P.O. BOX 6018

GWERU

ZIMBABWE

FEBRUARY 1996

Dear Friends,

The Christmas holi^ys are now a pleasant memory and the church in Gweruis settling down once more to its routine. The December preaching was on'LOVE', and culminated in God's love in sending His Son. Our Christmasservices, like those the world over, had our little building full.

This busy period was follov/ed by two weeks of low attendance. The mainreason was that for our African people, it is a time to visit relatives in the ruralareas, and for our coloured youths who largely come from broken homes, itis also a time to visit a parent living in the larger cities of Bulawayo andHarare.

The month of January was not without events. Lisa and her sister Rose, wentto visit their father in Melbourne, Australia. He suffered a stroke, and thedoctors thought that another more severe one might occur soon. The visitwas full of bitter sweet memories, as both Lisa and Rose were able to workwith their younger sister, Marie-France. This culminated in Marie-France's

-baptism, whc was immersed in the sea. Please pray for her. Both sistersalso made a stop in Mauritius, where they were born and met with the oldermembers of this large family. There again, they were able to witness for theirfaith in a much Catholic and traditional environment.

Meantime, the work at the church in Gweru continued under Jim's auspices,despite him suffering from acute diverticulitis. The illness left Jim in bed for aweek. However, the members of the congregation were able to cope, and itis with some joy that we are able to report this . It is an indication that someof our training has been fruitful. Normal attendance at church hasresumed; we count between fifty to sixty every week, although not everyoneattends at the same time. If we did have all members every week, thebuilding would not be big enough.

We are planning to start a 'Praise and Worship' service at Athlone, onSunday evenings as our coloured church members come from this suburbof Gweru. This will provide us with a natural outreach into their community.The style of service will however ensure that committed members will stiltcontinue to attend church in the morning as well. Please pray as we lookfor a suitable venue for this activity.

We had been concerned about 'further education' for our people, and Jimwas discussing the matter with one of our members who does not attendregularly. Much to our surprise, he donated a large sum for this purpose Itwill enable a student to attend Bible college for two years. Our funds here

are limited to the day to day running of the church and there is no provisionfor projects of this sort. We praise the Lord for this donation and for theencouragement it has provided.

We have been approached by Scripture Union to help teach in schools. Lisahas participated in an 'Aids Awareness' programme at a local High School.Her approach to this has been so appreciated that she has also been askedto teach in Junior Schools. Her services are voluntary and not remunerated.We" are also participating, vt'ith other locals ministers and pastors, and theirwives in twice-monthly meetings of fellowship and prayer. We are pleasedto be contribute to the greater outreach of His church in this city.

God has opened up the heavens and given us exceptional rains. Theheaviest downpours have been in the Midlands, where Gweru is. Farmersare rejoicing, dams are filling up quickly and we all thank and praise God forHis goodness. We need the rains till the end of the maize growing season,to ensure that our people can be adequately fed in the future. We ask you tocontinue to pray for the country.

We thank you for your partnership in our work in Zimbabwe. We continue toenjoy working for the Lord and seeing how great is our God.

Yours in Christ,

.Jifn arfd Lisa Bacon -

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JIM and LISA BACON Forwarding Agent:P.O. BOX 6018 Mr. Bili MayesGWERU Central Africa Mission

ZIMBABWE 1405 Arroyo DriveAFRICA Frankfort, KY 40601

U.S.A.

May 1996

Dear Christian Friends,

We are pleased to report that our congregation has started to grow, bothnumerically and spiritually. The worship services are still in English, with theexception of public prayers and some hymns which are in English and inShona, the loca! language. The small children attending our services andjunior church are bringing their mothers and their friends along. Youngermen living on the farms nearby are also coming to our services. As aconsequence, we have baptized four people during the last month... theMoyo sisters, who live in a grim slum behind the local bottle store, a youngman called Lovejoy who gave a touching and powerful confession of faithand emphasized his repentance at our weekly Bible study, and Alvin, ayoung man with whom Steve Whitmer had been working before hisdeparture to the States. We now total ten baptisms, since our arrival at theGweru Christian Church. There

are others who have come forward to confess Christ. Among these, wecount Ms Nathan, a seventy year old black lady, whose husband is a Moslemand who because of ill health and hospitalization has not been able to bebaptized yet. . /

SELF-HELP SCHEME.

We mentioned the Dickensian poverty of the people living in the slumsbehind the Bottle store. The women there are unemployed, have manychildren, and sometimes are not even able to feed them. They have beenabandoned by their husbands, who have left them for younger partners, andbecause of the fear of Aids, the wives would not consent to live with theirphilandering husbands again. Moreover, these women have no skills oreducation . We have therefore decided to put together a self-help scheme,where the women are taught to sew clothing for their children, and for sellingto the public at large. Lisa meets with them on Tuesday afternoons, whenshe teaches them the basics of sewing. Everything is done by hand atpresent. We need at least two hand sewing machines to start with. We alsointend to decorate the room allocated for this project, and provide moreadequate furniture, such as tables and chairs. We also need some funds formaterials, and the necessary tools for sewing. While the ladies sew, theylisten to the New Testament audio tapes in Shona, and hopefully we willobtain lessons and music in Shona from the Zimbabwe Christian College.We would appreciate a one time gift to assist us in this project.

DINKI GOES TO COLLEGE

We raised some local support and were given a 50% grant for Dinki Sumailito start studies in May at the Zimbabwe Christian College. This young manhas shown great potential for service in the Kingdom, and has heeded God'scalling. He has grown and matured greatly since we first met him last year.We are praying that he will remain faithful to his calling. Gweru needs youngdedicated men like him to take the youths of this city into the 21st century.Another young man, Stuart Woods, has made inquiries to start at the ZCC.He has not yet obtained results of his high school examinations, but we arehopeful that if he is successful, and if we can raise some support for him, hecould follow in Dinki's footsteps in May 1997.

LABOURS

The Easter programmes were well attended. We thank Dan MacArthur forproviding us with the music at our Praise & Worship service on Good Friday.The singing on Mondays and the Bible studies on Wednesdays continue toproduce good and positive results. The church will be ordering two 8-footbenches from Harare to accommodate the additional people who attend ourworship services. Lisa worked with 'Scripture Union' last term teaching in thepublic schools. She has been invited by the Principal of a local PrimarySchool to present a programme on "Moral and Religious Education' and'Education for Living'. She also holds a Women's group study once a month.She teaches lessons on Family and Women's Issues. Please pray for her,as she reaches the women and the children in the community. Jim continuesto do his pastoral callings and discipling of the young Christian men of thecongregation.

FINANCIAL STATEMENT (after 1 year)We wish to give our supporters an account of what their contribution is beingused for. We receive an average of US$625.- monthly, which is equal toZ$5,800.- approx.Tithe to Gweru C.C. - $100 weekly 400.-Electricity 550.-Water, 50.-Rates ($300 every 2 months) 150.-Telephone 250.-Medical Insurance 375.-

Transportation (Rides to and from Athlone on Mondays,Wednesdays, Sundays, visits, calls, schools , etc 450.-

Food and Groceries (Hospitality included) 3,000.-General upkeep of property and vehicle 300.-Miscellaneous - Running of the church, charity , 275.-

Total expenses 5,800.-Unfortunately, during the last two months, support has not reached the figureof US#625. Inflation is running high despite better rates for the US dollar,and we are beginning to hurt. There is no surplus for clothing, a vehicle ofour own, projects, emergencies. We live modestly and at present, we are

thankful that we live rent free. Our English contributors take care of ourinsurances in the UK.

We thank our friends for their faithfulness in their correspondence. It isalways good to hear from you all. We also thank our supporters for theirprovision and partnership in our ministry. Please continue to pray for us andfor our work in Gweru.

Yours In Christ,

Jim and Lisa Bacon

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Jim & Lisa BaconP.O.Box 6018

Gweru, ZimbabwePhone: 011-263-54-51850

iJK Contact: GillAHardice, Bromsgrove Christian Church;/•<? r.nntact: Bill & Ruth Mayes, 1405 Arroyo, Frankfort KY 40601

September 1996

Dear Christian Friends»

We are now entering the last quarter of 1996. Winterhasgone, and already the temperature is soaring into the 80C.We have had visitors from Britain during the months of Julyand August - time for showing the country and the work ofGweru Christian Church. It was good to be with Gill andJohn AHardice and catch up with all the news from Spring-dale College and tlie congregation inBromsgrove, England.We thank these dear friends for taking time to be with us andgiving us the much needed encouragement and fellowship.

Gweru Christian Church continues to grow. We have hadanother five baptisms, and four re-dedications. Attendanceis now averaging 40 adults and 45 children; one Sunday wehad literally wail to wall people, and topped the 100 mark.Most of the additions in the church come from the Shonaspeaking people, living on the surrounding farms. We areconsidering establishing a community church, where theworship services would be held in Shona, and would caterfor thespiritual requirements of these members. Wearestillmaking plans for an outreach in the Athlone area of Gweru,where most of our English speaking people live. This willenableus to ministerculturallyand linguistically to thewholecongregation. In the meantime, Jimcontinues to minister tothe whole church, while others like Major Rapuwu (a Shonaarmy chaplain) occasionally help with the preaching.

Bible StudyThe Wednesday bible studies are still well attended, espe

cially by the young adults numbering 20+. We are at presentstudying the book of Phillipians, emphasizing on how to be

Good Fellowship at Bibte Studyl

joyful in the Lord even when things go wrong. There aremuch pain and unhappiness among our young people, whocome from very dysfianctional background. We want themto stand firm in the Lord.

Junior Bible ClubWe have alsoorganized a "BibleClub" on Friday after

noons, which is led by one of our young adults, TerranceChikonye. The children, who attend our Junior church onSundays, come to sing - with gusto, and learn about God -with eagerness, and ttien joininsimple games. It is refreshing to see how much joy these 20-30 children receive fromtheseactivities. We have reachedmany families throu^ thisexercise, andwe pray thatmany seeds are sown for Christ.It has taught us a new humility, as we serve Him throughthem!

Junior Club at play!

Youth WeekendIn August, we held a Youdi Weekend which started on

Saturday from 10 a.m. to9 p.m., although it waswell past10 p.m. when Jim slipped into an easy chair, after transportingthe young people home. The day'sprogrammes arranged byour youth, started with a time ofpraise and worship, followedby volleyball or football, indoor games, lunch, a video film,more volleyball, a 'sing and share' session, cool drink and

popcorn and a final video! We had some fifty of differentcultural background attend. They played hard, their praiseandworship sessions were just great, the day never flaggedas theymoved fromitemto item. Gweru is a quiet city, withnot a lot todo. Thisprovided them with a fun filled day inawholesome Christian environment. They also led the Sundayworship service and wehad ourbest attendance ever! 109!

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The lord has provided us with five handsewing machinesthroughOperationSunshine Britishchurch-related aid organisation;a localdonor gaveus the money to havebenchesandchairs made, and we received materials, buttons & otheraccessories from yet another local source. All this hasenabled the church to reach out into the community, andprovide practical help for needy families. TheShona ladiescome together and sow, while learning about Christ. TTieypray, sing choruses, and enjoy their devotional times. Spirituality is an essential part of African life, and this type ofoutreach strikes at the very heart of their everj'day living We strive to win them for Christ and give thema secure place in society, in fellowship with other Christians.We are currently looking at the possibility of a similarscheme for the men.

send Dii^ to Zimbabwe Christian College. It is with great pleasure that we can write thatour 'Timothy' obtained two A+ & three A's, at the end ofhis first term. Praise the Lord, for His continued guidanceof this lad. Dinki has been working with the church duringthis winter vacation and has preachedtwice. He also showsfine qualities of leadership, which we trust will be used forthe growth of this church in the ftiture.

As Whitmers have indi-cated that they will return toZimbabwe in March 1997,we are now looking for alter-nate accommodation. Westill need a vehicle, and willhave to rent or buy a houseclose by, inorder tocontinue Bour work with the church. | JE aThis means thatadditional fi- "*^41 •nancial support will be *needed, if our ministryis to take root here. Will yoube ourpartners in this vital Christian enterpprise in Africa?

Please continue to pray for us.Yours in Christ^s Service.

k''"hand Lise Bacon

Prayer List:The People of GweruGweru Christian ChurchGod's Guidance in Our Work

Dinky SumailiThe Self-Help Scheme

^ew. Support for Bacons and Their WorkXhe Critical Need of Housing and Vehicle for Bacom

'Vhanlcsgiving for Those Alr^y Supporting the WortThat the Needed Rains Come in November to providtthe food necessary for the coming year.

Thanks for

Thanks for the Bibles that have been sent and received.These have already been distributed. Just remember:

Old or New

More are Needed From You!