Baptist Global Response

BGR prayer strategist Lori Funderburk reports:

Praise the Lord that the paper has arrived in Zimbabwe for the 300,000 exercise books we are printing. The covers have all been cut and printing on them has begun. In one afternoon 4,000 covers were folded and the insides inserted! The widows who have been receiving some of the BGR food parcels are coming to help staple the exercise books together.  Pray that the exercise books will be finished in a timely manner and that many children will be blessed by them!

BGR’s international prayer strategist, Lori Funderburk, shares this prayer request:

BGR partners have been struggling to get three new water wells at the Sanyati Hospital in Zimbabwe.  The large pumps pushing water 7 kilometers from the river are working when there is electricity but we need these three drilled wells in production so we can use a generator to provide water when public electricity is not on.

Partners are drilling the boreholes but seem to get jammed at 25 meters.  Please pray that the men using the drilling rigs will overcome whatever it is that is jamming the bits.  Pray that in just a few days there will be wells pumping water that will pump for many years!

This in from BGR prayer coordinator Lori Funderburk:

300,000 exercise books are needed for our 2010 school year BGR project in Zimbabwe.  To make these exercise books we need paper.  That paper has to be imported.  We need the paper very soon in order to have the books printed and ready for distribution by January 2010.

The Ministry of Education in Zimbabwe is working to secure the documentation needed to receive exemption from customs duties and fees from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.  Please pray that this documentation will be issued ASAP.

We have written numerous times about the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe and the ways Southern Baptists are reaching out to help people in need in that country. One aspect of that crisis is the way deteriorating infrastructure was crippling the work of Sanyati Baptist Hospital. Southern Baptists, through Baptist Global Response, stepped up to help the hospital by replenishing its drug supply and working to repair its water delivery system. You can read about those projects here and here.

Now we have a letter of thanks from David Mtisi, the administrator at Sanyati, for the lifesaving assistance rendered through BGR. His letter says, in part (and edited for clarity):

On behalf of the Sanyati Baptist Hospital staff and residents of Sanyati in general, I would like to thank you so much for your unwavering support during these needy times.

The availability of the so much needed drugs which we received saw us reaching greater heights in delivering our health services to near and far patients. Almost all hospitals in Zimbabwe closed shop because of the unavailability of drugs but we managed to sail through even up to this day. This is all because of the support from the Baptist Global Response.

Almost for quite a long time we didn’t have a reliable source of water and the hospital in particular many times would have untold difficulties in delivering our services without water. We resorted to neighboring community wells because we didn’t have choice. The pipes that draw water from Munyati river where we got our water for a long time were out of order hence they have been replaced by the Baptist Global Response. So far four boreholes have been drilled and old one has been cleaned and new connecting pipes have been laid to ferry water to the main reservoir tank for distribution. We now have a lot of clean, safe water here in the mission station and this is why I write this letter to thank you so much for the wonderful work done here.

With these few words I thank you all those who contributed towards these projects. May the Almighty God richly blesses you all and may you live to see us in the best of health.

David Mtisi
Hospital Administrator

There remains a lot of work to be done on the water project. They have had problems with the wells not pumping water and another drilling rig was to be brought out to clean and re-case the wells.

The generous, caring souls who donated to help this project should receive Mr. Mtisi’s word of thanks with gratitude. God has worked through your generosity to make a real, life-saving difference for people at Sanyati. Through you, he has given people new hope and new life. The love and compassion of Christ has been demonstrated in a tangible way for the Sanyati community and all those who come  to the hospital from all over Zimbabwe for help. We join Mr. Mtisi in thanking God for people who care about people in need.

By Mike Creswell

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — The orphan girls stood silently as the brown paper parcels were opened, their eyes widening as they began to think maybe this was something for them.

They squealed with delight when colorful new dresses were handed to them to try on.

A new dress is a remarkable and precious thing in this impoverished country. Zimbabwe has been battered by economic collapse, political turmoil, violence and disease in recent years. A cholera outbreak in late 2008 killed more than 4,000 people and sickened at least 10,000.

But those numbers are small compared to the ongoing AIDS epidemic, which has killed millions across central and southern Africa, leaving countless children orphaned — like those in the home in Bulawayo, which is assisted by the Baptist Union of Zimbabwe.

“The kids are all smiles,” said Ann Mitchell, executive director of the Baptist Union of Zimbabwe. “The materials used are a constant cause of amazement. They will last for ages, even if they are pounded on a rock in the washing process. The designs are so very different from anything seen here. What a blessing!”

Getting the dresses delivered was made possible by Southern Baptist missionaries who partnered with staff from Baptist Global Response. General relief donations — given by Baptists across the United States through their state conventions, North American Mission Board and International Mission Board — paid for 600 dresses to be delivered to Zimbabwe.

The dresses themselves, however, came from the hands of Addilene Leonard of Louisburg, N.C., a smallish town about 30 minutes from Raleigh, the state capital.

Baptists use Bibles, puppets, videos and many other tools for missions. Leonard uses her sewing machine.

Click here for the rest of the article and photos

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Southern Baptists are continuing to provide desperately needed relief to families suffering in Zimbabwe’s unprecedented economic disaster.

“The current unemployment rate is reported to be 94 percent and the annual inflation rate was estimated this past October at 2 trillion percent,” said Mark Hatfield, who with his wife, Susan, directs Baptist Global Response work in Sub-Saharan Africa. “One expert put the rate in December at 516 quintillion percent – the highest ever recorded.”

The country’s new national unity government emerged from a weekend retreat April 6 with a visionary 100-day plan to bring Zimbabwe out of its downward spiral. The agenda focuses on five “clusters” – the economy, security, infrastructure, social services and interests and rights.

The challenge they face, however, staggers the imagination, Hatfield said. The only goods available in stores are priced in foreign currency that ordinary citizens do not have. Those who do have some money in the bank are limited to withdrawals to small to purchase food. Hospitals are hamstrung by a lack of medicines, water and electricity. Schools cannot function for lack of teachers and supplies.

“Overall, the situation in Zimbabwe is worse than I have ever seen it,” Hatfield said. “The lack of jobs, currency, water and food has collapsed the country’s economy. I am filled with appreciation for the way Southern Baptists allow me to represent them as we physically demonstrate the love of Christ to people in desperate need.”

Southern Baptists have responded on several fronts, including food distribution, school supplies and assistance to Sanyati Baptist Hospital.

Read more here

Dr. Mark Byler, director at Sanyati Baptist Hospital in Zimbabwe, sends this urgent prayer concern:

Friday morning a family of seven was brought into the hospital with severe burns. They were storing fuel in their home and it exploded when preparing to cook. The have burns anywhere from 15% to 55% of their bodies. Two of the seven have died today, a 10 year old boy and 13 year old girl. Another one probably will die as well.

Please pray for this family. It is very difficult to treat these types of wounds, especially without water and electricity. The next few days will be critical in their chances of survival. Pray for healing and pray for wisdom for the staff as they treat him.

With the economic situation in Zimbabwe so difficult, Southern Baptists have been looking for ways to connect with people in need. One way has been to send boxes of food to families. The expressions of gratitude have been touching.

Another very significant way Southern Baptists have been reaching out to Zimbabwean families is something most American families would take for granted: school supplies. The unimaginable financial plight of families in Zimbabwe, however, means that even a simple, inexpensive (to us) gesture demonstrates God’s love to them in a way we can hardly fathom.

Southern Baptists recently helped Zimbabwean families with school children by providing 250,000 workbooks, plus pens, pencils, and sharpeners. It would take two months’ wages for a family to purchase just the workbooks for three school-age children. Southern Baptists were able to help a family like that for just $15.

The reaction of families when they receive the school supplies has been very moving. We’ll let Kelly Carruthers, BGR’s Southern Baptist partner on the field, tell you the story:

Have you ever not been able to buy your children notebooks for their school work? Have you ever seen the price of a notebook cost more than you make in a month? That seems farfetched and impossible, but it is the situation in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is hurting. That is the understatement of the year. I went to Zimbabwe yesterday and what I am seeing is hard to describe. The people there are so resilient, tough, thankful, and continuing to remain hopeful, in a time when there is no way their government can bail them out of anything.

However, there is one silver lining. Baptist Global Response is allowing me to make a huge difference in the lives of those who do not have food and various toiletries and in the lives of school children who have not had notebooks in months.

Teachers and parents are overwhelmed at what we are giving. The teachers cannot afford a single notebook on their monthly salary. Mothers came up to me almost in tears because we had given their children notebooks. I couldn’t stand to have them thank me. It is you, Baptist people from all over, who have allowed me the privilege of driving your vehicle and carrying gifts which bear your name. We do this in the name of Christ, and it does make a difference.

This just in from BGR prayer coordinator Lori Funderburk:

Last June, the inflation rate in Zimbabwe was over 1 million percent and rising.  Today it is over 11 million percent and continues to accelerate.  For many months an average worker has not been able to earn enough money to buy food.  Some people have even stopped going to work because their salaries will not cover the cost of even one essential element. 

Hospital workers and teachers have stopped going to their jobs.  The staff at Sanyati Baptist Hospital left on strike. ( The hospital is not in control of the issues they are striking over.)  The only staff remaining are the heads of departments and 27 nurses.  The hospital has closed outpatient services and the pharmacy and will discharge all patients who are not critical.  It will be open to local emergencies and maternity only.  The laundry and ability to sterilize instruments is gone.

– Pray that those operating the hospital will have wisdom in this situation.

– Pray for the patients who will not have the means of medical care needed.

– Pray that Christians and the church in Zimbabwe will seek God and take a leadership role and that God will be glorified in the outcome of this situation.

Mark Hatfield, who directs Baptist Global Response work in Sub-Saharan Africa, sends this note from a Southern Baptist field partner involved in the food boxes Southern Baptists have been delivering to needy people in Zimbabwe. Many of those food parcels are going to retired people who have no pension.

An Irish lady who has been in Zimbabwe since the 1960s took me to the Harare airport on Friday.  She recently retired and received her pension from her 40 years of teaching in Zimbabwe.  My mom taught more than 40 years in Georgia and now has a comfortable monthly retirement.  This godly Irish lady received her pension in a lump sum, drove to the grocery store, spent her whole pension and walked out the door with a small bag of groceries. 

As we drove to the airport, I noticed the gas gauge on her little car was well below “E.”  The first place we stopped to get fuel did have fuel, but no power to pump it.  Many other places we passed had no fuel.  We drove back into town and found a filling station with fuel.  She pulled out a 25-liter coupon someone had given her and pumped that amount into her car.  I don’t think she knew where her next tank of fuel would come from. 

She never complained but, in the course of our conversation, I learned just how much this lady and her husband depend on God for their every need.  And God has proven faithful.