For six years, Providence has cooperated with local churches in Zimbabwe to offer relief and hope in a nation that sometimes seems to be spinning out of control.  Year after year, our missions volunteers have trained pastors and churches, hosted women's conferences, provided malaria relief and eye glasses, and distributed food and supplies to dozens of schools.  Our shipping ministry sends money and desperately needed supplies throughout the year.

Our long term plan is to acquire land for a church center and facilities where training, health care, and orphan care can become a reality.  

Check out Pictures from our 2007 trip! 

"The wind is terrible. There's a roaring when it pulls the roofs off the houses," Lumberto Campbell, a local official in Puerto Cabezas, told Radio Ya. "There's no electricity because all the posts that hold up the cables have fallen down."

It was the first time in history that two top-scale storms struck Central America in the same season.  But in 2007, Hurricane Felix followed the path of a previous storm and devastated parts of Nicaragua.  Thousands who survived were left injured and homeless.

Late in November, our own Lee Duckwitz returned from 10 days of working to help rebuild Puerta Cabezas.  Working with Southern Baptist missionaries and local church members, Lee saw the devastating terror and helped rebuilt walls and roofs.

"This was not a trip for first-timers," Lee explained afterwards.  "There were still victims who hadn't been buried, and the suffering was everywhere."

A veteran of construction mission trips to the area, Lee actually helped build some of the structures which saved lives in the recent tragedy. One large church center was constructed to exceed codes just on the chance it might be someday needed by storm survivors.  That "chance" became a reality in 2007, and dozens of locals called the building home after their own homes were washed away.