Jesus said that what we do for “the least of these” we have done to Him (Matthew 25:40). And what we don’t do for “the least of these” we didn’t do for Him (Matthew 25:45). God prohibits helping those who can but will not help themselves (2 Thessalonians 3:10) but expects His people to help those who cannot help themselves—the Biblical poor. Unlike in the United States, there is no welfare system in Zimbabwe, Africa. The soldiers in the army were literally starving before COVID-19 hit. These people have no good options.
Corryton Church has been hosting free-to-them retreats for Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries at locations around the world over the past ten years. In November of 2019, our team was in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe and hired a driver to go looking for African wildlife. The driver told our team that they could see a hundred monkeys (baboons) at the dumpsite or landfill and drove them there. At the dumpsite, our team discovered that people actually lived there and competed with the baboons, and each other, for the food brought to the dump in the garbage from the hotels in town. Some of them literally stood under the garbage truck to find food as it dumped garbage on top of them. Our team returned to the hotel in stunned silence.
Back at the hotel, our pastor’s wife told our pastor that she wanted to buy and take food to the people at the dump for her upcoming Christmas. God was birthing a ministry. As providence would have it, the Lord led her to a Christian man who worked at the hotel who also got excited about helping the people at the dumpsite. Our team collected money, and Rocky and Betsy went to the local market with Mika to shop for food. Mika knew what foods were best to get for them. He told his wife what we were doing, and she wanted to meet us.
After meeting Mika’s family, our team went to the dumpsite to give to the people 20 large packs of food. Mika told them that Jesus loved them and that God had sent us there to help them. He organized them, and they came family by family to get their food. We sang a couple of familiar hymns with them and then Mika got their names as we left.
After returning home, Betsy and Rocky’s desire to help the people there continued to grow. They soon started sending money to Mika to help his family (COVID-19 shut down the hotels) and to buy food for people at the dump. Mika had continued to go back to the dump to teach the people there the Bible and about Jesus. Owning no vehicle, he had to walk nearly two miles to the dump from his hotel-provided apartment in town.
Others heard about what the Ramseys were doing and gave money for Bibles and food. Mika and Betsy communicated on Messenger nearly every day. The Ramseys would send money to him with instructions about how to spend it. He would send photos of receipts and of the groceries he had purchased. Mika has been accountable for all the money sent to him and has passed the trust test for nearly a year as money was regularly sent to help him and the people at the dump.
Eventually, Betsy asked Mika if he could get some animals that would produce food and/or income. He said that he could do both with pigs and chickens. He would need a place to put the pigs and chickens, so he began to build blocks. Mika built 2,450 blocks out of one block mold. Having no land of his own to build on, the Ramseys asked if he could purchase land to build his piggery and a place for his chickens. He could get land in his village twelve miles away. Another donor got involved and money was sent to purchase property for the project. Construction began and now there is a place for the animals. Mika hired helpers to build from the village and from the dump.
Being two miles from the dump and twelve miles from the village where the land was located, Rocky asked Mika if he could find a vehicle to purchase. He found a used truck, negotiated the price, and Corryton Church sent the money to get the truck. It was a necessity for hauling blocks, animals, and the grinder that would be purchased next.
Mika mentioned that a grinder would enable him to grind corn and sorghum which is one of the primary food sources there. He could get a grinder, but it would take an eight-hour trip to get it. A few others began to donate to the project. Pigs and chickens were purchased, a grinder was obtained, and a building was built to house the grinder.
One of the donors had a heart for building a well there. With a well and irrigation, a large garden could be planted and used for food for Mika’s family, some to sell to the people in his village, and some to give to the people at the dump. It would also provide some work for people there. A garden would require more property. Mika was asked if he could get property adjacent to the land already purchased. He negotiated to get two more plots of land connected to the lot. One of those plots has been purchased; the other will hopefully be purchased soon. After that, the plan is to send money in two stages for a well. The first stage will dig the well borehole—the second stage will power it with solar power.
Based upon what we receive, the church will continue to send funds on a regular basis to Zimbabwe to purchase food for the people who live at the dump. It will also be used to help the least of these who live in the village.
The ultimate goal is to set Mika up to be an ambassador of the Lord—and of Corryton Church—to serve the people there at the dump and in his village in Jesus’ name. He continues to teach and preach weekly in the village and at the dump. Eventually, the project should be self-sustaining, enabling Mika to take care of his family and serve people in the village and at the dump. Pigs will reproduce and be sold for cash. Chickens will lay eggs that can be sold and given to those in need. The grinder will provide a service and income for the project. A garden will produce food that can be sold and given to the people who need it most.
How can you help?
Pray for the people there. With the hotels shut down, almost no food makes it to the dump in the garbage. People have been hospitalized there from starvation.
Pray for Mika. Ask God to give him wisdom and good health. Ask God to use him as he teaches and tries to lead people there to Jesus.
Pray that the church will not run into any roadblocks as we send money there for this work. We’ve already faced a few financial hurdles.
Give. Corryton Church now has an ongoing fund for The Least of These Project. You can give to the church and designate that gift to “Africa.” Every penny will be used there in Zimbabwe for this project.