BMS World Mission

I have been fortunate to spend some time over the last couple of days with two of the couples from BMS. Yesterday Brad and Ruth Biddulph came to join us at Morning Star for the night. Much of their work is based around the Theological College of Zimbabwe - not on the teaching side, but on project management (Brad) and administration (Ruth). One of the projects they are working on is called Second Chance - a rehablitation group for ex-offenders, aiming to help them re-intergrate into local society and offering them skills training.

Today I came with them to Bulawayo so that I could stay the night with Joe and Lois Ovenden. They are now living in the house vacated by Kevin and Gill, and picked up some of the threads they left behind. Joe continues the work at Ebeneezer Agricultural College, while together they work with Family Impact - offering training in life skills and AIDS awareness to families in the area. Family Impact run a team in the local football league, and Joe came home just after I arrived from their weekends fixture - sadly, his team lost.

Tomorrow, after church, we will all meet up for a braai. Lois has invited a group of friends round to join in grilling meat in the open air. It should be a good afternoon, as people from all sorts of background, and working with a variety of NGO's come together.

It has been good to share time with these two couples, and to learn something of the continuing work of BMS in the country. Here are four young people who clearly have a love for this country, and it is good that we can support them as we work with BMS.

On a more mundane level, it has been raining. This is a hopeful sign - the wet season should start in earnest in about three weeks time, but the main rains take time to build up as the moist air follows the sun south from the Congo. Over the last few days the skies have become ever more cloudy, and today the promised rain finally came - accompanied by peals of thunder. It was not much - it only rained for a couple of hous, and hen cleared up once more. But it is a beginning. As we celebrate Harvest back home, these are signs of a good harvest over here after a partial drought last year.