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BY STEVE RETTENMAYER

The Zimbabwean Pastors Support Initiative is an ideal way for small and large churches, individuals and small groups, to share Christ’s love with the church in Zimbabwe.

This initiative, begun in 2008, was created as an outgrowth of the partnership between the Baltimore-Washington Conference and the conferences in Zimbabwe.

Numerous volunteers, like me, were returning home and saying, “I left a piece of my heart with the beautiful people there.”

We were especially touched by the church and its pastors there. Many of these pastors in Zimbabwe have so little, and yet they give so much to the people to whom they minister under the most trying of conditions. They and their families sacrifice much to carry out their ministries.

The Zimbabwean Pastors’ Support Initiative offers a channel for churches in the Baltimore-Washington Conference, especially small membership churches, to make a real difference in the personal and family lives of pastors in the Zimbabwean United Methodist Church by providing prayer, emotional and supplementary salary support. The writing of letters and e-mails and other expressions of support are also encouraged.

Currently the recommended minimum level of supplemental support for a pastor is $300 per year ($25 per month), although more is encouraged in order to meet rising costs of living.

When you sign up for this ministry, a pastoral profile with a picture and biographical information about the pastor being sponsored will be sent to you.

More than 30 pastors are being helped by this mission initiative.

Rev Themba Siwela writes: “I want to thank you so much for the assistance you are rendering to me and my family and also the support you are giving to me. I received the sum of $75 and $500 and a bicycle, which will assist me in the ministry since I travel 80 kilometers to reach my second church. The money will assist me in the paying of school fees and also furthering my studies in the ministry.”

For more information, contact Steve Rettenmayer at 443-531-6487 or . Rettenmayer is currently serving at Patapsco UMC in Dundalk.