Terry Watson Church Visit 1988

What a tremendous privilege it was to visit Zimbabwewhen eight of us, that is Jim Bailey, Michelle Bailey, Rachel Snow, Frances Greenall, Donald Mackenzie, Alan Edwards, Philip and myself set out on Saturday afternoon 6th February to fly, via Lusaka, to Harare. We had so much luggage you would have thought we were going for a couple of years! - for apart from our own personal things we had tools, a milk recording jar for the dairy, thermostats for fridges, tyres for bikes, pistons for a Mercedes Benz and various other parts for the Peugeot 404 which were both off the road. Apparently, Africans don't notice little lights that shine to say that they are out of water or oil and very easily burn out engines.

The Lord was certainly with us as we booked it in for the flight and negotiated it through the customs at the other end and to register it would probably have taken 6 months for it to get through the country. The Ameva Bible School is a thrilling opportunity the Lord has opened up for John and Celia Valentine who have sold themselves out to bring theGospel to Africa.The Bible School has 20 students from various denominations who are being trainedas pastors and evangelist for a period of two years. The Primary School, with Celia Valentine as Headmistress, has nearly 400 children. Each morningat Assembly opportunity is given to speak of the Lord. The Farm, set in 3,600 acres, has many activities. 8,000 chickens and all the eggs that come with them! - 62 dairy cattle and quite a good beef herd with calves and goats etc. They also grow acres of maize, sunflowers, and, of course, hay for the cattle in winter. One of the great miraclesthis year was that it rained when we arrived. We were greetedwith the sad news thatthe crops were nearing the end of their abilityto grow, as it hadn'trained for some weeks. Early on in the yearthe dam was nearly empty and things weren't lookingvery positive but as we arrivedit began to rainand did it rain! In fact,it rained so hard that in one hour 3 inches of waterfell and for two and a half weeks we enjoyedthe English climate - not all werevery pleased about that but, I suppose, for them it was good. The dam was full, it holds a hundred million gallonsof water, and everything was so wet that even a couple of hippos came out of the river, which is probably about eight miles away,and got into the dam, which was quite exciting for everybody to see these hipposwith just a couple of ears sticking out of thewater. Some of us were involved in building the new school block and our project was to put the roof on,which took a couple of weeks, and after that there were the pits to be dug for a toilet block. We also started to build a bathroom, dividing a room up, putting in doors, windows, walls and all the fittings - a bathroom suite Celia had brought from London 5 years ago! and as we hadhad a little experience of that we were enjoying the planning etc. We were unable to finish it but left it confidently trusting that Alan Turnbull wouldbe able to finish it when he went out with Mr. North in March.

Because spares are so scarce, we had to use all bits and pieces to add to some of the fittings and the cold and water tank is a converted old oil drum. Zimbabwe is running out of so much that it a takes a day to find even a piece of waste pipe and is then the price ten times that of the same in England.

I was mainlyoccupied in the Bible Schooland speaking at various meetings. Takingthe tractor and trailer with 30 or so on board was one of the highlights of our evangelism in the week leading up to the Youth Conference, held over a weekendwhere I was privileged to share the platform with Norman Meeten. Another highlight of the trip was a visit to a Boarding School at Moleli where 500 students,14 -19 years old, attend. The Lord worked so powerfully, and in a recent letter from the teacher who invited us,he said they were still living in the blessing of that time. Nearly three quarters of the school responded to the invitation to give their lives to Him.

As regards further involvement we are considering either, buying the trucks here and shipping them or perhaps, take them by road across the desert. I know it has been done before, and if it be the will of the Lord, we can do it again. A new vehicle in Botswana would cost the farm £15,000.

We have come home with a list of things we would love to send including a video recorder, a T.V.set, tape recorders for the Bible Students, knitting machines, sewing machines, clothesfor the school children, in winter they shiver in their thin clothes, sports equipment, art equipment, musical equipment, a tea urn, overhead projector, blankets, small tools, small electrical equipment, good Christian books and tapes.

Michelle and Philip Watson

In September 1998 Philip and I, along with our three children, Abigail (6), Kezia (4) and Jacob (1 ½) travelled to Zimbabwe for a six month stint at Ameva. On our very first night Philip was called to help fight a bushfire that had broken out on the farm, literally a baptism of fire into our time on the farm.

We were a family of five from London and, as you can imagine, the contrast was great. We had no car, no telephone or television in the house and relied on John and Celia to lend us their car for grocery shopping and use of the phone. Whilst we were living fairly basically, in a vastly different environment, our time at Ameva was precious and fulfilling.

Philip used his administrative gifts to consolidate the business side of the farm and set up a reconciliation system for eggs and chickens being sold. He also employed a security guard to ensure produce from the farm wasn’t stolen. Another business endeavour that John instigated was the production of sunflower oil, it was very exciting to see the finished result of bottled Ameva Farm Sunflower Oil sitting on shop shelves in Chegutu.

I enjoyed homeschooling the girls and teaching our lovely maid, Gladys, to read and write. A couple of times we would open our front door to see cows passing by … a novelty for us Londoners.

We also lead a youth group and enjoyed sharing the gospel with the young people from the compound. The slower and simpler pace of life was a God send to us all and whilst there were challenging times as well, we were very blessed by our time at Ameva.

A traumatic incident occurred on the way home from church one Sunday when we were in a convoy of four cars with students from the Bible College and workers. A swarm of angry bees attacked the cars and resulted in many people being severely stung. God was so good and it was a miracle no one died, one young boy had hundreds of stings all over his body.

Our experiences at Ameva were many and varied, and our overarching memories are of a precious and exciting time where God moved greatly.

Jim and Margaret Bailey

As Margaret and I look back and reflect on our involvement with Ameva, we realise how much influence it has had upon our lives and the lives of many many others. I first went there with a small team, abouta dozen or so, to just help where we could. Then the following year Margaret and I went with another small team.

Having never been to a third world country, the difference was staggering. We grew up in what was considered a poor area of South London and had seen poor people living in poverty, but this was on an altogether different level. The people were living, or should I say surviving, in a new transitioning country where everything was in shortsupply and corruption was everywhere. Essentials are taken for granted by us in our country and it took time to sink in, the task John and Celia had taken on by layingdown their liveson an abandoned tobacco farm way out in the sticks. John told me once, part of their vision “was to get people born again and send them out to preachthe Gospel” I say part of theirvision because it grew into varied worksof livelihood, education and care for thousands of people over the forty years they have been there. In those early days it seemed a very small seed was being sown into a very big, hopeless desert. However we caught the vision and began taking teams, mainly from the UK to spend about a month, helping whereverwe could. The teams ranged from studentsto builders to office workers, our youngest was fifteen and our oldest seventy six. Church groups, individuals and couples. All were welcomed, you can imagine the stories that were shared as ordinary people acclimatised to such a cultureshock, there had to a desire to work as a team whilst workingin a hot and dry environment. So much was accomplished by team after team bonded together in the spirit of unity, they would embrace the vision of what John and Celia were doing, and give everything they could to any task asked of them. They were amazing times of growth both spiritually and practically, children's clubs, outreach to villages,houses and farm buildings erected, holes dug and much more. They were able to engage with the locals in such a way that any prejudicewould dissolve into smiles and laughter. But I must say that the presence of the Holy Spirit was at times almost tangible. Spiritually we had come from reasonably comfortable surroundings to a place where deprivation was staring us in the face.That sense of spiritual warfaregave a new awareness to the necessity of prayer for everydaylife. Members of the team were beingstretched by havingto testify of their faithto a listening and watching audience, not only on the platform, but also on how they acted day to day. I would say virtually all those that came, testified afterwards how they became closer to God on visiting Ameva. Many came home determined to get more involved in spreading the Gospel in their own area. Margaret and I became part of those supporting Ameva in the UK, this involved collecting materials needed to outfit the farm, schoolsand crèche. And packing containers, then shipping them to the farm. Also visiting many churches and groups throughout the British isles, sharing about Ameva and what was happening.

God has so blessed us as we have had the privilege of gaining so many friends around the country. Ameva has become a big part of our lives for the last 35 years and will always be a part of our prayers. John and Celia have been an incredible inspiration to us over the years, their love, faith, perseverance and dedication has been proof of what God can do when people commit to Him. Praise God