Richard and Elizabeth Malitino, location leaders of Iris Gweru in Zimbabwe, have a great passion for underprivileged children and ran a school and small home for destitute children until a lack of funding forced them to close. Thankfully, they were able to find other homes for some of the children and the rest became part of their family.
In 2010 they met Pastor Surprise Sithole, who oversees our Partners in Harvest churches in Africa, and with his help, they attended an Iris Harvest School of Missions. Over the next few years they planted eight Partners in Harvest churches in their local area, and when Cyclone Idai caused so much havoc and loss of life in 2019, they worked in the Chimanimani area in eastern Zimbabwe, praying and counseling people, and planted a church there.
In 2019, they officially joined Iris Global and moved forward in creating the various upliftment programs available so they could better serve their children and make sure they are well cared for. With nine churches, most with many children attending them, they set up a feeding program in the drought-ravaged country so, with little food available in Zimbabwe, they sourced a nutrient-rich, fortified porridge that requires no cooking from a company in South Africa. By the grace of God and the help of our sponsors, we have managed to get the first shipment of food to their churches and the second shipment will arrive by truck from South Africa shortly!
Hope During a Pandemic
Unfortunately, most of their plans for 2020 have been put on hold as a national lockdown started in March, and they were only allowed out of our homes with written permission from the police. They have recently received permission to visit a few churches and feed the children at their local church once a week. Since the beginning of June, they have been allowed to gather five children at a time together to spend time with a tutor to try and catch up with the school work they have missed during the lockdown. All social distancing and handwashing protocols apply and the children are being very good at remembering them.
As we look forward to 2020 when lockdown ends, the word uppermost in our minds is HOPE. Hope that God's Will will be done in and through us as we continue being His hands and feet as He sends us to bring His Light to the lost, suffering, dying, and unloved and to plant seeds of hope wherever we go. We also cry out to God to send rain to end the devastating drought in Zimbabwe so that they all have enough food to eat and water to drink. The Iris Gweru team is looking forward to spending time with friends, both old and new, this coming year praying, worshipping, developing strategies on how to accomplish the visions God has given us, and, of course, bringing in the harvest.
We pray that God's Light will shine around and through you wherever you go and whatever you do.
