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Zimbabwean family profiles

Through the generous ongoing support of Family to Family donors, the following families have received food and encouragement. Their stories were provided to us by BIC World Mission workers who are serving in partnership with the Brethren in Christ Church of Zimbabwe.

Christopher Moyo & family
Meet the Christopher Moyo family from the Matabeleland South province in Zimbabwe. In addition to Christopher and his wife, Lillian Ncube, the Moyo household (village) includes: nephew, Andrew Ncube, his wife, Nomasuthu Nyathi Ncube, and their two children, Philani and Kimberly; Christopher and Lillian’s grade-school–aged grandson, Mthulisi; and two persons not related by blood to the family—a sixth grader named Nkululeko Sibanda and a woman named Sharon Mkwanazi. Sharon contributes to the family by carrying water, cutting firewood, cooking, and working in the fields.

For most of his adult life, Christopher was employed by the Brethren in Christ Church as an electrician and plumber, but diabetes, hypertension, and other health issues make it impossible for him to work these days. Anele earns about $50 (US) a month from part-time work for BIC missionaries Jake Shenk and Steve Newcomer. His wages help to feed, clothe, educate, and pay medical expenses for the family. Anele also has planted a field of maize and is looking forward to a good harvest, assuming baboons or bush pigs don’t get there first.

Makhiwa Sikhosana & Elizabeth Sikhosana
Makhiwa Honest Sikhosana and his grandmother, Elizabeth Behbhe Sikhosana, live in a rundown thatched hut just outside Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. Despite hearing impairments and blindness in one eye, Elizabeth manages to eke out a meager living for herself and her grandson.

To say that Makhiwa has had a “hard life” is an understatement. His growth has been stunted by the AIDS virus, making him appear much younger than his 18 years. He had to drop out of school after the second grade because his family couldn’t afford the school fees. Then his parents died, making Makhiwa one of the more than 1.3 million children in Zimbabwe that have been orphaned by the HIV/AIDS p andemic. Despite these challenges, Makhiwa attends the Emganwini Brethren in Christ Church when he is able.

Micah & Mary Dube
Micah and Mary Dube live on the Zimbabwe Brethren in Christ Church’s Matopo Mission, one of the first mission stations to be established by North American missionaries more than 100 years ago. He is 83 years old and she is 73. Mary was baptized in 1952 at Mtshabezi Mission (another BIC mission station in Zimbabwe), and Micah was baptized in 1950 at Matopo Mission.

Micah worked as a carpenter at Matopo for many years, where he also served as the hostel master and part-time pastor. Mary was the school librarian, playing a significant role in the development of the Matopo Mission library.

Run-away inflation and the complete collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar have robbed this elderly couple of what little savings they had managed to accumulate. They have tried raising chickens as a way of supporting themselves, but because of mobility issues (Micah has a pelvic injury that makes walking difficult; Mary, too, struggles to walk without assistance) as well as a limited amount of money with which to buy chicks, their venture has come to a standstill. And the Dube’s attempt at gardening has been thwarted by animals breaking into the beds and eating the plants.

“Micah contributed a great deal to the development of the mission and the growth of the church,” says Jake Shenk, BIC World Missions (BICWM) regional administrator for Southern Africa. “Mary is still a pillar and source of inspiration for the people at Matopo. It is sad to see a couple who has devoted their lives to the church and mission living so poorly in their retirement years.”

Bhaliwe Malunga & family
Meet Bhaliwe Malunga. Bhaliwe, who is 92 years old, was born at Mabhikwa, in the Dobi area of Zimbabwe’s Matopo District where she has lived all her life.

Bhaliwe joined the Brethren in Christ Church at the age of 15 and was married at the Matopo Mission. She has out-lived all 10 of her children and is now providing care for three of orphaned grandchildren. Despite her advanced age and limited mobility, Bhaliwe goes out every day to cut grass that she sews into floor mats to sell as a means of support for her family.

Emma Maphosa & family
Emma Maphosa and her family live near the Matopo Mission where they attend the Dobi Brethren in Christ Church. Emma’s husband passed away 20 years ago, leaving the then-65-year old widow to care for a mentally handicapped son (who often wanders away from their home) and several grandchildren. In recent years, her family has grown to include 10 children, the youngest of whom is only two months old. Although she would like to work, a paralyzed right hand adds to the difficulty Emma faces in trying to support her large family. What little money she has goes for food. As a result, just four of her 10 grandchildren are able to go to school.

Emma’s youngest grandchild, two-month-old Nkosinomusa Sitsha, was orphaned within hours of his birth when his mother died en route to Matopo Mission Clinic following a difficult home delivery. Emma was left with the responsibility of finding milk and suitable food for the newborn.

Jeconiah Velapi & family
Meet the Jeconiah Velapi family from Wabayi village in Zimbabwe. Jeconiah and his wife, Sithokozile Ndlovu, are the parents of three children: sons Willard (12) and Ayibongwe (8), and a daughter, Nyarai (10). The boys currently attend a government-run primary school for which the family must pay a yearly fee of 100 Rand (approximately $13 US). Nyarai, who has brain damage as well as physical disabilities, does not attend school as special education is non-existent in the rural areas of Zimbabwe.

Jeconiah worked for the Zimbabwe Prison Service for 25 years before he was forced to quit due to failing eyesight. He underwent an unsuccessful surgical procedure on his right eye in 2006. Surgery on his left eye was cancelled due to a doctor strike and lack of money. In addition to his vision problems, Jeconiah also deals with asthma and hypertension.

The family wealth consists of five goats and little else. Because they don’t have oxen and donkeys to use for plowing, Sithokozile must prepare the soil for planting by digging with an old hoe. Thanks to her hard work and recent abundant rains, the family can expect a harvest of about five bags of maize this year—enough for about four months of simple meals.

Claris Mupezeni & family
Meet the Mupezeni family: mother Claris and her children Edeline (17), Prisca (15), Petros (8), and Viola (5). They live in the Nketa suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city. In the five years since her husband died of AIDS-related causes, Claris has tried to support her four children by buying fruit and vegetables in the Bulawayo market and re-selling them from a small stand along the street in her neighborhood. However, as Jake Shenk, BIC World Missions regional coordinator for Southern Africa, explains, “it is virtually impossible for her to earn enough to pay the 400 Rand (approximately $50 US) a month rent on their one-room house, feed the family, and pay school fees.”

The Mupezeni family attends the Nketa Brethren in Christ Church, a congregation well-known for its compassionate outreach to the local community. More than 300 widows and orphans receive food aid each month through one of the congregation’s ministries, and the church has also worked to care for families of children whose parents have died due to AIDS-related causes.

Velemin Khumalo & family
Velemin Khumalo, a 64-year old widow from the Lukadzi area of Zimbabwe’s Matopo District, is responsible for the care of her six orphaned grandchildren: Florence (15), Bridget (14), Bekithemba (9), Simelinkosi (7), Gift (5), and Antonetta (4).

Although Velemin works hard to support her big family by cutting and selling grass to people who are re-thatching the roofs of their huts, her meager earnings don’t go very far toward meeting their basic needs. There’s no money for school fees. And because Velemin cannot afford to buy blankets for all the children, on cold nights the family sleeps on the floor next to the kitchen fire.

“Life is a struggle for this family,” according to Jake Shenk, BIC World Missions (BICWM) regional administrator for Southern Africa. He says that the situation has become so bad for this family that “they eat one meal a day due to lack of food supplies.”

Zacheus & Musa Mayisa
Meet the Zacheus Mayisa family from the Mtshabezi district in Zimbabwe. Zacheus (age 65) and his wife, Musa Nyathi Moyo (age 61), are the parents of nine children, six of whom have passed away. One daughter, Lister, lives with her parents due to a physical disability. Two adult children are married and live in two of Zimbabwe’s largest cities, Bulawayo and Mutare.

The Mayisas have ten grandchildren: Nkosilathi Mayisa; Collette Mayisa; Brilliant Mayisa; Doreen Moyo; Priscilla Mayisa; Primrose Mayisa; Vinoleah Moyo; Maude Mayisa; Memory Mayisa; and Regina Moyo. Many of the grandchildren attend local schools, but some have been forced to return home due to an inability to pay the government’s exorbitant school fees.

Zacheus and Musa have a garden, but the combination of depleted soil and draught conditions produce meager harvests. The family’s only tangible assets are several goats and some livestock which they use for plowing.

Annie Sibanda
Eighty-nine-year old Annie Sibanda (far right in picture) was just a girl when Brethren in Christ missionaries established Wanezi Mission and she has many fond memories of her early years on the station. Annie’s face lights up when she talks about her work as a maid in the homes of missionary families, and for a few minutes, the hardships of the present give way to thoughts of happier days.

Annie was baptized by Rev. A. J. Book in the 1960s, and the church has always been an important part of her life. She likes visiting others and is very keen to attend church services, especially women's meetings. At one point, she was the leader of the Shamba Block BIC Church, where she was assisted by her daughter-in-law. One of her sons was employed but was forced to resign because of ill health. Another son recently committed suicide.

Elina Moyo & family
Elina Moyo is another of the thousands of grandmothers in Zimbabwe who are caring for the orphaned children of their sons and daughters. Elina’s household includes five grandchildren, two of whom have developmental disabilities. A third grandchild struggles with a physical handicap.

Elina doesn’t have a regular income, which makes providing for her family a daily struggle for this long-time widow. Yet she somehow manages to find the time and energy to serve as a volunteer assistant pastor at the Lufuse Brethren in Christ Church in the Wanezi District.

Filda Nhilziyo & family
Filda Nhliziyo is the 49-year old mother of five children, whom she cares for on her own since her husband deserted her for a second wife. Filda doesn’t have a source of income and depends upon the goodwill of others for the school fees and food for her children. She accepted the Lord in 2008 and was baptized in 2009. She attends Shamba Brethren in Christ Church.