DECEMBER 2024 NARRATIVE REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Training and development of workers for God’s vineyard continued in the month of December. Students who went on break continued to be active in their home congregations whilst others went for a thirty-day holiday attachment. The parallel class, on the other hand, continued its classes. There were developments as well on the projects side. The gathering of materials for the classroom and office block is gathering momentum. These and more are reported below.
HOLIDAY PREACHING
All students who went on break remained active in their home congregations. Reports of their work from their local resident ministers, members and leaders have been very encouraging. Four students chose to forego the holiday and chose to go and work with congregations for 30 days on an attachment basis. Their work has been wonderful. Great appreciation goes to these congregations and resident ministers for providing accommodation, transport and food for these students. The effort saw 11 being baptized, 25 sermons preached and over 65 lessons taught to prospects.
END OF YEAR STATISTICS
The following statistics are a summary of the work done by students as they did their practicum in 2024. These statistics are captured from the students’ reports.
Total hours 2925 (in evangelism)
Sermons preached (church) 350
Sermons preached (funerals) 8
Devotions conducted 320
Bible classes taught 185
Baptisms 92
Restorations 15
Prospects 2003
Counselling sessions 45
Hospital visitations 18
WBS courses distributed 320
Tracts distributed 1170
Congregations started 1
THE PARALLEL PROGRAMS
The parallel class which meets during weekends and whenever the Gweru class goes on break met during the December block. The first class with 10 students took place at Nhowe where the BVBIZ director was the teacher. The subjects taught there were Denominational Doctrines and Hermeneutics I. These subjects will continue in February. The second parallel class with 8 students came to Gweru campus and were taught Christian Ethics by Ismael Mutichu and Christian Evidences and Greek by Kudakwashe Madyira. Greek is an ongoing subject. These two classes will commence their supervised practicum from January 2025 until their graduation in 2026.
CLASSROOM & OFFICE BLOCK UPDATE
Progress toward the construction of the classroom and office block was registered in the month. The following individuals/families honoured their pledges in December; Manjeya family $95, Nyoni (W) family $20, Zungunde family $25, Mpofu (S) family $50 and Mashaire Family $100. From these amounts and those raised in October and November the school has so far bought 15 cubic pitsand and 14 000 bricks at a cost of $2155. More materials will be bought in January.
PROJECTS UPDATE
Projects remain a key component in the training and development agenda of BVBIZ. Not only do they assist the school on the income side, but students are exposed life survival skills as well. In terms of poultry, the school has broilers and layers. In terms of horticulture, notable progress made in December with the planting of a tomato crop both in outside the greenhouse. A total of 3200 plants were planted. We also planted 600 cabbages and about 1500 butternuts. Green paper and green beans will be planted in early January.
To improve on the viability of the projects, BVBIZ has engaged Gray Ndoro, one of our former students, to oversee the running of the projects. Though he is engaged elsewhere in Gweru, he will be at BVBIZ on Saturdays and Sundays whilst he operates remotely during the week. Soon after graduating at BVBIZ in 2001, Grey went to Rio Tinto Agricultural College where he graduated in September 2024 with a Diploma in Agriculture.
CONCLUSION
Finally, we thank God for the journey travelled. We appreciate everyone who stood with BVBIZ throughout the year. Your efforts made a huge impact to many people in the country. We also thank Woodland Oaks and Bear Valley Bible Institute International for their unwavering support. To the teachers, students, board and the church, thank you. Several local partners who collaborated with BVBIZ, one way or another, thank you. We keep wishing all of you a blessed, spiritually fulfilling and prosperous 2025. To God be the glory!