Dear brethren
Linda and I deeply appreciate your support of us through all the years. We feel the weight of this Zimbabwe benevolence very heavily. We ask for your prayers that we do all according to how God would have it to be. We feel that you should also receive a full report of all funds received and how they are used. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me.
NYLSTROOM NEWS FINANCIAL REPORT – August - November 2008
Please check to make sure your contribution is listed. If not, please contact us.
Part 1 – General Expenses (money donated by individuals to use how we see fit: teaching trips, benevolence, food for brethren attending meetings, etc.)
Money left in account, July $4135
Money reported in June as unknown was actually reported twice by accident - 450
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Money received (for Sibonakele’s operation):
A family, IN 5000
Mrs H, AR 2500
G family, MO 1000
Money used for S’s operation:
R40 000 @7.31 5398
Left-over money ($3102) sent to seed fund.
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Other money received:
G family, AL (Nov) 50
Mr B, AZ (July - Nov) 250
TOTAL: $3985
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General expenses:
Yearly supply of Matzos R2200
Grape juice, Zim, sent w/Brewer (Aug) 540
Raisins (to make grape juice) (Aug) 194
Medical supplies, Zim. (Aug) 129
Brewer’s truck engine repairs (preacher
stranded in SA when he brought
Sibonakele for her operation) (Aug) 4698
Drought relief, Tsholotsho area, 1000
Total: R8761 @ 7.39mailto:R8761@7.39 = $1186
Grape juice for 90 churches, Zim,Nov R1751
Bicycle parts for preachers, Zim 693
New bicycle for Elias, Zim 1160
Total: R3604 @ 10.125 = $ 356
Bigboy’s truck repairs (engine) $1000
Trip to Zimbabwe, 10 - 18 November:
Groceries for meetings at Tongwe
and West Nicholson (this also
includes medical supplies bought
at the grocery store) R3346
Border fees 1335
Petrol & tolls 2511
Breakdown on road 1010
Musandiwa’s expenses 280
School rental, Tongwe mtg. 150
Accomodation 100
Total: R8732 @ 10.125 = $ 862
Money left in account, November $ 581
Part 2 – Seed Expenses
The good news is that the seeds themselves turned out to be considerably cheaper than we originally thought. That is because there were three types of seeds recommended by the seed expert, and the brethren chose the cheaper options. The second delivery of seeds turned out to be a bit more expensive because of extra transport costs and also the brethren chose slightly more expensive seeds. They are the ones with the experience as to which seeds work best for them, and so the final decision was theirs.
First delivery of 8 tons to 74 congregations in Gwanda South and areas south of Bulawayo, plus Gweru and Plumtree
Seed plus delivery to Bulawayo and Gwanda: (see attached invoice) $16 500
Money given to Bigboy to travel to Botswana to fetch money for petrol 162
Money to Bigboy for petrol for delivery to rural areas 632
Money to Gumpo for petrol for delivery to rural areas 463
Western Union fee (to send petrol money) 103
International wire fee 45
Total: $17 905
Money received:
Ch.of Christ, Riverview, FL 1412
Ch.ofChrist,CahabaHgts,B’hm,AL 1088
Ch.ofChrist, Antioch,FL 3000
Money left over from operation 3102
Mrs D, TX 30
Miss M, CA 250
Families at Clearwater, FL 420
Ch.ofChrist, Hungary 250
T family 500
M family 100
Unknown 600
K family, AL 300
V family, TX 25
Mrs K, MO 100
Mrs A, FL 200
E family 500
W family, AL 100
D family, TX 500
M family, TN 1000
H family, TN 500
B family, TN 60
A famly, FL 1000
Ch.ofChrist, Horizon Pk, SAfrica 700
Anon. AL 150
Anon., NJ 200
M family 50
V family, TX 1768
TOTAL: $17 905
Second delivery of 8 tons: 2 tons to Binga, 2 tons to Tsholotsho area, 1 ton to Beit Bridge, and the rest – a bit extra to the 74 churches mentioned previously.
Seed plus delivery to Gwanda, Bulawayo, and Binga (see attached invoice) $18 700
Money given to Bigboy for delivery of seeds to rural areas (incl. Beit Bridge) 660
Money given to Brewer for delivery of seeds to rural areas (Tsholotsho) 155
Money given to Peter for delivery of seeds to rural areas (Binga) 220
International wire fee 45
TOTAL: $19 780
V family, TX 932
Anon, TN 700
E family, AL 100
C family, TX 300
W family, AL 60
Miss M, TN 400
R family, IN 30
S family, MO 1000
Ch.of Christ, Moorseville Pike,TN 300
Ch.of Christ, Mill Rd, Cincinatti, OH 2000
C family, MO 100
members at Kirkwood, MO 5845
Ch.of Christ, E.Atlanta, GA 500
members at Hazelwood, MO 1000
S family 180
Ch.ofChrist,Hercules,Clearwater,FL 3000
Members at Madison,IN 1800
Ch.ofChrist, Westvue,Murfreesb.TN 1000
Ch.ofChrist,Skyview,WhiteHouse,TN 500
W family, TN 25
TOTAL: $19 772
Brethren, thank you so very much. We are sure you can imagine what the seed must mean to the brethren. Linda and I made a delivery booklet to help Bigboy, Gumpo, Brewer and Peter to provide feedback to you and to help the brethren express their thanks. Bigboy and Gumpo were able to give me some delivery receipts when I was in Zimbabwe this past week, Bigboy and Peter are sending some down to S.Africa via another preacher which he can post to me, and the rest I will only be able to get next month, Lord willing, when I go to Zimbabwe again. So please be patient to hear directly from the brethren.
Part 3 – Drought Relief
Gwanda South: Drought relief for these 19 congregations for November and December has been taken care of by the following congregations: Westvue, Murfreesboro, TN; Valparaiso, IN; Riverview, FL; Appleton, WI; N.Beach St., Ft.Worth,TX; Blue Springs, MO; plus the following individuals: V family TX, Mrs M, FL; and the H family, TN. The congregations at Riverview FL and Cahaba Heights, Birmingham, AL have taken care of these congregations from January through March.
Brethren, not only have I been grieved by the slowness of the process to get maize meal up to our suffering brethren, but I have also been grieved by the dishonesty of the people I have dealt with. What the transport company told me on the phone and what I quoted in the newsletter is not what they ended up charging – and, depending on who I talk to, we may have to pay even more to get the maize through the border – but no one knows how much. What “saved” us is the unusually high exchange rate. This is what the 5,25 tons of drought relief has cost so far:
Maize meal, 5250 kgs (5.25 tons) R17 535 (see attached invoice) @ 11.41 = $1536
Transport costs 10 225 (no invoice received yet!) @ 11.41 896
Money given to Bigboy to transport the maize meal to the 19 congregations 420
Total (so far) ($3150 has been set aside for this.) $2852
Please pray that this maize meal gets delivered quickly.
The bad news is that the price has gone up drastically (see below) and I expect the next shipment to cost approx. $4165!
Filibusi, Mberengwe, Gwanda North, Gweru, Plumtree, Bulawayo: (the areas formerly covered by Foy Short)
To those of you who have faithfully been helping these brethren through the years, our hearts are filled with deep appreciation and gratitude. We know that with your help and God’s help, the needs of our brethren will continue to be met.
As Bigboy and Gumpo deliver the seeds, each congregation is writing down how many members it has. (At present 2040 are on the list.) We will need over 20 tons, just to give each person 10 kg (which is the bare minimum to survive, especially when you consider they must also feed their dependents).
For the past two weeks I have been negotiating with a different company to the one above: (The prices of the original company have also increased, plus it took over 3 weeks to ship.) This man assures me he can ship within 10 days. (SO many people are now shipping maize meal to Zimbabwe that it is quite difficult to find someone to ship in less than 3 weeks.)
On top of that, the Zimbabwean government, in another desperate bid to get money, has evidently just slapped a 15% duty on maize meal. I just got the latest quote this morning: R5724.50 per ton. I had already brought over the money at R10.10 per US$1 so that is $566 per ton or US$11 886 for 21 tons – enough to feed the brethren for just one month. (See quote below.)Then I estimate at least $2400 for Bigboy and Gumpo to deliver it. Total $14 286.
Thanks to the generosity of you brethren, I have the money, and have gone ahead and placed an order for 28 metric tonnes – since between 6-7 tons will be needed for Gwanda South and over 20 - 21 tons for the rest of this area, and we can get a special price if we order one complete truck load of 28 tons. If all goes well, the brethren will have it by the second week in December. They should have had it by the first week. Please pray about this.
What is even more important is that I need to have enough to start immediately working on getting maize shipped to arrive the beginning of January – since everything will take much longer to get through the border over Christmas.
We had absolutely no idea that getting this maize up to Zimbabwe would take such a long time or be this costly, but God knew, and He has provided! Truly, working with this need has overwhelmed us with the goodness of God and the greatness of His love in the hearts of our brethren.
Money received for December drought relief:
F family $ 300
Members at Courthouse, VA 700
Ch.of Christ, Hallsville, MO 3000
Ch of Christ, Fairlawn, NJ 6000
Members at Fairlawn, NJ 1500
P family, NJ 150
S family, NJ 100
Mrs K, MO 40
Ch.ofChrist,KellySprings,Capshaw,AL2500
TOTAL: $ 14 290
Money received for January drought relief – (must be ordered before 1 December:)
S family, AL 100
Bo family, TN 100
Mc, NY 50
Mr S, MO 500
Ch.ofChrist, West Point, NY 3000
S family, MO 25
Be family, TN 300
Left over from Foy’s fund 855
Ch.ofChrist,Westside,Casey,IL 2000
Members at Courthouse, VA 111
A, TN 300
TOTAL: $7341
Thank you again. We sincerely ask for your prayers that we will do all with wisdom and scripturalness. We also ask your prayers for a good growing season. Your servant, Les Maydell.
Quote to ship 28 tons maize meal:
Hi Les Maydel,
Further to our telephone conversation of this morning we confirm
ur price in Rands as detailed below:
Commodity: White Maize Meal
Quantity: 28mt
Packing: In New WPP 12.50 kg bags
Quality: Special
Price: R 5, 724.50pmt
Payment: Cash In Advance to be transferred to our nominated account
prior to shipment
Shipment: 10 Days after receipt of payment.
Please kindly confirm your interest so that we can send you our Proforma Invoice.
We look forward to being of service to your organization.
Kind regards,
Robertson
Sales & Marketing Manager
V & M Grain Trading
P.O. Box 2611
Parklands, 2121
South Africa
Tel: +27 11 880 1476
Fax: +27 11 788 3479
Mobile: +27 828 275 613
E-mail: robertson@vmgrain.com
Website: http://www.vandmrelief.com