Mission

The Trust supports the work of Christian ministry in the UK and Africa and particularly New Growth Ministries (Zimbabwe) and Keegan House the home for orphaned boys at Chinoyi. The work was led for many years by Mr Rob Mackenzie MBE. and Mrs. Hilary Mackenzie MBE.

The Trust board is now Mark Mackenzie, Ben Kasimukire, Noeleen Venter, Willard Dauti  and Dr Nura Isala. Ben and Nura both lived at Keegan House when they were growing up.

UK Trustees : Mr J Marshall(Chair), Dr Sarah Marshall, Mr L Marucchi-Chierro, Mr Callum Whitehall, Mrs Caroline Winterburn

The newsletter with photos is displayed in church. The text is here:

March 2025

Dear friends,

We do hope that you are enjoying the coming of the spring or the autumn depending upon where you are in the world! Thank you for all your continued support and prayers, they are such a blessing and encouragement to us all. It has been a busy few months, but please join us in thanking God for his incredible generosity: there is much to be grateful for. Project Borehole update Our plan was to connect a borehole well, drilled in 2019, to Keegan Home to improve the water supply. However, in 2023-24 Zimbabwe experienced the worst drought in 70 years. The borehole we had hoped to use was completely dry, despite tests a couple of months before, showing it had water. A geological survey identified other possible sources of water and we drilled a further 2 wells, which were also dry. However, by God’s grace one older borehole kept providing some water all the way through the drought. So we have decided to focus on this one at present, optimising it’s use. When water is pumped up from the bottom, it refills very slowly and the pump cuts out because there is too little water to pump. In addition, the frequent power cuts mean using a diesel generator to pump out water, which is incredibly expensive. So your donations will buy a smaller solar powered pump, extra tanks and protection. We are hoping that we will then be able to pump slowly during daylight hours and fill the tanks when there is water available. We cannot thank you enough for your support, it is having a real impact improving lives. The rains have been intermittent this year, so this is likely to have an impact on the availability of food for the coming year. Please pray for the right amount of rain, in the right times and places so that planted crops are not washed away, but the aquifers are filled up. Solar panelling One of our greatest challenges is the power supply to Keegan Home. The national supply is unreliable, with frequent power cuts, and the difficult economic situation has led to some of our power cables being cut and stolen! This meant that Keegan Home was without power for 2 weeks at one point. This impacts cooking and refrigeration of food, use of computers for administration and communication as well as the ability of the boys to study after dusk at 6pm. While installing solar panelling for the borehole we want to do the same for Keegan Home, the offices and food storage room. We are seeking to raise £5,000 this year for this purpose. Please pray for God’s provision for this. The working borehole and housing 2 Noel, Thomas and Blessed We are delighted to tell you that our two eldest boys, brothers Thomas and Noel successfully passed 5 and 6 O-levels respectively, helped by the extra English lessons that they have been receiving at Keegan Home. In January this year they started at a High School in Chinhoyi, to study for A Levels and another GCSE. NGM has been able to provide bikes to get them to school and smart phones to access school resources as well as paying for their fees, uniforms and books. Blessed is in his final year of social work studies at University funded by NGM and is currently doing a placement back at Keegan Home. He has such a heart for his chosen profession and has been leading bible studies with the boys and helping with the Schools’ ministry alongside his work commitments. We are excited to see our boys fulfil their God-given potential. Schools Ministry We are so encouraged by what God is doing in schools in the Chinhoyi area. Whilst adults may go to church, this generation of young people is a missing generation from churches in Zimbabwe. Teams of pastors and assistants, led by Pastor Willard Dauti, one of the NGM trustees in Zimbabwe, are going into Nemakonde High School and taking assemblies for up to 1,500 children at a time. They have also started to visit 2 other schools in the area. As well as preaching the good news of Jesus, teams are also raising awareness of the problems of drug and substance abuse. They estimate that about 70% of the children have responded to the gospel and are joining local churches. Praise the Lord! 3 Dates for your diary!

Prayer points We would very much value your prayers for: • The spiritual growth of the boys and the staff • More rain to enable planting of a good crop this year – there is hunger in parts of the country • For one of the boys, who has a leg disability • For Mark and Ben who have demanding day jobs as well running NGM in Zimbabwe • For this year’s project to provide solar power for the water pumps and the home • For the work of the Schools Ministry team • For this year’s partnering, with two primary schools in Hove Thank you as ever for your prayers!

New Growth Ministries Trust (NGMT) is UK registered Charity 1022962