‘Holston came through for Ishe Anesu' team member reports

On Aug. 1 a team of Holston volunteers departed for Mutare, Zimbabwe, with a mission to lay the groundwork for a new school and serve the people of Ishe Anesu. Technology Specialist DONNA HANKINS provides this account of her 10-day experience.

“The children think all people from the U.S. are good and kind and giving.” Spoken by Mrs. Chinzvenda, assistant to Ishe Anesu missionary Maria Humbane, that comment struck something in me as we drove through the dirty, impoverished area of Sakubva in Mutare, Zimbabwe.

As I made my last visit with the women who are mothers and guardians to the Ishe Anesu children, I realized the true blessing of bringing joy to the needy. Just as I had promised to visit these ladies one last time to buy the bread and cookies they prepared earlier that day, Holston came through for this community.

When Maria Humbane unveiled her dream of helping the orphaned children of Sakubva, she was met with a great deal of skepticism from almost everyone she talked to. She was told that you can’t expect people to come up with $1 million zim to build a school. But on Aug. 3, U.S. dollars equaling $1,290,000 zim arrived from Holston Conference.

The funds allowed for several of Hilltop’s unemployed men to begin work on the school building. For various reasons, the 16 Volunteers in Mission team members who traveled to Zimbabwe didn’t get to see all the mission kits and toys delivered. The two tractor- trailers full of supplies from Holston were to arrive in Sakubva on Aug. 14 after being held by Zimbabwe customs officials.

However, the time spent in fellowship and ministry alongside the people of Sakubva is enough for us to return with. Organized by Karen Griffey Todd of First Broad Street UMC, Holston members worked with Ishe Anesu children during a three-day Bible school. Before we left, the children could be heard singing the songs they learned.

Nancy Lantz, a nurse from Maryville’s Fairview UMC, may have had the most difficult task as she attended to the physical and emotional needs of Ishe Anesu’s women and children. I was another eyewitness to the plight of a people ravaged by HIV, unemployment, and poverty. My tears were unavoidable as the women spoke of husbands refusing to talk about AIDS and how they were beaten unconscious if they insisted on condom use. Maria told us that these women never had anyone to listen to them or show concern for their problems.

Some of the men on our team worked on putting up a temporary building where Ishe Anesu classes will be held until the new building is complete. As a thank-you and farewell gesture, the Hilltop men blessed their co-laborers with an inspirational song in Shona language — something the Holston volunteers won’t soon forget.

So there we all were: a tiny minority being made to feel so welcome. What to make of a comment about how we are “all so good and kind”? I didn’t tell them that all Americans aren’t so good and kind. But they understand that we are brothers and sisters saved by grace.We were all taught many valuable lessons that week.We were reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. And we departed as better and kinder people, I’m sure of it.

Photos can be viewed online at http://www.holstonconference.com/isheanesu

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