The Lord shall guide you continually and shall satisfy your soul in dry places; your strength shall be renewed,
and you shall be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never disappoint.
Your sons shall rebuild the ruins of former years and shall revive the foundations of old,
and you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets in which to dwell.
Isaiah 58:11 – 12 (Revised Berkeley Translation)
18th June 2026
Dear friends,
I have been back in Zimbabwe for just over 3 weeks and what a whirlwind of activity it has been! Did I really have a
break away?! Seems an eternity ago, but it was really good and I am so very grateful to family and friends who so
graciously hosted me and helped me to unwind and refresh. The weather wasn’t it’s best while I was in the U.K. and I
returned to very-cold-for Zimbabwe weather…so I seem to have missed out on summer weather all round!
Shortly before I left for the U.K. I had the joy of meeting our newest
grandson, Jaylen, arrived safely in early March, delighting Hannah &
Josephat as well as big sister Amari, who is absolutely besotted with him!
As you know, a week before I flew out, Taffy left for the heart ablation
procedure in Italy. He’s been there longer than originally anticipated due
to the extensiveness of the treatment he needed, but overall things have
gone well. He is due back in early July. It’s been a long three months for
him but part way through, our friend Silke from Germany, who has known
him since he
was very young,
paid him a short
visit and they
enjoyed sightseeing together. Taffy has been really well looked
after by the folk in Rimini and has made some good friends. In
between medical appointments he’s been assisting students in
an afterschool club with their homework as well as doing quite
a bit of translating for the medical charity. He’s also acquired a
taste for Italian gelato and been swimming in the sea! Do pray
for him as he returns to Zimbabwe. He’ll probably experience
considerable reverse culture shock after his Italian adventure.
A few days before I returned to
Montgomery, 5 day old Tanatswa
(We have been made beautiful/We
are blessed) joined the family.
< She was very tiny upon arrival
but has settled really well and,
as you can see, now 6 weeks old,
she is thriving, alert and gaining
weight rapidly! >
It continues to be such a joy and
privilege to watch these little lives
change in an environment of Godly
love and care.
Just a week after I arrived back, our friends Gail and Deborah from America arrived for a short visit. They ministered in
our church services and Bible studies and the children enjoyed spending time with them after school and learning some
new songs. I am rather embarrassed to say though that the hi-light for the children was a series of bubble-gum blowing
competitions that the two ladies organised. Bubble-gum is something we don’t normally allow at Montgomery due to
past experiences of finding it stuck everywhere! Yuk! However we made an exception on the condition that after the
competitions the ladies collected every single piece from the participants, which they assured me they did, and so far
there’s no evidence to the contrary! The ultimate final between the winning boys and the winning girls was wild and
raucously loud. Quite surprisingly the girls beat the boys. No photographs of the event were taken though as I think they
would have been pretty disgusting!!!!
Way back in 1992 we were blessed with the gift of a Toyota
Landcruiser which has given us remarkable service in all kinds of
conditions for the past 34 years. Not surprisingly in recent years it
had begun to ‘act its age’, frequently letting us down, often when
we needed it the most. The increasing costs of getting it towed
home and repaired each time it broke down were really ‘biting us’,
not to mention the inconveniences caused. So last year, when a
charitable trust in England offered to help us by funding a brand
new Toyota Hilux Twin Cab 4 wheel drive vehicle, we were
delighted. It has been a long, drawn-out battle cutting through all
of the bureaucratic red tape this side, but finally, on June 4th,
Danniel collected this much needed vehicle from the showroom.
As you can see there was enough red tape left for the Toyota
dealers to gift wrap it for us!
This new vehicle is going to make such a difference to us in so
many ways. With the rural roads getting worse every day it is
critical that we have a reliable 4 wheel drive vehicle with ample
passenger and goods carrying capacity.
We are so grateful for the Lord’s provision of this vehicle and so
much more through His people.
He continues to prove that He will not forsake the righteous nor leave their children begging for bread (Psalm 37:25).
And even in the unlikely event that actual bread should run out, our children certainly won’t go hungry. Our daily ‘bread’
comes in all sorts of forms. We were recently notified of a donation, through the government, of 9 tonnes of rice from
China! The logistics of how to collect it and where to store it have been something of a challenge, but with the help of a
local businessman friend things are working out and one of his huge trucks is collecting it from the depot in Harare
today. Meanwhile we’ve converted an empty bedroom in our boys’ house into a suitable rice storage space. Even with all
of our hungry mouths to feed it will take a very long time to eat through 9 tonnes!
And His provision for our children does not just come through overseas donors. We’ve recently been blessed with
donations of various fruits and vegetables from local farmers, including blueberries last week and now this week a huge
donation of guavas; both such great sources of vitamin C for the children during these colder winter months.
One little chap who is not yet old enough to benefit from these donations of
‘bread’ is our newest family member, Benjamin, who came to us just over a
week ago, aged 4 weeks.
Benjamin had an awful start in life and in addition has a corneal ulcer on his
left eye, which must be incredibly painful. Since being in our care he has
spent 24 hours as an inpatient at the specialist eye hospital in Harare, with
one of our care staff staying with him. He is now home with us, being
treated with regular prescribed eye drops. The ulcer has responded well to
the treatment and seems to have healed. He also occasionally opens his
eye which he did not do before and appears to be less stressed.
However when he was reviewed at the hospital this morning the front of his
cornea is still cloudy and opaque, which could mean his sight will be
severely affected. He is due to be reviewed again in two weeks.
Please will you pray with us that his eye clears and that he has full sight.
The same Heavenly Father who provides ‘bread’ for His children is also the
One who gives sight to the blind.
Finally, for those who are not already aware, the website for Montgomery Heights Zimbabwe Children’s Foundation,
our U.K. supporting charity, has recently had a complete makeover. We are so grateful to our friend Sheeba (who taught
herself web-design during the covid lockdown!) for assisting with this. Please do check it out and share the link with your
family and friends. www.montgomeryheights.org
Thank you for continuing to walk this exciting journey with us through your interest, support and prayer.
Lesley
P.O. Box 75, Concession, Zimbabwe E-mail [email protected]
Photos can be seen in the attached file.