerful indeed and we are thankful that the Lord is using us to reach to so many through this avenue of preaching.

Brother Jacob visited the rural churches at Sikiti, Kumbudzi and Bayethe in Matabeleland South. He encouraged the rural farmers especially those whose fields were destroyed by the heavy rains to start preparing their drip irrigation gardens as water is now readily available.

We sent brother Tendai to Botswana to help Christians there in reaching out to the lost. While in Botswana, they visited many homes in Mowana and Mahalapye areas. They distributed 100 Enrollment Lessons and marked and graded 37 Lessons which were returned to various students. Tendai says the response from many homes visited was very positive. We trust and hope that many will respond positively to the Gospel truth.

Drought Relief

We distributed 1.3 billion Zimbabwe dollars for the drought relief to three rural congregations at Lushonkwe, Sikiti and Kumbudzi. All Christians at these congregations said:"Thank you very much for your love." We shall continue to assist the very poor and needy in these areas who lost their crops to heavy rains later to the dry spell which followed. The weather has not been kind to these rural farmers in Zimbabwe this year.

Gifts

Brother John Waddy sent us 21 Books for our Library. Brother Von Prahl from Daingerfield congregation sent us ten NIV Bibles and 15 Bible Has Spoken and 15 This is Good News WBS Courses. We appreciate very much these gifts which enable us to reach to the lost. As always, our greatest need is student support. We need English Bibles and WBS Courses. If these are sent in smaller quantities, the Post Office people deliver them free without us paying any duty.

Messages of Encouragement

A big THANK YOU to the following for encouraging and motivating us during these difficult economic times in our country: John B. Glass and Scott Bond Sr , Von Prahl, Jennifer and Gerry, Joyce Flynn, The Baileys, the Craigs, Al, Leah and Buddy, the Blakes and the Starnes, Tracy and Ray. Those who want to contact us the e-mail address is: wbso2002@mweb.co.zw

Conclusion:

Let us do the Lord's work while it is still day before night comes. Thanks to you for showing your confidence in the Lord's work in Zimbabwe. May God bless you.

In His service

Velaphi & Stella

[Gabby]

May 2, 2008

Beloved in the Lord,

The opposition MDC has just informed the international community through the international media that it has won the parliamentary and presidential elections. It has called upon President Mugabe to concede defeat. The electoral commission is yet to announce the final results. Figures released by the MDC indicate that MDC Morgan Tsvangirayi has 50.3 percent, Mugabe 42.9% and Makoni 6.8 percent. Please pray for us because we are at a juncture where all hell might break loose. We just holding our breath wishing that all will go well. There has been very minimal political violence with one daily reporting that a house in Magwegwe in Bulawayo which belongs to a ruling party official was petrol bombed but no one was hurt. Brother Flynn and sister Joyce may like to know this update.

In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

May 2, 2008 Please pray that things remain peaceful!

Yes, it is now official that the opposition MDC party has amassed
99 seats in the House of Assembly against the ruling party ZANU PF which got 97 and the other opposition got 10 and an independent got 1. Three other seats will be contested later after the death of some members who were contesting the election. For the first time in the history of this country, the opposition parties are now controlling the House of Assembly. We are now awaiting the official presidential results which the opposition has already claimed victory.

Today's daily summarizes the wishes of the people of this nation this way:"We heartily congratulate the newly elected members of the House of Assembly. No doubt, they are at liberty to celebrate their sweet victory, but very soon they must knuckle down to some serious work because the citizens of this country expect them to work very hard and desist from pursuing selfish interests. The economy without doubt poses the single biggest challenge. This country needs an economy which creates jobs, promotes investment, puts FOOD on the table and enhances the overall prospects for development, growth and prosperity." In a nutshell, this is what we need.

Hope this information will enlighten you on what is happening on the ground. Shall keep you informed.

In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

April 16,2008


Christie, Rachele, Orin and Ron,


Greetings from Zimbabwe. We hope that this message will find you well. Many people here are going to pray for our nation tomorrow because since we voted on March 29, 2008, the presidential results have not yet been announced and there is so much bickering even with the House of Assembly results already published. In many third world countries, such trends are causes of conflict and we do not want that to happen to our beautiful country because it will cause a lot of pain and suffering. So, please remember Zimbabwe in your prayers.

Good News: Do you remember the story of a blind man called Bartimaeus who called on Jesus when He passed by:"Son of David, have mercy on me!" Last Sunday at Stanhope, we baptized a blind lady Mrs Ndlovu (87) at the Gwayi river. She exploded into singing glorifying God soon after coming out of the waters of baptism. " Oh! God is great! Praise God today my soul had been cleansed! Oh! I am happy today -praise God!" My wife Stella could not hold back her tears. She hugged Mrs Ndlovu soon after coming out of the waters of baptism and it was trully a joyous welcome to the family of God! I just wished I had video taped this wonderful event which really touched our hearts. We also baptized Gogo maNcube. We give all glory to God!

In His service

Velaphi

[Gabby]

April 21, 2008

This is amazing, this man is old! The median age for Zimbabwe is 20.3 for males, 20.2 for females. The life expectancy for males is 40.8 and 38.5 for females.

Chris


Thank you so much for your invitation for us to visit you and have fun. Yes!!, we would love to but Stella is still waiting for her new passport. She applied for it a year ago and they have not yet processed it. It has been a long wait. We will try to push for it and maybe we may have a breakthrough. Oh! I love Canada for its serenity and tranquility!

True, there are rumblings of violence in Mutoko area and in Harare but so far we have not been affected. However we have talked about it and made plans that should violence erupt here we will cross the border to Botswana to Stella's uncle who works there. When Daddy Leonard was still alive we once went to preach in Botswana and some Christians know us there. So, if things get worse, we will go across the border and preach there while waiting for the situation to improve back home. We are praying everyday for peace to prevail.

Good News: the Lord blessed His work yesterday at Madlulani a newly planted congregation when an 87 year-old man gave his life to the Lord. Naturally many Africans are traditionalists who worship ancestral spirits. When such an old man turns his heart to the Lord, we experience so much joy because we know that he will hold on to the finish line and be able to attain eternal life. Glory be to God!! The attached pictures show Velaphi leading him to the waters of baptism, brother Mafu baptizing him and Stella and other Christians congratulating him.

Oh! We always enjoy reading about Rachele and Orin. Those are wonderful kids and how marvelous it is to see them grow!!

Today Stella and I are taking an off-day to a rural area. We will meet some preachers and teach them how to preach. We prepared 4-sermons which they will recite and help them with techniques of mastering scriptures.

Pray for us always!!

In His service

Stella & Velaphi

[Gabby]

April 23, 2008

We are glad that the Christians there are praying for us and our country. Yes, we voted on March 29, 2008 and we still have not been told the presidential results. This has caused so much anxiety and disappointment among the people here. We pray that this does not generate into violence even though we are receiving some reports of violence in some parts of the country . We thank God that Bulawayo is still calm. We need your constant prayers. We know that God sees and listens to prayer and has His own time of acting. We will never lose our trust on Him. Our misery is being worsened by the hike of oil and food
Prices world wide. Third world countries have been hit hard by this recession. We pray and trust that the Lord will take us through no matter what.

Lord willing, we will send you the monthly report next week.

We love you!!

In His service

Velaphi & Stella

[Gabby]

April 29,2008


Christine, Mom, Rachele, orin and Ron;

We hope that this message will find you well. We had a very bad car accident last Sunday after the morning church service in Nyamandlovu. We had gone to the area to seek permission from a local chief to hold a Gospel Meeting. We were driving on a narrow woodland road when we hit a stump and the truck jumped and landed on yet another stump. This impact punctured the front tyre and the bang was so loud that many villagers rushed to our rescue. They helped lift the truck back on the road and removed debris on the road and put on the spare wheel. The plastic fibre truck canopy which fell off the truck during the impact was broken into two. We thank God that no one was injured. We realized that life is very uncertain and can disappear or snap within seconds. We tried to drive the car but realized that the front chassis was badly damaged and bent and both ball-joints were also broken. Thus we sought the assistance to tour the car back to Bulawayo. We arrived back home around 11pm. We shall be grounded for sometime while we try to get the truck fixed. I have thus asked Stella to use our small car to go and buy fuel and food from Botswana while I am looking for spare parts. I will need an upper wish born right side; 2 spindle shafts, 2 upper ball joints, 2 lower ball joints and a used front chassis. Please continue to pray for us. God is our Protector.

In His service

Velaphi & Stella

[Gabby]

April 30,2008

Christine, Rachele, Mom, Orin and Ron,

Today's paper has the following statement from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission:

"It is hereby notified that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is, in terms of Section 65 of the Electoral Act ( Chapter 2:13), inviting all candidates who participated in the 2008 Presidential election held on the 29th March, 2008 or their Chief Election Agents to the verification and collation exercise for the Polling Station returns for the same election.

The exercise will commence on the 1st of May, 2008 at the Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) Committee Room 4 at 14:00hours.

All candidates who participated in the 2008 Presidential election or their Chief Election Agents are urged to attend as this exercise will pave way for the announcement of the results of the Presidential election."

This is for your information.

Yes, we trust God will keep His guiding hand on Zimbabwe until things return to their normalcy.

[Gabby]

April 30, 2008 - April Progress report

Below is our April 2008 Progress Report which we hope you will enjoy reading.

Love

Velaphi & Stella



In troduction:

The Hebrew writer says:" But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved." Hebrews 10:39. In other words, regardless of the struggles of life we are going through ( political, spiritual, economic or social), we must always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord.

Baptisms

We praise the Lord for the 17 souls who obeyed the Gospel truth in April 2008 and were baptized. We also thank you all our brothers and sisters in USA and Canada for making it happen. If it were not for your unflinching support for the Lord's work in Zimbabwe, we could not do much for our heavenly Father. You are doing this for the Lord. Matthew 25:40.

WBS OFFICE

In April, 60 students visited the WBS Office and 12 received Certificates. We posted 259 Courses to different students country wide and enrolled 81. We conducted one WBS Seminar which was attended by 12 students. We discovered that we always teach our students effectively when the group is smaller.

OUTREACH

We visited the following congregations for rural teaching and preaching: Stanhope, Chesa, Madlulani, Bayethe and Mtshabezi. These congregations are between 50 and 100 kilometres from Bulawayo.

AIDS Orphans:

We are assisting the following AIDS orphans: Zipho Sithole ( 3);
Liverton Dube (14), Mthokozisi Mathonsi (8), MuziweNkosi Ngulube (7) and Sipho Mathe (14). Four of the above live in rural areas.

World Radio Program

Our More Than Conquerors program featured questions from our listeners. Broadcasting times during the month were however temporarily changed within a short notice because of the running electoral adverts.

Messages

May God bless the following for sending us lovely cards of encouragement and messages of motivation:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Conclusion

God says to all of us: " You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised." Hebrews. 10:37.

[Gabby]

This picture was sent May 5th.

My Beloved,

Attached is a picture of many people at a local garage not looking for petrol but for mealie-mealie ( staple food). Local authorities are appealing for people in Bulawayo to share the little available food to avert starvation.

In His service

[Gabby]

May Progress Report

We trust and hope that this message will find you well. Below is our May 2008 Progress report.

Introduction

In the Old Testament, God repeatedly emphasized the immense importance of marching for Him in obedience regardless of the circumstances around. When the Israelites responded positively to this command, the results where always amazing.

Baptisms/Congregation planted

This is what Charles Sibanda, one of our WBS students did and the results are very exciting indeed. I have heard some people saying the greatest weakness with WBS ministry is that WBS teachers never make a follow up with their students. Yes, it might be true in some cases but not all the time. Charles who was converted in 2003 has baptized 29 souls and thus planted a congregation in his rural home of Dandanda in Lupane. Glory be to God!! Last year, we conducted a Course with several WBS students on : How to Start a Congregation in your Area. We encouraged these students to stand for the truth of God regardless of what it would cost them. Little did we know that brother Charles would put this teaching into practice. We had met a headman from Dandanda who was interested in studying the Bible. We asked Charles to make a follow up since he came from that area. The results are truly marvelous! This proves that WBS Courses are very effective indeed in planting churches even in very remote areas of the country. We are yet to visit this newly planted congregation. We will do so after the results of the Presidential re-run on June 27 2008. Currently it is not safe to venture into some remote rural areas because of political instability. Please pray for these newly born babies in Christ that they may grow unto spiritual maturity.

World Radio program

In May 2008 our radio program featured a response from one listener who wanted to know if the beatitudes of Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter 5 are still relevant today. We are happy that these programs are drawing people to Jesus who is our Savior.
Every listener who hears this program will have no excuse on that Great Day because what Jesus Christ said then is still true today!

Drip Irrigation Ministry

We visited the Redwood congregation which is about 70 kilometers north of Bulawayo along Victoria Falls road. Oh! these Christians have made tremendous success in growing vegetables using the drip irrigation system. We shall send you pictures in our next report. Although they do not have maize, these vegetables are helping them to survive by selling some.

Bible/truck repair gifts

Von Prahl through the Daingerfield Church of Christ elders sent us 170 New Testament Bibles. We are thankful indeed because our greatest need is that of our students. ****** from the Lord's church in Calgary heard and understood our plight and answered by sending us $500 Canadian and John Glass and Scott Bond Sr, elders at Point Pleasant congregation sent us US$250 to repair our truck which was damaged in an accident. May God bless your hearts. We are very grateful indeed for these gifts because we cannot do rural preaching, carry people for baptism in urban and rural areas, deliver or collect WBS Courses and do other essential things without a truck. Thank you so much!

Jacob defends the church

One of our colleagues at the WBS Office here in Bulawayo, Jacob Moyo was summoned by some ex-combatants to go and defend the existence of the Lord's church at Esigodini. This congregation was planted last year. Jacob went there in fear for his life. He was also furious because there were some elements there who were falsely accusing the church. When he arrived, God gave him wisdom to speak. He said to them:" men, you may interfere with other things in the country, but please, stop interfering with the Lord's church in this area. Nadab and abihu got burnt when they disobeyed God, Saul went blind when he sought to eliminate the church and Herod's violence against the church cost him his life and Belshazzar saw fingers of a man writing on a wall. So, I urge you, men, to stop this senseless innuendo. God is a consuming fire. etc" ( translated) We thank God that these men heeded his call and Jacob was not hurt and the church is still worshipping freely in the area. Praise God! All this though shows that we are living in hard and dangerous times.

Volatile

In some areas of the country, the political situation is still volatile. One publication summed it this way:" A group of suspected political thugs went on rampage in Mutoko last week, killing two political supporters and firing shots at two others including a village head. Some political people want to accomplish their program of walking over dead bodies of innocent women and children and the elderly on their way up the echelons of power".
Our brothers and sisters, we still need your prayers for this country. We may not be experiencing earth tremors as is happening in other parts of the world. But political violence makes people become prisoners in their own country because they always live in fear. May God have mercy upon us!

Conclusion:

We are thankful that God is providing us with the opportunity to preach His word without hindrance regardless of the difficult situations around us. This is our greatest joy!
Thank you so much for your wonderful support and please do not grow weary in motivating and encouraging us. Our Big Thank YOU for the month of May goes to the following who sent us wonderful cards and words of motivation: Rainbow Church of Christ ladies Bible class, John Glass, Scott Bond Sr, Ken and Rae Starnes, Von Prahl, Ray Cox, Blake Jones, Tracy Edmonson, Chris Gerber, Leah and Buddy Baker and Bekezela Ncube. We love you all and thank you very much.

In His service

[Gabby]

May 10, 2008

My Beloved


Attached is a picture showing mechanic Temba Dube doing some repairs. More work is still to be done. We shall send you more pictures. We however managed to travel around this past weekend. We are very thankful for your assistance. Is Canada feeling any heat of fuel and food prices going up? We are in real trouble.

In His service

[Gabby]

June 25, 2008

We are very thankful indeed for sending us a substantial amount to feed the poor and the hungry in the rural churches. Please extend our profound appreciation to our brothers sand sisters at Calgary. May the Lord bless your loving hearts. Brother Ken is still keeping the money. He will send it when the political situation stabilizes because currently we cannot travel to the rural areas. People are being beaten to submission to force them to vote for Mugabe. Mugabe has also declared that even if voted out he will never quit the Office. He says only God can remove him from Office. Imagine! So, there is so much political and economic chaos going on. The opposition leader has quit the re-run of the presidential election citing continued political violence across the country. He has sought refuge in the Dutch embassy in Harare. The United Nations, African Union and SADC have all called on Mugabe to postpone the election since it will not be free and fair but he says "No, elections will go ahead" regardless of what the world leaders are saying to him. He has threatened that if people vote for the opposition as they did on March 29 2008 he will unleash his soldiers on all people of this country and there will be war. Imagine all this threat on defenseless citizens! We pin our hope on God. The United Nations seem to be a toothless bulldog and good at condemning but takes no action. It only acts when a genocide has taken place. We wonder why such an august organization does not quickly come to people's rescue whens they are in dire need. It waits until a catastrophe occurs and then runs around sending peace troops, food and the like. This is why we are pinning our hope on God the Almighty. Please pray for us fervently!!

In His service,

[Gabby]

June 28th, 2008

Chris

Violence, violence and more violence is the reason why the opposition leader pulled out of the presidential re-run. Mugabe competed alone to authenticate his return to presidency. But as you are aware, the race was not free and fair. Thousands were compelled/forced to vote for the lone athelete- a very strange race indeed!.. We hope the world will not just criticize political fiasco and do nothing but will help this country return to its normalcy so that we too can develop like other nations of the FREE world. Please continue to pray for us!!! Maybe the darkest hour is near dawn???

[Gabby]

June 2008 Progress Report

Our Beloved,

Greetings from Zimbabwe. We miss you a lot and always remember you in our prayers. Hope you will enjoy a short report below. Stella is not well today. She is dizzy and spent the day in bed. She took some medication but if this persists I may take her to the doctor tomorrow. She has been planning to take Litule and the baby Delroy to South Africa for medical check-up later this week. Hope she will recover speedily.


Introduction

When the apostle Paul said in II Timothy 4:2 that we must " preach the Word in season and out of season", little did we know that we would preach the Word even when it seemed inconvenient to do so. Zimbabwe has been in the headline stories during newscasts world wide because of political harassment, beatings, killings and vote cheating. Even so, the Lord has provided us with the opportunity of preaching the Gospel unhindered. We are happy that during the month in review, five souls obeyed the Gospel and were baptized, two at Madlulani, two at Chesa and one at Njube. We give all glory to God!

WBS Office

In June, we only visited two congregations towards the end of the month because our truck was still being repaired and widespread political instability was rampant in the rural areas. We concentrated on studying with our students in the city in their different homes and assisting those who came to the Office. Sixteen students visited the Office in June. We sent out a total of 61 Bible Lessons and baptized one WBS student. Our net caught a big fish last year when we baptized an army commander. This time around we have enrolled several soldiers guarding a government radio station in Bulawayo. We hope many of them will turn their hearts to the Lord.

World Radio Program

This is what one of the soldiers wrote to the program:" While guarding these premises on Sunday evening, I listened to your program: More Than Conquerors. I enjoyed the real truth about our lives which was clearly taught from the scriptures. Since you advertised the Free World Bible School Courses in your program, I wish therefore to study the Bible through Correspondence studies. If there is anything needed for me to be enrolled, please let me know." We give all glory to God for providing us with such a wonderful tool to reach out to many listeners with the Gospel country wide.

Drip Irrigation

We never expected the political situation to deteriorate so bad towards the re-run of the Zimbabwe presidential election. Political command centers were established in almost all rural areas. These were no go areas for outsiders until the end of the election. This was a political ploy to force villagers to vote for the incumbent president. We thus failed to take the pictures we promised in our previous report. Lord willing, we will get many this month since elections are now over. Please watch our next report!!

Gifts

We got gifts of books from Voice of International Truth, English Bibles, WBS badges, and WBS Courses from Von Prahl from Daingerfiled congregation in Texas. As we always say, our greatest need is that of our students. Therefore, we appreciate very much these gifts.

Motivation

Thank you so much to all who wrote and motivated us to continue preaching regardless of the economic and political hardships currently prevailing in our country. A loaf of bread now costs Z$10 billion. A candy costs Z$2billion each. Incredible but true!
The Lord is keeping us alive!!! Many families though can no longer afford three or two basic meals a day. If the government does not lift its ban on NGOs, then many families will starve.

Conclusion

Please continue to pray for us, the Lord's work here and our country. Sometimes we never understand why certain things are happening this way. Its mind boggling but we shall continue to work for the Lord and preach the Word " in season and out of season." II Tim. 4:2.

In His service

[Gabby]

July 14th, 2008

Today's paper ( 14 July 2008) has this story:
" Churches have resumed giving food aid in some parts of the country following Government's clarification that they were not suspended. In an interview in Bulawayo on the sidelines of a religious conference organized by the Centre for Peace Initiatives in Africa, a spokesperson for this organisation Mr Goodwill Shana confirmed the development. He said:
" we had contacts with the Government and were told there were no restrictions as to what the church could do in terms of providing food relief and any other provisions to areas which were hard hit by the drought."

Commenting on charges that NGOs involved themselves in politics hence their suspension, Mr Chitekuteku said
there was need to separate an individual's inclination as a citizen of this country from those of an organization he or she works for. People must not be punished to starve because of utterances of one or two individuals because some utterances have nothing to do with NGOs."

Well, this is good news for us. We are now already planning how we will distribute the food relief as soon as we receive money for food from the Lord's church in Canada. Ken indicated to us last week that he had sent US$3000 to Rainbow so it could be deposited into our account. I do hope that you will let us know as soon as Tangi transfers it so that we may assist hungry Christians in the rural areas. Political violence has since subsided after the two main political parties resumed peace talks in South Africa. Please continue to pray for us.

In His service

[Gabby]

July 16th, 2008 Mid Year Report

Christie, Rachele, Orin, Mom and Ron,

Hope this message will find you busy in the Lord's vineyard.
This mid-year report is long but worth the time. Enjoy the news.

THE WORK OF THE LORD IN ZIMBABWE FROM JANUARY TO JUNE 2008:

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord..." I Cor. 15:58

Baptisms : 115
Students visited the Office 249
Total number of baptisms since 2002 1,550
Seminars held: 3
Total Students enrolled: 130,60
Active students: 11 464
Students enrolled : 236
Students who completed from January to June: 39
Total of Courses and Certificates sent: 913

Congregations started: 2 namely : Madlulani and Dandanda

Prison Ministry
315 Prison inmates enrolled
6 Prisoners baptized

Botswana WBS Ministry:

Students baptized 7
Students enrolled:112
Area being evangelized: Mahalapye
Students Needs: WBS Master Series Courses

Truck Repair

Our beloved brother and sister Ronald and Christine Bailey in Canada and Elders at Point Pleasant congregation in the United States assisted us with funds which were used in repairing our damaged truck which we are using in preaching.


Drip Irrigation Ministry:

Because of political turmoil in rural areas we failed to assemble farmers for drip irrigation workshops but since peace is now descending in most of those troubled areas, we hope to conduct many workshops beginning in August 2008. From January to June 2008 we travelled 15 times ( on Sundays) outside Bulawayo and visited seven congregations and preached to 204 farmers and baptized 26 souls. We covered 780 kilometers using 350 liters of diesel.

World Radio Ministry

Total number of Bible Lessons broadcast on Radio SFM: 27
Students enrolled through Radio progam: 49
Number of letters received from listeners : 91

AIDS Orphans Ministry

13 Aids orphans being assisted: food and education

Distributed Christian Literature:

Voice of Truth International (200 copies)
Becoming a Faithful Christian (80 copies)
Undenominational Christianity (80 copies)

Ndebele hymn books bought 200
Distributed Ndebele hymn books 50
Received English Bibles: 210
Distributed English Bibles: 30
Distributed Ndebele Bibles : 24

Economy:

Inflation : 1, 694, 000% ( IMF)
169,000% ( official) by end of February 2008
Real GDP Growth Rate: 6.1%
Currently : GDP has declined by more than 30 percent as of 11 July 2008 ( The Chronicle)

Politics

The "harmonized" elections for the presidency, House of Assembly, Senate, and local government demonstrated a significant shift in the political environment in Zimbabwe. Movement for Democratic Change- MDC secured a majority in the parliament, giving the MDC control of the legislative branch. In the presidential race, MDC's Tsvangirai secured 47.9%, while Mugabe came in second with 43.2%. Simba Makoni, who left Mugabe's ZANU-PF party in February 2008 to run as an independent, received 8.3%. The results in the presidential race were not released until May 2, 2008. This lengthy delay called into question the credibility and independence of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). Initially the MDC challenged the results, asserting that Tsvangirai had secured the majority of votes needed to win the presidency. Because no candidate secured the 50%-plus-one needed, a runoff was set for June 27, 2008.

As of early June 2008, over 50 Zimbabweans had been killed, at least 2,000 injured, and over 30,000 displaced as a result of widespread post-election violence. Due to these and other events, and out of concern for the lives of his MDC supporters, Tsvangirai announced in late June that he would not contest the runoff election. Voters went to the polls on June 27, and Mugabe got 85.5% and was inaugurated for a new term as president on June 29. Many countries though refused to recognize the outcome of June 29 election because Mugabe was elected through beatings, people being forced to vote for him.
Thus the African Union, Southern African Development Countries and the United Nations called for dialogue among Zimbabwean political parties so that the country returns to democracy and the will of the people to govern them is recognized, respected and fulfilled.. These talks are currently going on in South Africa and everyone is hoping for a breakthrough because people here have suffered for long. We need every prayers of all Christians worldwide for political sanity to return to Zimbabwe. We trust God will intervene at the right time.

Conclusion:

" ...Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." I Cor. 15:58.

In His service

[soondak]

Praying.

[Gabby]

July Progress Report

Blake

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We hope this report finds you well and busy in the Lord's vineyard. God, our almighty Father continues to provide us with all our needs in the midst of great challenges and wonderful opportunities in serving Him. All glory be to Him!

Baptisms

Eight souls were baptized during the month in review which brings to 123 the number of people who were baptized from the beginning of this year. We thank God! Two WBS students were baptized in Botswana, four at Malunga and the other two were baptized at Stanhope and Madlulane respectively.

WBS Office

We sent 239 WBS Courses to students from all provinces of the country. We registered 114 new students during the month in review and eight completed all Courses and received Certificates. We started a new teaching program for young students aged between 8 and 15 years of age. We have so far enrolled seven young students from Greenfield and Manondwane primary schools. We believe that if we catch them while young, they will never depart from God's ways when old. We got the lessons for young people from brother Von Prahl in Texas. He sent 25 Becoming Friends, 25 Growing as Friends, 25 Friends Forever, 3 Teacher's guide grading keys and 25 Certificates. We conducted a seminar at the Office towards the end of this month and 18 baptized students attended. The aim is to encourage our students to continue being faithful after baptism. Another objective is to plant a congregation at the WBS Office so that we may thoroughly teach all students we baptize so that when they move to congregations adjacent to their homes, they will be very strong spiritually. We distributed 17 books on Christian Living and four English Bibles to students who attended. We also enrolled 93 prison inmates at Khami Maximum Prison.

Food Relief

We thank our brothers and sisters in Canada and Rainbow for providing us with Funds for food relief. We have started buying corn ( staple food) wherever available and are already distributing it to those Christians faced with starvation in the rural areas. (see attached pictures) We have also attached pictures which show some Christians who are working hard in growing vegetables to feed their families.

World Radio

During the month in review, four locally produced Radio programs were broadcast on SFM Radio Station which is beamed from Bulawayo but can be heard throughout the Southern African Region and on the Internet. Our message centred on Jesus Christ and his teachings. We are happy that this arm of evangelism is enabling us to reach many homes and hearts with the Gospel of Christ.

Drip Irrigation

In July we only managed to visit two congregations Bayethe and Redwood where we preached the Gospel and encouraged the brethren to stand firm in the Lord. We also motivated them to work in the already established drip irrigation gardens and assisted them with vegetable seedlings. Since political calm is returning to the rural areas, we plan to visit Sikiti and Dula from August 17-22 2008. We will move on to Mtshabezi from September 15-20 2008. Lord willing we will visit rural farmers at Kumbudzi and Zikwakweni from October 19-24 2008, to Chesa from 2-6 November 2008 and to Redwood from 16-21 November 2008. Please pray for us.

Economy

With effect from 1 August 2008 the Zimbabwe dollar will be revalued by removing 10 zeros from it. This means that a Z$100 ,000,000,000.00 note will now be Z$10.00. Counting the Zimbabwe currency was becoming incomprehensible and citizens had resorted to using currencies of neighboring countries like South Africa and Botswana for their daily business transactions. Inflation though remains the highest world wide with official figure at 146 000 percent and IMF at more than 2 million percent.

Conclusion

Thank you for your continued confidence. We remain committed in marching for our master and reaching many lost souls with the Gospel. Prayers are needed from both sides of the Atlantic, from us to you and from you to us. We read that many people may lose their homes in USA due to increasing rates and many are in financial dire straits. We must be brave and take courage as we know that that God our Father is in control and some good will be made available even through the worst struggles. Infact that is what Christianity is all about. We walk by faith not by sight. Our Father will always guide us through even to a better home than these earthly homes attached to high rates. Please continue to pray for us.


In His service

[Gabby]

August 4, 2008

Beloved in Christ,

God is wonderful! God is great! We are extremely thrilled to inform you that the Gospel meeting which we had at Chesa in Nyamandlovu was very successful. Over two hundred people attended and our tent was filled to the beam even at night. Five souls gave their soul to the Lord and were baptized. Glory be to God!! Some old men and women also came from far away places travelling on donkey carts for two days coming to the Gospel Meeting. They expressed so much joy that they had managed to attend the Gospel meeting. We just could not believe what we saw. People raised their voices high, singing and glorying our heavenly Father. It was touching and inspirational! The invited speakers did a marvellous job and delivered well prepared sermons. One old man Mr Sibanda was cut to the heart by the word and he stood up came up front and wept confessing that he had wasted so many years in sin and was now surrendering his life to the Lord. I could not hold back my tears of joy. It is so wonderful to work for the Lord because the greatest joy on earth is when you witness such old people turning their lives from sin to the living God! It shows you clearly that the word of God is living and active! Please pray for us that God may continue to use us for His own glory.

In His service

[Gabby]

August Progress Report


We hope that this message will find you and the kids well.
We are struggling along and working hard in ferrying food to the rural people. Sometimes we do it in the cover of darkness because during the day we would endanger our lives. We appreciate very much what the our sister and brothers in Canada are doing for the poor and the needy here. The following is our monthly progress report which we hope you will enjoy reading.

Baptism

Did you notice how some people rejoiced when one of their sports persons won a gold medal during the just ended Olympic Games in Beijing, China? Yes, that was a time of great rejoicing.
One of the greatest joys for God's children is witnessing a sinner surrendering his/her life to God. Here in Bulawayo, we rejoiced exceedingly when 31 souls gave their lives to God during the month in review. Eleven were baptized at Chesa, 6 at Sikiti, 6 at Madonkini, 1 at Njube , 4 at the WBS Office and 3 in Botswana. We give all glory to God!!

Congregation Planted

A congregation was planted at the WBS Office. Brother Dumisani Mafu who graduated from Mutare School of Preaching last year is working with this congregation. Our objective in starting this congregation is to teach all WBS students we are baptizing and also move this congregation to Newton West close by where we plan to put up a permanent structure for the WBS Office so that we avoid payment of perpetual spiraling office rentals subject to the approval of the Elders at Rainbow Church of Christ..

WBS Office

We posted 89 Lessons to WBS students in August 2008. Seven completed their Courses and 78 visited the Office for more biblical studies.

Drip Irrigation Ministry

During Jacob's itinerary in assisting rural farmers, he baptized on the AIDS orphans we are assisting at Sikiti.

Drought Relief
Here is a translated letter written by brother Moses Siphuma who preaches at Maraposa Church of Christ: " We wholeheartedly thank you our brothers and sisters in Canada and the United States for helping us with food. Many families here are surviving by eating mutsotsobiyana ( wild fruit). To us, you are like angels sent by God to deliver us from the bondage of poverty and hunger. Thank you so much. Please come to Zimbabwe and visit us so that we may get the chance to thank you in person. May God bless your loving hearts."

Zimbabwe Economy

The economy is in deep crisis characterized by acute shortage of foreign currency and basic commodities, hyperinflation currently at 2 500 000 percent ( IMF), low levels of investment, high and unsustainable budget deficits, low industrial capacity utilization, market failure, a decline in real incomes and widening income differentials, unemployment and high levels of poverty and faminization. We however continue to look up to God our Father for deliverance.

Request for Prayers

Brother Jacob Moyo lost his mother. Brother Linus Ncube who is one of our fellow elders at Bulawayo Central Church of Christ also lost his mother. Please remember these two families when you approach God in prayers.

Brother Edmore Moyo, who is one of our fellow workers in the Lord's vineyard suffered a mild stroke early this month. We thank God that he was not incapacitated and has improved some and is going about his task of preaching the Gospel in both urban and rural areas. Please continue to pray for him. Our daughter Litule who has kidney problems is not feeling well of late. Please remember her too in your prayers.

Gratitude

Zimbabwe is going through perilous times politically and economically. We are thankful though that the door for the propagation of the the Gospel of Christ remains wide open. We therefore thank you so much our brother and sisters in Canada and America for your financial and moral support. We do understand that the world economy is shaky nowadays but are happy to have friends like you who continue to help us when we need you most. May God bless you Thank you for your encouraging e-mail messages, letter, post cards, English Bibles and student lessons. We appreciate that very much.
Pray for us always.

In His service

[Gabby]

Cathy Buckle - http://www.cathybuckle.com/september2008.shtml

Gangrene
Saturday 6th September 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
If you come first in a running race, why would you give ninety-nine percent of the gold medal and prize money to the person who came second? The answer is obvious but as each day passes it seems the real winner, and the will of the majority of Zimbabweans is not going to be respected. The people and political party who came second in Zimbabwe's March 29th elections are simply not going to step down and their refusal to accept defeat has sent us into a dizzying collapse out of all control.

The rich are getting much, much richer; the poor are virtually destitute and the middle class has all but disappeared as Zimbabwe moves into trading in US Dollars. No one in government - winners or losers - has said or done anything to stop people charging in US dollars and all control now seems to be lost. For the last few weeks medical specialists have been charging their patients in US dollars. You have to provide hard currency (US dollar bank notes) in order to see a dentist, have an operation, receive the services of an anaesthetist and lately you even need US dollars to buy prescription medicines from pharmacies.
The trend has spread to spare parts for machines and to computer accessories and the more this US dollar trading goes on unchecked and uncontrolled so the pattern spreads. Now even locally produced goods are being charged in US dollars: meat, eggs, potatoes and milk.

As people do their own thing and while there remains a non functional government and non existent authority base, the situation grows worse and worse. We are now in a sudden greedy spiral of US Dollar inflation in Zimbabwe. A pocket of potatoes that was selling for 5 US dollars last week now suddenly costs 8 US dollars. The same is happening to meat prices and to property rentals.

For the vast majority of people who have no access to US dollars, life has become simply unbearable these last few weeks. Pensioners who have no foreign currency and cannot buy life sustaining medicines; people who are sick and in pain but cannot see dentists, specialists or undergo operations. One friend described how she took a desperately sick man with gangrene to a government hospital this week only to be told that they were not accepting any admissions as they simply have no resources : no drugs, linen, food or equipment. After much pleading, long negotiations and under the counter payments of huge amounts of money, the sick man was finally taken in. He had to provide his own bedding and linen, bandages, dressings, medication, drugs and food.

Health for all by the year 2000 has been the the clarion call of Zanu PF since they took power and yet after 28 years this is the state we are in. And still they talk of sharing power?
Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy

posted with permission

[Lizard]

Wow! How did I miss this thread? My church sends a mission team to Zimbabwe every year (and they just went last month).

I will have to see if I can some of their pictures to post in this thread, and some of their stories.

[Gabby]

I'd love it if you did Lizard! Zimbabwe is near and dear to my heart.

[Gabby]

Shiny mulberries
Saturday 27th September 2008

Dear Family and Friends,
Every day since the power sharing deal was signed between Zanu PF and the MDC, Zimbabweans have waited with anticipation for a sign, any sign, that things are happening. So far the wait has been in vain as the same old, same old fills our days and the basic human rights crisis gets worse in every regard: food, electricity, water and access to our own money.

This week Gideon Gono, the Governor of the Reserve Bank, swept into an underground car park in a dark limousine. A line of well dressed men clamoured forward to greet him and followed him to the waiting camera and microphone of ZBC TV. Speaking as if he was doing us some huge favour and with an ingratiating smile, Mr Gono announced that the maximum bank withdrawal limit for individuals was about to increase from one thousand to twenty thousand dollars a day. In real terms, as I write, this new limit is worth about 20 British pence. It's impossible to believe that Mr Gono or any of Zimbabwe's political elite are living on 20 pence a day and yet they offer no suggestion as to how ordinary people should survive.

For weeks we've been stuck in a living hell, queuing at banks for hours at a time day after day, to draw out enough of our own money to buy just one single loaf of bread - if we can find it. Riot police and dogs outside banks have become commonplace and so too have men selling money. They strut around brazenly, openly carrying huge bags of local coins that they are selling in exchange for US dollars or South African rand. Police don't seem to be able to see them or the lines of black market currency dealers sitting on pavements everywhere and so the economic collapse continues to gallop ahead. Less than two months ago Mr Gono removed 10 zeroes from our currency and 7 of them are back already.

There is no doubt that this trend will continue as long as the power sharing deal between Zanu PF and the MDC remains words on paper and not deeds on the street. While Zimbabwe may just be a tadpole in the shark pool of the world economic crisis but the suffering of ordinary people is almost too unbearable to witness.

Its hard not to feel depressed as the wheels of power sharing don't move at all and so we look to the glorious Jacaranda trees dripping purple flowers and to the shiny, deep purple mulberries that stain fingers and feet but give a moment of sweetness to our hardest of days.
Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy

re posted with permission http://www.cathybuckle.com/september2008.shtml

[Gabby]

Dear Family and Friends,
This week the word being used to describe the government of national unity is 'deadlocked' and it couldn't be more apt. We are locked in a death grip and things are falling apart at a dramatic pace.

For the benefit of people not in Zimbabwe, let me put a face to deadlock. This morning I went shopping and this is what I saw. In one locally owned supermarket which has branches all over the country they are selling goods in Zimbabwe dollars. On their shelves they had: light bulbs, cayenne pepper and soya mince, a few vegetables which were distinctly past their best and a few packets of meat which didn't look too safe. More than half of the supermarket is completely empty and closed off with strings of white plastic tape.

In another local supermarket which has branches all over the country they are also operating in Zimbabwe dollars. Half of the shop is empty and barricaded off. Spread out on a couple of shelves were the few goods they had for sale: tea leaves, condoms, cabbages and onions. Against one wall stood some crates of fizzy drinks and in a rack a handful of unaffordable imported magazines gave colour to this most dismal scene.

For Zimbabweans who have no access to foreign currency, these two supermarkets offer the full extent of food available to buy in our deadlocked country. The vast majority of Zimbabweans do not have foreign currency or if they do it is one single, precious note hidden away in a safe place - not anywhere near enough to buy food with every week.

The third supermarket I visited has just started selling goods in US dollars and there, if you have foreign bank notes, you can buy sugar, cooking oil, biscuits, cereals, tea, coffee, pasta, tinned goods and a few toiletries. On the wall near the check out tills is a poster announcing what the equivalent of 1 US dollar is in South African Rand, British Pounds and Botswana Pula - no mention of the dead Zimbabwe dollar.

Food shopping is the tip of the nightmare, then there are the bills. This week I was advised that an account I have with an internet service has been terminated for non payment of 1.4 million Zimbabwe dollars. Paying the bill is almost impossible as Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono has banned inter account and electronic transfers and limited cash withdrawals to 50 thousand dollars a day. If I am to pay my bill of 1.4 million dollars in cash I must queue for 2 - 3 hours a day for 28 days by which time the bill will have gone up at a rate I cannot calculate as inflation stands at 231 million percent. The internet provider have said I can pay the bill with a cheque, but because of inflation the cheque should be for 6.5 BILLION dollars.

When Mr Gono banned electronic transfers and inter account transfers he closed business down in one quick and deadly blow. The rich and connected have got dramatically richer as they and their dealers have poured out onto our streets to buy up all those preciously saved single notes at obscenely low rates. People have had no choice but to sell because they cannot get their own money out of the banks - thanks to Mr Gono's punitive policies and crippling limits.

When Mr Gono licensed some shops to sell in foreign currency his policy wiped out Zimbabwe's own supermarkets in one quick and deadly blow - gone is the great propaganda line of Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. This is what deadlock looks like seven months after we voted for a change in government.
Until next week, thanks for reading and thanks to my email service provider for helping me tell this story for so long, love cathy. re posted with permission

Cathy Buckle - Zimbabwe News (http://www.cathybuckle.com/october2008.shtml)

[Lizard]

Yeah, when my friend came back from Zimbabwe last August he brought back some currency. IIR, the Billion dollar note was worth about 6 US dollars (and going down due to inflation). The currency also had expiration dates on it. But if I remember correctly the govt. was going to move the value of the Zimbabwe dollar down an order of magnitude soon. That is what was 1 billion Z. dollars will be come 100 Million What was 100 Z. dollars would be 10 and so on.

And we think our monetary situation is screwed up in the US?

[timspong]

Yeah, when my friend came back from Zimbabwe last August he brought back some currency. IIR, the Billion dollar note was worth about 6 US dollars (and going down due to inflation). The currency also had expiration dates on it. But if I remember correctly the govt. was going to move the value of the Zimbabwe dollar down an order of magnitude soon. That is what was 1 billion Z. dollars will be come 100 Million What was 100 Z. dollars would be 10 and so on.

And we think our monetary situation is screwed up in the US?

I was there last year and in 4 days the black market rate went from something like 20,000 ZD to 1 USD to 28,000ZD to 1 USD. The funny thing was that the official rate was something like 500ZD to 1USD so if you changed your money at the airport in order to get a taxi, it could literally cost you thousands of USD to get to your hotel.

I love Bulawayo and had a great time there, Harare wasn't so good IMO. I was going into night clubs in both cities where I was literally the only white person in the whole place as apparently none of the white locals go into these areas. I didn't feel at all threatened and everyone was exceedingly nice to me especially once they realized that I was from out of town. I guess coming from the very aggressive culture of Nigeria, the "laid back" Zimbabweans are like a breath of fresh air.

The saddest part of this whole Zimbabwe mess for me is that, I just came back from South Africa last week and the South African mobs are killing the illegal immigrants that are pouring in from Zim. Some are literally being burned to death on the streets with flaming car tires around their necks.

[Gabby]

All our friends in SA are saying that SA will be following Zimbabwe and things are gonna go bad very soon.

[timspong]

All our friends in SA are saying that SA will be following Zimbabwe and things are gonna go bad very soon.


I don't know very much about the political situation in SA, however, everything looked pretty normal there last week and even the power situation seems to have been resolved as there were no blackouts etc.

The prices were still very reasonable and much much cheaper than Nigeria for just about everything. I could get a nice meal in a nice restaurant in Joberg for about 15USD all in, whereas in Nigeria it would probably cost you about 70-80 USD for exactly the same meal. BTW in Zim a very nice meal would probably only cost you about 2USD blackmarket, but about 500USD if you were to use the official exchange rate. Its pretty crazy.

However, I am a pretty ignorant business traveller, all I really see are hotels, airports and restaurants. I probably make about 20-30 trips to different countries each year. So my local knowledge of each country is pretty poor as I visit so many they all seem to merge into one. :ahem:

[Gabby]

I don't know very much about the political situation in SA, however, everything looked pretty normal there last week and even the power situation seems to have been resolved as there were no blackouts etc.

The prices were still very reasonable and much much cheaper than Nigeria for just about everything. I could get a nice meal in a nice restaurant in Joberg for about 15USD all in, whereas in Nigeria it would probably cost you about 70-80 USD for exactly the same meal. BTW in Zim a very nice meal would probably only cost you about 2USD blackmarket, but about 500USD if you were to use the official exchange rate. Its pretty crazy.

However, I am a pretty ignorant business traveller, all I really see are hotels, airports and restaurants. I probably make about 20-30 trips to different countries each year. So my local knowledge of each country is pretty poor as I visit so many they all seem to merge into one. :ahem:

They've been doing land "reforms" for a number of years now. The gov really isn't all that stable, imho. There's much more, but Raphael would be better telling it.

[timspong]

They've been doing land "reforms" for a number of years now. The gov really isn't all that stable, imho. There's much more, but Raphael would be better telling it.

Actually a lot of the white Zimbabwe farmers moved to Nigeria during the land reforms. There are tons of them Kwara state.

http://africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=3126

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=53540

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0502/p04s01-woaf.html

[Gabby]

Actually a lot of the white Zimbabwe farmers moved to Nigeria during the land reforms. There are tons of them Kwara state.

http://africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=3126

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=53540

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0502/p04s01-woaf.html

Of our friends, some went to South Africa, some to Zambia, some to Australia, some to the US, some to Canada. They went everywhere.

The middle article says that Nigeria only gave out 25 year leases. IMHO they (the farmers) are only biding their time, and that is IF the leases are honoured.

[Gabby]

This says it all.

When a Nigerian, without a hint of irony, believes that the lesson for him of the white farmers Kwara experiment is that each of the rest of the country’s states should have a similar group of white farmers, are we not coming close to abdicating all responsibility for our fate? To the person who expressed this naïve, shocking desire, it is clear that he does not attribute much of the success he sees to the farmers’ experience as well as to the unusual support. He does not compute the fact that where such experience existed but without the crucial state, banking and other support, such as in Nassarawa state, Mozambique, Zambia or elsewhere, the experiment is floundering. To him the take-home message is the whiteness of the farmers, rather than the mix of the experience and the aggressively created enabling environment of Kwara.

[Gabby]

Oct. 2008 Progress Report


Our Beloved in Christ


We are so thankful to God for giving us strength to endure all the suffering and hardships in our country. Our mission involves all faithfulness to Christ and His teaching and dedication to winning lost souls. We are happy to inform you that during the month in review , 29 souls gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized. They include men and women between 72 and 19 years of age. Three were baptized by brother Tendai Nyandoro in neighboring Botswana. We give all glory to God! This brings to a total of 185 souls baptized from the beginning of this year.

In October 2008, we sent out 293 Lessons and presented 11 Certificates to students who completed the WBS Courses. We have also enrolled 23 kids and so far 11 have completed Junior Courses. We are very grateful to brother Von Prahl in Texas who sent us Certificates for Junior students and 300 copies of WBS Master series. Glory be to God! We are also happy indeed when the needs of our students are fulfilled because this is our priority.

We are happy to inform you that our Radio program More Than Conquerors is currently being broadcast live every Sunday evening from 9pm to 9:30pm. My panel include Dr Daniel Gwini an elder at Bulawayo Central Church of Christ, brother Isaiah Machingura also an elder at the same congregation and brother Dumisani Mafu a preacher who recently graduated from Mutare School of preaching and has started a congregation which is meeting at the WBS Office. During the live broadcasts , phone calls keep on coming from listeners who want to know the truth. Glory be to God for providing us with such a wonderful opportunity of reaching out with the gospel to so many through the air waves! We say to the brethren at West Monroe, LA who are supporting this Radio program , please keep up the good work for the Lord!


Stella and the other ladies attended and taught Bible Lessons at a Women's Bible Lectureship which was held in Lupane on 15 October 2008. More than 200 women attended. However Stella expressed so much sadness when she came back. She said hunger and starvation is taking its toll among many children there. Because of the shortage of food currently gripping the whole country, some villagers in Lupane drink tea and sweeten it with salt and use vegetables in place of bread. Just imagine! Some families also are now living on termites and wild fruits. This is so sad! Our country is now on the brink of a terrible food disaster and the government might declare food shortages in the country a national disaster. This is where drip irrigation comes in because some few families who cultivate drip irrigation gardens do sell vegetables and buy food whenever it is available. We are grateful for our brothers and sisters in Tennessee who are supporting this ministry. We are also very thankful to our brethren in America and Canada who have sent $2 000 to buy food to feed these poor hungry souls. When this amount arrives, we will buy corn and distribute it to the very needy since we cannot feed all the hungry mouths around. In October 2008, we distributed six bags of corn to Madlulani Church of Christ, 180 kilogrames to Ntabazinduna and two bags to Redwood Church of Christ and to individual families including widows and orphans. They all expressed their gratitude for this help. My brothers and sisters there is still a great need of helping these hungry rural Christians with food until April 2009 when it will be time for reaping in their fields. Please help if you can. If you want to assist as a congregation or individual you may send your assistance to the Elders at Rainbow Church of Christ, Gadsden, Alabama. US$25 buys a bucket of maize which can feed a family of four for two weeks. Please help!


The propagation of the Gospel of Christ in Zimbabwe through the WBS is unique. Never has it happened in the history of this country that a preacher would teach the Bible to 13 000 souls and baptize 1622 souls in just six years. We always marvel how God is using us in reaching out with the Gospel to so many people within such a short period of time.

"Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you." II Thess.3:1.

In His service