During August 2019 The Tide ministry conducted a Leader to Leader mission trip to Zimbabwe. One of our twelve team members was Emma, who is currently a student at Lancaster Bible College where she is majoring in Communications with a goal to eventually serve God through working with non-profit organizations like The Tide ministry. The following is a letter Emma wrote to thank the many people who made financial contributions to send her with The Tide team and prayed for her while she ministered in Zimbabwe. We share it here because it expresses so well how all of our team members feel about our time in Zimbabwe and those who made it possible for us to be there.
Hi Friends and Family!
I bring you greetings from my sweet friends in Zimbabwe. I am now home from our 10-day trip, and full of joy reminiscing about our trip.
I returned to the US on Saturday, just a few short days ago, and then moved back to Lancaster Bible College to start the new semester on Sunday. The semester has been off to a great start so far!
My trip to Zimbabwe was nothing short of amazing. We saw God work in every aspect of our trip overseas!
During the first two days of our time in Zimbabwe, we stayed in a guest house in the town of Bulawayo. We greeted guests in the house one evening, and after talking with the two couples, discovered that they live in Mount Joy, PA! Wow! Our new friends were from Zimbabwe originally, and were visiting for the month. The couples joined us at the Leader-To-Leader seminars later in the week, and even participated in the studio dedication service.
The Tide works in 8 different countries around the world, proclaiming the gospel through radio broadcasting. The Community Brethren in Christ Church
in Zimbabwe worked on building a facility to host the Zimbabwe broadcasting station, known as Amagugu Evangeli. The building was finally completed, and our team of 12 Americans were blessed to be a part of the celebration. The Tide funded both the building, and the new broadcasting equipment for the studio. Pictured to the right is The Tide Director, Don Shenk, with the Zimbabwe production manager, Jonah.
The church celebrations were filled with joy and gratitude as the people were excited for this new opportunity of outreach in their community. The economy is very poor in Zimbabwe, so the people are facing many challenges. There is a great deal of corruption in the government, and electricity is sparse. Yet there is hope.
During our time in Zimbabwe, we participated in a Leader-To-Leader conference. Over 100 pastors, deacons, and other church leaders joined our American team at the Matopo High School Mission for a 3-day training. None of the pastors are paid for their role within the church, because the economy is poor. Therefore, many of the leaders are bivocational and took vacation time to attend the conference with us. The people were all eager to learn and grow. Pictured is a glimpse of the conference, with Pastor Ken Hepner speaking.
Our American team consisted of 12 individuals: myself, Hannah and Moriah (LBC Communication Students), Mark (Director of Development for The Tide), John (Chairman of the Board of Directors for The Tide), Dan (Supporter of The Tide and Deacon of a BIC Church in PA), John (PA State Representative and Member of a BIC Church congregation), Pastor Ken and Raina (pastor of a BIC Church in PA), Jayne (Deacon and Bible Study teacher of a BIC Church in PA), and Don and Becky (Director and Office Administrator for The Tide). The entire team felt like family, and I feel so blessed to travel with these new friends!
Before we departed the beautiful country of Zimbabwe, we participated in a Zimbabwe Brethren in Christ General Conference, where American Pastor Ken served as the conference evangelist. Over 1,200 individuals came to the Matopo Mission to learn and participate in
the conference. It was an amazing experience, especially when the Gospel message was presented, and over 100 people accepted the invitation to a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support. You are truly so special to me, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue following God’s calling for my life.
I’d love to connect with you to hear about what God is doing in your life.
Blessings, Emma
