The Mustard Seed

Last week we were able to go to a place called “The Mustard Seed”, which is an organisation / ministry which has been running in Bulawayo for about 5 years after Brother Garvin was invited from Jamaica (where the program originated) to setup here. This is a well setup ministry helping in so many ways

The Abandoned Babies Home has been set up on the outskirts of Bulawayo on the drive to the airport. They have only been in this house for a short time but are well recognised with Child Welfare and the police; even though they are not registered as an orphanage the local authorities are still bringing in abandoned babies to be cared for. The house is currently full having 13 infants to care for. It is so sad to hear how some of the infants are found. On Sunday night a young girl who was only 4 hours old was delivered to the home by the police; they had found her in a park (this is good story compared to other cases). It is also unfortunate to see that a majority of the young ones orphaned also have HIV and need medication to keep them healthy. This home is well staffed with young volunteers from the community coming to help look after the infants on a rostered basis. These volunteers are encouraged to help by getting provided with a certificate for child care after also doing some formal training. Much to our amazement when we went to visit this orphanage we found Daniel; the baby which Jodi and I fell in love with last year in the abandoned babies ward. He is doing very well, but he has turned out to be quite a moody little thing. Jodi just thinks he needs a couple of BIG smacks to get him into line.

The School, orphanage, medical centre and church has been set up in one of the semi rural areas about 20 min out of Bulawayo; the Mustard Seed ministry has set up an awesome facility for the surrounding community. They are providing young children with free education as well as meals during the day. They are also housing young school aged orphans and also providing them with education as well. Currently the children’s classroom is a section of field, but they are in the process of getting a classroom build which as been donated by one of the overseas consulates. One amazing story we heard from Brother Garvin was about the Christmas parties for the children in the rural area which have been run over the last three years. On the first year they had the party about 300 children came; the next year 500 and this last year ... 800 children; all the kids got a present (donated by locals) and had a fantastic time on jumping castles and being involved in a whole lot of other activities. This ministry also provides the older teenagers with work experience; as they build more buildings on their ground they have the teenagers help and get trained in manual labour (such as building, painting, plumbing). It is great to see the vision of Brother Garvin and all the ways in which this ministry can expand and help even more people.