Happy Birthday Ebenezer

One Year Today!!
The Ebenezer team celebrated Ebenezer’s first birthday on 15 August. Not only did they celebrate over a meal but they also took time to look back over the year and look forward to where they’d like to go. The Ebenezer dream was caught and they were on their way.

The day started with a time of praise and worship, sharing of scriptures, prophesy and testimonies. Some of the scriptures that came through were Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah 41:13, Isaiah 61:1 – 2, James 1:2 – 4.
The Ebenezer team that met were Renee Cunningham, Augustine and Gertrude Nyamayaro, Gerald and Laura Mangena, Lance and Elizabeth Edwards, Xolani Ndlovu, Portia Chitunhu, Stephen and Molly Manhanga and the newest member on the team being Shingi.
Breakfast was amazing……. Portia, Xolani and Stephen

In looking back, we realized that there were many great things that happened over the year which outweighed the challenges.
Some of the challenges were:
v Promiscuous behaviour of some of the apprentices leading to them being dismissed.
v Language barrier – Ndebele is not the first language of half the team.
v Time – the days are so short when there is so much work to be done.
v Animals eating the crops.
v Community – Although they are supportive of us, they lack commitment to the things of God.
Some of the Joys
v Spiritual growth of the apprentices and growth in numbers of the apprentices and staff.
v Presence of God encountered.
v Families in the community coming to ask for advice. They have confidence in the Team and appreciate the times of prayer.
v Positive outreach events like the medical clinic, the Ebenezer/Family Impact/River of Life Bulawayo Church outreach.
v Incredible team. Each one is hand-picked by God and have the same passion for the Centre.
v Crossroads Community Church impacting the community.
v Being a part of Ebenezer: All things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes.

The team then looked at what a Unified Team looks like. The discussion was great because it focused primarily on Heart attitudes. What the team would like are people with humility, unity, responsibility, working for God, perseverance, encouragement, willingness, relationship, respect, love, servant leadership, diligence, enthusiasm and so on. They would each start with 3 or 4 and then grow on the rest. The biggest question was “Why are we here at Ebenezer?”

Lunch was a highlight….. Laura and Portia having “light” conversation

After lunch, attention was given to the Ebenezer Vision, Mission Statement and Objectives and an analysis done on how well they were doing in achieving the objectives. The spiritual objectives were going really well but business and agriculture can do better. With the Selection Camps coming up in September and hopefully an additional 40 apprentices coming to Ebenezer, the team looked at practical ways in which they could gear up for this. Several ideas came out but NON-NEGOTIABLES were raised as well. These being: To maintain
High standards
Family feel of togetherness
Discipleship groups
Keep core vision
Continue interacting with the community
Devotions started and maintained

Peter Cunningham

Peter Cunningham came along to the meeting and spurred the team on with encouraging words. He said the King of Kings is looking at Ebenezer and feels a huge sense of encouragement from God. He then shared from Ephesians 1 that Paul’s situation was tough but if we look at Eph 1:3, words like GRACE – know God’s abundant love and PEACE – know God’s fulfillment. God has blessed us – the Ebenezer team, with every spiritual blessing. Through the hardships and frustrations, the team will be rooted and established in God. Eph 4:28 – a biblical perspective: that poverty is going to be eliminated by the poor knowing Jesus. With radical life transformation, the poor will empower the poor hence the poverty cycle being broken. This vision is much bigger than any person. Peter encouraged the team to make disciples as we need radical changes within our lives and the community around us. e.g. the woman at the well.
The day was incredible and the team felt more united and ready for another year.

Go Ebenezer!!!!

Written by Molly Manhanga