Weekend Ministries: Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Sat 10/18 – We had a full weekend of ministry starting with a Christian Leader’s Conference. The title we chose for the conference was “Word and Prayer.” The title comes from the larger conference theme: Christian leaders fulfill Jesus’ Great Commission to make disciples (Matt 28:18-20) by devoting themselves to the Word and Prayer (Acts 6:4).

In preparation for the trip, we discussed the necessity of a theme like this due to many places in the world being infiltrated by the so-called “prosperity gospel” (a false teaching that Jesus’ greatest concern is to make us wealthy and materially prosperous). During the lunch hour, a seasoned pastor in Zimbabwe said to us, “This is exactly the simple and straightforward message we needed to hear. Too many pastors are telling stories and preaching a prosperity gospel. We have forsaken the doctrine of Jesus in Mt 28 and we have neglected prayer. We need to return to these two practices.”

After the conference wrapped up in the afternoon, we visited an orphanage. We were not allowed to take pictures at the orphanage, but at least one story is worth telling. We had visited this orphanage two years ago, and a young girl came up to us and reminded us of a promise one of our team members made during our previous visit. She said, “The last time you were here you said you would give me a piece of American chewing gum when you returned. Did you bring me one?” Imagine a situation so difficult that a two-year old promise of a piece of gum was at the forefront of her mind. We continue to work towards emptying this orphanage by finding homes for these children. Please pray with us to accomplish this goal.

Sun 10/19 – On Sunday we visited Nketa 7 Baptist Church. Our team split into 4 groups and taught the Sunday School hour. When the main service began, Peter preached the first service and then left to preach at another church while Kendall remained to preach the second service. Afterwards, there was a baptism with about 25-30 young people who were baptized. Our team enjoyed worshipping with our Zimbabwean brothers and sisters. A highlight to visiting their church has always been the “handshake line” at the back of the church where everyone lines up to greet us warmly. Pastor Jabulani would like to add a classroom wing on to this church and shared his vision to do this. Please be in prayer for God to provide for this need.