I hope all is well with you, your families and ministries. The Lord is taking care of us. Travelling is a bit scary now because of cholera and typhoid outbreak in my country. 28 souls have been lost so far. May you please pray for these deceases to be under control. There are no cases of these deceases in Hwange so far.
Attached is my challenging dialogue with my daughter Chilengwa which I just thought of sharing with you. I have also attached her photo.
Blessings to you all.
Alec
There is a certain lady who came from Bulawayo to build her home in Hwange outskirts. She does not seem to have relatives in Hwange. She spends most of her time at bus terminus and that’s where she sleeps. She hardly speaks to anyone. She looks shabby because of sleeping on the bare ground. I had seen her several times but I never bothered myself talking to her. One day when Chilengwa came from School saw her by the veranda at the shop and approached her for a dialogue. The lady explained to Chilengwa her intention for coming to Hwange and how she struggled to get food and a better place to put up. Chilengwa was emotionally moved. She came and told us about her. I said to Chilengwa, “Yea everyone is talking about her. She must be insane.” She remained silent. When the School holiday was over I accompanied Chilengwa to the Bus terminus. I saw Chilengwa going to that lady and bought her some food from her pocket money. They seemed to have a good conversation.
A week later I went to the bus terminus to talk to that lady with an intention of learning more about her. She first ignored me until I told her that I was Chilengwa’s father. She apologized. Through the conversation and her strings tied on her arms, neck and legs I knew she was a demon-possessed. I learnt that her family did not even know about her whereabouts.
When Chilengwa came back from School for a weekend she asked me to go and talk to that lady. I strongly discouraged her to associate with her any more. As a concerned and loving father, my fear was that my daughter would end up being initiated with a demon and little did I know that Chilengwa was spiritually growing in her Christianity. She began to cry. I went on to say, “I am trying to protect you from evil spirits.” She said to me, “Daddy, God has put a burden in me to talk to that lady about salvation. I dreamed several times God telling me to talk to her. And I have been praying about it. I think it’s now high time that I should talk to her about the Word of God.” I remained silent as I realised that God was somehow involved into that issue. That very week I attended a Christian Conference with a Theme: “Ministry Today–A heart for the Community.” The main text was Matthew 25:36-45. I was touched with the Lord’s words, “Then he will answer them, “Truly, I say to you as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.” I realized how often we overlook the needs of the marginalized people—the insane, poor, sick, hungry, prisoners etc. Doing well to these least people is doing well to Jesus. I strongly regretted that I discouraged Chilengwa to do a good thing to a demon-possessed woman, a shelter less woman, and a hungry woman. I realized that this lady needs spiritual and physical deliverance. When I came back I bought her food and assured her that Chilengwa would like to talk to her about the good news of our Lord. I apologized to my daughter and pray that her conversation with her will bring spiritual blessings.
For all those who are interested in supporting Zimbabwe ministry, please make your donations to:
Jill Hartzel. Email: hartzz1@comcast.net
Good Neighbor Network
2445 SW Crestdale Dr
Portland, OR 97225.
In His Service
Alec.
