To all supporters of Rubatsiro Ministries, One of our trustees, Nick Burtenshaw, recently visited our partner in Harare and was so impressed to see how well this ministry is running and the number of people that are being helped.  We hope you are touched by the story of one persons visit to the Social Concerns Ministry of the Harare Central Baptist Church.  We thank the Lord for your continued support of Rubatsiro and for the work He is doing through it! 

The story of a social concerns ministry 

She arrived on a hot Thursday afternoon, reassured that this was a place she knew she could come to for help.  On arrival she joined the crowd of others, who had also come to the church to seek assistance, as they listened to a young member of the church share about Jesus and His love.  Around her were people, a mother and her child, an old man with deep wrinkles in his face, a young woman.  What they had in common was that they had all been deeply affected by the situation in their nation.  The mother may have lost her husband to AIDS and was now left caring for her child alone, in a country where there is no form of social welfare support.  Her child may be eating a meal a day and not attending school as the school fees are way beyond her reach.  The old man would be facing what many pensioners are dealing with, the lack of any form of pension, or a pension that barely buys a few loaves of bread and some milk.  The young woman could be struggling to find any source of income in a country where unemployment is over 80%.   So many different needs to be met, yet at least here they could come and receive some assistance to help lighten the load. 

After she had listened to the message and then patiently waited her turn in the queue outside, she made her way through into hub of the social concerns ministry.  What on a Sunday were a number of Sunday school rooms, had now been converted into a professional social welfare centre, complete with its own doctor and clinic.  She made her way over to the desk closest to the door to register, her name was recorded by one of the volunteers from the church and she then passed on to the second desk.  At this point her identity was verified by another volunteer and a file was checked to see what she would receive today.   See knew that she was allowed to come once every two weeks to receive help.  Someone from the church had already visited her to listen to her story and discuss her needs.  She was given a slip of paper and moved onto the third desk to receive some food, which had been given by members of the church and by overseas donors.  She knew the lady at this desk who greeted her with a smile asking how she had been and having a chat with her before passing over the much needed food.  She received – 20kg of maize meal, some oil, salt and beans and a bar of soap.  Clapping her hands in gratitude she then left to join the queue to see the nurse. 

 In another area of the church a room had been converted into a clinic, with its own nurse, doctor and dispensary.  She would have to see the nurse first and if the nurse decided a visit with the doctor was necessary she could be moved on to see the doctor.  The doctor herself was an 83 year old lady who gave of her time freely to this ministry and used donated medicines to help her patients.  She waited  in the passageway to see the doctor who knew that many people came suffering from high blood pressure, due to the stress of the situation in the country, and AIDS related complaints.  The lady was called in and went to be assessed and treated by the doctor, a luxury she would never otherwise be able to afford.  Following this she left, back to her home, knowing that someone from the church would visit her to see how she was doing and that she could come back in two weeks to receive further assistance if she needed it.

This is the story of just one person helped by the Harare Central Baptist Social Concerns Ministry.  This ministry is run twice a week out of the church and is fully staffed with church volunteers, and funded mostly by people overseas, like Rubatsiro Ministries. The aim of the social concerns ministry is to address an immediate need and then to work with people to get them to a place where they no longer need to come for help.  Nick’s visit provided insight for us into how professionally this ministry is run – the system they have created in order to provide aid is well thought through and very impressive.  The number of people they are managing to reach with food, medical care and Jesus’ word is so encouraging and we feel our confidence in them as a Partner has been reinforced.  We also learn from their example that we all can do something and we all have a responsibility to be His hands and feet in our broken world.  This year we aim to increase the amount we are able to send to this ministry, in the past we have supplied much of the food given out, and covered some school fees cost as well.

They thank you for your partnership with us and support of this ministry through Rubatsiro. Everything you give does make a difference to people like her! 

Meet the Trustees

At a coffee evening last year the Trustees were asked if they could all introduce themselves and share about their history and what lead them to be involved with Rubatsiro.  We therefore decided this year we will profile all the Trustees so that you can find out about the people behind the Trust here in New Zealand.

Nick Burtenshaw was a Co-Founder, with Adrian Maarschalk, of the Rubatsiro Trust in 2007 and is currently the Chairman of the Board. He has a deep passion and burden for the people of Zimbabwe and their ongoing struggles. Nick is married to Mel and has a daughter Kate 20 and a son Nathan 18. He was Born and raised in Zimbabwe, and completed high school education there, following which he spent 5 years in the USA for theological studies and training.  Upon completion of his theological studies he returned to Zimbabwe to take up the Pastorate. He spent 24 years in the Pastorate in Zimbabwe, 10 years at Elgin Road Baptist Church, Harare and 14 years at Baptist Bible Church, Harare before moving with his family to New Zealand in 2004.  Nick currently Pastors the Belmont Baptist Church in the North Shore, Auckland. He is rugby crazy and is a seasoned couch coach and referee adviser. Nick also loves wildlife and wildlife photography.