OLD ORCHARD CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Missions
| Zebedee and Ratidzo Togarepi |
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Dear Supporters,
"Chingwa, Chingwa", was the excited cry of the dancing children when the truck arrived carrying loaves of
bread. It had been over a year since the children at the home and village tasted bread. With the economy in
ruins the availability of flour products as well as most other food and goods was very limited. Bread was one
of the many items in short supply. The children had been well fed with Sudza (a thick corn meal porridge),
vegetables and meat for that very difficult year of 2008, but they had not eaten bread. One of the children,
Edith, said in her excitement she had eaten the bread so quickly it had given her a stomach ache. The kids are
delighted to have bread in the menu again.
The US dollar was introduced in January of this year as the common currency of Zimbabwe. What a difference
it has made. In a few months the economy is stabilizing, food and goods are becoming more available each day
in the stores. We even managed to fill the truck with diesel from a gas station at 85 cents a liter. We had not
been able to do that for nearly 5 years. This is such an exciting time to be here in Zimbabwe and witness a
country's rebirth. We do know that this isn't the end of difficult times, prices are high, much higher than they
have been in recent years. What has been amazing is that some prices have actually dropped as the country
stabilizes.
We so appreciate your continued help and support of our kids as we do our best to keep them healthy,
educated and growing in the Lord on a limited budget. Without your help the cry of "Chingwa, Chingwa"
would not have been heard.
We received the following letter from the Mountain Mission School in Grundy, VA:
Dear Christian Friends;
You are so very kind to help us take care of these youngsters. Thank you for your gift of socks,
underwear and Khakis.
We started our school year on the 17th of August this year. I don't think I'm ever quite ready for a new
school year to begin. There's always something else that I think needs to be done before we sharpen
those new pencils and assign textbooks for the new classes. But, ready or not, we begin!
Our children enjoyed their yearly picnic at the local YMCA pool that they dub the Beach Bash. We take
our grill and cook hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. The senior class organizes games and contests.
However, the favorite contest always seems to be how many teachers you can get soaking wet!!
We added cross-country track this year on the Varsity level and our soccer team has already scrimmaged
with Milligan College's JV team and Johnson Bible College's team as well. Most of our Varsity boys soccer
team graduated this past May, we are in a building phase! That's my favorite way to say, "We lost!"
Let me tank you again for loving these youngsters. We depend upon you to help us get them through this
difficult time in their lives! May God bless you richly for your generosity and as always, come see us when
you get a chance.
Gratefully yours,
Cynthia S. Rodda
President
Dear Christian Friends;
You are so very kind to help us take care of these youngsters. Thank you for your gift of socks,
underwear and Khakis.
We started our school year on the 17th of August this year. I don't think I'm ever quite ready for a new
school year to begin. There's always something else that I think needs to be done before we sharpen
those new pencils and assign textbooks for the new classes. But, ready or not, we begin!
Our children enjoyed their yearly picnic at the local YMCA pool that they dub the Beach Bash. We take
our grill and cook hamburgers and hot dogs for everyone. The senior class organizes games and contests.
However, the favorite contest always seems to be how many teachers you can get soaking wet!!
We added cross-country track this year on the Varsity level and our soccer team has already scrimmaged
with Milligan College's JV team and Johnson Bible College's team as well. Most of our Varsity boys soccer
team graduated this past May, we are in a building phase! That's my favorite way to say, "We lost!"
Let me tank you again for loving these youngsters. We depend upon you to help us get them through this
difficult time in their lives! May God bless you richly for your generosity and as always, come see us when
you get a chance.
Gratefully yours,
Cynthia S. Rodda
President