Home of Hope in Zimbabwe - January 2021 Update
Harare, Zimbabwe
Dear friends,
We thank God that despite the pandemic, we were still able to celebrate Christ’s birth by giving gifts to the destitute. We did not know how we would be able to get clothing to distribute, but our Heavenly Father provided. There is nothing that he can’t do even in a worldwide crisis. At the beginning of the lockdown, many felt abandoned when churches were forced to close and the people who usually helped them could not but we were able to give them help and a bit of a Christmas celebration which helped to show them that their Father still cares.
We usually serve food to about 100 people a day three times a week. We expected about 120 people to come for the Christmas parcels, but we prepared for 150 just in case. We bought t-shirts, beef pies, maputi (roasted corn), soap, bananas, and coolies (freeze pops) for the parcels. We served about 170 people and we were glad that we could at least give them clothes when we ran out of parcels. We also gave out Christmas parcels to the little ones who go to primary school. Schools reopened in the third term. The primary students walk past Home of Hope on their way to school and we give them a sandwich, biscuits, and a lollipop to take to school. For their Christmas parcels, we gave them soccer balls, packets of marshmallows, games, and toys.
This crisis helps us remember what’s important in our lives, for without God it would not be possible to live here. Every time I look at what’s happening in the world, I get depressed and fearful, but then God gives me a nudge and says look to him and not at what’s going on. Everything on earth is fragile at this moment. We can lose everything in this earthly life – friends, family, home, wealth, health – but we can't lose God's everlasting love and our salvation in Jesus.
We thank God for you, for your incredible support. We pray that the Lord may bless you and keep you and that he may make his face to shine upon you in 2021. We are guaranteed tough times, but we are assured in Psalm 34:19 says, “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”
Blessings,
Joan, Craig, Ria, and Dave
Read more about Home of Hope in Zimbabwe HERE.
THE NEED
The Outreach Foundation is seeking gifts totaling $36,000 for the Home of Hope ministry to street people. You may make a gift HERE or by sending a check to our office.