Dear Friends,

As I write this message to you, I consider the events of this year, the year 2020, and how different our lives have become. I think, personally, of our plans to take a team of 12 people with us to work and minister in Zimbabwe during the month of August. Now, with the worldwide COVID pandemic shutting down countries and international travel, we are forced to abandon our plans to bring encouragement and assistance to the people of Zimbabwe. 

However, we firmly believe that God is in control of all things. We wait for the resumption of normal travel and open borders to be able to get back to Zimbabwe and continue our work.

Meantime, I am enduring the August heat with a broken leg that I sustained a month ago. I had a surgical repair with a plate and hardware in my right distal fibula. So, I’m using a scooter to continue working at West Georgia Eyecare Center in Columbus where I have had the privilege of providing eye care since 1987. 

We were recently given an operating microscope, eye lane projector, an instrument to measure eyes for cataract surgery, an indirect ophthalmoscope, and a number of other pieces of equipment. We hope to ship these, along with surgical supplies and glasses, in the near future to Zimbabwe. We will also continue to assist in improving the facilities at the Richard Morris Eye Hospital in Bulawayo. Our goal has been to develop a regional center of excellence in eye care in southern Zimbabwe. 

When we return to Zimbabwe early next year, we hope to continue our program of mentoring doctors in surgical techniques and patient management. We will also work alongside local churches using eye camps in evangelistic outreach. 

Please pray for Zimbabwe. On top of the severe drought and water shortages, COVID virus, and economic difficulty, the people are in an extreme state of suffering with almost half of the population food-deprived. The healthcare system has collapsed, and there is almost no ability to combat the fallout from the COVID virus now raging in the country. We are asking God to heal the land and bring relief to the people there. 

Thank you for your support in our work and ministry in Zimbabwe. We hope to bring better news to you in our next correspondence.

Steve and Jane Beaty