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BY LINDA WORTHINGTON
UMCONNECTION STAFF

In spite of warnings from the U.S. State Department curtailing travel to Zimbabwe in June, three members of Metropolitan UMC in Severn took a long planned mission trip to the beleaguered country.

"We wanted to visit the family we (the church) support and attend the 14th graduation ceremony at Africa University," said Loretta Dumas-Turner, who with her husband Gerald Turner, and Melvin Kelly made the trip June 5-20.

They had promised the family of seven that they would be there for the oldest daughter's graduation. "That's what drove us to go in spite of warnings from the State Department," she said.

The visit to Africa University was the highlight of the trip for Gerald Turner, he said. He enjoyed hearing the university choir, which the church is hoping to host on the choir's next trip to the United States, and hearing Bishop Woodie White deliver the commencement address. "He spoke about 10 principles for living," Turner said.

The commencement was especially meaningful for Kelly, who saw Valerie Mpawenayo, a student from Burundi, graduate with honors. He has helped support her for the past three years since.

Though the United Methodist pan-African university has felt much of the economic strain the whole country suffers as inflation climbs to unfathomable numbers, the university has been able to continue its educational mission unabated. The government has left the school untouched as it has clamped down with intimidation and bloodshed through much of the country, according to news reports.

Meeting the family the church helps support was the highlight of the trip for Kelly and for Dumas-Turner. "It was a real thrill to meet the children for the first time," Kelly said. He met the mother, Susan Chaya, when he was there in 2005, and that led him to seek his church's support for the family.

The church through its endowment fund pays the school fees for Tariro, a first-year student at Murambinda School of Nursing; and for Kudzanayi who has just completed her first year at Africa University; and also helps to support the other four children, three in secondary schools, and a fifth grader.

Dumas-Turner delighted in getting acquainted with the family, visiting their home which they acquired last year from a $2,500 gift the church sent, and during two meals they shared.

"She was so amazed we'd support her without seeing the children first," Dumas-Turner said.

The Metropolitan missioners also spent a day visiting the Catholic hospital where Tariro is a student.

A 12-member Annapolis District team had been scheduled to go to Zimbabwe in August to set up an Orphan's Trust, but the trip was cancelled because of the State Department restrictions.

At the end of July, the Rev. Lloyd Nyarota, Area Projects and Communications coordinator for the Zimbabwe Episcopal Area, with whom the Baltimore-Washington Conference has had a long-standing covenant relationship, described some of the strain on the country.

"We are doing fine here though things continue to get tough as the economy is on a free fall. More

people are losing their jobs and crime is on the increase," he wrote. As a result of the political situation, Nyarota said that mission teams expected in August had been postponed to October.

Annapolis District team members are in constant touch with their friends in Zimbabwe, including Remember Masamba, who had been supported by members of Community UMC in Crofton throughout his college education.

In mid-July he wrote Charlie Moore, who has made many trips to Zimbabwe for his church, that $1U.S. was equivalent to 1.5 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. To get money, Masamba said, "You join the que early morning and you get about $100 billion a day. A loaf of bread is now 35 billion Zim dollars, one kilogram of meat is now $250 billion Zim dollars. So you need to go to the bank in two days to get the money to buy meat."

"Our driver leases a house," Dumas-Turner said. "He now has to pay in rands (South African currency), which is more than he makes in a month."

The first Sunday the Metropolitan group was in Zimbabwe they worshipped at Enhes Memorial United Methodist Church at the Old Mutare Mission. The congregation numbered about 500, estimated Gerald Turner.

"We were amazed to see a sea of children," Dumas-Turner said. They had not realized the service was aimed at boarding students from Hartzell primary and secondary school.

"The children were so eager to learn about God," Turner commented.

They also visited the Fairfield Children's Home where the group delivered diapers and accessories, gifts the Metropolitan congregation had contributed.

After worship they toured the facilities and presented the Rev. Solomon Mudonhi, the mission station chairman, with $1,000 as well as non-prescription medical supplies and school supplies.

As they drove to Masvingo, Victoria Falls and elsewhere, the Turners and Kelly had to go through frequent checkpoints, but had little hassle, Dumas-Turner said. They traveled in an Africa University vehicle, which she believes eased the way.

"Africa University is so respected," Dumas-Turner said. "Only once we were stopped and searched. When the guards saw we were carrying medicines and school supplies, they waved us through."

"What struck us the most," Dumas-Turner said, as she looked back on the trip, "was the joy, hopefulness and gratitude of Zimbabweans despite the dire economic hardships they face on a daily basis.

"We're so happy we can make a difference, even as a small church. We make a difference one family at a time," she said.

"I hope more small churches in our conference can make a difference on a small scale. There's so much need."