OUR STORY
HVCM is truly one of the great mission stories within the Independent Christian Churches and Churches of Christ. This mission was founded by John and Marge Pemberton along with Dr. Dennis and Lucy Pruett more than 60 years ago. John Pemberton was a prisoner of war in WWII, and it was in that Nazi prison camp that he made a pledge to God. He vowed to give the rest of his life to serving Christ should he return home. Well the Lord brought him home and John was good to his word. He moved with his young family to Grayson, KY to prepare for the ministry at Kentucky Christian College. While there, he met Dennis Pruett (another WWII vet) who had made a similar promise to God. These two men became life-time friends and began praying that God would lead them where He wanted them to go. John and Dennis dreamed of being pioneer missionaries to Africa, starting at the southern end and working their way north until they had reached the entire continent for Christ!
In 1956, John responded to a personal appeal from Prime Minister Garfield Todd to come to Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe) to establish a mission work. While Dennis finished his medical training as a missionary-physician, John and his family moved to the rural bush-country of Mashoko in the southeastern region of Rhodesia.
John and Dennis began with the simple philosophy to reach the WHOLE person for Christ: the body, the mind, and the soul. Today we still carry that same philosophy, and we are blessed to reap a harvest that was made possible by those giants who came before us. Each year, hundreds of precious souls are baptized into Christ through this great mission! These are exciting times for HVCM! Keep reading to see how you can become more involved with God’s work in Zimbabwe.
OUR MINISTRIES
BODY
Orphan Care — The Chiredzi Christian Children’s Home cares for more than 40 AIDS orphans between the ages of 1-20.
Medical Care — HVCM maintains 3 health clinics in rural sections of the country, all of which provide exceptional care to the local people.
MIND
Schools— Our 27 mission schools educate over 18,000 children in Zimbabwe. Children who are not only learning to read and write, but who are also learning about Jesus through Bible classes and chapel services.
Zimbabwe Preaching Summit— 200 preachers from all over the county and surrounding countries come together to be encouraged and equipped. We strengthen our churches by strengthening the pulpits.
Teacher Training— Every year, groups of teachers from the U.S. go to encourage and equip teachers in our Zimbabwe schools
SOUL
Churches— Dozens of churches in Zimbabwe and Mozambique are led by HVCM Bible-trained preachers.
Living Proof Sponsorship Program— We are “raising up an army of leaders” with our Living Proof program. Over 1,000 of our poorest school children have U.S. sponsors who are investing in their education and their future. These children attend weekly Bible clubs, and receive new school uniforms and shoes each year.
ABOUT ZIMBABWE
Once considered the jewel of Africa, due to its scenic beauty and abundant wildlife, Zimbabwe has been devastated in the past two decades by the second worst financial crisis in recorded world history. In 2008, Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation rates reached a staggering 79 billion percent!
In addition, the AIDS epidemic has caused life expectancy to go down rapidly and has resulted in large numbers of orphans under the age of 18. It is now estimated that there are as many as 1.6 million orphans in a nation of almost 16 million people.
POPULATION
Recent studies estimate that close to 16 million people live in Zimbabwe, although exact counts are difficult as some people live in rural areas that are nearly impossible to reach. About a third of the people live in Harare and the
surrounding townships, as the economic crisis has driven more and more people to move to urban areas seeking employment.
According to a 2016 estimate, the average life expectancy in Zimbabwe is 57 years for men and 58 for men. Diseases such as AIDS, cholera, typhoid and malaria, combined with poor health care, have kept these numbers much lower than we would like to see.
LANGUAGES
The predominant languages in Zimbabwe are Shona (nearly 70%) and Ndebele (over 20%). Other tribal languages such as Tonga, Sotho and Xangani are also spoken. English is taught in the schools and has become the national language, because it allows the nation to be unified.
ECONOMY
The Zimbabwe dollar was once a very strong currency, and as late as 1998 was still trading at a 7 to 1 ratio with the U.S. dollar. However, by 2008 a meal cost several trillion Zimbabwe dollars, and the currency became worthless. After the hyperinflation crisis reach its peak in 2008 (79 billion percent), the government switched to the U.S. dollar, and the economy stabilized somewhat. Since 2008, the economy has seen a slight but steady decline, up to now when the country is experiencing one of its most severe cash shortages in its history. Lines of people can be seen waiting outside the banks each morning, all hoping there will be cash that day. In December 2016, the government began printing bond notes in an attempt to offset this terrible cash shortage, and many negative effects from this switch can already be seen.
CLIMATE
Located in the southern hemisphere, Zimbabwe is close enough to the equator to ensure warm temperatures through most of the year. Hippo Valley Christian Mission is headquartered in Chiredzi, which sits at a low altitude, and can be brutally hot for much of the year. Rains come from December to February, but most of the rest of the year is extremely dry. In spite of the low annual rainfall, there is dense vegetation in the "bush" which allows the wildlife some natural cover. Home to the Big Five - elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and cape buffalo - Zimbabwe was once a popular destination for tourists, but political and economic turmoil has greatly curtailed the number of annual visitors to this beautiful nation.
TERRAIN
Zimbabwe boasts a great diversity of terrain despite its relatively small size (about the state of Montana). In the eastern highlands are mountains that resemble the Swiss Alps in summer. Harare, the capitol city, sits a mile high. On the other hand, Chiredzi, which is only a five-hour drive from Harare, is in the "lowveld" at a very low elevation. One of the most striking features of Zimbabwe is the "kopjes" (pronounced “copies”), granite outcroppings that are among the most beautiful geological wonders on the planet. Large portions of Zimbabwe are flatlands that make for excellent cattle grazing, and resemble the wide-open plains of Nebraska and Kansas.