In the hand of love
Picture this. Year seven. The first year of high school. A year of new beginnings, of growing up, of the future stretched out like a roll of red carpet. If you stood at the school gates and watched the girls in Year seven walking through, the picture is often of little women starting to fill out with curves that mark their upcoming journey. But still there could be little girl plaits and school uniforms just a little bit too big. Maybe some shiny lip-gloss and a hint of mascara. Some are sure of themselves heading into high school. Others are not. But regardless of how they look or feel, these girls are being given the opportunity to expand their horizons and fill their minds with the knowledge of more.
The picture for most girls in Zimbabwe is very different from the picture above. For them, the grim reality is that most of them won’t finish school past year six, or less. For them, the red carpet stops there. There are no undulating red hills or curves ahead for them.
Zimbabwe is one of the most poverty stricken countries in Africa. Ongoing problems with corrupt authority figures and HIV/AIDS infections continue to feed the vicious cycle of poverty. Children and adults have issues with malnutrition due to lack of a proper diet and unemployment adds to the burden on a family’s shoulders.
It is into this kind of picture, one void of girls with shiny lip-gloss and plaits, that Shimmer is holding out their hands of love to girls aged ten to eighteen.
This year’s Shimmer Women’s Conference marked Esandleni Sothando’s first birthday. Esandleni Sothando means ‘in the hand of love’. This phrase comes from Matthew 19:14-15; "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there."
Shimmer, partnering with the Bulawayo Baptist Church in Zimbabwe, is using the hands it has, to be Jesus to the young girls of Zimbabwe.
All of the girls that come through the Esandleni program have either one or both parents deceased, which has meant that schooling fees, uniforms, stationery equipment and personal care needs are not being met.
Through a small team headed up by Mercy Barrow, Joyce Nxumalo and Norah Chiweshe, Esandleni is helping a growing number of young girls take steps to roll out the red carpet for their futures. For 95 per cent of the girls in the program, Esandleni is paying their school fees. Stationery and textbooks have been distributed and school uniforms have been provided.
The most important part is the spiritual growth these girls are experiencing. In such a poverty stricken country, girls grow up with very low self-esteem. Mercy and Joyce write that, "we have focused on changing their mindsets by ministering the word of God because real change starts from the inside… girls that were not Christians gave their lives to Christ."
For the immediate future, Esandleni plans to keep giving the girls educational opportunities, providing life skills training and teaching Biblical principles. They also plan to focus on games and sport to take the pressure off the girls and allow them to have fun and be the children that they are.
Plans for the long-term future include buying/renting a house in Luveve (a very poor area with many early pregnancies) where the project could operate out of a base and build up a library/study room full of literature, study materials and a quiet place to study and pray.
So now, picture this. Your sister, daughter, niece, or granddaughter, her future snuffed out by an enemy called Poverty. The red carpet is tucked away, as It has decided for her that she is not royal enough. If this were her, you would give your all for her future. We are all part of the same family in spirit; so let’s help raise up Godly, spirited, confident young women so that they too can help change the outlook for the generations who follow behind them.
Let’s support Shimmer and Esandleni Sothando to continue the slow process of changing the picture for the girls in Zimbabwe. Do not all young women deserve the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of the world and experience the love of the God who created it, and them, with His hands of love?
I encourage you all to visit the Esandleni website to learn more about the girls who are travelling down their newly rolled red carpet. There are profiles, updates and ways to donate at www.shimmer.org.au/esandleni.
God calls us all to be His hands of love on earth until He can envelop us in His eternal hug.
