FEBRUARY 2020 NARRATIVE REPORT
INTRODUCTION
BVBIZ continues to do her part in equipping men and women to be vessels in God’s kingdom. Building blocks are put up gradually till we get the final product. The month of February was not an exception. Classes proceeded as planned, evangelism was done and development at the permanent site continued. These are covered hereunder.
1.0 CURRICULUM PROGRESS
The current class is now in its last term of study. Class shall come to an end on the 31st of March. After that they shall be going for a supervised six months practicum in various congregations. It has been a long journey for the class. The following subjects have so far been completed already for this class; Revelation, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Minor prophets and Christian Evaluation of Contemporary Ethics. Subjects yet to be completed are Hebrew, Foundations of Missions, Preachers Life and Work and Community Development and Poverty Alleviation.
2.0 DONNIE ESTEP’S VISIT
BVBIZ was blessed to have Donnie Estep from the 7th to the 15th of February. On the he preached at a memorial service of the late Ajusa Suwari in Macheke and then preached at Dzivarasekwa the following day before heading to Gweru. He taught students 1St and 2nd Thessalonians that week. Donnie also had an opportunity of visiting the school’s permanent site to appraise himself of the developments that had taken place since his last visit. As is the culture at BVBIZ, Donnie planted a fruit tree in the orchard.
3.0 EVANGELISM
Evangelism continued in the month of February. Four congregations continue to be assisted by students every Sunday, namely Mkoba 17, Mkoba 12, Nashville and Redcliff. However, in February, much work was done at Redcliff, Mambo and Binga.
3.1 REDCLIFF
Students continued to go to Redcliff for weekend evangelism in an attempt to sustain this newly established congregation. The congregation at Kwekwe continues to pay for the rentals where the church is meeting. 7 people are awaiting baptism. The nearest river is about 6km away and transport is needed. A mini campaign also took place at Mambo in Gweru and in Binga
3.2 MAMBO
This is one of the closest congregations to the school and six students went there daily for 5 days. There were 4 pending baptisms at the end of their campaign. The challenge, like in the case of Redcliff, was a baptistry. Booking has to be done at the nearest pool which is run by the city council.
3.3 BINGA
The other batch of students traveled the whole day by public transport and arrived at Binga around midnight on the 18th of February. They students brought a new life to the congregations there. The following was the report from the local preacher there.
The team worked so tirelessly and proved that they were zealous, keen, hardworking and love God’s work. The turn up of people to services proves that they were really a blessing to us.Every day from 19-22 February, the team worked from morning till late. Even though food was a challenge but whatever we ate, they accepted as well. Our challenge remains the shortage of hymn books and Bibles (in Tonga, Shona and Ndebele). Another challenge is severe drought in the area. May God protect the team that came from the darts of the devil. We even request them to pay another visit. Homes reached were 22, devotions 5, five were baptized whilst 6 baptisms are outstanding). The six were from one family and had to travel to Bulawayo for a funeral. The total number of people who attended service were 130.
4.0 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE
Work continued on the school’s first major structure. The roof to it has been completed successfully. The structure shall house students and offices pending the development of other structures. The next phase will be plastering, window frames, doors, floors, plumping and installation of a solar system.
CONCLUSION
As BVBIZ continues to put one block on top of another in molding preachers, great appreciations goes to God and to you all for your constant spiritual, moral and financial support. Thank you for this great partnership. A partnership that continues to enable souls to be won to Christ and congregations sustained through the provision of workers. To God be the glory!