A minute with Lance Edwards

Getting to know the Ebenezer team

Lance Edwards

What is your favourite quote?
"People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Who has influenced you the most recently?
My brother Darryl. His coming to the Lord and watching him walk through it.

What is the wierdest thing you’ve eaten?
I’ve eaten quite a few weird things like, sheep brain, lion and monkey.

Give us a highlight of your family life.
Stability - The children going to a normal school, having sport, drama etc. Our children’s stability is very important.

Does Ebenezer excite you?...........Read on.....

Business. Challenge. Community. Discipleship. Development. Leaders. Farming God’s Way. Grassroots. God at Work. Holistic. Leaders. Miracles. Relationship. Sustainability. Transformation. If any of these words excite you then Ebenezer will too!

Ebenezer Training Centre, in Southern Zimbabwe, is designed to equip young people in rural areas for everyday life in Christ. Our heart is that after the two year residential training program these young people will be red hot for Jesus, have a passion for serving their family and community and the skills and resources needed to run their own small-scale agricultural businesses. The young people that come to Ebenezer may not have finished school, may come from broken families and may fear the witch doctor more than God. They are ordinary, not very educated people … (remind you of anyone?)… God LOVES them and desires to work with them for the GLORY of his name… and we pray that by his grace he will!

God is part of every aspect of life. God works through relationships. These are truths that we strive to live and teach at Ebenezer. It is for this reason that the staff team live, eat, work and play alongside the apprentices. It is also why we make our training as practical as possible. Therefore, there are not only classroom training sessions on agriculture, business and Biblical foundations but each apprentices also receives a plot of land on which to start their OWN small-scale agricultural business! By the end of the program the apprentices should have paid back their starting costs and be running a profitable business. They will then be able to transfer their businesses back into their own communities. We believe this is a sustainable business model but more importantly a model that God can use to transform lives and raise up leaders. We pray that the apprentices will become lights in their communities, active in their local church, with healthy family lives and a sustainable living.

An Apprentice’sTestimony
My name is Constance Ncube. I am 20 years old. I came to Ebenezer in November 2008. I was given a 30m x 30m plot. I planted 1 600 tomato seedlings. When my plants were still small, I had to water them constantly. They did not look like they would do well because of water logging and a shortage of fertilizer. I then put compound D and urea on my plants. They recovered and grew very well. To date I have harvested 1000.5kg of tomatoes.

Of course, any work that desires to see people zealous for God is going to face challenges, and we do on every side…which is why we appreciate you praying with us. www.ebenezerzimbabwe.blogspot.com

Up close with the Kuests

Bob and Peggy

Bob and Peggy from Washington, near Seattle, came to inspire the Ebenezer Team and they were AWSOME. I caught up with Bob and Peggy to find out a little more about them….

M.M: Please can you share a little about your background.
B.K: Peggy and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary. I led a church in America for 34 years and we’ve been involved in travelling teaching ministry for the past 10 years. We have 4 children and 9 grandchildren.

M.M: Bob, how did you meet Peggy?
B.K: I was in Bible College and Peggy was visiting her best friend who then introduced us. We got married two and a half years later.

M.M: How best would you describe your family life?
B.K: When we are at home, we are involved in the lives of our grandchildren. We are GRANDPARENTS! It’s a God-given responsibility.

M.M: Excellent. What was your motivation for doing the work that you are involved in now?
B.K: It was 2 fold: a) Foreign students were coming to America and not returning to their home countries b) I took education to them in their home countries and the response was great. People started asking when I would come back.

M.M: After listening to you, I can understand. You are an amazingly gifted teacher. You have written books on Leadership. What is the title and how best would you define leadership?
B.K: The titles of my books are “Uncommon Leadership” and “Servant Leadership in a power-based world.” My definition of Leadership is “Leadership is a relationship of service dedicated to assisting a group/person to reach their potential.”

M.M: What do you think of Ebenezer and the vision?
B.K: The stories of the changed lives of the apprentices are beautiful. We can see the growth of people by looking at their plots. The maturity in their garden reflects the maturity in their lives. The theme of our ministry is “Teaching nationals to teach nationals.” Ebenezer is doing that and that has true impact for the Kingdom.

M.M: I found your explanation on how relationships fall apart very interesting. From your experience, what would you say is the main reason for conflict?
B.K: Satan is trying to neutralize the Kingdom of God and he does it through our human nature: pride, deception and defending ourselves.

M.M: What nuggets can you share about conflict resolution or reconciliation?
B.K: This can happen by us returning to God’s higher way of believing and acting, knowing God will help us and God is our shield. There are 4 steps that run counter to our sin nature:
Be still
Praise
Obey
Move on

M.M: So, so true. Any last thoughts?
B.K: I am impressed with the Ebenezer team. God has brought together a team who has a concept of servant leadership. A warning though – Satan wants to separate the team. Stand strong in the Lord and don’t allow it to happen. There are God-given principles if we’ll obey. Change lives through His grace.

Thank you Bob and Peggy. This has been incredible. Be blessed as you continue your journey in Zimbabwe and beyond.

Interviewed by Molly Manhanga