Family Fun Night

Friday was a simple day of continuing to acclimate and help where we could.  Most of our ministry starts Monday.  Aside from Robin helping Tammy and Robyn (yes, a THIRD Robin-an IMB journeyman) help protect the rabbits at Sandra Jones from the rain, it was a pretty uneventful day until the evening.

This passage came to mind in thinking about these girls.  A hope for them I pray they embrace.  The stories are simply just heartbreaking.  But such brokenness creates such a heart ready for the gospel.  It’s hard for me to think of their sufferings as “light and momentary,” but regardless-it is momentary compared to eternity.

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.”

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

Family fun night involved all the girls, children, caretakers, and visitors from all over - US, UK, Scotland & Australia.  Dinner, baby holding, kid hugging, girl talking, devotional having, game playing, and singing & dancing.  Great fun.  Thankful to have been included.  Here’s a little taste:

 Baby Hailey just arrived today from the hospital.  Guess how old... Four months.

 Dinner together

Devotional by Joseph

 Singing & traditional dancing

 "Minute to Win it" games!

Thursday 3/7- Second Half

Fruitful Harvest Ministries is the vision God gave Tammy Scorziell even before she knew they were headed to Zimbabwe.  At the time she had no idea what all her insatiable research in organic farming, animal raising and composting was all about or what God had in store.  Fruitful Harvest Ministries - as she already knew back in that time that it would be called - is now in full swing; just in the beginning stages.

It's main goal:

To create at least a 60% self-sustaining income for the ministries of Sandra Jones Centre and Harvest Family Village (also known as Mind the Gap) by the growing of organic produce and farm animal raising for selling, ministry food, and education for the children to move them into functioning Zimbabwean citizens.

Sheep, broiler chickens, ducks, cows, talapia, fruit trees, and organic gardens are all in their beginning processes.  World Vision, federal grants, and churches from the US, UK, and Australia are all being tapped and presented with this new God-given ministry.  But the underlying hope is to create community and national (Zimbabwean) support so the nation and its people can support one another and not have to toally rely on outside, foreign funding.

Pray for this vision and its working out as Tammy continues to press forward by the power of the Spirit and God’s directing her steps with others who are alongside her. 

More Sandra Jones:

Sandra Jones, back and front.  Beautiful!

The schooled girls (like the one to the right of Tammy) walk 2 hours home from school.

 Our first dinner together: Joseph, Pastor Jeff, Ricky Davis, Pastor Steve, Tammy - 

And Robin B in spirit!

WE MADE IT!

Our travel days in pictures...

Descent into Johannesburg:

Our very comfortable lodging in Joburg:

Breakfast at the airport before our flight into Zim:

We made it to the Scorzeill’s!

Details:

From since I started, personally this verse has been pressed upon me - through personal devotion, prayer cards (thank you friends!!), & song:

“It is the Lord who goes before you.  He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Deut. 31:8

The Lord has gone before us.  The flight into Zim was light and the Lord blessed us with a member of Bulawayo Baptist as one of the airport workers.  He connected us with luggage helpers and, praise God, we only had to pay $58 total in customs fees!  We were prepared for much much more but the Lord has other plans for that!  Our travel has been smooth and comfortable, so we are thankful for those God-given graces.

Thank you for praying for Robin B.  She has the exact same flights now booked and is leaving out from Austin on Sunday and will arrive Tuesday noon here.  Pray for an even smoother, comfortable trip and ease of connections throughout as she’s traveling alone.  All we know is that circumstances such as those remind us of God’s trustworthiness.  He is sovereign, He knows the reasons and so we trust.

And now for some rest.... zzzzzzz......

Um, no, actually...it's off to Sandra Jones for a visit!  

So maybe more pics later if there's time and energy! ;O

Necklaces & Bracelets

This week the ladies at Carroll Baptist got together and made necklaces & bracelets to give to our sisters in Zimbabwe.  They will go to pastor's wives, church leaders, caregivers, missionaries, etc as an encouragement and thank you for all they are doing.  Here's a peek:

Update: December Children's Camp

Compliments of the new year. We are so much excited to let you know that we had a very wonderful Christmas holidays with the children. We held one of the largest and longest children`s camps of the year as from the 24^th of December up until the 1^st of January. 

The holiday was full of activities with the children that left us very much tired and have since given ourselves this week to rest up until Monday morning. Although it was very tiresome, we are so much fulfilled that we managed to minister hope to the children and also the children themselves managed to minister to the community on the 28^th of December. We invited the community to come and listen to children speaking about the importance of the birth of Jesus and what it really means to us as the world. It was so encouraging to see the community leaders and some politicians from the community coming to listen to the children ministering to them.

We also had a very wonderful time of taking out the children from Peniel Centre for different games at Matopos national park which were all meant to boost their confidence and to challenge them to work as a team.

We are going to write more next week and send pictures of the camp and all the activities that we undertook with the children during the holidays. All of us including Justice and his team are currently resting, up until next week.

Thank you very much for the support, we wish you a very blessed 2013.

We are looking forward to be with you soon.

Blessings,

Gideon & Jennifer    

Update on Hope Fountain Children's Ministry

It’s a blessing to know that you are about to come again to Zim. We are very much excited about it and are also getting ready for your coming. Today Pastor Joseph`s wife phoned me to find out whether you are coming and she felt so much encouraged to hear that you are coming again early next year.

Our mid week children`s ministry has been going on very well, and Justice has been running it three times a week i.e. every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. We are so much grateful to you because this ministry is having a great impact on the lives of children. Last week all these children together with Justice had a wonderful party of praising and thanking God for taking them throughout the whole year. Thank you very much for being part of what God is doing in the lives of these children.

Blessings

Gideon

December 2012 Children's Camp

Warm greeting to you from the hot weather of Bulawayo, how are you and your family. I would like to let you know that Justice and our Children`s Church team has come up with the dates for the December children`s camp which is going to be bigger than the other two camps we held this year. We are going to have the camp as from the 23rd  up to the 28th  of December at Peniel Centre and we are looking forward to have between 50 and 60 children all from Hope fountain area coming to attend this camp. We are also planning to invite child psychologists who would help us by providing counselling to some of the children especially those that come from abusive families.

Our desire is to bring total healing to orphans and vulnerable children through these camps, so would you please join us by praying for enough finances for the camp, divine wisdom as we meet children from different backgrounds, creative ways of ministering to these children.  Pray also that we will see a number of them making a decision to follow Jesus. 

We are planning also to have an “Everyone`s banquet” where we will give these children an opportunity to celebrate their birthdays together, with a cake for each month of the year. Please pray with us for God`s provision as we plan to celebrate Christmas with these children. We are also going to invite the whole community on the 28th of December and give the children an opportunity to minister to adults from the community, so please pray also for boldness and courage on the part of the children who are going to present something to the community. 

Thank you very much for partnering with us in brightening the future of the children. 

Blessings

Gideon