Sharon Washaya, Champion leader, writes what it is all about…

Champions for Life Sisterhood

‘Love one another, even as I have loved you. And here is how to measure it – the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for his friends.’ John 15:12-13

“Sisters touch your heart in ways no other could. Sisters share… their hopes, their fears, their love, everything they have. Real friendship springs from their special bonds.” – Carrie Bagwell

What the sisterhood is

In life we need other people. Our makeup is different but within each one of us resounds a deep longing to be loved and accepted as we are. We long to find real friends with whom one can ‘do life’ with. True friends that hold you accountable for your actions. Friends that love you and encourage you on your walk in life. And this is what the Sisterhood is all about, creating a platform for such Godly friendships to develop.

What the Sisterhood looks like on the ground

The Sisterhood is made up of junior Champion girls who are being mentored by older Champion leaders. The girls meet regularly for fellowship and swallowship (!) usually on a Sunday afternoon. Sisterhood time, is a time where the girls get the opportunity to open their hearts and share their experiences, get wisdom and advice on issues their dealing with. We are thankful to Caroline Webber for the amazing devotional series called ‘Know’ that she has personally written for the Sisterhood. It is such a beautiful thing to see the grace that God has extended to us, to see young underprivileged girls rising up to be all that God has made them to be, to see them carrying themselves like the princesses that they are.

CHILDRENS HOME FEEDBACK

Jesus said,”Let the children come unto me for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these”. Matthew 10:14. It’s such a warmth bringing feeling to see and understand the love that our Lord and savior Jesus Christ has for children. As the Christian Medical Fellowship of Zimbabwe we believe that we must also have compassion for children of all ages to continue with the example that our Lord set for us. On Saturday the 18th June a team of 21 CMFZ members visited the Harare Children’s Home. This home shelters 95 children of varying ages from toddlers to 21 year old from different backgrounds each with a different story, some are victims of abuse others were rejected by their parents or are orphaned. Most of these children have never experienced the joy of being a part of a family and all they have are deep scars of rejection and a tormenting past.

Our goal was to bring and share the Love of Christ by his word affirming life, peace, joy and also action by physical touch and donating Blankets, Sanitary pads, cough medicine and buckets. Upon arrival we were greeted by the authorities who gave us a briefing of the history of the place and a glimpse into the life and past of these children. We were however given strict orders not to take photos of the children during the event as it was prohibited by the National Children’s welfare council thus we did not get any photos of the little angel.

After the opening prayer we interacted with children through song and dance as we had a time of praise and worship. It was amazing the enthusiasm that these children had as they sang with no restraint or shadow of fear. The team the presented a drama of David and Goliath with a modern twist to encourage them that no matter the circumstance they could put all their trust in the Lord.

We then got to the time to make our presentation to the children. Chenai Mukumbuzi took time to honour and explain how the blankets were given in remembrance of a very special young boy called Zack Mayo who battled Liver Cancer for a year and the went to Join the Father in heaven. It was an emotional moment as the children were captivated by a story of love extended to them by this special young boy and his family. She then demonstrated the love of Christ as she took a blanket and wrapped around herself as representation of how the love of Christ covers us in the spirit. We also managed to give away sanitary pads for the young girls which were donated by pastor Legis out of the abundance of love in her heart. Lastly we gave away a boxful of cough mixture to beat the winter and buckets as well. Altogether we gave away 100 blankets, 2 cartons sanitary pads, boxful of cough mixture and 20 buckets.

We went off to lunch and after lunch we spent time playing basketball, volleyball and soccer with the children. The girls then had a group session with the adolescent girls to talk about womanhood and also advice on the weightier issues of life. Dr Tafadzwa Shuro our very own dentist then ended our day off with a talk on oral hygiene, a session that was well received by the younger ones. It had been a life changing experience putting a smile on these children faces. We learned to realize more and more how making a difference in ones life was a ministry to one’s own soul.

Our gratitude goes out to Pastor Bruce Binkley and Pastor Sandy Roberts for the donation of blankets, Pastor Legis for the sanitary pads, Dr Reid for all the support and assistance that you gave us. We thank you Dr Reid our mentor and father for supporting us and giving us sound advice. We hope and pray that the Lord bless you for the seed you have sown.

Till then may the Lord bless you and may you remain rock solid unshakeable.

CMFZ
P.O.BOX A165 Avondale Harare
0773 598 096
cmfz2008@gmail.com
6/18/2011

This report also available as a word document: Harare Children’s Home Visit – 18 June 2011.

Little Big Boy

Once upon a time in a place far far away there was a place called the Valley of No Hope.

In the Valley of No Hope lived a little boy called Nobody. Nobody lived a normal life, had normal friends and went to a normal school. One night, Nobody went to sleep after another uneventful day in the Valley of No Hope. That evening, Nobody had a dream, He dreamt of the stars and the moon and of the Mountain of Dreams, where all dreams come true. He dreamt of how successful he was. He saw his house, his wife, his business and his children.

The next morning Nobody got up early and said ‘today I am going to the mountain of dreams where all my dreams will come true’, so Nobody said a little prayer, brushed his teeth and packed his bag. He waved goodbye to his old house and went on to the road that leads to the Mountain of Dreams. He went marching and marching and marching and marching……..

Then suddenly Nobody realized somebody was following him, he slowed down and saw an old man with a hunch back catching up to him. The old man caught up and said with a squeaky voice ‘where are you going little boy, and what your name?’

My name is ‘Nobody and I am going to the Mountain of Dreams’ said Nobody rather sheepishly.

To Nobody’s’ surprise the old man roared with laughter, ‘Mountain of Dreams. Really! A little boy like you? Well that’s unheard of! C’mon on boy go back to your mama. The Mountain of Dreams is not for little boys like you”.

Nobody answered ‘but I have a dream and I want to go to the mountain of dreams”.

The old man laughed again and said, ‘foolish boy, do you even know the way to the mountain of dreams?’

‘No but………’ Nobody started, but before he could finish speaking the old man replied, ‘then how will you know where to go, where will you sleep, how much money do you have, what will you eat’?

Nobody stammered ‘I……….’

‘Exactly!’, said the old man, ‘let me take you back to the valley of no hope’. So with that the old man with the hunch back grabbed Nobody by his hand and started to lead him back to the Valley of No Hope. Nobody was sad and thought his dreams were over already. But then he stopped and remembered who he was. He said to the old man, ‘I do not know how I will do it, but I know this – I am a Champion, I am the head not the tail, I am above and  not beneath , I belong to the Mountain of Dreams’. With that Nobody turned around and walk away from the old man and he went marching towards the Mountain of Dreams leaving he old man shocked. He went marching and marching and marching…………………….

Nobody was so excited that he did not listen to the old man; he skipped, jumped and whistled as he made his way towards the Mountain of Dreams. Then suddenly he heard a loud laughter that stopped him dead in his tracks. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha. This was the Giant of No Money, ‘where are you going little boy?’ the giant asked.

Nobody replied ‘I am going to the Mountain of Dreams’.

The Giant said ‘do you have money to give me little boy?’

Nobody said ‘no, I do not have any money’.

The giant shouted back, ‘no one goes to the Mountain of Dreams without giving me money, NO MONEY, NO DREAMS’.

Nobody was sad, and he started to go back to the Valley of No Hope, but then Nobody remembered that the bible says, “Give and I shall be given back to you”. So out of desperation, Nobody reached for his last coins and gave them to the nearest beggar, as he did that, Nobody saw the Giant of No Money getting weaker, so Nobody went into his bag and gave more and more. The more he gave, the weaker the giant became and then finally Nobody removed his favorite pair of shoes and gave them away and the Giant let out a loud groan and fell to the ground ‘THUMP!’. Nobody jumped up and down and screamed “I did It, I did it”. So Nobody continued with his journey to the mountain of dreams, he went marching and marching and marching and marching……………..

Nobody was so excited about reaching the mountain of dreams, that he started singing his favorite song, “……..you rock my world, you rule you reign you rock my world…….”.

Then suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his back, and another one in his stomach, and then in his head……….Oooooooowwwwwhhhhhhhhh, his whole body was so sore. Nobody staggered along trying to ignore the pain, when he heard an evil terrible laugh. These were the Three Ugly Witches! ‘Ngikakakakakakakakakakaka……….’ they laughed, as they threw curses and concoctions of sickness upon Nobody.

Nobody tried to move away from the witches, but he was so weak and he fell down and started coughing up blood and vomit(sound effect). The Three Ugly Witches squealed, ‘you are going to die here little boy’. And they continued sneering at him and throwing curses. Nobody thought this was it – he was going to die.

Then he remembered that God heals all diseases. So got up on his knees and started to pray. The more he prayed the weaker the Three Ugly Witches became. As he prayed he got stronger and stronger and the witches got weaker and weaker. And finally Nobody said “Amen” and the Three Ugly Witches fell down dead with a loud shriek (sound effect). Nobody immediately better again. He got up and continued his journey to the Mountain of Dreams. He went marching and marching, and marching, and marching…………….

Nobody was almost at the Mountain of Dreams when suddenly he felt the ground shake, Nobody fell down and looked up, he saw a huge giant. It was the Giant of Fear, the Giant beat his chest – BOOM BOOM BOOM – and let out a HUGE roar, RRRRRoooooooooaaaaahhhhhh!! ‘I am going to eat you little boy”.

Nobody was so afraid. He tried running round the giant but could not make it. He tried going underneath the giant and the giant kicked him away. He tried going over the giant but the giant threw him to the ground. Nobody said to himself, “this is it I am finished now”. The Giant beat his chest in victory BOOM BOOM BOOM.

Then Nobody remembered that perfect love conquers fear. So Nobody got up and went to his friends and started loving on them, he called his mother and said, “I love you”. He helped his friend fix his car because he loved his friend. And each time Nobody loved his family and friends, the Giant of Fear became weaker and weaker. Nobody was encouraged and decided to show his friends the greatest love anyone can ever show for another. So he told his friends about the Lord Jesus Christ and as he said to his friends “Jesus loves you”, the Giant of Fear let out one last roar of pain and fell down with a huge THUMP!

Nobody did it, he had made it to the Mountain of Dreams, his friends were so happy for him and no longer called him Nobody but called him Somebody. So from that day Somebody lived in the Mountain of Dreams with all his family and friends.

Everytime Somebody thinks about the Valley of No Hope, he remembers that all things are possible and he is a Champion.

Rivers of Healing and Hope – Testimony

• ‘Children of lesser Gods’
• ‘AIDS orphans’
• ‘Children on the brink’
• ‘Orphans and vulnerable children’

Champions for life continues to instil in their Champions that they are Children With Hope & Courage and that God hasn’t forgotten them, but rather knows their names and has chosen them to be His children. They work in many areas to meet all the needs of such children, aiming to:

1. Strengthen capacity of families
2. Mobilize and strengthen community and church responses
3. Ensure access to education, health care, and other services
4. Ensure government protection
5. Use advocacy and social mobilization

Please pray as 2011 begins:

• The Champions for life team will continue to give identity and confidence to their children.

• That through partnership with HealthServe Australia many of these children who cannot afford school fees will have opportunity to go to school and will be placed in a nurturing and encouraging learning environment, especially when they have missed several years of schooling due to poverty and illness.

• Champions for life will raise up leaders from its children to teach other children like them about how to rise above the stigma of having HIV.

• The consistent monthly seminars would continue in many centres over Zimbabwe and that passionate leaders and teachers would continue to volunteer their time to sew into these children’s lives.

• Champions for life will be a light to the nation and have powerful impact in bringing unity in the AIDS relief work done in the wider community.

02/12/2010 Please pray for:

• Champions for Life Christmas Celebration party on 11th December for 400 Champions at the Celebration Centre.

• ‘The program will start at 9am with praise and worship. Then about 10am will be word and drama and ministry, about 11am we will have a thank you and Celebration session where we thank people who have been involved in Champions- we will give prizes out to every FOC for notable aspects of their work in Champions. At 1230 we will have braai (BBQ) lunch outside- in Rimfire park and then games etc.

• Pray that many lives will be touched and that there will be overflowing JOY and DELIVERANCE at these meetings.

• Champions Tawanda and Tinashe and Lawrance who have been Champions involved in the dance and song at The National Gallery. The gallery is running art work done by young people living with HIV. The dance and song is on Monday, wednesday and friday at 6pm until end of next week. Please pray that these Champions will be a light for Jesus and have a wonderful time.

• Brother Gift is getting married!! We pray for a wonderful and blessed wedding and fruitful and happy marriage.

• Dr Reid who attends a HIV research meeting in Uganda next week. We pray for great new effective steps forward in the management of HIV/AIDS crisis.

• Sister Pauline Dube who runs a shelter program for some of the Champions. She is also coordinating the Champions for Life schooling program and ensuring that the sponsored children have all that is required to attend school and following up their progress.

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1. Champions for Life Breakthrough in 2010!! There has been new areas of IMPACT established in 2010. Sites for Champions around Zimbabwe are:

• HARARE – CCB, CC Mabvuku, CC Machipisa, CC Hopley, CC Epworth
• OUTSIDE HARARE – CC Bulawayo, CC Gweru, CC Kwekwe, CC Kadoma, CC Ruwa, CC Marondera, CC Mutare, CC Masvingo, CC Chinhoyi

2. Schooling of 8 Champions established and the testimonies of their lives being changed:

• Amanda Madyadi – Champion leader, 20 yrs, with the vision to be a health professional – She is a hard worker and bright but has a challenging social situation – her mother is late and dad is working in South Africa with very little contact with the family.

• Noshia Bore – Champion leader, age 16 yrs, doing O levels at a regular girls secondary school. Things are challenging for her, her father is late and mother is often away with work.

• Ranga Maindidze – Champion leader age 19 yrs, doing O levels with a vision to be a Physiotherapist. Ranga is a double orphan but has found her family in the Kingdom of God – Allelujah!

• Sean Gideon – Champion leader, age 17 yrs, doing form 1 schooling. He has missed lots of school in past so has lots of catching up to do. He has a high technical ability. He stays with Pauline Dube in her shelter program His father is late and has no contact with his mother.

• Mike Madziya – Champion leader, age 20 yrs, doing first semester at University studying economics. Very bright- first Champion to go to University.

• Nyasha Sikwila – Champion leader, age 16 yrs, doing O levels at regular girls secondary school. Her vision is to be a lawyer. She is also exceptionally gifted as a singer and in musical ability and she has been appointed Nyasha as head of Champion choir. Her father is late and her mother is alive and is a teacher.

• Vongai Sikwila – age 12 yrs, doing grade 6, primary school. She is Nyasha’s sister and is very bright, musically gifted on the violin and an excellent communicator.

• Annastasia – age 14 yrs, doing form 1. She is a bright girl with a very poor social situation. She has had serious food security issues.

• Natasha – age 14 yrs , doing form 1 at same school as Annastasia. She too has a poor social situation. Lives with father, her mother is late.

3. The rice/soya program of Celebration Health has been very effective in feeding many of the Champions this year.

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