Category Archives: Zimele
Zimele USA Gala – A success
Zimele USA’s first ever-annual gala was held last Sunday, April 1 and it was an evening filled with great food, great company, and great testimonies on the impact of Zimele’s work.
Attendees of the gala were treated to a night of special events- the premiere of the “Rich in Hope” Zimele video, the presence of Zimele founder Rosetta Stander, a special music performance featuring Mama Zuma and Audrey Matimelo, and a meal prepared by the chefs of the Culinary Conference Center in Jersey City.
The night started off with a silent auction featuring items ranging from high-end clothing and accessories to travel packages to signed sports memorabilia. The silent auction remained open throughout the night, with the guests bidding on over 50 items in-house.
After the doors opened for the official reception, Pastor Peter Ahn delivered the opening remarks and a prayer, before introducing Rosetta Stander, the founder of Zimele. Rosetta spoke about her involvement with Zimele and how far the organization has come since its inception.
One of the highlights of the gala was the “Rich in Hope” video presentation, which gave viewers a glimpse of Zimele’s impact on the lives of the women of Swayimane. The video also helped introduce one of the ladies who has so been impacted by Zimele’s work- Mama Zuma. She was the true guest star of the night, a testament to how Zimele instills dignity, empowerment, and leadership in women so they can be freed from the cycle of poverty. Mama Zuma, in her first trip out of South Africa, led a music presentation that captured the essence of the Zulu culture.
Zimele succeeded in its fundraising goals on its first ever gala, having raised over $50,000, as well as making key relationships for future partnerships. Zimele is thankful to everyone who made the night possible- Liz King and her events team, MC Simon Huang, Amazebooths (www.amazebooths.com) for their fun photobooth, Tony Yang Photography, sponsors, auction contributors, and volunteers!
However, even though Zimele exceeded its fundraising goals that night, the need for support remains, especially in the following project areas: computer center project, project vehicle, home based care equipment, home based care facilities, pre-school funding, and scholarship funding. Donations and pledges can be made year-round through: http://www.razoo.com/story/Zimelecommunity
2012 promises to be a good year for Zimele, “Rich in Hope.” For more, please visit www.zimelecommunity.org, like Zimele Community on Facebook, or follow @StandwithZimele on Twitter.
Metro Women Meet Zimele, Zimele prepares for Gala, UGG leaders meet–a full Saturday!
Saturday evening, a few Metro women met with Rosetta, Audrey and Mama Zuma from Zimele to hear their personal stories and to learn about Zimele. It was an inspiring evening as we sat in Ancy’s living room and learned about women half a world away. We concluded the evening with a sweet time of prayer and each of us left changed, impacted by three humble women who are changing the world. What an amazing privilege we enjoyed to spend a bit of time with them!
During our meeting, the Zimele team preparing for the Gala tonight was hard at work on last-minute preparations and details. Tonight’s event will be another special time to learn more about this special ministry.
Earlier today, Metro’s UG leaders met for breakfast and encouragement as they talked about how the groups are doing with EHS. It was a great time to hear stories of transformation and spend time in prayer for each group. As a church, we are blessed that people are willing to step into leadership roles so we can enjoy being in small group communities.
Another grateful note–two of these meetings happened in our new church office! That space is already a blessing to our church! Yea, God, for our new office!
Planning for the Zimele Mission trip
We have started preparing for our Zimele Mission Trip from May 12-25. The trip will consist of various volunteer work, VBS/After-School Program, possibly a building or agriculture project and workshops led be each of our team members. Planning is already under way as we prepare for 2-3 days of workshop and 3-4 days for the programming.
This is the first time Pastor Peter has led a group of Metro Church members since his first trip down to South Africa. Our focus will be on mission work and spiritually enriching the lives of the people in Kwazulu-Natal. We want to take a step further from our past trips as ambassadors and be active participants helping the women work towards a life of sustainability.
Who is going: Scott Kwak, Mike Oh, Liz Shim, Coco Kim, Tony Yang, Annie,Hanna Kim, Maria Ham, Peter Ahn, Peter’s Mom
Programs –
VBS/After-School Program – Hanna/Coco
Medical Program/Supplies – Maria/Hanna
Craft Program – Annie/Peter’s Mom
Sports Program – Mike
Workshops –
Baking/Cooking WS – Liz/Coco
Photo WS – Tony
Finance WS – Mike
Computer WS – Tony/Mike?
We hope to learn the language and Zulu culture as we do our best to prepare ourselves to connect to the Zimele community. We want to do our best to meet the people where they are at and find a common ground that will help us relate and reach out the best we can.
Language – learning to know the basic phrases even if it’s just to say “hello” “thank you” “my name is”
We ask the Metro community to be in prayer for our team as well as the Zimele Community. We pray for God to open doors as we leave this trip to Him. We hope to follow His will and have His plans revealed to us in all our activities and encounters. We ask prayers of strength to endure any difficult conditions and openness to new humbling experiences. We invite any Metro Church members to pray and fast for our efforts.
In an effort to support Zimele with funding for our programs and projects, we hope to raise $20,000 [$3200 so far] for Zimele. Feel free to reach out to any of our participating members or you should be hearing from them real soon. You can also go to: http://www.razoo.com/story/Zimelecommunity and donate directly designating your donation to the specific cause of “Zimele Missions” or for any of the items listed below:
VBS/School supplies – We will be reaching out to children from toddlers up to secondary school. If you have anything from rudimentary children’s’ books / pencils / crayons / etc., we would use them to reach out to the young ones.
Medication – There are large cases of HIV and TB so if there is medication we can distribute for the patients, we hope to reach out to the sick in the community. We also appreciate medication like aspirin and other forms of basic preventative measure that we can distribute more readily.
Craft Tools – The women are very involved in the Craft Program within Zimele to make a living for themselves. If you have anything that you think could help the women improve their craft making process. We are open to working with your donations!
Soccer Balls – We hope to find ways to simply connect with the community through sports such as soccer. We will gladly take donations for any soccer balls or any balls kids can play with.
Candies – You can never go wrong with candies or snacks to hand out in any of our programs.
Calculators – We hope to teach the women in the Savings Groups to find an easier way to do calculations for their book keeping purposes. We want to create a sustainable process of accurately calculating numbers efficiently.
Camera SD Cards – We previously donated 15 cameras for the women of Zimele to be able to document their progress and share their stories! We are lacking SD cards and can use any that you may have lying around the house collecting dust.
Feel free to submit a donation through Razoo or drop off any items to Scott Kwak: scottkwak@zimelecommunity.org or at the Metro Church Office in: 2460 Lemoine Avenue Suite 503 – Fort Lee, NJ 07010. Thank you so much for all your prayers and support! More to follow!
What Scott wants for his leap-year birthday
I’ve been on mission trips all around the world and seen poverty at its uttermost devastation. When I first arrived at Metro, I wondered why we were supporting savings programs when we could battle hunger and poverty and care for orphans. My initial reaction to Zimele was that it was a novel idea to help rural people get more settled and lead happier lives. It was hard for me to recognize Zimele amongst so many other causes all over the world and Africa (especially since it was an organization located in South Africa – apparently the richest country in all of Africa). Sadly, I myself was once a skeptic–I didn’t get why Metro was involved with Zimele.
When I set foot in South Africa a few years later, I learned why Metro partners with Zimele. Despite being a well off nation, the poverty in South Africa is just as bad or worse than poverty around the world. It was sobering to see so many wonderful people seeking to bring good to their own communities. Never have I seen the local people lead a movement to change their lives. I’d witness changes (buildings, projects) initiated by outside organizations (good in its own right) but generally temporary and short-lived.
Zimele communities take FULL ownership of their progress. They seek to regain their dignity from their own hard work and efforts. They see their work pay off in Home Care (medical relief projects helping AIDS/TB victims), Orphaned and Vulnerable Children Care (reaching out to the least and last of all the children), Creche (Day care centers for little children who would have no where else to grow and develop) amongst many other life-changing – long-lasting – self-sustaining projects. Not only were they helping communities with the self-help groups, they were battling the root causes of hunger, orphan care and poverty at its greatest! I was hooked!
I heard Mama Zuma, a leader in the Zimele community and a true living example of the Zimele women transforming lives day in and day, once say, “I am blessed to be so RICH helping others in need”. I saw her and almost lost myself in tears as I knew she nearly had nothing in the eyes of the Western world. She was once a single woman who lost her husband and was left to take care of her 5 children by herself (including twins with special needs). In America, she would have qualified for all the charitable programs our government and nonprofit organizations had to offer, yet she considered herself very rich and grateful to help out so many more in greater need. It was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever witnessed. I vowed to do more for I had much more than she. I prayed to become more selfless just like Mama Zuma and help Zimele to stand on their own two feet. I was forever changed.
My birthday falls on February 29, so this year I will be 8. I’m asking my family, friends and church family to help me celebrate by giving to Zimele. Please check out this link to learn how you can help me celebrate my birthday and contribute to Zimele, a non-profit organization empowering women to be self-sustaining: http://www.razoo.com/story/29-For-29
A Christmas Offering Miracle!
I, Pastor Peter, just wanted to share a miracle with you. As of yesterday, Metro has reached its $175,000 Christmas Offering goal. I am in shock, awe, and super thankful to God. I’m also extremely thankful to those who gave sacrificially to this offering. This offering is going to position Metro to do great ministry in 2012, especially in the area of JAC and Zimele.
The final tally has not come in yet. We are still waiting for a couple of more checks to come in this week. We should know the final number by this Sunday.
I’m reminded once again that when God’s people come together, anything can happen!!!!
AIM Partners with Zimele~a report from South Africa by Koo Chung
Was saving the news for a few weeks, but just wanted to give everyone an update on a very exciting project that is happening with METRO’s AIM {Arts In Ministry) and ZIMELE this year!
A few weeks ago, the Zimele Board met. They considered asking me to go out to South Africa (Swayimane) to record the Zulu Women Choir, so they can release a short CD by Christmas of 2012 to continue fundraising for Zimele. After a few discussions with the pastors and a few AIM members, we thought, “Why not join forces with Zimele and record that Metro Worship Album we’ve always wanted to record”?
So, starting this week, the project has officially begun! I’ll get to the current stuff in a second, but I wanted to briefly mention that this worship album will also include original material from previous worship directors/pastors at Metro as well! We’re so excited to tackle this album this year – and we really do hope it will be a project that includes all of the AIM/Worship team.
Photos by Moses Lee
Now, back to South Africa! Some of you might know that I’m actually out here this week with my good friend Moses Lee (who has been helping with several Metro video projects throughout the last few years) and Scott Kwak. My portion of the trip is to spend time with the women from the self-help groups, and record some of their favorite worship songs that they sing whenever they gather.
Having worked with several different artist and musicians during my pre-Metro years as a producer, it was quite interesting working with the Zulu women. There’s something so pure and moving about their voices. They have never seen recording gear in their lives, with fancy microphones and headphones, etc. – and they were excited that one of their huts transformed into a “studio,” as they called it . They were such QUICK learners to the process of recording and naturals at it!
Most of the time, I was tempted to see what direction I could take to record them and incorporate their voices into a modernly produced song, but the real beauty of their music came through their singing a cappella. No instruments – Just voices – with perfect imperfections.
We practiced the songs that we were going to record, and just had a blast singing together as I learned some new Zulu words and songs, and they sang along to an Asian guy jammin’ on the guitar. The experience so far has ranged from dancing and laughing, to sitting in silence for several moments after listening to Mama Xaba sing a quiet rendition of one of their group songs by herself. We all felt the Spirit of God and His power so strongly in that moment, and there was a quiet understanding that something amazing had just happened in that small room. Still get chills thinking about that moment.
So thankful to Zimele and Metro for sending me out here to be part of the wonderful work that God is doing. Can’t wait to take back everything we’ve worked on and join forces with the rest of AIM to continue putting this album together. Already, with just the first few tracks, this album is so special.
If you happen to read this before Friday this week, I ask for your prayers for there to be continued inspiration and for things to come out well. May God be glorified through this incredible process!!!
Zimele News
Metro is privileged to partner with Zimele as part of our mandated vision to care for the oppressed and poor. Zimele is a unique non-profit organization which seeks not only to meet the daily needs of South Africans in the Kwazulu Natal region today, but also to build the physical, financial, and emotional infrastructure of their lives to improve the entire region. Here are a few highlights of their work in 2011.
Various small business and social programmes continued to be developed. The Agriculture Development Programme and the Imdokodo Computer Training Centre is now under full ownership of the SHG members. Forty two students received training from September until November. This project is partially funded by Stratford-upon-Avon Rotary Club and partially profit driven. This project gave an opportunity to a member of a ‘Child-Headed-Household’ to be employed as an administrator after receiving training in basic computer skills. This young girl can now spend her days meaningful and be of significance in her community.
Other recent highlights include:
~There are now 26 new Self Help Groups, formed by the women in Swayimane Community over three months.
~The Agriculture Development Program and the Imdokodo Computer Training Centre is now under full ownership of the SHG members. 42 students received training.
~One hundred women farmers had been identified across the 9 Clusters.
~Other businesses started: Spazas (small trader shops) / Equipment rental (stoves, catering equipment, etc.) / Food processing / Sewing and crafts.
To learn more about this exciting ministry, please check out Zimele’s Web Site.
Transformation 