Accomplishing the Mission - LTLA Update - February 2026

 

Greetings LTLA Friends, Thank you for your prayers for my recent trip as I met with friends of the ministry and with our team to examine how we are doing in accomplishing the mission God has called us to in Chinhoyi and Mutare. It was encouraging to hear from our Zimbabwean friends what a blessing Life to Life Africa is to those whom we seek to serve. The team was also very encouraged to reflect on how each aspect of our ministry is accomplishing the mission, values and vision the Lord helped us clarify in 2017. In short, our mission is to seek the vulnerable, lovingly care for them, lead them to Christ, disciple & train them along with the next generation of leaders among college students to see a discipling movement take root that transforms the lives of many. This is all accomplished as we value the following: Jesus Christ and God's Word, every person as an image bearer of God, the power and ministry of prayer, faithful stewardship, team unity through love and orderly protocol, ethical and good moral behavior, as well as abiding by the laws of Zimbabwe and respecting its culture. As we conduct ourselves in this way in pursuing our mission we envision the following: being a light to many, empowering and developing people to lead healthy and productive lives, developing Godly influential leaders, being a vital resource to the communities we serve, establishing broad prayer and financial support from within and outside Zimbabwe along with expanding our work within and outside Zimbabwe. Some highlights of how we are accomplishing our mission that were identified by our friends and our team are: The holistic approach to ministry is critical in caring for the physical and spiritual needs of the people we are seeking to reach. One friend stated, "The legacy left by Uncle Ron Shimkus was about spreading the gospel through granting dignity to people through meeting felt needs in love and care as directed in 1 John 3:18 and James 2:14-18. The community impacted by LTLA is largely afflicted by poverty which we recognize as a spiritual bondage so discipling and training people to be self-sustaining is breaking such a yoke." The consistent time in reading, studying, memorizing, meditating and applying God's Word by the LTLA team is empowering them to impact others. As a result we are seeing an evangelism and discipling movement take hold among young and old in Chinhoyi. It is our hope that a discipling movement will soon manifest in Mutare among college students and young adults. Those whom we are discipling in Chinhoyi have been active in peer leading activities with the LTLA team members. Over the past ten years 9 team members have been trained in evangelism, discipleship and equipping ministry. One team member, Simba, with his wife, Pamela, has been sent to pioneer ministry in a new city, Mutare. Ten other team members are being trained in evangelism and discipleship. We have also trained close to 200 families how to sustainably grow corn and have been cared for with their medical needs at our monthly clinic. Close to 40 orphans have spent their pre-school years being fed physically and spiritually at our Critical Care Center. We have been assisting up to 40 school age and college age orphans with their school fees. Seven have graduated college and are now employed. There have been seven young people whom we have discipled who are now married. Your support in prayer and finances has made all this possible. Thank you!! Mike Sulc Life to Life Ministries- Africa Director Here are photos from my trip and recent events:

Brian, LTLA team member (left), translated my training of how to use Romans 6:23 to share the Gospel with the Men of Hope group. They will be going out in the coming weeks to share this illustration with other men. Pray they experience the blessing of sharing their faith as stated in Philemon 6, "I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ." (NIV, 1984)

Brian and his wife Privilege with their daughter, Joy, wrapped on her back, harvesting tomatoes among the 2800 tomato plants he planted next to the LTLA Community Center. He loves farming and some government officials have taken notice so they are offering him 6 hectares near Chinhoyi to farm. Join us in praising the Lord for rewarding his hard work and praying for his farming efforts.

Shelton, LTLA Community Ministry leader, checking the blood pressure of team member Lunga. Lunga has recently been suffering from high blood pressure. Pray for Lunga's health as his high blood pressure prevented him from planting corn this year which will impact the provision of food and income for his family.

Messiah, who is fruit of our high school ministry and a college student we are sponsoring, has been doing an internship with our ministry for his development studies degree. In this photo he was collecting manure from our chicken coop to donate to the gardening project at a retirement home in Chinhoyi. We praise the Lord for the stewardship and generosity exhibited by the LTLA team.

On my trip I enjoyed traveling to Mutare with Tinotenda (far left) and with Tatenda (to my right). Tinotenda was returning to Mutare where he is studying at Mutare Polytechnic. He also is fruit of our high school ministry and a college student we are sponsoring. He lives with Simba & Pamela whom we were visiting and is helping Simba minister on his campus. Tatenda, an LTLA team member, will be in Mutare for three months where he is receiving counseling in a residential program to help with trauma he has experienced in his life as an orphan. Pray for Tatenda to encounter healing through Christ at this Christian counseling center.

During the last three weeks, I have had the privilege of coordinating the visit of Jonathan Govero from Zimbabwe to the US. He is a spiritual grandson of Ron Shimkus and currently is the Zimbabwe country director for The Navigators. He was invited to speak at The Navigators Mid-America Region Disciplemakers Conference, February 13-15. In this photo Jonathan is sharing at the conference the impact of Ron's discipleship in his life. The slide behind him has pictures of Jonathan with Ron who discipled Ticharwa and who then discipled Jonathan. The next photo shows Jonathan with Cephas whom he discipled followed by a photo below of Jonathan, Cephas and Anesu whom Cephas discipled. Ron's life verse, Isaiah 60:22, "The least will become a thousand and the smallest a mighty nation...," has materialized as seen through these four spiritual generations. We praise God for the opportunity he has given us to be involved in his redeeming work.

Atipa, which means, "he has given us," was born this past Saturday to Tinotenda & Shelton. She and her mother are doing well. We praise the Lord for Atipa's safe arrival as Tinotenda has type 1 diabetes and suffered the loss of their first child at 8 months. Atipa has a big sister, Kunashe, whom the Lord graciously gave to Tinotenda and Shelton a year after losing their first child. We are rejoicing with them in the Lord's protection of Tinotenda and Atipa through the pregnancy and delivery.