Mat and I continue to live in our neighborhood after the robbery.  We continually have to live with the reality of seeing suspicious characters walking or driving through our neighborhood, hearing shoot outs at night between robbers and house owners, etc.  It can really be unnerving at times.  Please pray for our protection and for our trust in God's protection over us.  Please pray that God would work in the deep recesses of our hearts that are unwilling to submit to His plans for our lives, which may include suffering, hardship and even death.

 

As things are daily getting worse in Zimbabwe, our students continue to daily struggle.  Many students are living on one meal a day and some are surviving solely on the tea and scones that the college provides each day during tea break.  Some students have to wait in bank lines that are hours long just to get a maximum of $1 out per day.  Other students have to care for their families.  One student, Emmanuel, had to take 2 weeks off of school to go care for his mother who is essentially dying of AIDS.  Please pray for our students that they would be able to concentrate and focus on their studies in the midst of lives filled with struggles.  Pray also that these struggles would strengthen their walks with Christ.

 

 

         Many of you have wondered what has been going on with Andrew and Jodi Muller, our Australian friends.  Jodi and Andrew wanted to have someone check up on Gabi to see how she was settling into being back with her mother after 7 months of being away from them.  This is the last thing they felt they needed to know about Gabi in order to let her go.  Just recently a Youth For Christ worker went to check on Gabi and reported back that Gabi seems to be doing well. laughing and playing with the other kids even though she is filthy dirty.  This news is good news to Jodi and Andrew, but it is also hard as they still long for her to be back with them.
    Jodi and Andrew have had a hard time lately just with life here: ministry finances are low, their gardener stole over $1500 worth of money and fuel, their garage collapsed in a wind storm.  Andrew has also had trouble out the camp site that he is renovating: there have been multiple bush fires destroying buildings out there, some chickens were stolen, and the teacher's housing units were broken into.  Needless to say, they've been having a rough time lately as it is just one thing after another.  Please pray that God would help them to perservere, provide funding for their ministry and protect them and Gabi in her environment.

 

  

Though the opposition, MDC, won the elections, the results weren't recognized by the ruling party.  So the two leaders of both parties were essentially forced into a power sharing agreement, where Mugabe would be the President and Tschvangari would be the Prime Minister.  There have been talks over changes to be made and how the power sharing would be handled, but Mugabe has been unwilling to compromise at all.  In fact, Tschvangari describes Mugabe as acting like a child.  Meanwhile, prices of basic things here have become ridiculously expensive and no one wants Zim cash.  Everyone is demanding foreign currency for products, which means the poor are going hungry in many cases.  Also at this point, everyone is exploiting everyone.  They raise the prices on items just because they know it is unavailable and people need it.  (Car batteries cost $125, getting 3 keys copied and one key made cost $70, getting a car serviced costs $300)  The prices for things here have gone beyond real world prices to crazy prices, while people's salaries continue to decrease with inflation!  In fact, Zimbabwe is becoming one of the most expensive places to live in the world!  Each day that Mugabe is unwilling to compromise, people are literally starving to death.  Please pray for God to bring miraculous change to this country.