Project Directors Newsletter : September 2011

Dear friends,
Finally I‟m getting to write a newsletter to you re all that has been happening at Our Neighbours Ministries. I‟m really sorry that I haven‟t done this much sooner than this.
I hope that this email finds you well, and I send greetings to you wherever you are from me and the Our Neighbours team here in Zimbabwe. Thank you for the part of the team that you are.
I‟d love to share with you this time an update on Lighthouse Christian Academy, some updates from the Individual and Family Assistance, staff news, our new baby, eeiissshhh as we say here, there is so much to share.
Overall Our Neighbours Ministry is going well, and we continue to be excited about what God is doing and where He is leading us, and the kids and people that we are privileged to care for, etc.
The last year has however been the most difficult year for me personally since Our Neighbours began. But I‟m so thankful for all that God has done, for His guidance, for His „good, pleasing and perfect will‟ (Romans 12:2). The challenges haven‟t been there all the time, but definitely at a number of times. I think both personally and as a ministry we have grown and learnt a lot during these challenges, which is great.
And, we had our first ever all-staff ministry retreat for one day recently. It was so great to enjoy time together, to learn, laugh and share together. It was a lovely day.
Now, I‟d like to share about some of the individuals who we‟ve been loving and assisting through the Individual and Family Assistance part of the ministries. Whilst we want to be aware of the many many needy situations that are in this community, and love and support as many people as possible, we feel a strong call to really focus on individuals and make sure that we love them as individuals as God would have us, and to do that well. We want to see individuals and families‟ lives transformed.
I thought to mention just 4 of the many many individuals and families that we‟ve recently been supporting, to give you a little more of a feel for this:
- We‟ve been counselling and supporting a precious young girl who is 9 years old, who has been the victim of sexual abuse on many many occasions. She lived with her grandmother and 10 other children, in horribly poor conditions in Trenance (near the squatter camps there that we work with). They all sleep in one tiny room, about 2 metres by 3 metres. And no, that‟s not a typo, though I can‟t quite fathom it either. As well as supporting her, we‟ve shared her situation with other appropriate organizations that we can partner with to assist her well, and the Department of Social Welfare. Unfortunately situations like this in Zimbabwe don‟t always get acted on as they should be, and part of our role in this case has been continuing to „push‟, and ultimately taking steps, to ensure the safety of this little one. She has now been placed with a good organization where she is being well cared for, and she is happy with this situation. Our team continues to support and love this precious girl through this difficult time, including court appearances. Can I share 2 times where I was really touched by this situation personally. Firstly, in a bad way, it was so hard seeing her respond with such fear, at one time where she thought she may have to go home with her Gogo, where the perpetrator also stays (it‟s a complicated situation, let me leave it at that!). Fortunately we were able to come up with another plan for that evening. The second time where I was emotionally touched by this situation was seeing this precious girl in a loving embrace with 2 of the team members (2 of the ladies, at different times). To see her being loved, and the smiles that started to come at times from her, was one of those times where you say, „yes, that‟s what it‟s about‟.
- David Moyo is one of the lovely „mdala‟s‟ (Ndebele for old man/father, but a complimentary term) that we have been assisting regularly with food parcels. David has also been coming to the Soup Kitchen for a long time. He is an ex-army person who still has a leg injury from that time, and he has to use crutches to walk. He has a wife, and his daughter and her kids also stay with them, though none have employment. He sometimes walks about 12 km to and from the Baptist Church to come to SK, with his limp. We will continue to seek long-term solutions with them.
- Soneni and her husband have 5 children and live in very poor conditions in Trenance (in 2 rooms). After giving birth about 3 years ago, without any medical assistance, Soneni became paralysed. They battle to survive, don‟t even have a bed to sleep on, and the husband needs to care for his wife because of her condition and their kids being aged between 3 and 10 years old. None of their kids attend school. Recently we were able to help with organizing a donated wheelchair for Soneni. We have also been assisting them with monthly food hampers and medical support, and will continue to see how God would have us love them going forward.
- We have assisted Howard, who suffers from a mental illness, over a long time period. Recently he was thanking me for all we have done for him. He said something like “what does the Bible say re assisting the people with food, people needing homes, those needing clothes …” I suggested if he meant the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46), and he said yes, that‟s the one. He said something like “you have done all these things for me, always, how can I ever say my thanks for this”. Today (when first written) I was chatting with Howard and speaking to him re selling solar powered lights as a way of him earning money (a project we are trialing at present to empower people). Please pray that this may be successful for Howard. Please also pray re a new group empowerment project we are starting in a couple of months (more info next newsletter).

When I see the loving supporting relationships that the team has with people, the community etc, I just think it is so awesome.

Now let me share with you some news re Lighthouse Christian Academy (LCA). There have been some changes since I last spoke to you. As discussions progressed re the plans for the school to move to Trenance under a new partnership, we realized that the visions were a bit different, and this caused us to pray and think re the way forward. The one thing that we really felt as a team was that God didn‟t want us to lose the vision that we felt He‟d given us, to provide a good education for vulnerable children who‟d missed a significant amount of school, and therefore had very little or no decent options in terms of education.
As the discussions progressed, we felt it would be best if we continued to run Lighthouse Christian Academy in partnership with Edge Foundation, and Children of Grace start a school in Trenance with their vision to start assisting vulnerable young children with quality education.
Some of the kids and teachers at the new Lighthouse Christian Academy location
So, we are running with the vision, and we see in 9 months to 1 year that we will have 30 vulnerable children attending LCA, aged 10 years and up, who fit the above mentioned circumstances. We are excited to provide quality education to kids who‟ve been very disadvantaged in this area, and that this will enable them to be empowered for their future. We have found a new place in North End (a house) to use for this purpose at the moment. We thank and acknowledge Edge Foundation for financially enabling Lighthouse Christian Academy to operate, and for the partnership and all the support they give.
Getting everything ready for classes to start at LCA
Now, time for a little staff news. We‟d been praying and looking for the right person to fill a need within the team for a little while now, to have a Pastoral role and leadership role in the Soup Kitchen, etc. I am so glad to say that Qondile Kumalo came forward and we believe he is this person and we welcome him to the team. Q has started with us on a permanent part-time arrangement. He is a great guy, has a theological degree and a deep love for God and people.
Now to a few bits of news in brief, so this isn‟t too long for you:
- Introducing our new baby, precious little Gugu. Belinda will introduce soon our other 2 adorable little girls who arrived about 2 months ago.
- We continue to have families come forward to foster and adopt babies from the babies home. However, it would be really good to have some more families come forward, so please pray for this;
- Currently we are helping the Cosmos team run various medical clinics in and around Bulawayo which are greatly assisting many;
- The North End Home kids have moved to a new house and this is going well. A little while ago Respect was placed in a family that is wanting to care for her and ideally foster her, and Wellington and Merry who we were assisting for a period at North End are just about to be placed in a "forever family home‟ with another organization. All are doing well;
- Shephard from North End Home and Lighthouse Christian Academy is currently doing one weeks work experience in a café which we are excited about;
- We‟d love to introduce to you Esther, one of our carers at the Babies Home, as a way of those from outside Zimbabwe getting to know some of the team in Zimbabwe. Please see the next posting for this.
- We continue to investigate a business to run alongside the ministries to help generate funds for these ministries. No news yet I‟m afraid but some exciting developments coming soon I believe; and
- We recently increased staff salaries by about 10% as we seek to continue to adjust for the increased cost of living in current day Zimbabwe.
Well, I think it‟s time for me to sign off for now.
Thank you for the part of Our Neighbours Ministry that so many of you are, and for your friendship and support etc etc.
Love Martin