January 2025
Rev J B Jardine
Maternity Ward at Mbuma Hospital. The new maternity ward, paid for by donations from our friends in Holland, is complete and will be opened shortly. The ward will have four delivery beds, two Caesarean beds, 24 antenatal and post-natal beds, three incubators, four toilet areas and three shower areas. The larger ward replaces a smaller facility that was overcrowded and without adequate washing facilities.
Mr Keith Mpata, Divinity Student. Mr Mpata was successful in obtaining his UK Visa in September and was able to begin his second-year studies with Rev A MacColl in Dingwall. He is expected to return to Zimbabwe towards the end of February 2025, DV. It is our prayerful desire that he might be richly blessed in his studies.
Food Shortage. The failed harvest of 2023-24 and a similar prospect for the 2024-25 harvest continues to be a cause for concern. The official designation given to the present situation is that of a “food crisis”. This means that there is a lack of food, causing malnutrition, and that families are having to deplete essential livelihood assets such as their cattle to get by. This is stage 3 of a five-stage scale with stage 5 being classed as “catastrophe / famine”. If the harvest fails in this coming year, then the situation will only grow worse. If the harvest is successful, things will still not improve on the ground until at least April or May 2025. The areas in which our Mission work is based are among those affected, and deaths associated with malnutrition have been reported in these areas.
With the help of our Dutch friends on the Mbuma Zending Committee we have endeavoured to meet the needs of our own people and the school children under our care in Zimbabwe. The Mbuma Zending Committee has already donated towards our relief efforts, and assured us of their willingness to give more if required. A total of about £43 400 has been sent out in the past year to assist in general or congregational food relief, including £16 800 from the Jewish and Foreign Mission Fund and £9495 left over from our appeal in 2019, both of which reflect contributions from our people, directly and through congregations.
The actual amounts of money needed and the way that it is used are managed by a committee of Mission staff based in Zimbabwe itself. They have sought to meet immediate needs in the provision of foodstuffs, as well as providing seed and fertiliser for future planting. There is also a programme in our five Primary Schools, where pupils are given a regular meal during the school day. Much prayer is required in view of the need for suitable conditions for a good harvest in early 2025.
Bible Distribution and Translation Work. The Zimbabwe Presbytery has received 6000 Ndebele Bibles for distribution in the coming months. The Publications Committee of the Presbytery has now translated the book of sermons by the Rev Donald Macfarlane on the love of God into both Ndebele and Shona.
Thembiso Former Residents Trust. According to the annual Thembiso Development Plan for 2020, the Jewish and Foreign Mission Committee agreed to the setting up of a Thembiso Former Residents Trust (TFRT) to support those in the process of leaving, or who have already left, the care and oversight of the Thembiso Home. The main areas of support would provide: (a) measured financial assistance (in terms of amount and duration) for educational fees, clothing, travel, housing (either renting or assistance with construction); (b) help with getting to and from church services; (c) regular
social contact; (d) home visits; (e) opportunities to visit former “family” members at Thembiso, and take part in reunions and day trips.
As regular contact with Thembiso former residents is maintained year by year, and relationships are strengthened and renewed, the value of the TFRT is evident. The level of input required to support such young people becomes more obvious when their mental, emotional and moral resilience is tested in the life experiences they meet after they leave Thembiso. The majority of those that the TFRT stay connected with are showing a desire to stay connected with one another and with the Trust members, especially face-to-face contact, something which is to be encouraged.
It is hoped that in 2025, the Lord willing, the work of the Thembiso Trust will continue to be effective and increase in usefulness among those for whom it has been set up. Members of the TFRT are conscious that it is only Divine power that can break the bands of iron which bind our young people in the kingdom of darkness. The prayers of the readers of this Magazine are craved, for the Most High to prosper His Word in their souls, to His glory.