Olivia Hudson Smith, Julia Henderson, and Rob Habiger represented the Denver Presbytery and the PZDP on a recent visit to Zimbabwe as part of the 12-year-old partnership between the Denver Presbytery and the Presbytery of Zimbabwe. The focus of their visit was the Central Fund, an initiative of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, to provide sustainable support for their pastors. Their visit included witnessing the construction of the first major project of the Central Fund, a greenhouse that will grow 2500 tomatoes and 1000 English Cucumbers. The plants have been seeded and will be set into the greenhouse in about four to five weeks. They meet with the Business Investment Unit of the Presbytery of Zimbabwe, the body that is developing and overseeing the sustainable projects that make up the Central Fund portfolio. Their visit also included listening visits with the congregations chosen for a pilot program to provide stipend supplements to a small group of pastors. Olivia, Julia, and Rob also preached at three of the congregations included in the pilot program, making many new friends in Christ and renewing relationships made over the many years of the partnership.
A very special event was the memorial service for The Reverend Stan Jewell, held at Highfield Presbyterian Church in Harare, where he served in 2015.