We give thanks to God for another year of His provision for ZPT. Every time the Trustees meet we continue to be amazed and thankful for the way support comes in, enabling us to channel funds through to our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. However, the needs in the country are such that over the past year we have had to make difficult decisions to reduce budgets for many of the projects. The accounts for the year ending April 2022 show an income of £84,276 and that we distributed £82,065 to finance the various needs and ministries.
Juliet
One of the most striking cases we have had to deal with as a charity this year was that of Juliet, a teenage girl from James Kambudzi’s area. Juliet had a large growth in her mouth about the size of a tennis ball which had grown to the point of preventing her eating and drinking. When we were first made aware of Juliet’s case we were daunted by the severity and advanced nature of her condition. Through contacts in the UK and Australia Juliet was linked to the right people for her to receive lifesaving surgery. In Gods goodness she is now smiling again and back home with her family. In the Gospels we read of Jesus travelling long distances and going to great lengths to rescue one soul, it is good to be able to demonstrate these unchanging values in our ministry still today.
Boreholes / Gideon Chishamba
The need for boreholes is as great as ever as drought conditions continue every year. In our last news update we reported on a project in Gideon’s area to drill a borehole as a key part of an Orphanage being developed in the Chivi district. This has now been successfully drilled and assessed as having potential capacity of 1000 litres per hour. Funds have now been sent to complete this project by installing a header tank, and solar powered electric pump.
We reported in May that at the Mthombothemba Transformation centre, (one of several centres that Gideon is setting up in rural areas to assist communities with the care of Orphans) they were hoping to set up a Polytunnel for raising vegetable and salad crops more efficiently. This is now up and running with tomato crops already growing.
Zoom Conferences
Conferences for two groups of Pastors in Zimbabwe have been conducted over Zoom on 30th March and 1st June, led by Derek French, Roger Prime and Mark Drury. The second of these was coordinated with the distribution of study books which we had imported into Zimbabwe, generously donated to us by the Christian Charity Pray, Prepare, Preach (or PPP). Mark and Derek led training sessions with the men, demonstrating how to use the new study books. It is not so easy to see how many are in attendance at a Zoom Conference but we have received this feedback from Community leaders in Makamure, Gideons area.
A Church Pastor said this, “ZPT, our hearts are grateful as rural Pastors, very few teachers of the word remember us and thank God that you have been and you are there walking with us. If it had not been your lessons that you give us, some of us could not work together. We work together because the chains of disunity and individualistic worldview was dealt away with. Thank you for helping us to gain confidence to stand before our congregations speaking the word of God, may you please keep this work going on, you are feeding us very well. We are actually looking forward to the next meeting even though it’s on zoom.” Please pray for this next conference on 17th November.
James Kambudzi / Tariro Yeupenyu
It is pleasing to see how as this ministry develops, it is increasingly self sustaining. James recently reported that 95 new young goats ( offspring of the original herds) had been distributed – shared out between 19 pastors/Churches, all the recipient pastors also received appropriate training in using goats as part of orphan care.
We were able to help with the purchase of an oil pressing machine this year which has already been put to use in the community, again to make this self-sustaining a small charge is levied to use this.
Building on these successes to further increase their independence they plan to purchase a grinding mill at an estimated cost of $1200, this would complement the oil pressing machine. Farmers would be able to grind maize at a low cost, and those without land would benefit by purchasing maize from farmers direct at affordable prices rather than expensive bags of meal from shops.
They would also like to upgrade the pump on their borehole to increase the available water. Their system is struggling to keep up with demands from the goats and 69 families all drawing water out. This means that they often run dry by the end of each day. The borehole can deliver more so larger solar panels and a bigger pump at an estimated cost of $2080 would hopefully solve this. The Trust has provided the funding for both of these projects to be undertaken.
Mount Darwin Community Development Centre /Trymore Mateyanganga.
Trymore reports that the main hall is now completed, they have continued with the famine relief program and livelihood projects providing training in welding, sewing, shoe making. An urgent need for the centre now is an electricity supply. They have permission to connect a supply from the transformer at the school nearby, but they need help to cover the cost of 7 telegraph poles at $100 each plus the cable. There is also the need for funding to replace the borehole pump which is no longer operational.
Bibles
News has just been received of the arrival in Bulawayo of a shipment of Bibles donated by the Trinitarian Bible Society. This comprises 100 x Shona Bibles, 38 x Ndbele Bibles and 7000 scripture portion booklets in Ndbele. We are very grateful to the TBS for this grant and for covering the shipping costs. We still had to pay a substantial sum for customs duty, but feel it is worth the cost to get God’s word to those who need it. The demand for Bibles is insatiable and we plan to explore different options for meeting this demand in 2023. Please pray for City Presbyterian Church, Gideon Chishamba and Robert Chatindo as they coordinate the distribution of these Bibles and Scripture booklets.
We close this newsletter with a picture from one of our partners showing Maize seed packs being distributed. A large quantity are provided by a Christian benefactor every year.
As the recipients look to the Lord for a good rainy season to create the right conditions for sowing at this time of year, so we look to the Lord to help us assist our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe in the spiritual task of sowing and reaping.
Please continue in your prayers for the many aspects of the ministry in Zimbabwe.
Donations can be made to our Account with CAF Bank
Online donations can also be made at give.net/20174075
Roger Prime,
Secretary for ZPT, 3 Guildhall Road, Worlingham, Beccles, NR34 7SE
rogerprime@btinternet.com – Tel. 01502 714793 – www.zpt.org.uk