October – December 2012 Semester Report

2012 was a great year for our ministry in many respects. We have been at a stage where we are seeking to find form, stability and viability as some of our dependencies fall away, and it has been amazing to see how God continues to sustain us in ways that have gone beyond our resources and capacity. It only leads one to wonder whether we give to ministry as we serve or we receive much from it as we serve, seeing how much more we learn and grow from our service than we teach or give of ourselves. We succeeded in coming up with a new name for our ministry, “Student U” and this took a lot of time and effort as the decision required the involvement of all stakeholders. A lot of work also went into setting up leadership structures which we are still praying to fill up once suitable candidates have been found.

Of note this last semester, we had two of our part-time staff members who had been seeking employment getting jobs, and those who have been self employed making great strides in their businesses. These progressive leaps in people’s careers brought hope and encouragement when it was really needed. This however, meant a limit to the time that these staff members could commit to our ministry work. It was amazing though that they did not waver at their ministry commitment and we enjoyed and benefited much from their presence and hard work in their time outside of their jobs, keeping our ministry going. We are so thankful to God and also to them for such devotion and commitment. The student committee was also notable in their service, filling in their duties well. Pretty much the same can also be said of our core student membership. In all this, there has been such great team work and relationships have grown tremendously, and lives have been transformed. It has been such fulfilling work the Lord did with us.

In our bible study, we had a phenomenal time studying the book of Job under the theme of, “The Sovereignty of God”. At the end of it, we had such amazing responses from students about how deeply the book of Job had spoken into their lives and brought transformation. One female student said she could now put into perspective the struggles that she has faced in life with her mother over the years and she was now more encouraged to continue to stand in the Lord trusting He is in control. It is when we hear such comments that we are reminded that there is much value in our small imperfect work as God uses the little we offer Him to do a greater and deeper work in people’s lives and we are often oblivious to it even as it unfolds right in front of us.

The semester was not all glossy. We faced all sorts of challenges financially and at times work overload. We had to be sensitive about balancing our ministry responsibilities with work, family and studies. But most of these hardships become pale when we compare these challenges to the end result of the things we could look at and celebrate by the end of the year. 

We bid farewell to Willard Mudzimiri in December, who was the serving Ministry Coordinator and had been with Student U for about ten years, starting out as a student member and eventually heading the ministry. His departure left a void that has had significant implications on the operations of our ministry, but we are also grateful to God that this change has opened up doors to a new approach to ministry that may well be the start of a new era at Student U. We trust that we will continue to benefit from his support even beyond his time of service as he takes on a new path in life. Gift Gana has since taken over from Willard but temporarily until a more permanent replacement can be found as his other commitments restrict him from taking on such a responsibility on a permanent basis. We are grateful to him and his wife for their long service and unwavering commitment to Student U, and the same goes for the whole staff team. 

We are ever grateful for all your support financially and in prayer. There is so much sacrifice that goes into our work before we reach ground work and we recognize this and give much thanks to God for you. 

Be richly blessed.