The “Miracle” of Goshen Farm Orphanage:
In 2014 new friends invited my husband and me to Zimbabwe; they now like family. Our host and his wife (both native Zimbabweans) are two of the most remarkable people we’ve ever met! Earlier we visited Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls and Walked with the Lions. This trip turned out completely different than our future experiences with the Goshen Farm Orphanage.
Several years earlier this man became a pastor of a dying church in Harare. With the help of his wife and four children that church grew to an attendance of over 500, AND from that church at least seven other congregations were born. As exciting as that is, these churches are NOT the miracle I’m writing about in this blog. And so, I share the story of the Goshen Farm Orphanage, an African Miracle in Zimbabwe.
Brief History of Rhodesia & Zimbabwe
For most of the years between 1925 and 1980 Rhodesia was an British Colony in Africa. Because of its amazing soil, Rhodesia literally became known as the “breadbasket” of Africa. In 1964 N. Rhodesia broke away from England and became the independent country of Zambia. The rest of Rhodesia remained with Great Britain. In 1979 Robert Magabe became the first Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, and in 1980 Zimbabwe declared independence from Great Britain.
This is not a political treatise, but it’s important to note what occurred at the transfer of power from Great Britain to local control. The British farmers were established with huge farms across S. Rhodesia that were self-sufficient and very profitable. But, when the British left there was a disconnect between them and the Zimbabweans. Knowledge of how to run these huge farms was not successfully passed from one group to another. Ultimately the farms began to degenerate and crumble.
Results from Failing Infrastructure:
Since the farms were the foundation of the country’s infrastructure, the failures began to trickle down into every part of Zimbabwe’s economy. Banks wouldn’t loan; supply houses had fewer customers, etc. On one occasion, my husband and I drove approximately 230 miles from Harare to Bulawayo--the heart of farm country. In that entire expanse we saw one large abandoned farm and farm house after another. We saw broken farm equipment laying everywhere. Yet, we saw NO working farms in this entire span of beautiful farm country.
As the country deteriorated, so did society. Zimbabweans who worked on the farms for generations no longer had jobs. This caused a rush to the cities, especially Harare. Many families were split up during the Civil War before independence and many men were killed or incapacitated. Around his growing church, our host saw more and more needs. Specifically, he saw many children without food and homes. It appeared that the government was doing little about this crisis, and within this devastated climate and economy his heart was stirred to action. And so began the birth of something bigger than life and truly God-directed and miraculous.
Birth of Goshen Farm Orphanage!
Goshen Farm Orphanage Number 1:
To meet the needs of the children, our hosts and their growing church began a daily feeding program for homeless children and orphans around their church. A small house near the church was donated to them. When this house was donated, it immediately was turned into an orphanage, following all the Zimbabwe legal procedures. This little house became Goshen Farm Orphanage No. 1, and nearly overnight it housed ten lucky children. A “house mother” was hired which began another opportunity to help his fellow citizens–offering honest work!
Goshen Farm Orphanage Number 2:
Shortly after the little house became an orphanage, a British farmer offered to give our host and his family a large house with eight acres for their home. The house and land were graciously accepted, but our host refused to move his family there. Rather, he began Goshen Farm Orphanage No. 2. This larger house and land were big enough for at least 20 orphans and two workers! As a sidebar: I’ve stayed in our hosts’ home; it is modest and small with no indoor facilities and in a crowded community. This larger house was a mansion compared to where they still live. It wasn’t even an option for the two of them to live there. The orphans came first!
Goshen Farm Orphanage Number 3:
Within a few months the same British farmer offered an even larger house to the church. This house is adjacent to the first big house, and it sets on six acres of land. You guessed it! This house became Goshen Farm Orphanage No. 3. Together, these two large houses and the original small house were now housing over 50 orphans. Unbelievable, but the miracle continues.
And then — a Farm!
Within a couple years of the gift of the two large houses, our host and his church were well known as excellent caregivers for orphans. In addition, Goshen Farm Orphanage was making a meager contribution to a crumbling society by offering work to several unemployed. ALL of this work was totally volunteer by our host and the church. There was NO help either from the government or any outside group–including the church.
One day completely out of the blue, our host received a call from yet another British farmer who could no longer work in the country. The man asked if he and his church would like a farm. Never one to say “no,” our host asked if he could see the farm first. Together they drove about an hour north of Harare to view “the farm.” After viewing a huge expanse of land, our host was confused: “Which part is the farm and how big is it?” he asked. The farmer replied, “this is ALL the farm, and it’s 1,000 acres!” The transaction was legally sealed within a few days, and the Goshen Farm Orphanage now owned a 1,000-acre farm.
Goshen Farm Orphanage Is a Reality!
Before the transaction ink was dry our host had great plans for the farm. It would be a working farm AND an extension of the Harare orphanages. The only buildings on the farm were a large house and a rundown house for workers. Immediately, the church built three ingenious houses on the farm for children. The old house became the caretaker’s house, and the little rundown workers’ house became a temporary school for the orphans. The older orphans stayed in the city to attend high school, and younger ones were moved to the farm.
The next thing the church did was to erect three chicken runs on the farm; one 82 feet long; one 100 feet long; and one 115 feet long. They filled them with thousands of chicks and began producing dozens of eggs that they sold regularly in Harare. Until this point, no outside help had come their way, but a businessman in the US heard of the farm and purchased 55 head of cattle for them. This was the farm my husband and I saw on our first visit to Harare and Goshen Farm Orphanage. Now our hearts were stirred to help.
What Can We Do?
David and I were deeply moved by all we saw in the orphanages, in the Harare church, and Goshen Farm Orphanage. After our first visit we weren’t sure when or what we could do, but we knew that somehow, some time, and some way, we wanted to be a small part of this miracle. In 2015 we returned for a second visit to Harare. On that visit David and I both spoke at the church. We brought a few clothes to the children, but that’s all we were able to do then.
Several years passed, but our interest in Goshen Farm Orphanage and appreciation for the passion of our hosts never waned–not one bit. Because of our many visits to Africa, our local church invited David to lead missions for the church. Our church is very generous and does a lot for our local community. For years it has supported mission work in Rwanda, and several individuals have been there. But they had never organized a large overseas missions work and witness group. And so, the miracle trip of 2018 was conceived and born!
The 2019 “Miracle” Mission Trip:
David announced a mission trip to build a much-needed permanent structure at Goshen Farm. People were excited! I spoke at a church in Ketchikan, Alaska about Goshen Farm Orphanage a year before and expressed a keen interest in joining us. I contacted Ketchikan and FOUR signed up; then two signed up from a neighboring church, and TWELVE from our local church. Together we had an amazing group of 18 people excited and ready to go. When I say excited; they were carried away excited.
One lady organized a Bible School that we took with us. Ultimately over 100 children in Zimbabwe attended. Another lady purchased 100 pairs of “the shoe that grows,” and together the group collected at least SIX large suitcases full of clothes, toys, school supplies, and toothbrushes. We brought with us one entire Jesus Film set plus replacement parts. Our goal of building a house was “morphing” into something much larger than we ever dreamed or expected.
Our good friend in Harare sent us the plans for the house, and they were quite exhaustive but we accepted the project on with much enthusiasm. We forwarded $8,000 for them to begin the project and buy necessary supplies. This way, we could hit the ground running and do as much as possible in the few days we would be in Zimbabwe. Once the funds arrived in Africa, the Harare church got moving. They poured the foundation and erected walls before our arrival. We spent our time in Africa conducting Bible School, working on the roof of the new house, and building a cesspool. The house was incomplete when we left, but it sure looked different than when we arrived.
The “Miracle” of the Glasses and the Bull!
One of our American volunteers is an optometrist. He brought 800 pairs of glasses. enabling him to run eye clinics and give glasses to people who never had them. The clinics were unbelievable: the farm is quite remote but somehow the word got out. There was only one place for the eye clinic; the farm’s old run-down workers’ house. This old house wasn’t one bit sanitary, but that didn’t stop anyone from coming for to have their eyes checked.
At 7:00 AM of the first eye clinic day, there were at least 100 people waiting, and the line grew longer and longer. One volunteer organized the crowd by giving them numbers and creating a “waiting room” for 20 people at a time. This continued for two days. It was hot, but no one complained; they just rejoiced as blind eyes were made to see!!!
The 2nd day of the eye clinic, a neighboring farmer drove up in a nice vehicle and asked to speak to someone in charge. His appearance and his vehicle indicated that he was a successful farmer. As I took him to meet my husband, I inquired what he wanted. Several of his workers walked three miles the day before and now had appropriate glasses to read and see well. He just wanted to say “thank you!” Wow! To our surprise, he invited us to visit his cattle farm.
A Cattleman Among Us!
One of the American volunteers raises cattle, so he went to visit the farm first. He reported that it was a gorgeous farm with 100 workers and 200 family members living on the premises. That they raise Brahmas! The next day my husband and I, along with wonderful hosts drove to the farm to share tea with the farmer.
In 2018 there was a tick infestation in Zimbabwe, and 1,000s of cattle died. Our new friend’s farm did not lose a single cow. In the tick epidemic Goshen Farm lost its bull. Without a bull, there are no calves–duh! Brahmans are extremely expensive; in fact, one sold the year before for $15,000.
Goshen Farm needed a bull, but we offered all we had left–only $1,000.00. We handed it to the farmer in a sealed envelope as down payment. The farmer took it; never opened the envelope and accepted it as FULL payment for a Goshen Farm bull. He also offered to keep the bull until Goshen Farm could erect a fence to keep stray cattle away, thus avoiding further loss.
That was two years ago. Our church sent money for the fence; workers in Africa installed the fence; the neighbor delivered the bull; and last spring 25 calves were born on Goshen farm–two of them bulls. To God be the Glory!
So? What happened?
Originally, the Goshen Farm Orphanage had a rundown workers’ house. Once the smaller orphans moved to the farm the old house became their school. Word got out, and children in the area who could not get to a school began to attend. Goshen Farm Orphanage charged each neighboring child a small fee. They were happy to pay since no other school was available.
As school attendance grew, it became evident that larger and newer classrooms were necessary and expedient Since the farm is large, they chose land about one mile from the orphan houses, and there they built a basic two room school. With the new school building, attendance grew to over sixty children, 1st through 6th grades.
New Ad Building for Goshen Farm Orphanage:
Zimbabwe requires all students to pass matriculation tests. In Zimbabwe state tests are given only at government approved sites. No such place was near the little two room school. Never to be deterred, our host and his small band of local supporters drew plans for an administration. building adjacent to the new school. The government approved plans for this cement block building; they laid the foundation and began to raise the walls.
The building project for the school halted while our group of volunteers worked on the new house on the orphanage grounds. But the need for a school administration building was still pressing. If and when that building is complete, however, and a secured room organized for testing, the government will officially approve the school. In Zimbabwe that is huge!
We pledged to complete the house and also do whatever we could to help with the school ad building. In 2021 we forwarded several thousand dollars to the school project, and now it is becoming a reality. After the building’s completion, Goshen Farm Orphanage School can be an official state testing. And, there is another bonus. This ad. building makes it possible to expand the school into a boarding school for high school students. The possibilities are endless.
What Next at Goshen Farm Orphanage?
COVID halted our plans to return in 2020 or 2021. We sent funds for the completion of the school administration building. And we recently forwarded funds to finish and furnish the house that began in 2018.
It is our hope to return at least one more time for the dedication of these two buildings. That would be awesome. However, this may not happen. Whatever happens, though, the dedication of these two amazing individuals, their four children, and the awesome people of their Harare congregation are an example of selfless dedication beyond imagination! They are true heroes on many levels.
