OUR NEIGHBOURS MINISTRY BEGAN IN 2003,
with a vision to show God's love to the poorest of the poor in Bulawayo.
At this time the combined effects of a fast declining economy and the HIV/Aids pandemic meant that there were great difficulties for the urban poor in Bulawayo.
These ministries began at Bulawayo Baptist Church, with support and assistance given to many people who were homeless, living in squatter camps, elderly, the sick and orphaned children.
In 2004 we became aware of 26 babies, most of whom had been abandoned by their
families, and were currently staying in a single ward at a local government hospital. This was to be the start of God revealing His vision for us to start a halfway home for abandoned and orphaned babies. This vision has lead to our growing assistance to disadvantaged children in this community. Martin Barrow is the current and founding Director of these Ministries, and they are administered by a Board of Trustees. Many, many people have enabled and continue to enable these Ministries to be all that they are. We give God the glory for all He has done.
OUR PURPOSE
To glorify God by showing His love in reaching out to those in greatest need, and restoring those that have lost hope.
OUR VISION
To be an integrated, sustainable and renowned organisation, raising previously vulnerable men and women to a place of significance and influence, within the Zimbabwe community.
OUR MISSION
To integrate abandoned (and other) babies & children, in need of care, into loving families and communities.
To enable vulnerable children and youths to be restored into a place of community, love and development.
To provide holistic education and life skills to vulnerable children and youths.
To restore hope & dignity and empower those in greatest need, nurturing a ‘self- help’ mentality.
To rehabilitate and restore people with mental and physical challenges into the community.
Our Organisation Structure
INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY:
ONM partners with WorldShare Connect, and Action on Poverty, in Australia. These partnerships help ensure that ONM is meeting international best practice in terms of project design and implementation, as well as policies and systems to cover things like child protection and fraud prevention.
Our Core Values
Jesus & the Kingdom of God
Our Neighbours Ministry is a faith-based ministry, seeking to serve God and follow Jesus. We believe it was started in response to His leading and love. We actively seek His will, are guided by values of the Kingdom of God, and seek to give God the glory for ONM.
Accountability
We will be accountable and transparent in our use of finances and other resources. We will demonstrate integrity in everything we do and steward resources diligently.
Showing God’s love
We aim to show God’s love to everyone that we come in contact with, those we aim to serve, staff, partners and the community.
Doing our best
We seek to do our best, working hard, as unto the Lord. In doing this, we will seek to operate professionally and efficiently, whilst not losing the priority of people and relationships.
Faithfulness and love
We will measure success by our faithfulness of service to God and love of people. Whilst considering needs, we will guard against success being measured in terms of numbers.
Focus on the most vulnerable
Our focus is on loving and assisting the poorest of the poor, the vulnerable, the disadvantaged, the orphans, and the widows. God’s passionate love for the poor leads us, His compassion towards their vulnerability and narrow choice range inspires us. We seek to be empathetic.
Hope
We specifically recognise God’s redeeming and transformational power for all people, and we desire to bring hope to those that are feeling hopeless.
Valuing people
We are dedicated to valuing all people as equals (those that we are reaching out to and interact with), recognising that all of us are made in God’s image. We will work against an ‘us and them’ culture that so often exists in society in its various forms, recognising everyone as having strengths and assets, and weaknesses and vulnerabilities. We will be respectful in our communication about people and situations.
Body Ministry & Relationships
We are thankful for all of the people, churches and organisations that are a part of Our Neighbours Ministry, through active involvement, relationship and partnership. These enable Our Neighbours Ministry. We really value all of these, each with their different roles.
Mercy
We greatly value graciousness, in response to that which we have been shown by Jesus.
Our Partners
We deeply value our partnerships with individuals, churches, organizations, and businesses. Their support has been crucial to the success of Our Neighbours Ministry, enabling us to continue our mission. We acknowledge and appreciate their contributions. Click on the logos to visit their websites and learn more about our partners.
