Lifeline 2007 trip updates

all photos are hyperlinked to full-sized ones for your discretionary viewing....

19/4/07 Update after Mozambique

We had a blessed time coming over re travel connections, luggage, etc. Zimbabwe Glad Tidings churches founder, Richmond Chiundiza (and his wife, Grace) preached at our church the Sunday we were prayed for and sent off. Because we had so much electrical gear this time (much of it weighty - plus the new data projector I bought as a teaching aid), our cabin luggage was way up, but at every stage we got through without a hassle.

A couple of "visitors" saying they were from the "Dept of Immigration" arrived on motor bikes at the gate asking to see Brian George Rensford. Asking after my health and had I settled in ok. Ishumairi was with me and we ended up having a time of brief fellowship after I said, "ndiri mufundisi" (I am a minister). And one of them said he was a Christian too and fellowshipped at AFM (a well-known sound Pentecostal church movement). Once they realised we were all serving the Lord, and I had been here several times in missions' work, and we were not concerned about any political stuff, the tension dropped and we farewelled each other.

<<< The trip into Mozambique was a real blessing. Brian did three days of pastors’ seminars at Beira and (for the first time) Nhamatanda (at Sparrows' Nest orphanage which now has an adequate facility for the 60 pastors who travelled for up to 100km). Gavin saw (and smelt) Beira for the first time (and lived!); the condition of some of the electricals we encountered nearly gave him a heart attack (photographic proof provided!)!! >>>

While Brian taught, Gavin and Elizabeth distributed all the gifts our church had so lovingly accumulated and wrapped. It was so moving to be there. There are currently 49 children on site (some 17 y/o’s have been placed in work now and have moved away). There is always more room for prayers, donations, and love! >>>

4/5/07 sent from Bulawayo

Our last week was spent at Gweru / Mkoba. We have completed one really eventful week in the Midlands with an absolute pot-pourri of experiences, high spots and low spots….

<<< We drove out of our way to see Peter Banda (Lifeline network leader) and Simon Smith (Mr Makonde Motors!). Peter accompanied us to Gweru enroute to Botswana.

Gavin and Brian did tag teaching for four days with the Lifeline students. 15 are doing the current course, and the change in hours (to afternoons) has enabled more experienced Christians to attend. They have been very hungry to learn. We also distributed 4000 copies of CEF children’s Bible stories (for ages around 10-12), compliments of Alan Graham, our Child Evangelism Fellowship contact in Harare

Tuesday was a public holiday, so Lifespring Church’s leadership spent half a day with us three in a hands-on look at local church leadership – what is it about, and what can we all learn? Addmore says it was an excellent day for his people. Lots of practical areas were covered about what our local church at home does about “normal” church-life stuff.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK…

But Wednesday took the cake… What a day… It started out with our first owl at 4am. Uh oh, we are being watched by the powers (this has happened before to us; it’s a common occurrence here in Zimbabwe, where the n’angas use owls for spirit observation – and please don’t scoff at home). We three started out on our usual prayer walk around 6.30am, and passed through several areas on the edge of this part of Mkoba. Flash Harry (aka shutterbug Gavin) took photos of lots of (to him) unusual sights – nothing too sensational, like a kiosk shop. About two hours later, two CIO agents (secret police) called at the house we are staying in and enquired as to who we were and what were we doing taking photographs in the township. Our host and Brian explained who we are and what Lifeline does, and that we were here on Lifeline serving ministry, and that Gavin was only taking photos for his family as a first-time visitor to their beautiful country. They went away assuring us everything was ok. In next week’s township, we will make sure the police and CIO are notified of our presence when we arrive, as we are mainly in township areas where the presence of any white person is unusual.

Then later in the morning, after a series of quite amazing circumstances, Brian [with three other pastors] had a private meeting with the Governor of Midlands Province! He is the Zimbabwe Government’s senior representative for the Midlands province (with some 2m+ people under his care). Governor Msipa is in his 70’s and has a reputation for being fair-minded and sound in his governance. He informed Brian he was a Church of Christ member who had met with many Church of Christ leaders from Australia over the years. And he gave his personal assurance that he would help to expedite any goods, resources, etc, we wanted to send from Australia to Gweru and the Midlands, and gave Brian authority to use his name to help any process involved. He then sent us to the ZIMRA (customs) senior representative nearby who very courteously laid out the process by which goods can be imported duty-free for religious purposes. We praised God for this amazing series of events, which could prove very, very beneficial in the long run for bringing in all kinds of ministry resources, etc.

Then, In the early afternoon, Gavin was holding forth for the first two hours of the Ministry Training Program (and doing very well by the students’ feedback), while Brian preached at the lunchtime workers’ chapel service in Gweru run by the SU representative for the Midlands. This was the 2nd of 4 in a brief series. The numbers surprised him, with some 200 showing up. They were greatly amused at times by his “Shonglish”!

Then back to Mkoba to complete the days MTP material, highlighted by a 62 y/o “student” being baptised in the Holy Spirit. He was from a Presbyterian Reformed background, and desperately wants to be water baptised as well, to the horror of his minister, who refuses to do it. Pastor (Nicolas!) Mugabe was also filled with the Holy Spirit..

The low-light for such an eventful day? Well, you may not stomach this too well, but it has been a very hard week by home standards…. The best way to let you know what we have been through here is to tell it like it is. For starters, we are staying up on the highest area of Mkoba, so that means when the rest of the 40,000+ residents are using water, there’s none here (locals stole the pipes from the reservoir to the system). It runs only from 2am until 4.30am, so our dear host (Betty Ncube) gets up every morning at 2am and fills every bucket and pail in the house – for the bathing, dishes, washing, and toilets. She has to work so hard.

This means we “bathe” continental-style! Using a small dish of warm water. And that’s all! For your entire body, then any garments… Elizabeth washed her hair in the garden! We already mentioned she was struck down by an acute appendicitis-type stomach pain. In bed by 7pm (we are all to bed by 9pm and up at dawn each day).

But the grottiest experience of doing it hard for the gospel went to Brian. Rule #1 of missions’ activity in the Third World is ALWAYS carry a roll of toilet paper with you! Brian forgot on Wednesday… When he had to obey the call of nature urgently while teaching, and went to the toilet, he discovered not only was there no toilet paper (there is never any toilet paper in any public amenity loo – it gets stolen – as do the seats often), but the water was off as well! This may not mean much to our readers, but in the Third World, if you forget your dunny paper, you have to resort to the ahem!... traditional left-handed method of you-know-what – then rinse THOROUGHLY!!! No water then is a crisis! In desperation, he tore the cistern lid off - to discover that God had graciously preserved about 15 cm of water in the bottom of it – just enough to come out smelling sort-of ok….. Nothing a good scrub on getting back to the Lifeline house wouldn’t fix…

Gavin Watts adds - Greetings to all from the cool climate of Mkoba the weather changes quite a lot in a day. Reminds me of Melbourne. [Mkoba pastors' day-seminar >>> ]

[ <<< Addmore's children gave up their rooms for us]. We have been well looked after by our hosts but the household facilities in theses areas are not like what we are used to but this house is better than many we see.. God’s grace has been with us in the teaching sessions that we are holding in a room in a local school. There have been about 10-12 students per session and they are keen to learn. Many of them have to get time off work to attend. This is a great sacrifice when you hardly earn enough to live and you do not get paid time off. The need for teaching in this area is obvious as you walk around and see so many churches here. Next to the school where we are teaching there are two different church buildings side by side. Twice I have found students reading religious material they have been given that are from cult groups. They have been unaware of what is behind the group or that they are wrong teachings.

Please pray for Elizabeth as she was diagnosed as having acute appendicitis tonight (Friday am Sydney time). While the emergency doctor assured us she is not about to have it burst, he recommended surgery in Bulawayo in a couple of days time. We drive there today (Friday May 4), and will see the medical people straight away. The timing of this is so typical of what we face EVERY TIME we come into this spiritual war zone. Why do we do it? Only because we believe we are walking in His purposes, AND having a beneficial effect on the lives of many dear brothers and sisters here. Otherwise, we would be home tomorrow, safely tucked into our comfort zone.

11/5 from Plumtree

Most importantly, E is ok, but still has appendix pain - not too severe now, and she is on a course of antibiotics. We intend to wait now until we get home before she does anything. Thank everyone for their prayers. We had a wonderful and full day with George’s church yesterday - 3 hours of MTP training; then 3 hour meeting (very anointed), then 90 minutes of discussion with George and Cosmos re the future of Lifeline. I was exhausted (E stayed at Mick's) and without Gavin sharing the teaching sessions, I would not have coped with the load the past two weeks and three weekends. He has been PREACHING WITHOUT NOTES⁄!!!

We are in Plumtree, where it is very, ahem, basic! But, the main thing is Elizabeth’s health has improved. She says swallowing 12 pills a day is almost as bad as having appendicitis! But, it looks as though she will make it home in one piece fro a real doctor’s examination.

The numbers in this conference (which runs for five days from 9-4) have been way down on their expectations. Only 35 attended today (they were expecting 60). It seems to Cosmos and me that the locals did not factor in the level of spirit resistance we have encountered all along the way. Several elderly Methodist ministers attended (up to 84 y/o!! >>> ), as well as leaders of the Zionist cult - amazing; they stayed for the entire five days and opened up to the issue of OT ritual being superseded by Christ's sufficiency in the NT.

We just had a phone call from Gavin to say he was still alive, even though their vehicle was a mere 2m from a bull elephant at one point! He had an awesome time with Sam – one-on-one guiding!

The African “walk by faith” is tested every day in ways we don’t always see at home, let alone the frequency! For instance, I dropped Kefas’s loaned phone during our 40 minute prayer walk out from Plumtree at 7am this morning. John knows where we walked last year. I didn’t realise it until 8am, prayed, got in the HiLux and drove back to the exact spot where I “suspected” it might be, and didn’t even have to get out of the vehicle to pick it up…. Tinotenda, Jesu!

There are no ceilings yet in the bedrooms in our hosts house, so every noise still carries! It is like being in one big room only you can’t see the others! No farting, snoring, or anything else….

Our presence here was reported to the Police and CIO ahead of arrival by the President of the Ministers' Fellowship – this helps keep everyone on side.

Then it was back to Bulawayo and George Moyo's wonderful church (Breakthrough) for a second weekend of teaching and preaching. Their amazing choir blessed us as much as we ministered to them! This photo was their Mothers' Day. celebration...>>>

18/5/07 from Beitbridge

G’day, everybody. We are due to drive later today back to Harare after three weeks in the Midlands and South. We have been working with the local Ministers' Fellowship in each of the three townships, and so much of what we have grown and learned through our own Ministers' Fellowship has been so helpful here. Two places ran a FIVE day 9.30 to 4pm seminar! In Beitbridge (the toughest and hottest place in Zimbabwe – at the South African border – full of cross-border traders, thieves, and prostitutes), the chairman said the most they ever get to any function is 10 ministers, and he was overjoyed when 35 attended! I (Brian) had a great liberty in the Word, and taught three sessions a day + a free for all every day for the last hour!

We have seen strange things from God this trip, not the least of which has been the attendance of leaders from the Zionist and Apostolic cults (who use manipulative prophecy to keep their followers in line). These groups also utilise elements of spiritualism, yet as we pressed hard on the authority of Scripture, they expressed a desire to move into mainstream Orthodoxy. This is staggering! Something we have never seen before (or heard of either)!

Thank the Lord my voice lasted really well, and our health has been generally fine (with the exception of Elizabeth’s appendicitis (now settled down 100% - it looks like it was a “Zimbabwean health problem”….). Both of us have been continually tired as we have stayed in homes where people come and go all hours of the night. You wake up to find there are bodies sleeping on the lounge carpet! Praise God for earplugs! At Beitbridge, the mossies bit through the sheet (so hot there you couldn’t use a blanket). Praise God for malaria tablets!

Elizabeth is saying to me as I type this she can survive over here as long as she has warm water to wash in, and can put on clean clothes! Is this too much to ask for!?!? Well, with the increasing level of power cuts, even this is “luxury”! And the plastic basins seemed to shrink as the trip went on....

We have not had a “rest” day since we and Gavin came back from Mozambique almost four weeks ago. Looking forward to spending three days on our own once we get to South Africa – Derick and Collette Dove are arranging something for us.

25/5/07 Final Update from South Africa

We arrived in Joburg earlier this week - leaving Harare at 25c to hit Joburg at -3c overnight! Our blood froze! A record cold weather snap (with snow on the hills) sent us into to the shops to buy gloves!!! The cold went into our bones…

Our final days in Zimbabwe were spent recovering from the quite exhausting three weeks solid in the South. And catching up on Lifeline friends and correspondence. We don’t comment much on the economic and political aspects of the nation because of the politically sensitive nature of such commentary – and the possible consequences. But, we can say that for people not involved in the political area of life, the place is as delightful as ever to stay in, travel around, communicate with locals, and see God’s amazing hand of provision constantly at work.

For locals however, the spiralling inflation (now over 2200% - or 6% per day!) is creating enormous problems as they struggle to keep up in real wage terms. People are hurting everywhere, and our hearts go out to them continually. It’s very easy to be overpowered by he current situation – you feel so helpless. But we are reminded of the story of two men walking along a beach where a large school of fish had been stranded by the outgoing tide. The man in front kept stopping and throwing one back into the channel. When the second man caught up with him, he asked, “what on earth are you doing?”. To which the first man replied, “I think it’s pretty obvious”. “Yes, but there are so many”, he said. The first man slowly said, “true, but it sure made a difference to those ones!”

So we continue to go, to fix shoes, bind up Bibles, and above all teach the basics of godly Christian living and true prosperity. And to the “few” we encounter (some we have known now for several years), our church and supports' “little” HAS made a difference!

Derick and Collette Dove arranged a three-day break for us 70km away from Joburg in a rural area. It’s freezing! But yesterday we spent most of the day at a nearby 1400 hectare rhino and lino park; it was interesting – the highlight being the colony of African painted wild dogs – a very endangered species. They were a delight to observe! White rhino weight-watchers recovery group >>>

This Sunday, we are ministering at Derick and Collette’s home church for both services. We catch up with John Curtis’s South African family members on Monday, do some ministry again Wednesday (but this is nothing like our Zimbabwean schedule!), and then fly home Thursday! Roll on the day! See you all soon, much love from Brian and Elizabeth.

SECOND 2007 TRIP 14/10/07 Update #1 - From Chinhoyi

BEN WRITES: G’day to our Christian family from Harare. We hope you are all well in Sydney. We arrived in Harare last night after a two hour stopover in Joburg. The flight went smoothly and we even flew over pack ice from Antarctica. Brian didn’t waste any time in ministering to the Zimbabweans as we sat next to a young Zimbabwean man on our flight to Harare. He had a part-Greek background, grew up in Zim and now lives in the U.S.A and was very open to the gospel. Brian was able to share some of his testimony to him. We found out his mother is involved in a church in Harare that Brian has ministered at in the past and obviously she had been praying for him.

Our customs’ experience at Harare airport was interesting. One of our suitcases didn’t show up, but we were told it was coming on the next flight which wasn’t far away. So we attempted to go through customs and the officer started asking questions and looked as though she was going to search all our gear - until we told her there was still one more to arrive. So we were sent off to wait until all our bags had arrived and then to go through to have our luggage checked. Thank God for delaying one bag as when it did arrive we went to a different customs officer that waved us straight through without examination or interrogation.

We stayed with Peter and Cherie Irish in Harare who have been very gracious and hospitable. It’s a bit of a culture shock having a maid and I (Ben) felt very uneasy at first… having someone else around to serve you breakfast and clean up; I felt the need to help but apparently this makes them feel threatened as that is what they are being paid to do. Agnes is very nice anyhow. (Cherie Irish and Ben at CC's coffee shop >>>)

BRIAN CONTINUES: Before we left Harare, we went out to the airport customs (after having to park on the roadside while a high-level Presidential cavalcade roared past us at high speed. We had been told from Oz that the 60kg of resource library books we packed and delivered to our Qantas contact had been placed on our flight. However, we found out here they are still on Joburg! What else is new? So, we can’t take them with us to Gweru, but will have to pick them up later.

Peter Irish is an executive with Kingdom Bank, and invited us to share at the Bank HQ’s lunchtime chapel meeting on Friday. We were very warmly received, and Ben got his first request for his email address! Which he wisely declined….

Fuel is very scarce; breakfast cereals, flour and dairy products are almost non-existent (and if present, came in from South Africa and are very expensive), but fruit and vegies, and chicken are plentiful, so we have had a change of diet since arriving! We both should lose weight before we get home!! The Irishes took us to a Portuguese restaurant tonight where the entire menu was Portuguese chicken, garlic, chips, more garlic, some peri-peri, and a side salad, and even more garlic!! We both ponged of garlic the next day!!

18/10/07 Update #2 - from Gweru

We could not access an email connection ourselves anywhere that worked until we came to Gweru. Because the power is off continually everywhere, and you have to try to get on the Net when it’s on. Water is off continually, power is off every day for hours, and everyone operates by candles and gas cookers on standby, and if you can afford one – a generator. It has made things very hard when you are using a notebook computer whose battery is on its last legs! We have to work in the night hours when the power is on… And make sure we boil the thermos too!

I (Brian) was still coming up for air, after two days in Harare when the first email was begun. The Irishes were incredibly kind to us. After we left Harare, we called on the Zulu family in Banket before going to Simon’s at Chinhoyi (120k from Harare). Martha Zulu (widow of my dear friend, Peter) had a number of AIDS orphans gathered outside the gate looking for food. The food situation for these children is continually knife-edge, and Martha tries every day to find food to feed them. It’s awful. I could hardly recognise the Kuwadzana township from what it was like 6 years ago. When the main local white farmer was evicted, most of the township people lost their jobs, now it looks like a slum, and thieving is commonplace.

fresh grave sites at Kuwadzana township, Banket

Peter and Stella Banda, Chinhoyi church

Good and Maidei, Chinhoyi

Brian soldiers on fixing a computer in a power blackout!

After ministering in Peter Banda’s Shona church, we went back to Good’s tiny house in the Chinhoyi high-density area. Good has recently moved back there, after some 5 years as the groundsman at the Harare Lifeline Base, because his wife, Maidei, is now 7 months pregnant (it’s very common for a husband to have to live and work away from his family, and is one reason for the AIDS epidemic here). They do some small-trading to make ends meet, but they have no running water in their part of the township; their vegetables are dying, and they could not even offer us a glass of water for lunch! Let alone any food. We have never seen such dire straits here in any previous visit.

We had an excellent time with the Bandas and their church in Chinhoyi, and on our way down to Gweru, visited the pastor who originally sent Kefas Makava (who currently lives with Brian and Elizabeth in Sydney) to the Lifeline program when we first met in 2000 – Moses Mamutse in Chegutu. Moses sends his greetings to Kefas, and we had a good time with him, Sadly, he also mentioned that many of the children they care for have continual diarrhoea through the Water authority’s inability to fund chemicals to properly treat the drinking water – Ben handed over some medicines for the orphanage children they care for (90 at present) and wrote down some dosage details for Moses. He wishes he had brought more medicines for children. We have just missed Jim Bowler when he visited Chegutu last week for a leadership seminar – they had 90 leaders from the network come together.

Zimbabwean Problem – a very large building was begun 7 years ago by the former owner, who could not afford to finish it. Moses’s group purchased the property and later hired a builder to put the roof on, which he did – only he skimped on the size of the trusses, and when the tiles went on, the whole roof began to buckle! Simon Smith supervised the removal of the entire roof, and it is still awaiting reconstruction with adequate trusses…

Ben saw his first troops of monkeys and baboons along the highway. We plan to get him into the Antelope Park and its famous “walk with the lions” attraction…

Washington interprets at Lifespring Church

Ben tests Claid Ncube's medical knowhow (Claid wants to do medicine)

Artwell and Felisi (Lifeline graduate) Chiangwa pastor in Mkoba

another Lifeline graduate, Eilet (widowed) pastors in Mkoba too

Since arriving in Gweru, we have shared the Lifeline Ministry Training Program – Ben has been applying some of what he has learned at our own Ministry Development College re presentation and engagement in activity by the students. There are seven who are finishing this year’s program; six are experienced Christians (known already to Brian), and one has been a believer for a year. Sam is 47 and was baptised in the Holy Spirit during Brian, Elizabeth and Gavin’s visit five months ago. They are such a pleasure to teach.

At the same time, I (Brian) have been speaking daily at the Gweru city centre lunchtime chapel. The numbers attending have been between 80 and 120. The zeal for Christ here never ceases to amaze us (and almost all of them seem to have no food for lunch). The local Scripture Union coordinator organises these daily meetings. Morgan Sibanda has been here for 14 years, and was a close friend of Peter Zulu too. He has a great heart for the Body of Christ. He is coordinating next week’s 4-day pastors and leadership seminar for us, that the Baptist Church is hosting. There is an excellent relationship among many of the diverse churches around Gweru / Mkoba, and it is one reason we keep coming back to this district – to assist in a small way in building up the Body of Christ, and its unified witness to the surrounding community.

Weatherwise… It was very hot driving here, but Gweru is “famous” for its winds, and they have constantly kept the temperature down to pleasant levels. But, the mozzies are shocking! With the cessation of spray programs pretty well everywhere in Zimbabwe, there is basically no area totally free from malaria anymore. We have to spray at dusk, put coils on in the bedroom, and spray any part of the body exposed above the sheets….

As ever, our hosts in Gweru (the Wilsons) have smothered us with kindness and assistance. A house of refuge in a swirl of the unusual and the unexpected.

Zimbabwean Problem – At the YWCA facility Lifeline has used for the past 3 years in Mkoba, there was a large shady tree where we would park the truck, and the students would congregate under during the lecture breaks. My heart broke when I saw only a hacked stump this visit. The continual loss of power to heat food is creating a wasteland as an enormous number of trees near residential areas are being hacked down for firewood. It is quite devastating to see. And will take years to recover (if ever)….

Good news came from Harare customs that the 60kg of ministry development resource books we packed at home and sent as unaccompanied baggage has now arrived, and is available for collection. We have also heard that the cost to our church was less than 20% of the normal rate! Courtesy of a very kind and helpful Tabor College student back home, who overheard me (Brian) discussing with a fellow board member the frustration of freighting resources to Africa. And an enormous tinotenda (thank you) to Lynda – our Tabor College librarian – who has faithfully collected books surplus to the College’s library requirements for the past two years for us. They are now beginning to get through to where they will be treasured!

We are well, and enjoying the friendliness of the Zimbabwean people. Western media gives a distorted view of life here. The people we mix with are quite inspirational the way they confront the unending pressure of survival. And it is a safer place to be than Sydney, despite what the Western media projects. The people bless and encourage us not to take for granted any of the privileges we experience living in Aussie, in one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Until next time, Mwari akaropa fadze (God bless you)! Brian (and Ben).

24/10/07 Third Update – from Gweru

This second update started as a short email while the power was on – it’s not on half the time. Nor is the water, so we have come back to Roy and Melodie’s for a couple of hours for a glorious bath and an email send session.

The main seminar we came for is going really, really well. It started with some 60 pastors and leaders in attendance. By day 3 & 4 there were 80 leaders present, including several varungu (white) ministers. The Midlands chairman of EFZ (Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe) attended - a lovely brother and shared his heart to establish a resource centre in Gweru. I was so happy to hear that the Holy Spirit seems to be saying the same thing to several significant leaders, and that the news from home is equally encouraging – Koorong Christian Books is coming to the party with (slightly faulty) bibles, and the shipment of books going through so well. So, things are shaping really well regarding supplying resources to several resource centres for church leaders around Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

The people here have been so kind in such difficult circumstances. We called at Mkoba police station yesterday and Addmore informed them we are here and what we are doing. They were fine with us being here, and we have had no visits from the CIO (secret police) this trip (unlike last time).

The weather has been hot but a cooling wind has kept the temperature down and made the nights quite pleasant. By the way, Ben has been doing an excellent job liaising with people, helping me out, and doing quite a bit of one-on-one and the occasional preaching and teaching stint too. He is exhausted! Please don’t ask him when he gets home if he had a good “holiday”, coz he will brain you!! He is currently trying to stitch up another operation for a 10 y/o abandoned boy who had his broken arm badly operated on and it is now pretty useless. Being a nurse himself, he has got into the hospital and spoken with a respectable surgeon who will do the needed operation for $US600. Another Christian relief group from the USA has offered to cover half of the costs. There are so many ways you can help here, and you feel so inadequate. But the more we get into the local networks, the less risk there is that foreign aid gets ripped off by corrupt middle-men.

More from Ben… Thank you all for your prayers! We are both well and in good health! For the last three days we have been living in the Mkoba township and probably the only white people in the town of over 45 000 people. We are staying in the house Lifeline and our church bought for Addmore and Betty Ncube. It’s a great home in this area. Brian has been running a pastor’s seminar for the past three days which have been well attended and the response has also been good.

On Sunday we went to Addmore’s church that meets in a local high school. Brian preached and many of the children of the church responded to a call to become a Christian, some of them weeping. In the afternoon Brian spoke at a Interdenominational service in the Gweru lyric theatre; it looked like it had been a beautiful building 15 years ago but it was run down when we went. The seats were falling apart and rats were running around on stage. Brian preached well on repenting from sexual immorality and there were a number of young girls who responded to a word of knowledge that they were being pressured by men and needed their will strengthened to say NO! Brian also had a word of knowledge that there was someone there who had injured their eye at work, but no one responded at the time. But then on Tuesday a young man came to the church in Gweru where Brian was doing the pastors’ seminar with the exact problem that had been described. Someone had passed the message onto this brother. We prayed for healing and sent him on his way. He was from a Salvation Army Church.

Then, on Saturday we had a day off and went on safari! We went to the Gweru Antelope Park and it was so refreshing. It was a side of Africa that I hadn’t yet seen, the tourist resort and it was posh! And then there was the wildlife. Lots of it! The owner of the park, an old Rhodie (Rhodesian) only has one arm. I would like to say that he was born that way but no, one night he’d been drinking a bit too much chibuku (beer) and thought that he would have a bit of a play with his pet lion. Unfortunately the Lion wasn’t in the mood and tore his arm off. I think he learnt well from his experience because he gave up the grog and is now a committed Christian in the local Baptist Church.

We had the final lesson of the ministry training program last Friday in Mkoba. Our seven students were so grateful, and really blessed by the gift of food and drink we made to them from some of our Aussie donations – not much in our money when the exchange rate is currently running at $Z1,000,000 to $US1… They were so appreciative for the time we spent teaching the Word, but I think I was more blessed then what they were. One lady, Ambuya (Grandmother) Mavis, read out a thank you speech to us for coming and participating. Because the shops really are empty of processed food and drinks, it was really hard finding anything to buy for them! We have no idea at home what it is like here.

31/10/07 Fourth Update - from Harare

FROM BEN: G’day everybody. Thank you for your prayers as the Lord has really carried us so far on this trip. We hope and pray that you are all well too and walking with our Lord. We arrived in Harare on Monday after an exhaustive (and exhausting!) and fruitful two weeks of ministry in Gweru and Mkoba. The Gweru Pastor’s seminar, which was one of the main reasons Brian wanted to come, was very well attended. In the last two days of the seminar we had in attendance 80 local church leaders, house group leaders, pastors, and even a man that functions as a bishop! (photo attached). Brian really went after the Priesthood of all believers and tore down some of the local false teachings. Then look at the New Testament normative model that enables the Priesthood of Every Believer to function in a local church. We had a number of white pastors attend as well. It was amazing to see the breadth of the body of Christ represented in the attendees. Many were Pentecostal but we also had SDA, Baptist, and even the new Presbyterian minister come. She has replaced Roy Wilson, is very sick (after having a stroke), and approached Brian for personal ministry afterwards. Such a sad lady. We were also able to develop a strong link with the local Baptist minister who hosted the seminar in his well set up church facility. Many Pastors also came from Mkoba.

On the Friday the Lord really began to open the door for the setting up of a resource centre in Gweru. There was a meeting with the Midlands President of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe who was keen also to get involved with a resource centre, and some logistics of it were also discussed. The fact that the first 60kg of Christian resources has made it through to Harare along with the willing brothers in Gweru is a good indication that the Lord is really making this happen. Praise God because there is such a need here for good quality material!!!

Over the weekend, Addmore’s Church, Lifespring Ministries, had their second anniversary celebration. It was something the equivalent of our Church camp. Brian ministered alongside an Albino Pastor that only had one eye (lost the other one to skin cancer). His name was Philip (and his wife, Maria); they were wonderful people and we had good fellowship with them as we all stayed at Addmore and Betty Ncube’s house - where the water runs from 2.30 to 5am every morning ONLY!! Betty wakes up when it starts to run and fills every bucket and tub – especially when they had four of us staying for a week (they have three children themselves as well). There was also a laying on of hands as some of the Lifeline students were ordained as deacons.

On Sunday Brian preached at this conference while I went to another small church in Mkoba. The Pastor Artwell did a 4 year theology degree and is fluent in Greek and Hebrew. He tried to make out that since Gavin had preached at his church last visit that it was tradition that Brian's companion ministered at his church. His wife Felisi (a former Lifeline MTP graduate) is a very gifted praise and worship leader and did the best job at this that I have seen in Zimbabwe so far. Three young boys responded to my (Ben’s) message on grace.

Our trip back to Harare on Monday was very exciting, the amount of wildlife we saw just on the side of the road was remarkable! Baboons, monkeys, an enormous ostrich and to top it off, less than 15km from Harare’s city boundary, we stopped and watched for some time three full grown kudu (very large deer) in a field grazing near some dairy cows!! We brought back a lifeline student named Clifford; he’s an older gentleman who had to go to the Malawian embassy. It turned out the embassy is only two doors down from the Lifeline base!!! He had also requested a Bible so we gave him 86 y/o Joyce Rensford’s Study Bible which she had donated. He was so appreciative, as he has quite a teaching gift developing (at 61!). Anotenda, Joyce! (photo attached).

FROM BRIAN: Ben writes so well there’s not much more for me to add. Yes, praise God that the door seems to be opening wider in the Midlands, and I have seen enough already to say the trip was worth the cost and effort. A special thanks to the person in our church who felt led to donate a sizeable gift for transport arrangements. This was very timely and has had a very beneficial effect on what we are doing here. And there’s sufficient to help the Nhamatanda one-day seminar next week and the Beira two-day seminar as well. These leaders are very, very poor and transport (plus our Church’s donations covering a very well catered-for morning tea.

We leave for Beira tomorrow morning for a heavy week of travel and ministry engagements. And then we are on the plane home! Ben has been a great blessing here. We gave him le grande tour of Celebration Centre (the Fords’ home church) today. It makes Hillsong Church’s complex look a bit dated – what with its theme park, restaurant, school, and 29 acres of grounds! He was a bit overpowered by it all! Alas, there appeared to be no photo of the President to be seen anywhere… We had coffee with Cherie Irish at CC’s (she is principal of the Church ACE school), and are using the rest of our day to prepare for the next week.

Classic catch!! - Ben has worked hard at picking up Shona words and has done very well. But there are hidden pitfalls when you go in too hard… He was leading a scenario during a Lifeline class, and meant to say, “can I worship God and still drink Chibuku?” (the cheap Zimbabwean beer sold in a 2 litre bottle called a Scud, because it will blow your head apart!). But he said, “can I worship God and still drink chimbuzi?” Unfortunately, this is the Shona word for toilet! The students rocked at this classic Shonglish faux pas!

A big thanks to everyone, young and old, who has continued to pray for us. So far, we have been very aware of various different ways the enemy has tried to do a Sanballat-type of attack on us, and failed… sneaking up to the walls, claiming to be a fellow traveller, broken sleep patterns, etc, but through the constant prayer support, and keeping spiritually alert ourselves, we have continued to maintain good mental, physical, and spiritual health. And along the way we have met and engaged with many, many people outside of the more organised times of ministry. Some of these one-off encounters have already proven to be very beneficial to the people we have spoken with, prayed for, and ministered to.

For instance, to close with, the Baptist pastor who hosted the 4-day seminar, approached me (Brian) about an area he had battled with re paralysis of will for many years. It turned out he had been under the tutelage of a guru-type cult leader some years ago, who had the ability to stare down people into a fearful, indecisive, paralysed state. We renounced this man’s influence and aberrant teachings in Jesus’ name. As we prepared to leave Gweru, our friends (who know him well and love him a lot – he is a very passionate and warm-hearted pastor) told us, that he had had constant stomach and digestion trouble for many years, and was unable to hold food down without taking regular medication. Some days later, he realised he had not had the pain, nor taken any medication, and had eaten well since we prayed together and broke the spiritual oppression. That’s the good news of the Kingdom, as Christ’s words of hope are accompanied by Christ’s power!

Until we see you all in 10 days, Mwari akaropa fadzei! God bless youse all! from Brian and Timothy (the nickname Morgan Sibanda gave Ben really stuck in the Midlands!).

PS. We have had a few enquiries from people wanting to help. Yes, we do take donations through our church office, and ensure that they are carefully distributed 100% in Africa – no admin or corruption middle-man stuff! Drop me an email if you would like to help, even in a small way.

3/11/07 Fifth update from Beira

Hie, folks. Jeff has set up wireless broadband at the Beira Base! Truly the last shall be first! I am using Loxley's computer as my wireless will not talk to this connection.

A brief summary of our journey into hell... Ben is very ill and please pray for him Sunday. He has got a dose of stomach bug which (please assure Kayleen) will not kill him, but it will sure help him lose some weight! He has been crook for 24 hours. Not malaria or anything else.

Beira pastors on the beachfront patio with Benson and Brian

Ben spoke to 35 youth leaders; 12 were baptised in the Holy Spirit afterwards

Loxley spoke to the senior ministers in a third seminar on Monday

Gift of Portuguese bible was gratefully received by this fulltime Evangelist

He managed to spend one session with the 35 youth leaders who turned up today. I addressed the 17 pastors and other leaders who also came. We had a half day session yesterday (Fri) which was typically shambolic, but got there in the long run.

The weather is amazingly good! The rainy season is late; the breeze wonderful, and the swimming brilliant! Even Loxley has joined us after we finish the ministry!

12 of the youth leaders were baptised in the Spirit today. THAT was truly good news. Tomorrow (Sun), Anacleto wants us to minister in three different churches, but we are not sure Ben will be up to it.

We need your prayers. Sparrows Nest is looking good. Domingos has a car now and a small truck for the new safer vegie garden 44 km from Nhamatanda (5 acres). We spend all day there Tuesday. We are both looking forward to coming home for sure! Love to youse all from Brian and Ben

More from Ben - G’day Church, I hope you are all well and strong in the Lord. We got to Beira safely on Thursday after a very interesting trip. We travelled from Harare to a place call Mutare. The scenery was spectacular with granite poking up out the ground all over the place. Some looked 1km in height. Mutare is 7000ft high and you could feel it in your breathing. This is where the border crossing into Mozambique is. The border crossing was like something out of the movies. Money getting passed around everywhere and because everyone was speaking Portuguese it was hard to tell if they were giving bribes or genuine payments.

As we drove through Mozambique it became apparent that these people were different from the Zimbabweans. We got harassed non-stop when we stopped for lunch in a church grounds. People trying to sell you things and just gain your attention to get money off you. It was funny, just outside Chimoio, we drove past a man wearing a Parramatta Eels T-shirt! It was hilarious - that in the middle of nowhere - here’s this bloke wearing a t-shirt for our local football club. We stopped at Nhamatanda on our way through just briefly to talk to Domingos and I got to meet a few of the orphans.

The same night we got to the Beira base Anacleto wanted me to come with him to pray and see one of the pastor’s working under him who was quite ill. This man had all the symptoms of malaria but said he was feeling better.

On Friday Loxley took me to downtown Beira; we went to the Chemist shop and picked up some extra drugs for Sparrows Nest orphanage. We managed to get urine testing sticks for less then half price because they were out of date but they will still work fine. We also bought some malaria treatment, just in case. It came in handy because Anacleto took me back to the same sick pastor who had gotten worse again. So we started him on a malarial treatment.

I woke up on Friday night at 2:30 with terrible food poisoning, I’ll spare you the details. But then on the Saturday we had the conferences for Youth Leaders and Pastors. I managed to get through 2 sessions with the local youth Pastors, but Brian had to take the third cause I just felt too ill. Thank God he did though because 12 of them were baptised in the Holy Spirit. Praise God!! By Sunday I was feeling better although your continued prayers are appreciated, and today (Monday morning) I managed to go a our daily prayer walk again with Brian.

Later this morning we have further Pastors’ and youth leaders’ seminars, and then on Tuesday we are off to the Sparrows' Nest for the day. Please pray for wisdom for myself as I conduct a clinic for all the kids, while Brian teaches the pastors and leaders.

7/11/07 Sixth Update from Harare before leaving

Hie again, everybody. Brian here. The day spent in Nhamatanda went really, really well, but was incredibly exhausting. It was the toughest day in the four weeks we have had in Africa. The rainy season is about to come; the weather was stinking hot and humid. Ben looked like an AIDS victim, what with two days of food poisoning and then dehydrating all day as he conducted a clinic for as many children as he could cope with. Over 50 children currently in residence; then another 60 pastors and leaders attended for the day to hear Brian and Loxley conduct the seminar. Plus staff... The power went off the night before, so the water pump had failed, and there was almost no water for anyone (let alone the loos!). By 4pm, the "aroma" was pervading pretty well everything!... The goat that was killed for lunch added a certain poignancy to the day, as the ladies beheaded it and bled it in the scorching sun.... Yes, missions' ministry - we love it!

But, thank the Lord, one of the missionaries at the Beira Beach house told us of a new(ish) air-conditioned motel only 35 km from Nhamatanda, and we stayed there that night - three rooms all with a/con blasting away! And an excellent meal! Beats staying at the "Pink Papaya" (where Loxley and Gavin had to share a bed last trip!!).

Next morning, we crossed the border, and headed for a decent breakfast at Wimpy's in Mutare. How wonderful Zimbabwe had become in one short week! Ben was rapt to be back in "civilisation". Africa does that to you, Elizabeth reckons - gets you back to "basic luxuries" - which to her are, running water, some warm water, and a toilet with a toilet seat on it! She said, "that isn't asking for too much, is it?"

Our last morning in Harare was spent packing, and repacking. We passed on Gavin's work's donated notebook to Loxley Ford to be passed on to George, one of the long-term Lifeline network leaders who is becoming computer literate. Brian caught up with Richmond Chiundiza (again - he spoke in our Sydney church the Sunday before we left to come here). And Ben went shopping for souvenirs for his wife (Kayleen) and family members. We flew out with such a sense of fulfilment and accomplishment of what God sent us here for. And once again, a heartfelt thank you to each and every one who prayed for us, and supplied missions' resources for this wonderful trip into an amazing part of God's vineyard.

And one final blow-out! The rains finally came on the day we drove back to Harare, and after coming across a semi that had jack-knifed on the highway, we saw two of the largest male kudu deer Loxley and Brian had ever seen - right on the highway! We told Ben Someone was sending him off from Africa with a double-portion blessing (proof attached)!