Saying Goodbye

I stopped in to visit a long-time family friend when I was in Oregon a couple of weeks ago. It was hard! Yvonne had been placed on hospice and it was difficult to know how much she was tracking with me or if she even knew who I was.

Actually, Bob and Yvonne Isom were more than just long-time family friends – they were our forwarding agents when we were missionaries overseas. They did everything from manage our finances to speak on our behalf when representation was needed. They were even guardians for us kids in my mom and dad‘s will.

So when I stopped in to say goodbye to Yvonne, I pulled my chair up as close as I could to her wheelchair and I held both of her hands with my hands. I tenderly kissed her on the forehead and told her how much I loved her and how much her family meant to my family through the years. She was slumped over, it was a one-way conversation… Until I said “because of your hard work and supporting our mission effort through the years, people in Africa knew about Jesus.“ It was at that point she spontaneously straightened up and said with a newly strengthened voice, “Amen!“

For one brief moment, she knew. Now, she is sitting at the feet of Jesus himself. Now she knows what her life meant to so many because she has heard the words from her Savior himself, “well done, good and faithful servant!“

Babies

Babies by Donna (Burris) Stroop

The greatest immediate need at the mission station where I grew up is to rebuild the clinic and upgrade the equipment, particularly for maternity.

As was the custom when I was living there in the 1970’s, women come to the clinic as much as a month before their due date. It is a chance to get away from the hard work and demands of village life, but also a time of fellowship with other expectant mothers. It is also an excellent opportunity for evangelism because the chaplain gives daily morning devotions and spends time talking to the women who come and stay.

At the time we lived there, my Dad built a simple building with ten 10x10 rooms using local fired brick for temporary housing. Equipment was very basic. If there were any complications, my Dadwould fly the mother and baby to our mission hospital at Mashoko. 

My first memory of the clinic was holding a newborn set of twins on the front porch when I was about eight years old.

I also remember the time that my mom brought home a newborn preemie and tried to save it with the rudimentary household stuff we had on hand. She wrapped the baby tight and placed her in a basket, then placed a hot water bottle in the basket to try to keep her warm. She tried to feed the little girl the mother’s milk with an eye dropper, but the baby was too tiny to swallow properly. We all grew attached to her just in that short time she was in our home, but unfortunately, she didn’t make it.

Another time I flew with my Daddy to Mashoko Hospital with a set of newborn twins. The mother was holding one twin in the back seat and I was holding the other one in my lap in the front seat of the plane. I remember trying to snuggle the baby close and keep him warm. He started to turn blue around the mouth and squirm, but I didn’t know what to do. I was about fifteen years old. It is one of those moments that is frozen in time in my memory.  I can still hear the hum of the airplane engine, see that tiny form in my arms, feel the sun shining in my lap as we flew East to Mashoko. When we got there, I stood in the doorway of the emergency room and watched as Dr. David Grubbs worked to save those twin’s lives, but neither one of them made it. We were too late! I cried and cried about that! We left the mother at the hospital to recover, but it was a very somber flight back to Dine’.

That is why I am so passionate about this project to rebuild the clinic and to upgrade the maternity ward! The life expectancy in Zimbabwe is one of the lowest internationally and one contributing factor is the infant mortality rate. But to me, it is not about statistics! It is personal!I don’t want another baby to die!

My Mom has always said “God doesn’t waste anything and He is always preparing you for the next thing.” In some ways it feels like God has been preparing me to take on this project since I held that first set of babies at eight years old

We believe so much in this project that my husband and I are personally giving the starting seed money and will be personally  making trips to Zimbabwe to partner with our dear Christian brothers and sisters in  blessing the kingdom work currently going on there. 

Will you join us in supporting this work? The estimated amount to complete the Dine' Clinic upgrade is $50,000. 

God bless you!
Donna

Ways to give:

1. Make a check payable to Hippo Valley Christian Mission designated for Dine' Clinic, P.O. Box 686, Grayson, KY 41143

2. Online Giving: https://hippovalley.reachapp.co/campaigns/dine-clinic

Mission Brochure

Bricks

Bricks

I was nervous heading off to junior camp. Our dear family friend, Nancy Waner, had asked me to be the missionary and gave me the campfire speaker spot at camp. I was nervous because I haven't worked with that age group in a long time and the fireside time meant that I couldn't fall back on a slideshow or other props to entertain the kids. It was a time for storytelling. I did have a lot of stories from my childhood that I could use and make applications for the mission emphasis, so I made an outline and gave it my best.

My project is raising funds to rebuild the clinic on the mission where I grew up in southern Zimbabwe. So with a lot of nervousness, I waited that first night while the kids sang their silly campfire songs and then Nancy got up to introduce me. Our theme for the week was puzzle pieces – how God fits our story into His story. My life fit the theme because my story as a little girl has prepared me for my role today in this project. Nancy shared about how when she was a little girl, a missionary came to speak at her church to raise money to build the hospital at Mashoko – one of our sister mission stations in Zimbabwe. A hospital that I am fairly familiar with… Small world, right? The bricks were five cents apiece and the children raised money to buy bricks to help build that hospital. It didn't take much research based on an email that I had just received from our African director, Zebedee Togarepi, with a breakdown of costs to rebuild our clinic to calculate that it would cost 20 cents a brick to rebuild the clinic at Dine’. (Not too bad of an inflation rate in 50 years!) The kids got behind the project and were excited to come up each day and tell me how many bricks they gave in the offering for missions. We made construction paper bricks with the kids’ name on them and put them up on the wall. Each day there were more and more bricks with children’s names on them.

I am pleased to announce that those 50 sweet nine to 11-year-old campers gave $254 at junior camp. That is 1,270 bricks! And who knows, maybe in 50 years one of those dear children will be talking about how they gave twenty cents for bricks when there is another mission fundraising project. I wonder what it will cost per brick in 50 years?

Yes indeed, God does weave our story into His story and each person is a vital piece of the puzzle. Thank you dear children of Junior Camp at Pleasant Valley 2017 for your generous support to help rebuild the clinic at Dine’, Zimbabwe!

What are you building with your life? With your resources? What bricks are you making for God’s building projects? How does your puzzle piece fit into His story?

If you want to donate for some more bricks for the Dine’ clinic, follow this link for an online gift. Your gift of love will be greatly appreciated and put to good use! https://hippovalley.reachapp.co/campaigns/dine-clinic

Donna

My Story

My Story

I wrote a quote on the front of the exercise book that I have been using to write down notes and ideas. It says “Give God full access to your story.”

I made the commitment, if I was going to embark on this venture to rebuild the clinic on the mission where I grew up in Zimbabwe, that I would let God use me by using my story. It means being vulnerable on a level that is pretty uncomfortable for me sometimes. There has been deep sorrow and PTSD buried for a long time when my family had to evacuate suddenly from our home during the revolutionary war in Zimbabwe. I had to leave a land and a people that I loved during an indescribable time. Many faced persecution and the trauma was a lot for me to bear at sixteen years old.

As I have reminisced and shared and dreamed about going back, it has been more emotional for me than I anticipated. I've not made it through a presentation yet without choking up and struggling to keep my composure enough to keep going.

Sharing my thoughts

You know what, it's okay though, because I have given God full access to my story. The Lord is tenderly loving me and healing me through this journey.

Susie Larson goes on to say "Give God full access to your story. He will lead you in the way you should go. May you remember that you are part of a great story God is writing in this world. May you trust the Lord’s work in your life so he can use you in ways beyond your wildest dreams. Lean in and trust him, he's got you!”

So carry some tissues if you need to, and let God have access to your story. You might just fill a purpose much bigger than yourself. Let's help walk each other safely home through this journey called life.

Donna (Burris) Stroop

To hear more about this project to rebuild the clinic at Dine’ Mission, follow this link. Any help is more appreciated than you know! Steve Stroop and I plan to make our first visit in February to love on the people in that beautiful land. With your help, I also am really hoping to be able to dedicate a rebuilt clinic in honor of my Mom and Dad, Dan and Esther Burris sometime in the next year. Lots of singing and dancing will be involved!

Dine' Clinic Campaign

Sunday Morning Gathering: Missions Sunday - The Burris Family

Reaction

Reaction to the Conditions

I have been reading through the Bible in a year and was just doing my daily reading when my husband walked into the bedroom, so I started including him by reading out loud when all of a sudden, the passage so gripped me, I couldn’t go on, I had to reach for my journal and write down these thoughts…

“Nehemiah has moved me so profoundly because of my parallel reaction when I heard that the clinic at the mission station where I grew up was in ruins. I was moved on such a deep level when I saw this picture. They say that a picture paints a thousand words, but I have no words for this picture!

 

As I read on in Nehemiah, the Bible describes this dear, sensitive man as being almost debilitated, overwhelmed, but then he decided to do something about it. Nehemiah 1:4 says “When I heard these things, (that the Jerusalem wall was in ruins and the people were living in “trouble and disgrace”) I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Then he prayed a beautiful and eloquent prayer. If you haven’t read this passage in a while, meditate on this beautiful prayer.

So the first thing that Nehemiah did was to pray. Secondly, he made a plan and did something about it. The rest of the book is a great study in passion and dedication and leadership; overcoming obstacles both physical and man made; achieving goals and making a difference! And always Nehemiah gives thanks to God and often asks for favor.

So, when I saw the pictures of the clinic, I decided to do something about it. I have prayed, certainly! My husband and I have committed some of our own resources to the project and plan to work hard to see the rebuilding of the clinic happen, but we also need folks who are willing to partner with us and stand beside us. That means on a spiritual level with the tools and weapons we have available to us as Christians in prayer like Nehemiah’s wall builders. But it also means gaining favor and support for the materials we will need to get the project done from people and churches and groups who are willing to partner with us in this endeavor. We can’t do it alone, nor should we.

I am actively setting up speaking dates and opportunities to present the work in the Northwest this summer. I am so passionate about this project that I can’t help but light a fire about missions under anyone I talk to, so I am going to let the Lord use me however He sees fit in this capacity.

I am also pleased to announce that the Board of Trustees for Hippo Valley Christian Mission, of which I am a Board member and under whose umbrella I am volunteering, have approved naming the rebuilt clinic in honor of my parents, Dan and Esther Burris. This gives me such pleasure to watch them be moved to tears by this decision. It fits! Both my mom and dad put so much of themselves into the original building and function of the clinic at Dine’. I have so many memories as a child involving the clinic. What the Lord began so many years ago, continues in Zimbabwe. (Philippians 1:6)

 

 

Thank you for letting me share and please contact me if you would like for me to come speak and share about my passion for missions and for this work.

Nehemiah 2:18 “ I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work.”

Bless you! Donna (Burris) Stroop

Hippo Valley Christian Mission

206-456-5309

mrsstroop@gmail.com

 

Link for online giving: Dine' Clinic Campaign

 

 

 

 

 

My Thoughts, Coming on the board of Hippo Valley Christian Mission

I wanted to set down on paper how much it means to me to be coming on the board of Hippo Valley Christian Mission to bless the kingdom work in Zimbabwe. I don't know where to begin except to describe to you the last time I was at Dine. We had discovered that there was a contract on my Dad's life and we had to get out with what we could pack and transport in one load. We literally left dishes in the cupboard and books on the shelves and clothes in the closets, but the Lord covered us with his protection and we moved temporarily into Fort Victoria.

The last time we flew into Dine was only to go in and out quickly. I wanted to get a camera case I had left in my closet. Mom and Dad had some things to cover with the staff. Dad left the airplane parked on the hanger pad, turned ready to take off in a hurry if we had to. But people kept coming... and coming... to say goodbye! We had not announced that we were coming, but people heard the airplane and came. Had the Komane also heard the airplane? But so many wanted to say goodbye. We couldn't get away. In the end, we gathered in a circle on the hanger pad (where the church meets today) and sang, "Ave nemwe tionanezve." God be with you till we meet again. The people were normally very stoic but we all broke down and were crying. Someone would manage to keep the chorus going while others dropped in and out as they could collect themselves. We climbed in the airplane, Dad revved the engine and we did a short take off from mid-field. I looked back and fell into sobs as I saw that classic view of the kopjes at the end of the field for the very last time.

The other day my mom said how very proud she and dad were of me for, as she put it, "caring about the people at Dine." That entails doing what is necessary to raise the funds to rebuild the clinic at Dine, of course, but it entails more than that.

My mom and Dad were able to go back to Dine in 1982, six years after that day we left in 1976. They said that they just put the word out that they were there and they wanted to visit with people. They just wanted to hear their stories and encourage them in their faith. As they listened, they were amazed at what the people had gone through, the persecution and how the church had to go underground for awhile, but how strong their faith, their joy and hope in the Lord continued through it all. It touched my parents deeply because they felt like they had left their children without a shepherd when we had to depart so suddenly, but their children had grown up and the gospel was strong.

Al, the executive director of Hippo Valley Christian Mission, said something to me the other day about all of the options for going back to visit the mission where I grew up, maybe a VBS, but you know what I want? I want to go and do like my parents did, to sit around the campfire in the evening and listen to people's stories and encourage them in their faith. To attend school room classes in session and love on the kids. To sit down with pregnant mothers to be and encourage them to raise their children in the Lord. Yes, rebuild the clinic, but most of all, care about the people at Dine. And I want to show my husband where I grew up.

So, that is what it means to me. It has been a long time for me to wait to come back home, but now is the right time as it always is in God's loving hands.

For more information or to contribute see: dine clinic

Blessings, Donna (Burris) Stroop

Facebook Memories

Sometimes Facebook pulls up anniversary posts that catch you up short. This was one of them. It is good to document spiritual things because they can build your faith at other times when you feel down or wonder if your prayers really matter. Here is the post that made my faith soar again...

The world lost a dear saint yesterday, Judy Niemeyer, but heaven gained a beautiful soul. Profoundly, I was "wrestling" in prayer for her at the time she passed from death into life. Thank you, Lord, for heightening my spiritual awareness in those sacred moments and for giving me that privilege of helping to usher her into her eternal reward. This is what I wrote in my journal shortly afterwards: "She is free now, my prayer was answered. During the time I was wrestling/interceding for her between heaven and earth and all of the cosmic balance and war being waged over her body in those moments, my prayer was profoundly answered. It is a mystery! Thank you Lord for allowing me the privilege of doing that for her and ushering her into your rest through my prayers. There is power when your saints claim the righteousness of Jesus and pray in His Name on behalf of His loved ones." I went on to write in my journal as many have been posting this morning, what an influence she had on my life from the time I was a little girl on the mission field in Africa. She would speak into my life even then and some of her words have stayed with me and influenced me up until saying goodbye to her in person just a week ago.

She gave me words of wisdom for my life at that time, even tho she was weary and weak from cancer, she spoke specifically to me about some things that she saw in me and was encouraging me to continue to develop. I am hearing from so many posts on her wall today that she did that, that's what she did for so many. I went on to write in my journal..." Lord, may I have a portion of Judy's mantle, like Elijah who was swept up to heaven, Elisha asked for a portion of his mantle. It fell back to earth and Elisha picked it up. Lord, may I have a portion of Judy Niemeyer's mantle? As you take her to be with you in heaven, may a portion of her missional life and love for people and ability to disciple and mentor others fall on me? As she now rests in you, may I take up this mantle of hers and carry on with her example to guide me and the light of your Son, Jesus Christ, to shine through me?" Both Judy and Larry seemed to live their lives without "boundaries". That popular idea in modern psychology of healthy relationships. None of us are healthy. We are all broken. Only love will last. Judy lived her life loving others without boundaries. All were welcome, no phone call or message was ever grudgingly received but openly embraced. You were always made to feel special and she spoke with genuineness into each person's life. What a gift! Rest in peace!