Zimbabwe
Nkulumane UCCSA Church
In 1992 the United Congregational Church in Southern Africa (UCCSA) was given a piece of land by Bulawayo City Council in the Township of Nkulumane to enable them to build a new church. Nkulumane is a very poor area to the south-west of the city. Despite this, the local congregation began to raise money and, following some delays, began to build. Hyperinflation took over the economy of Zimbabwe. This meant the congregation could no longer raise money fast enough to beat the inflation and building stopped over four years ago.
Even with this set back the congregation continued to grow. They met in a make-shift church consisting of stakes in the ground with plastic sheeting over to keep off the sun, along side the shell of the new building.
The building when finished will be a simple affair consisting of a hall for worship, a schoolroom, toilets and a small three room apartment for use of a caretaker or minister. When building stopped only the foundations of the hall were in place while the rest of the building was up to the top of the windows.
In January 2008 Pastor David was considering the possibility of the membership of Trinity Church holding a “thank” offering at the opening of their new building. The Reverend Imon Ndlovu, Minister of the Nkulumane church was visiting Britain at that time and thought he might renew an acquaintance with Pastor David which had begun in 1992 when Pastor David had visited Nkulumane and prayed over the new church site. The rest, as they say, is history! The proposal to help Nkulumane Church was accepted at Trinity and a sum of over £4000 was raised. Since then Trinity agreed to continue to help towards the completion of the church. To date over £16000 has been collected and fund raising continues. This has been added to by grants for which Trinity had applied.
Pastor David and David Lowry visited Nkulumane in May 2008 to meet the congregation, make friends and assess the situation there. During the visit they saw, first hand, that building work had resumed and made many new friends. Since the visit work has continued and the schoolroom, toilets and apartment are almost complete while work is continuing on the rest of the building. A family recently moved in to the apartment and the whole congregation came together to work on laying the floor for the worship area! They still meet under make-shift sun shades but they now have the schoolroom to use for smaller meetings.
Please pray about how you could continue to contribute to this project. This can be done either by making a one off offering or by making regular monthly payments. If you are able to help please complete the form downloadable below.
What can the Nkulumane Congregation share with the people of Trinity?
1.Missionary Zeal (in very difficult circumstances)
2.Worshipping Heart (without all the aids)
3.Integrity (in the face of challenge to compromise)
What can the Trinity Congregation share with the people of Nkulumane?
1.The Trinity experience of drawing congregations together in unity
2.Resources (which although small in Trinity’s context can make such a large difference in Nkulumane)
3.Caring (our desire to care for them through a prolonged period of testing)
4.Encouragement (we had not realised how much our standing with them meant to them: It was as if we had sacrificed our lives for them)
5.Hope (an unswerving belief in God that Zimbabwe will once again be a great nation) - and Prayer (see the end of this form)
If you would like to give a gift then please
Click Here to download a donation form.
Please return your form to Pastor David or our
Church Treasurer. Thank you.
