A Look at BIC History

The BIC all started here.  This morning, Nancy drove us to Matopo Mission, the first BIC mission established in Zimbabwe.  What took the first missionaries three days to travel by ox cart, now takes less than an hour to drive to.  Now there are more than 330 BIC churches in Zimbabwe, with about 50,000 members…and it all started with one.

On the road to Matopo, the "elephant rock"

Jake and Nancy told us that it would be much colder at Matopo.  We didn’t believe them, until we got out of the truck at the mission.  It was very windy!  Temperatures may have been in the 50’s, not really sure, but with the wind, it was definitely chilly!  The thing about the cold here, the buildings do not have any indoor heat.  It tends to be colder inside than outside.  So, you find most people wearing heavy coats, gloves and ear muffs inside!

We toured the girls dorm, several classrooms in the secondary school and the church.  There is also a primary school and a clinic on the Mission, but we didn’t tour those.  There are about 954 secondary students, about 840 of them are boarding students.

Touring the mission

These palm trees were planted in 1959, at the start

a classroom of students

They are working in the library in their coats, gloves and ear muffs!

Trying to stay warm during the tour!

the dorms

Matopo Mission is where Jake and Nancy began, back in 1958.  Nancy gave us the “extra special” tour with all of their history with it.  It was fascinating to see where it all began.  There is a museum on the Mission, too, which had many historical artifacts, including the ox cart that brought the first missionaries! 

The house where Jake and Nancy first stayed

The church on the mission

Site of the very first church 

the ox cart used by the first missionaries (cleaned up for the 100th anniversary celebration several years ago)

  

We were served a “second breakfast,” a feast really.  It was delicious, although I wasn’t hungry at all.

serving us our tea for our "second breakfast"

Look at this feast!

Enjoying our "second breakfast"

We returned to Jake and Nancy’s house around 1:00 and had a light lunch on their patio.  It was beautiful, sitting in the sun.

 

Lunch in the sun with Jake and Nancy

After lunch, Jake took us to the Theological College of Zimbabwe (TCZ).  This is an inter-denominational college.  Most of our BIC pastors in Bulawayo have been trained here.  There are currently 36 pastors being trained at TCZ—11 of those are BIC pastors.

After our short visit to TCZ, Jake drove us around Bulawayo for about 1-1/2 hours.  We got to see the city of Bulawayo, the various needs in the areas, and see many BIC churches.  How many BIC churches can you see in that time, you ask?  About 8-10, I think (I didn’t take photos of all of them and lost count!).  Mpopoma BIC was the first BIC church in Bulawayo.  All of the churches are growing!  The last church we visited was unique.  They are meeting in a round water tank until their permanent building will be built!

The first English-speaking BIC church in Zimbabwe

Other areas of Bulawayo

Other areas of Bulawayo

Other areas of Bulawayo

Mpopoma - the first BIC church in Bulawayo

The unique BIC church - meeting in an old water tank

We are having a late dinner tonight with the Bishop of Zimbabwe BIC churches, Bishop Ngulube and his wife.

Tomorrow is our final day here.  We fly out of Zimbabwe around noon and begin our long journey home.  I don’t know if I’ll have time in the morning to update again, or if my next update will be in the States.  Thanks for joining me on this journey.  Thanks for your prayers.  Please pray for travel safety and good health.  We have been surrounded by MANY who have been sick, especially with bad colds.  And, please pray for me as I continue to process all that I have seen and learned.