Olga is a young woman who lives in Stone Hill, South Africa. She is being discipled through the ministry of ITMI's Charl van Wyk and is one of Charl's project leaders, serving and ministering for the advancement of the kingdom in the informal, impoverished settlement of Stone Hill.

Olga gives us some insight into just what a difference this practical Gospel project, Project Joseph, is making:

Siwaphiwe is one of the Soldiers for Christ young men being ministered to by Uncle Charl. (Note from Charl: In Africa, if you are considered old, you get called “uncle,” even if there is no family connection. So, there’s that!)

Siwaphiwe is 18 years old and is in 10th grade. And although we live in a society overrun by hopelessness and brokenness, Siwaphiwe is looking forward to completing his high school career and moving onto university or college.

He dreams of becoming an Electrical Engineer! I explained to him that it requires determination, commitment, hard work, perseverance, lots of money, and discipline to achieve such a high level of education.

Our “school in the box” educational ministry will be of help to him as well.

During the coronavirus outbreak, children couldn’t go to school for months, so they just aimlessly wondered around the informal settlement. But Siwaphiwe would help at our ministry soup kitchen, church, and preschool. Siwaphiwe and his best friend, 14-year-old Aubrey, are quite a team.

I’ve often caught them red-handed….reading their Bibles together and discussing passages of Scripture. Young boys reading is extremely uncommon in the area, let alone, a Bible!

Over the many years of our team teaching and relating the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and serving our community, it is pleasing to see that some are no longer just recipients, but fellow workers in Christ’s Kingdom. Their love for their neighbors and their servant hearts are incredible to witness!

When our Project Joseph vegetable garden started to supply our soup kitchen with fresh, ‘homegrown’ vegetables, we decided to bring some young men from Stone Hill to come and learn, help, and earn.

Siwaphiwe immediately volunteered to help. Our young men have been volunteering a couple of days a month. We advised them to use their hard-earned stipends wisely, to tithe, and to also save.

Siwaphiwe learned well, saved his money in 2020, gave to the Lord’s work, and blessed himself with new clothes, including a new school uniform, for Christmas.

Our desire to continue helping those in need grows every day. Your prayers and financial support enable us to provide physical, mental, and spiritual help to the wounded, broken, hopeless, and the lost.

Siwaphiwe is now one of the most reliable young men at our ministry base in Stone Hill. He takes responsibility and follows instructions well. We are proud of the Christian young man he has become. We pray that the Lord will continue to use him for His purposes.

We have had our moments though, like when “Uncle Charl” was teaching one of the young men to weed the garden. The student weeder took all the loose weeds and threw them into the neighbor’s property! And then there was the time the young gardeners dug through the church’s underground fiber ‘Wi-Fi’ cables with their spades…twice!

And yet we carry on!

We love to take a moment to share these beautiful inspiring stories with you, our ministry partners.

Project Joseph is not just about feeding hungry people, who after being fed today, will be hungry again tomorrow. What we can accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy; this is about showing that the Body of Christ is His minister of grace, teaching that we have been saved to do good works and most of all, it is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Cozmore is a co-worker and project leader, working along ITMI's Charl van Wyk to share the Gospel in Zimbabwe. Cozmore and his wife, Laizah, work tirelessly to share the Gospel and help the isolated believers in the village of Gwayi River, Zimbabwe grow in the Lord.

Recently, ITMI helped Charl and Cozmore fund a Project Joseph outreach in Gwayi River.

Cozmore shares about the impact of your Project Joseph gifts in Gwayi River, Zimbabwe:

The villages in Zimbabwe are completely at the Lord’s mercy; the immense need for food in Gwayi River is only being met because of your continued generosity through Project Joseph!

Many of our African families still believe old wives' tales, that when a person gets older, they ‘transition’ into a witch or wizard. The family members then tend to isolate the elderly. This suffering has been difficult to witness.

We stand in the gap to represent Christ! The Gospel of the Kingdom of God is the only life-transforming message that can break down these evil ideas and bring dignity to our fellow man because we are made in the image of God!

We take care of all those suffering, including widows, orphans, and abandoned parents – we do not exclude people because of their age!

ITMI’s recent donations have blessed us with the opportunity to distribute food hampers to our most vulnerable - primarily widows, orphans, and the elderly.

We have managed to research and find the best food suppliers, and now we have provided 5kgs of soya ‘chunks’ with added extras of cooking oil, sugar, and salt! And not only for our primary people - but for all families in the village. That is 218 families! Praise the Lord!

The distribution was as follows:

• • 5kgs Soya Mince was received by 218 families.

• • 2kgs sugar was received by 90 families.

• • 2l cooking oil was received by 96 families.

• • 1kg salt was received by 96 families.

God is Good! We have seen how His hand has provided daily, and I know He is still going to provide.

He blessed the whole nation with good rains. Our rainy season has been a surprise - we have more than enough! Which has not happened for many seasons. We are so excited that our dams are full, and we are hoping Kariba Dam remains full, for this is our primary source of electricity.

We are so appreciative of the positive responses we have been receiving - one pastor’s wife wrote to us to thank us for Project Joseph being the embodiment of Christ’s Will.

It is so fulfilling to see the positive impact of Christ’s love throughout these devastating times.

Please keep on praying for the Gwayi River community, even though the beer halls have been closed, the men persist with their drinking habits. That is why we ask for your increase in prayers - pray that these men will come back to Christ, that God will replace their obsession for alcohol with His quenching love.

Thank you to all our friends at ITMI! Your faithful support is changing lives in Zimbabwe!