INTRODUCTION
At the end of each month, we look back and thank God for what he has been able to do through BVBIZ. BVBIZ remains humbled and grateful to our partners and sponsors. Economically, things have not been easy in Zimbabwe. Despite all this, God has seen us through another month. We can only thank Him that despite these negative pressures, BVBIZ continues to advance her agenda, that is, to train men and women for the furtherance of the Gospel in Zimbabwe and beyond. The following is a capsule of what transpired in the month of November.
END OF SECOND TERM
Our second term has come to an end. Teachers are currently grading the final examinations that were written. Continuous assessment of each student was satisfactory, that is, both in theory and practical. As usual, there are others who do better as compared to others. The students are full of potential and every effort is being put towards moulding them to become the foot soldiers for Christ. BVBIZ wishes them a well-deserved but fruitful rest during their break.
UPDATE ON THE SICK STUDENT
In September, we reported that one of our students who was not well went back home. Despite improvements in his health, Gift Mukhuli did not succeed in coming back to school. It appears his situation has been compounded by further family challenges. Unless he comes back, the number of our students has reduced to 12 from 13.
LEADERSHIP TRAINING
BVBIZ shall be launching a leadership training program the first weekend of December on campus. We hope to extend this program to Bulawayo, Harare and other areas in the near future. The program will run on a block release basis. It will take place one weekend every month for 12 months. It is hoped that this program funds itself.
It is BVBIZ’s understanding that effective leadership is a prerequisite for a growing church. Leaders must be interested in growing dynamic and active churches. Behind every growing church is a dedicated leadership. Growth needs the blessing of a good, effective and efficient leadership. Because of the profound nature of the work involved in having growing congregations, BVBIZ sees good leadership as a catalyst for growth. Every congregation is in its present status because of leadership. In line with this view, some congregations can slow down, others die with others growing because of leadership.
Few things are achieved without good leadership. For growth to take place there is need for an effective, efficient, qualified and capable leadership. Norman Hogan is convinced that, “An ineffective leadership is a scourge to the church” (2). Leadership ought to be a blessing for growth and to the church and not to be a curse. As Eddie Miller observed, the ultimate goal of every leadership should be to lead the church in growth (41). Growth therefore needs the blessing of a good leadership. This program will complement BVBIZ’s core business of training ministers of the Gospel. Our current students shall also be benefitting from this program as they are sent to attend some of the sessions. Through the production of good quality and well equipped preachers and leaders, the stage for winning souls would have been set.
The following is the proposed curriculum which is divided into four quarters with each quarter running for 3 months. At the end of each quarter, final examinations will be written. There shall be continuous assessment based on tests, assignments and practicum.
Q1
Denominational Doctrines
New Testament Studies I
Evangelism and Church Planting
The New Testament Church
Worship
Christian Spiritual Formation
Church Growth
Q2
Christian Ethics and Moral Development
Conflict Management and Resolution
Project Management and Administration
Marriage and Family Development
Old Testament Studies I
New Testament Studies II
Q3
Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Leadership in the Local Church
Communication in Organisations
Introduction to Homiletics
Leadership Practicum and Fieldwork
Introduction to Financial Management & Accountability for Churches
Q4
Old Testament Studies II
Pastoral Care and Counselling
Religion, Society, and Developmental Issues
Introduction to Entrepreneurship Skills Development
Education Ministry in the Local Church
EVANGELISM
BVBIZ students only had only 2 weekends to do evangelism in November. From the 16th-20th we had a funeral. The preacher at Kwekwe, Brother Maxwell Chitukutuku had passed on. Two students have been working with the congregation at Kwekwe for the past 3 months. These students had to be part of those preaching during the funeral. Other students went to support their fellow mates. Whilst these are sorrowful moments, they provide our students with opportunities to excessive what they are learning at BVBIZ on how to handle funerals. The last weekend was also disturbed as students were writing some of their final examinations. The following are the statistics for the work done in November.
Students had many opportunities of preach and teach in congregations during the month of November.
Broiler Project
Our broiler project has been a success so far. We started with 100 birds. 94 of these survived. The mortality rate was 6%. The broilers were 5 weeks old as of the 30th of November 2016. They will be ready for sale from the 3rd of December. 2016. Real success will be realised when we are able to sale all these, which in turn will enable us to start another cycle. We kept the first cycle at campus. The second cycle will be at Julena, 20km away from Gweru. The fowl run is almost complete.
Farming Project
Our faming project delayed a bit in starting because of rains which came later than expected. Planting of maize was done on the 25th of November. Sweet beans shall be planted in early January as per the recommendation made. We have 2 hectares under maize while we expect to have 1 hectare of beans. The pictures show some of the planted fields.
Garden Project
We started our garden project with the sole purpose of lowering our food budget and provide students with the necessary knowledge in vegetable production. Each student has 2 beds to take care of. We are no longer buying vegetables for students. The garden is providing all these. The month of November saw BVBIZ having excess vegetables than our kitchen requirements. The excess vegetables were sold and we are hoping to do more as we progress.
BVBIZ does not currently have her own means of transport. Julena (the area we are temporarily using for our projects) is not accessible without a vehicle. There is no public transport to the area either. It became necessary that we have a vehicle temporarily for use whilst meeting its running costs. We now have it and things have become a bit easy. However, the challenge of trasportation for the school remains.
CONCLUSION
As has been noted above, the month of November added more value to the work at BVBIZ. We continue anticipating greater things to come even as we look towards the future. We continue to fine tune ourselves towards this noble task. We remain grateful to every one of you for your spiritual, moral and material support. To God be the glory.
Your brother,
Mathew Muchingam
Director, BVBI-Z