1359. Why are There So Many Missionaries from Zimbabwe? By Maurine Proctor · November 18, 2021, in Meridian Magazine
It would be wonderful for someone to do this for missionaries in all countries with a lot of poverty. What a lot of good would be done, for now, and the future!
Why are There So Many Missionaries from Zimbabwe?
When our daughter, Michaela was in the MTC in Johannesburg, South Africa, several years ago, we thought something was quite mysterious. Almost every other missionary with her was from Zimbabwe. Not only that, but they seemed to know each other well, like old high school friends who shared the same stories.
That trend has continued with young men and women from Zimbabwe stepping up to serve missions in unusual numbers, and there’s no secret why. It is the same reason why suddenly women are making the long treks to see doctors while they are pregnant, which often saves their and their babies lives. The same reason that medical supplies are available to the sick in Zim and some of the starving have food. This is no small thing in a country where 96% of the people are unemployed.
It isn’t a government aid program or the work of some large, international humanitarian group. It comes down to the energies, vision and kindness of three high-profile Latter-day Saint professional golfers from the Ladies European Tour named Reeve Nield, Laurette Maritz and Cecilie Lundgreen who started a remarkable, nearly unprecedented project because their hearts wouldn’t let them ignore the problems they saw. Laurette is South Africa’s top women’s golfer, Cecilie is top-ranked from Norway and Reeve’s family has lived in Zimbabwe for several generations.
They took on the impossible, and with mighty prayer, they accomplish the impossible. In the past few months more than 300 youth have come forward asking for help in preparing to serve the Lord, and in the short space of 7 days, they applied for 418 passports.
A recent email noted “We are very, very busy, but oh, so, so fun!” In the just the last 24 hours, they had assisted 18 youths to complete their paperwork for their missions,
obtained and packed missionary suitcases to all those who started their missions,
completed missionary medicals for others,
sent truckloads of supplies to 3 large orphanages,
obtained and sent medical supplies to a remote medical clinic
got supplies for a real, bush village (in Reeve’s words) and
obtained supplies for a middle-aged woman with cerebral palsy.
In 24 hours?
(When I read Reeve’s email, I thought, “Oh, I want to be part of something so good. She invites us all to be—and we’ll tell you below.)
We’ll zero in on just one of the services supplied by these women and their organization, eyes4Zimbabwe.org
Prospective Missionaries
For some time, Reeve had noticed how many fine young, missionary-age Latter-day Saints were in Zimbabwe who had no chance to go on missions no matter how keenly they desired it. The stumbling block was having the money to prepare themselves to go.
They are street vendors who hawk their wares and live day by day, giving a chunk of funds to their families to help sustain them. They are unemployed in a nation that has fallen on very hard economic times. Their clothing is too worn to look like a missionary. Even if they begin to put a little nest egg aside toward a mission, usually the funds get absorbed when someone in their family needs medicine or their parents fall on particularly hard times.
No getting around it. It is expensive to get medical and dental exams for mission papers, expensive to obtain a birth certificate in a nation where you weren’t given one at birth, expensive to get a passport, expensive to buy a suitcase, let alone fill it when you earn only two dollars a day.
Reeve said the Spirit told her, “Go find those kids here in Zimbabwe who want to go on a mission and can’t,” and she’s being doing it ever since.
It’s a complicated process to prepare these missionaries. Things that might be simple someplace else were more complex here. For instance, many only had a hand-written birth certificate and for that to become an electronic one costs money. Then for that to become an official ID costs more money. The missionaries needed electronic birth certificates and ID to apply for passports, which in turn were also expensive. Dollars mounted at every turn.
Reeve and her friends had to be creative and they prayed hard for answers—and when things just seemed impossible, they prayed again because they knew that God could give them answers and that he wanted these kids on missions.
They were innovative. To learn blood types for their medical exam, they had the kids give blood at a local clinic. A Latter-day Saint nurse gave them medical exams. The innovations were many and the numbers of missionaries from Zim began to swell the ranks of all the missions in Africa.
Filling out their missionary papers and receiving missionary suitcases filled with clothing, required help that would have been impossible to receive in any other way. These fine young missionaries would still have been languishing at home. In return they give five hours of service to someone who needs it—chopping wood, carrying water, digging gardens, teaching children who cannot afford schooling, hand washing laundry, cleaning homes for the elderly—and report back their experience.
Reeve, tells a story of a young man they helped get on a mission. When he was a baby, Brendan Munyapa’s mother had abandoned him and his two older sisters. His grandmother looked after him, but she died while he was still young. Abandoned again. His older sister looked after him until she had no money and couldn’t afford to help, so, as a young teenager, he was left on his own to watch out for himself.
In January of 2020, Reeve was teaching him about family history and invited Brendon to return to his (deceased) father’s rural village to find his family. “I also invited him to find his estranged mother,” Reeve said.
Two weeks later, he arrived at Reeve’s door with a big, big smile. He had been to his father’s home and made notes on his father and his ancestors. Then he found his mother and “She hugged me! She even hugged me!”
When Brendon Munyapa went on his mission, of course it was with the help of Eyes4Zimbawe, but there was something special in his missionary suitcase.
Reeve said, “In 1962, Elder Claron Swenson and his companion Elder Kent Olsen were walking down the road in a small town called Chingola in Zambia. They were about to stop for lunch when the Lord asked them to knock on two more doors, the second door being that of my young parents (20 and 22 years old). They had both been raised by religious mothers and had been looking for a church to attend. My mother slightly opened the door and miraculously, my father was home sick that day with bilharzia (a water-borne parasite). My mother went to tell him about these two clean cut young men who had a message to share with them and he suggested that they return that night when he felt a bit better. That night, with a flannel board, they taught my parents, ‘The Plan of Salvation.’ Elder Swenson later wrote in his journal, “Tonight, Reggie Nield said that we taught him more in one night than he had known in his whole life.” They accepted the gospel that very night.”
Then, a few years ago, Claron Swenson’s widow, Carol gave Reeve a pair of his shoes, saying she knew he would want them to go to Africa to help a young missionary who served there. For some time, Reeve wondered who they should go to, and then she knew.
When she delivered a pre-packed missionary suitcase to Elder Munyapa, Reeve was excited to share “that he would be walking in the shoes of the missionary who found and taught my parents and baptized my mother. (When I arrived to drop off Elder Munyapa’s missionary suitcase at Domboshava Chapel, he did not have any shoes on!)”
You can Help Too
We can help with this unique effort in Zimbabwe, both with the prospective missionaries and in all the many efforts Reeve, Cecille and Laurette do. Until November 30, you are invited to come to the LDS Humanitarian Center to both bring supplies and help to sort, bail and load shipping containers that are heading to Zimbabwe. Below are instructions and a specific list of needs, as well as a place to donate if that is your preference.
For those who would like to pack a missionary bag, so that a prospective missionary in Zimbabwe can be on his or her way, that list is also below.
RULES & GUIDELINES…
Before coming call Cecilie Lundgreen (CC) to make sure we don’t exceed the capacity of the packing area. For a cash donation, checks are to made out to Charity Vision with Eyes4Zimbabwe written in bottom left corner). Charity Vision is a 501c3 and the donation is deductible for U.S. income tax filing. Please give the check to Cecilie Lundgreen.
CECILIE LUNDGREEN (CC)
Phone +1 385 487 3378
VENUE
LDS Humanitarian Center – 1665 Bennett Rd, Salt Lake City, Utah 84104
ALL donations to be dropped off here.
(NOT First Park Warehouse)
HOURS OF OPERATION
DATES – November 9th – 30th (CLOSED Thanksgiving November 25 & 26th)
TIMES – Monday – Friday 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM (CLOSED Saturday & Sundays)
VOLUNTEERS
9:00am – 4:00pm (18 years & Older)
4:00pm – 9:00pm (12 years & Older)
SADLY, NO Children under 12 years…SO, SO, SO SORRY!!!
COVID PROTOCOLS
Masks MUST be worn at all times.
If you have any covid symptoms, please stay at Home
PARKING
Parking is available on the west side of the building for volunteers. (EYES4ZIMBABWE Sign is posted on wall)
ENTRANCE
EVERYONE needs to register when entering the building by the WEST MAIN DOOR (EYES4ZIMBABWE sign on wall)
The main visitor entrance and office area will be closed after 4:30PM…(PLEASE call CC to enter)
DONATION DROP OFFS
Larger donations – NORTH DOCK (sign on fence)
Smaller donations – WEST MAIN DOOR (by donation sign)
EYES4ZIMBABWE has been allocated working space in several areas on the NORTHWEST SIDE of the building…We ask that volunteers stay in these designated areas.
EYES4ZIMBABWE Basic List of NEEDED items:
FOOD: (Please may ALL food items have a shelf life of at least 1 year)
- Powdered Baby formula
- Tuna fish
- Dry beans
- Peanut butter
- Rice
- Pasta
- Oil
MEDICAL SUPPLIES: (Please may ALL items have an expiry date of at least 1 year later)
- Stethoscope
- Thermometer
- Reading glasses
- Wheelchairs
- Crutches
- Walkers
- Cymometer
- Episiotomies scissors
- Medical supplies
- Treated mosquito nets
- Sterile Gloves
- Face masks
- Examination gloves
- Shoes covers
- Head covers
- Sterile Gauze
- Hospital gowns (ALL sizes)
- Surgery scrubs
- Syringes / needles
- Drip holders
- Medical carts
- Medical tape for drips
- Sutures
- Dental supplies (ESPECIALLY for extractions)
CLEANING BUCKETS FOR HOSPITALS: (Packed into a bucket with lid to clean and disinfect hospitals)
- STRONG food storage type buckets with lids
- Yellow gloves x 3
- Mutton clothes (general cleaning cloths)
- Bleach
- General purpose cleaning soap
- Laundry soap
- Scrubbing brushes
- Cleaning supplies
- Sanitation supplies
- Dish washer soap
- Antibacterial
NEWBORN KIT CONTENTS:
- Vest or undershirt
- Onesie (One piece outfit)
- 4-6 Cloth diapers
- 8-10 Pins
- Booties or Socks
- Beanie
- Mittens
- Wrapping Blanket
- 2 x Baby Soap
- (Optional) Plastic pants to be worn over the baby’s diaper (Keeping their Mother’s back dry when she carries the baby on her back)
Assembly directions…Pack into a 2-gallon plastic zip-lock bag.
—
Why Mothers Die
Statistics share that in Zimbabwe out of every 100,000 birthing mothers, 1000 will die at child-birth, mostly due to lack of medical assistance. Many Mothers live far distances from small rural bush clinics and have to walk long distances (up to 60+km’s) weeks prior to giving birth in order to be at the clinic. Having newborn kits at these remote medical clinics encourages mothers to make the long, arduous journey knowing that their new baby will be clothed and warm. By giving birth at the clinic, there are medical staff who will be able to assist, often times saving both the mother’s and newborn baby’s life!!
It is AMAZING to think that a simple newborn kit might change a life so dramatically, and in reality, we KNOW that it does!
—
HYGIENE KITS
- 2 Bars of Soap (Antibacterial if possible!)
- 2 Combs
- 1 Hand Towels
- 4 Toothbrushes
- 1 Toothpaste
- 1 Nail Clippers
- Petroleum Jelly (Packed in separate box)
Packed into a plastic zip-lock bag
SCHOOL KITS:
- 3 x Exercise Books
- 1 x Ruler
- 2 x Sharpener
- 2 x Eraser
- 1 x Scissors
- 1 x Glue
- Colored pencil crayons
- 6 x Blue Pens
- 6 x Pencils
Pack into a school bag
PLEASE feel free to add ANYTHING else that you might like
GENERAL ITEMS:
- Bath Soap (antibacterial if possible)
- Laundry Soap
- Towels
- Beach size towels for newborn Babies for their Mothers to carry them
- Blankets
- Sheets
- Shoes (Paired, New or lightly used)
- Clothing of ALL sizes (New or lightly used)
- Bras (new or gently used)
- NEW underwear ALL sizes
- Laptop computers (refurbished or new)
- Tennis balls
- Soccer balls (Air pump & needles x 3)
- Soft toys
- Towels
- Blankets
- Sheets
- Backpacks for school
- Heavy duty food storage type buckets for carrying water with lids
- Scriptures
- Church Magazines
- Coloring books and coloring pencils
- Flashlights
- Reading glasses (Dollar Store…ALL strengths)
- Sunglasses
- Gardening tools
- Hats/caps
- Bikes
- Strollers
- New Babies bottles
- T-shirt dresses/dresses for girls
- Toothbrushes/toothpaste
- ANY type of musical instrument, Africans LOVES to sing and dance…Pianos to the smallest of instruments
PRE-PACKED MISSIONARY SUITCASE GIVEN TO A MISSIONARY FROM ZIMBABAWE FOR THEIR MISSION
Please Remember…
- New or lightly used clothing
- Ziplock all Hygiene items
- Attach a laminated tag to the handle (outside) of the case displaying…If the case is for a Sister or Elder, what size either the skirt or pants are, the name and contact email of the person or ward who packed the suitcase so the Missionary receiving your suitcase can communicate “Thank You” and who they are and where they are serving.
- PLEASE may you list any items not included in the bag; a partial bag is better than nothing!!…As we say in Zimbabwe, “TATENDA!!”
SISTERS
** Women Sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 (6 & 8 are MOST POPULAR)
** Shoe sizes: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
- Quad/Scriptures & Scripture Case (ENGLISH)
- 7 Modern, colorful outfits (Let’s make our Sisters look cute)
- 2 Jackets/Sweaters
- Accessories (Scarfs, Belts, Earrings, etc.)
- 2 White Bras
- 6 Pair of new white Underwear
- 3 Pair of Comfortable Shoes
- Pajamas
- Set of Work clothes & Gym clothes (Jeans, T-shirt, Gym shorts, Athletic Shoes, Socks, Sweatshirt, Hat, etc.)
- Alarm Clock
- Shoulder Bag (No Backpacks)
- Raincoat &/or Warm Coat
- Journal/Pens/Pencils
- Mini copy of ‘Preach My Gospel’
- Basic First Aid Kit
- Basic Sewing Kit
- 1 Set of Single Sheets & Pillowcase
- 1 Bath Towel, Hand towel & Wash Cloth
- 4 Toothbrush & Toothpaste
- 4 Deodorant
- Pack of Sanitary Pads
- Perfume & lipstick
- Razor/Shaver & blades
- 2 Bars of Soap
- Nail cutters, nail file, nail polish
- Petroleum Jelly (in a zip-lock bag)
- Optional – Wrist Watch & Digital Camera
ELDERS
** Shirt Sizes: 14, 15, 16
** Pant Sizes: 28, 30, 32, 34
** Shoes Sizes: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
- Quad/Scriptures & Scripture Case (ENGLISH)
- 2 Suits
- 8 White Shirts (4 short/4 long sleeve)
- 2 Belts
- 8 Socks (solid, dark colored)
- 8 Ties
- 4 Pairs of dark Pants/Trousers
- 2 Dark V-neck Sweaters
- 2 Pair Shoes (thick-soled, comfortable, conservative)
- Pajamas
- Set of Work clothes and Gym clothes (Jeans, T-shirt, Gym shorts, Athletic Shoes, Socks, Sweatshirt, Hat, etc.)
- Alarm Clock
- Wallet & Shoulder Bag (No Backpacks)
- Raincoat &/or Warm Coat
- Journal/Pens/Pencils
- Mini copy of ‘Preach My Gospel’
- Basic First Aid kit
- Sewing Kit
- 1 Set of Single Sheets & Pillowcase
- 1 Bath Towel, hand towel & Wash Cloth
- 4 Toothbrush & Toothpaste
- 4 Deodorant
- Razor/Shaver & blades
- 2 Bars of Soap
- Nail cutters
- Petroleum Jelly (in a zip-lock bag)
- Shoe Shine Kit
- Optional – Wrist Watch & Digital Camera
