Ebenezer News Flash!

1. Despite the frost hitting the tomatoes, between 5 - 6 tonnes of tomatoes were reaped.
2. The wheat will be getting sprayed this week to control the weeds and as a means of minimising labour.
3. The floors have been laid in the new storerooms. All the fertilisers and Stores equipment will go in there.
4. The fresh peppers have a "sting" to them. They are kinda HOT!

 Molly Manhanga

Hi and Bye to Kevin Jones

Kevin and Gill Jones

I managed to catch up briefly with Kevin Jones while he was at Ebenezer on Tuesday. Kevin and his wife Gill served on and off at Ebenezer for the past 3 years before they headed back to the U.K mid-April. Kevin came back at the end of May and heads out again today for the U.K - a final goodbye. Kevin and Gill believe it was of God that they go back home to England although he says the last month and a half at 'home' has been an adjustment. They don't feel settled yet but are in a transitioning stage. He was pleased to see how things are moving at Ebenezer and that the young guys are being brought through to leadership, especially those who have been through the Ebenezer programme.....Simanga Ndlovu, Brilliant Khoza etc. They have lots of energy.

Joe and Lois Ovendon who are a 'new British' couple - you could say a replacement for Kevin and Gill, will also serve part time at Ebenezer. They are part of BMS World Mission. Joe has a Masters in International Development and will help out with IT skills and proposal writing while his wife Lois is a Speech Therapist. I look forward to meeting them soon. 

By Molly Manhanga



Volunteer house being built....

The volunteer house which is being built near the Ebenezer staff houses, is coming along nicely.

By Molly Manhanga



Crops pt 3

The 5m x 5m red pepper demo plots were not damaged too much by the frost but they are pretty tasteless.

By Molly Manhanga



Update on Tawanda Moyo

Tawanda Moyo

Tawanda is part of the Beyond Belief team working with chickens in the Mablauwuni area as well as at Ebenezer. It was good to catch up with him and this is what he said......

"There are 2 183 layer chickens at Ebenezer by the girls fields. These chickens are not yet laying eggs as they are still growing. We are still building chicken houses in Mapane and once those are complete, we'll move these 2 183 layer chickens out there. I came from Mapisa in May 2012 and it is good being back in this community. my day starts at 6:00am and finishes at 4:00pm. Some days the work is hard and other days it is fine."

Tawanda oversees the Mapane area (about 20km from Ebenezer) as well as the Mablauwuni area with Mxwayisi Dube.

Layer chickens

Healthy looking chickens





By Molly Manhanga

Visiting team from TCZ at Ebenezer



Craig Jones

A team of 5 people from the Theological College of Zimbabwe (TCZ) came to visit Ebenezer yesterday as well as have a look at Justin Thebes field which is in Mablauwuni community. The team leader was Craig Jones. He recommended I speak to Skip Ritchie who is here in Zimbabwe for 6 weeks as part of the Relief Development Internship with TCZ, to get his opinion on the visit to Ebenezer.......

Abit of info on Skip Ritchie
Skip is from the USA. He is a visiting Counseling student in the Masters level graduate school Covenant Seminary in St Louis, Missouri. He is a theological graduate with the Presbyterian Church of America. Skip loves farming and before going to the seminary, he did a farming project with 3 families  growing tomatoes. He feels this is where the money is!!!

Skip Ritchie

Skip was so pleased to know that tomatoes are being grown at Ebenezer. He says Ebenezer is great. The teachings are simple and that it pays to do farming. Also, the crops being grown will result in healthy food.

Skip had a 15 minute pea shelling competition against some young Ebenezer ladies. Needless to say, he got................... "creamed". I guess the ladies have acquired the knack of pea shelling.



Pea shelling competition

The team passed through Shalom Camp Site before heading back to the College. It was great chatting to Skip.

By Molly Manhanga

Crops pt 2



Seeder

 The onions and wheat were looking much better than the tomatoes. They were planted with a seeder which seems to be a fast method of planting crops.........

Onions



Belt of wheat

By Molly Manhanga

Crops pt 1

The tomatoes were a sorry sight after being hit by frost. There is probably grade C tomatoes left which will be picked this week.........

By Molly Manhanga

News on the ground.....

Lets start with the good news:
1. Of the 64 prospective apprentices who attended the Selection Camp recently, 44 have been selected.
2. They will join the Ebenezer family on the 16th July 2012.
3. Another 24 will join this group which totals 68 new apprentices! Lets hope they all pitch up on the 16th July.....

The bad news........
1. Temperatures in Kezi dropped to -3 degrees.
2. The frost has hit the tomatoes badly. The wheat and onions are still fine.
3. To try and keep warm, the apprentices eat their meals in the sun. However, there is a cold breeze which seems to make its way through the winter woollies.....

Lets hope the winter frost doesn't do any more damage to the crops.....

By Molly Manhanga

Selection Camp in progress pt 2

Steve Manhanga

Approximately 64 prospective apprentices attended the Selection camp held recently at Ebenezer. 24 were ladies while 40 were gents. The prospective apprentices needed to be between the ages of 17 and 25 years old but there were some who were older  hence being disqualified from the programme.

Steve Manhanga shared the story of Joseph on the spiritual side while Simanga Ndlovu shared on Business. Skha Mtshalaga shared on Agriculture - the 4 principles of Foundations for Farming. It was well received by the prospective appy's. They worked hard in the fields, played lots of games too and watched "Coach Carter" as evening entertainment.

Skha Mtshalaga

The final selection was done on Friday morning.
We hope that the apprentices enjoyed themselves and made new friends.

Simanga Ndlovu

By Molly Manhanga

Selection Camp in progress

Quite a few prospective apprentices gathered in Bulawayo this morning as they were heading out to Ebenezer to take part in the Selection Camp which starts this afternoon through to Friday. The Ebenezer team together with some volunteers will work with/monitor the prospective apprentices as they do different activities and have a bit of fun together.

Lets hope all goes well these next few days.

Stay tuned for more insight into the Selection Camp and how it went......

By Molly Manhanga