news from zimbabwe
BANKET
I was very happy to receive Brethren David Swain and John Butler from UK. After they had failed to meet any member of Banket ecclesia at the meeting place, due to lack of communications, they decided to come and see me at the farm and I was delighted to have them. Although time didn’t allow us to discuss all matters at length, I took them to my garden to see it for themselves and they appreciated very much the work done. I am assisting brethren and sisters in our ecclesia to obtain vegetables for their daily use. The visitors were proceeding to my home in the rural area, at Zumba, about 64km west of Chinhoyi town, to see brethren and sisters in isolation, including my wife, Eneres, who spends much of her time there. When they arrived they agreed that a new ecclesia should be initiated because it is very far from Chinhoyi ecclesia. I am glad to report that a new ecclesia has now started and I am very much uplifted and strengthened by this; there are three brethren and two sisters, including my wife, who is transferring from Banket to the new Zumba ecclesia. One of the saddest aspects of human existence is the speed with which everything changes. The passage of time causes people, places, customs and joys to fade away. The memories linger for a while, but they, too, recede into the background and the glories of yesterday are soon forgotten. That is because they are all things of time; they come, they have their moment, then they go. That is the very nature of anything of the world, but when someone does the will of God, that person is doing something that is eternal.
If possible, kindly send me ten Shona Bible Basics. Some of my contacts are finding it difficult to read the English when doing our Bible studies, therefore it was suggested we use Shona instead of English.
Bro. David Yelulani
Photo: Part of Bro. Yelulani’s garden
BEITBRIDGE
I am writing to tell you that I was recently transferred by my work from Kariba to Beitbridge, 288km away in isolation. I acknowledge receipt of Bible Basics. There have been several applications from Beitbridge for the 40 lessons which will be dealt with by Sis Janet Lovelock. It is amazing, and encouraging, that there are more Sisters accepting the truth in Eastern Europe. May God bless them. Where I am now living is reminiscent of Sodom, where I am very vexed amidst so many people in error and non-brethren. God willing, the seeds of truth will germinate, grow and produce fruit. Pass my love to the brothers and sisters meeting with you around the Lord’s table.
Bro. Joshua Pakali
BULAWAYO
The Bible is the book of love and truth. In Revelation it tells us that the man is blessed who reads and hears. When we are “born again” the blindness in our lives is removed, but we must read the Bible each day; as spiritual Israel we must eat the spiritual manna each day on the way to the promised land. The world is full of adversity and many people are not Bible-based. In Isaiah (45:6-7) God says He is the one who makes wellbeing and creates calamity. We hear of wars, famines and earthquakes; when Jesus was on earth he preached about these times which we are seeing and hearing of today. There are diseases from which many people are dying daily. Moses told the Israelites that if they did not follow God’s ways He would bring disaster and diseases (Deut. 28:60). Then there is the question of peace in the Middle East, but it is like waiting for the bus that never arrives. Let us try to overcome the world.Thank you for your letter and the Bible. Pass my thanks to Bro. Duncan for a job well done in helping our Iranian brothers and sisters, this is true fellowship, and as we sing in our hymn, let us help each other on the road and each bear a brother’s load. I was happy to see your letter published in our local paper, this shows that we are Jesus’ workers in the vineyard; keep on doing it.
Bro. Dzingai Sumburera
CHEGUTU
You mentioned the book Duncan has produced regarding English and the Gospel of Mark. I would like to have a copy, if possible. Here things are not good; some are sleeping outside, others have been displaced from their work places, so life becomes very difficult, but God knows everything; He has an answer to everything that happens under the sun. Please do pray for us in our situation.
Bro. Farai Phiri
GUTU
Thank you very much for sending the Shona edition of Bible Basics; my students were very happy to receive them and are also requesting the Shona Bible for them to understand more fully their studies. I also request you to send more Shona Bible Basics.
Bro. Tarirai Nyandoro
HARARE
I would like to thank you for sending the book, ‘How to Grow a Balanced Diet’. I was on leave for the whole month of June visiting my wife and children, whom I only meet every six months, since I do not stay with them. My wife is the only Christadelphian at my home area, Nyanga, which is about 300km away. She receives Gospel News and CIL Exhortations from S. Africa. I thank God for His care when you had a couple of weeks in Eastern Europe. As members of one ‘family’ we should meet together to encourage one another, but since we are world-wide it is not easy to be together. However, we are together as we meet every Sunday, in reading the same Bible chapters and by receiving Gospel News and CIL literature. Brothers and sisters are well blessed by having Gospel News, the purpose of which is to encourage our hearts and to unite us in love so that we may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that we may know the mystery of God, namely Christ (Col. 2:2 and 5), “For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is”. So this is an example for us when we try to inform each other of how we are preaching or doing at our different places.
Bro Israel Mutundwe
KARIBA
In prayer we find time to be alone with our loving God who promises to hear and answer us. Sometimes we receive more than we ask or even think is possible to receive. We must pray in humility, in honesty, in faith, in confidence, in Jesus’ name and in accordance with God’s will. God wants us to be persistent in prayer, but He also wants us to accompany prayer with action. In 1 Kings 3:10-13 king Solomon, in his prayer, asked for wisdom and God gave him more than what he asked for. 1 Chron. 16:11 tells us to be persistent in prayer. Prayer also involves praising the Lord, thanksgiving, confession of sins etc. So we need to keep on praying and God is always there to hear and answer us. I am glad to announce the baptism of (now) Sister NAOMI MHONDIWA on Sept. 18th, 2005, as our first Sister in Kariba and we wish her every blessing on her journey to the Kingdom.
Bro. Witness Majecha
KAROI
Most people have heard of the Zimbabwean situation, where most people, including some of our brethren and sisters, have been displaced or affected. Well, these are just man-made disasters, but praise God that no gun sound has been heard. If possible, may you send me Bible Basics if you still have it in English and also the Bible Reader’s Calendar.
Bro. Marison Tafirenyika
MAGUNJE
I applied to be a tutor and was welcomed, but told that I should teach the Bible lessons in Shona language. I would love to do this, because Shona is my mother language. Please pray for me that our Lord will lead me to handle this work well. My brothers, the time in which we are living is heading fast towards the end of earthly rulers and their kingdoms. Jesus gave us signs of his coming and those signs are surely happening everywhere. If we see or hear what is happening we could easily think it better to die than to live. But we, as the friends of our Lord Jesus, and as children of God, are looking at the sign of a nation – the nation of Israel. If we see and hear of all that is happening in the land of Israel we can easily understand that the Kingdom of God is at hand. So let us keep on praying, ‘Our Father in heaven, let your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth’. Why do we make this prayer? Because we are the children of God; this world is not fit for us to live in, we must admit that we are aliens, strangers in it (read Hebrews ch. 11). We await that country which is coming with our Lord Jesus Christ ruling as King of Kings.
Bro. Zvenyika Magoronga
We did not get what we were expecting from the fields due to low rainfall. The book, ‘How to Grow a Balanced Diet’ is helping me very much. I did agriculture at school, but I get more advice from this book. I constructed my 20 x 50m garden and dug two wells inside, plenty of water (God is great!), so by now I am harvesting sugar beans and sweet potatoes. Another side I am planting bananas and sugar cane. I am sure by next year I will be harvesting and selling them, God willing. We await the coming of our Master to set up God’s Kingdom on earth. We are told to look on things above and not on the earth. As we meet every Sunday we strengthen each other to stand firm on the word, as we live in a world of distress. Many thanks for the leaflets you send which help us to preach the good news of God. It was good to receive another letter from you with the information on how to keep goats. Yes, it is a good idea and for me it could be a good project when I start it, since I have a small family of three children and a plot of 5 hectares. At the time I am keeping poultry and those we call ‘free range’ chickens. I am just buying from around the area and then start to breed them. Goats are sure good meat. When my neighbour kills one and gives me a piece it is very good and the manure helps very much in the garden . Thanks for the news of Israel and of the Palestinians; without a radio you cannot hear such news.
Bro. Weston & Sis. Ruth Kamota
Thank you very much for the Bible reading calendars. I saw Duncan’s photo when he was in Afghanistan. I felt very touched by the bravery involved in that mission. I know a Brother was beheaded there by his own father-in-law for being a Christian and see Duncan among the same people who are fighting against the truth. Surely the God of Israel is doing wonders. I wish all of you success in your preaching efforts and my prayers will always accompany you. May the God of Abraham bless you all. I am writing this in Nov. (’05) and there is no sign of rain. We should be busy planting our crops, but the prevailing dry spell is forbidding this. (Since this letter we learn that many parts of Zimbabwe have had some rain and pray that the brethren and sisters will soon have sufficient food for their needs in 2006) Where this will take us is a mystery. We only feel secure in the power of prayer, hoping for the immediate return of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, our sanctuary. We simply need to live by faith. Some few centuries before the Christian era God gave the prophet Habakkuk a revelation that was later to provide the basis of the gospel, “But the righteous will live by his faith” (2:4). So accurately does this prophecy express the central theme of the Christian life that it is actually quoted about three times in the NT. Of these three passages, Habakkuk’s prophecy is most fully expounded in Romans 1:17. We need to grasp the main theme which runs through the whole Epistle, “The righteous man will live by faith”. Paul states the one basic requirement for experiencing the power of God for salvation (Rom. 1:16), “For I am not ashamed of the gospel OF CHRIST, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Human nature is often prone to the assumption that the mundane actions of daily life have no spiritual significance and offer no room for applying faith. On the contrary, it is only after we have successfully applied our faith in the simple material areas of this life that God will promote us to higher spiritual responsibilities. Jesus himself lays down this principle in Luke 16:10-11, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous mammon, who will entrust the true riches to you?” I therefore encourage brethren and sisters to examine how they can work out their faith in daily living, because it is only after we have made our faith work in the very little things that God will entrust to us greater responsibilities and the true, spiritual riches. Maranatha! Could you please send me some English Bible Basics and also some copies of Introducing Bible Basics. I happen to be helping some students here and I believe these will go a long way in helping me help them.
Bro. Thompson Changata
MASVINGO
I received Gospel News and all the literature. Here in Zimbabwe poverty, hunger and crime are increasing. It seems as if the Lord will come soon. I do hope and pray for my best friend to give up smoking and drinking. Please also pray that I may endure to the end with sound doctrine. If possible and God willing send me some more literature as this will keep me in touch with all the exhortations world wide. Here we are spreading the gospel to all the people regardless of tribe, nationalism etc. as Jesus instructed. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Bro. Simon Mudavose
RIMBI
Firstly, I give you my profound gratitude for what you did in sending me, ‘Where There is No Doctor’. Brother, I have no full set of words to thank you for this book. As I opened the package, I took a breath and my eyes could not believe I had such a surprising present. Happiness remains in my family’s eyes. The book is very helpful to anyone who reads and understands it. I pray for the authors of such books to remain with power in their research of the world’s diseases, because health is life.
Bro. Moses Sithole
ZUMBA
Hope this finds you in the best of health as we wait for the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. I am pleased to let you know that Zumba 7 is now an ecclesia with five brethren and two sisters. I would now like to thank you for the books you sent to me, ‘Where There is No Doctor’, two Bible Basics, debate on the subject, ‘Are The Miraculous Gifts of the Holy Spirit Possessed Today?’ These will help me to grow spiritually, especially in this sinful world. The Bible is the only book that can bring us closer to our Lord. Finally, i would like to thank you for sending me Gospel News, this is very important to me as it brings me closer to other brethren world wide.
Bro. Emmanuel Kondowe
ZVISHAVANE
I thank our Heavenly Father for the time He has given me to write to you after a long silence. Brothers, I am one of those here in Zvishavane who conducts baptisms and interviews, so I kindly ask if you can send me the booklet, ‘Baptism Interviews: Model questions and answers’ or anything else you feel may assist.
Bro. Sibangani Maka
