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BY SHAUN A. LANE
UMCONNECTION STAFF

They came from all directions and all distances. Many of them walked several miles with small children. Families of seven crammed into five-passenger cars.

The sacrifices and hardships are not new to the members of the Muradzikwa UMC. It is part of their every day life. But on June 10, the sacrifice had an extra meaning - the congregation broke ground for its new church - 300 yards from their old one, down a rocky, dusty trail.

As the choir sang 'Everyone is Welcome Here,' in their native Shona, Dawson Pasirai, reflected on the strength of the church members and the significance of the day.

'They have had the vision of a new church for a while now,' said Pasirai, the vice district lay leader of the area conference. 'And the members here have very little money. But they walk on faith, and now they are on the verge of having a new church.'

As part of an 11-day mission trip, Bishop John R. Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference attended the groundbreaking and was joined by Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa of the Zimbabwe Episcopal area.

The Baltimore-Washington and Zimbabwe annual conferences established a partnership in 1996.

'The Baltimore-Washington Conference partnership with us is significant in many ways,' Bishop Nhiwatiwa said. 'Bishop Schol has helped to equip our pastors with leadership. And more importantly, it gives us an opportunity to exchange ideas with them. We are blessed to be in a partnership with them and I am happy (Bishop Schol) is here for this groundbreaking.'

During the ground breaking ceremony, Bishop Nhiwatiwa asked the church if they had the necessary materials - bricks, mortar and other building essentials - to complete the project. When they answered yes to all of the questions, Bishop Nhiwatiwa pronounced the church ready to begin building.

'They still need the money to build,' Bishop Nhiwatiwa said. 'But we can not promise them anything. The church has to step forward.'

Pasirai said the estimated cost of the project is $10,000. But he is confident that the money will be there when it is needed.

'We will work on faith,' he said. 'We do good things here and we want to do more. God will provide. And our members will come through when needed.'

Bishop Schol said the Hope Fund will help to close the financial gap. But the people of Muradzikwa know that they must depend on themselves first. After the ceremonial ground breaking, the congregants walked up to the hole that was dug from the ground-breaking and placed money in it, singing and dancing the entire time.

'They make sacrifices every day just to survive sometimes, so giving extra money for a new building will not break them,' Pasirai said. 'This church started in 1905 and God has provided every step of the way. This will not be any different. We serve a very good God.'

The church has close to 300 members and each seemed to demonstrate a vested interest in the church?s success. Women, children and men carried heavy, wooden benches 300 yards from the old church to the site of the new one. Others cooked to prepare for a celebratory feast after the service.

When the service ended, the members retreated to the old church for a meal, looking forward to the day that they will eat at their new one, even if the $10,000 was not yet in hand.

'It will come,' said a member of the choir while serving the food. 'We will have our building very soon. And we will give all thanks and praise to God.'