Barry & Heather are currently in the UK on long-term Medical Leave, but are working remotely. “[Since our visit to Lesotho in February] We have been back in the routine of working from home, supporting the Growing Nations team remotely, overseeing finances, policies, preparing funding proposals and the like… Heather has taken on an additional role, overseeing the finances of AIM’s Southern Region and she has been busy reviewing existing financial processes and starting to enhance them where necessary. Barry, along with others, has been helping our home church put together worship videos for their online weekly services…The biggest challenge is that things can become a little draining, as there is no division between the different aspects of life, as everything is carried out in the same way, in the same place… please pray for ourselves and the many others in AIM who find themselves working remotely that we may all be effective in our ministry, are able to work efficiently from home, have the ability to balance our time and remain open to God’s leading.”

“Growing Nations is effectively on hold for the moment. The team are unable to carry out any trainings or visits to farmers as they usually would but as an agricultural organisation it is able to manage the fields. So, this is the current focus of the team, making sure fields are well managed so that crops are protected and harvests maximised… The team are still keeping in contact with farmers via phone/WhatsApp and we are looking at how Growing Nations can share regular video updates for farmers… Donations to charities are also down so Growing Nations have already been asked to revise and cut budgets for future projects. All of this is concerning but we are all very much trusting God for His provision during this time of uncertainty. Please pray for everyone in Lesotho and the Growing Nations team at this time. It will only get harder as the lockdown continues.”

Barry & Heather are currently in the UK on Medical Leave, and have tried to visit Lesotho, but for various reasons this has been delayed: “Having spent many hours in various waiting rooms over the previous 19 months we have both become very used to waiting. Actually, life in Lesotho has prepared us well for that. In July we thought that our period of ‘waiting’ was over & that we would be able to return to Lesotho for a visit but that clearly wasn’t to be, so we have been back in the waiting room, but rather ‘God’s waiting room’ this time. We are ready and waiting for the right moment to at least visit Lesotho. Waiting is not always easy and has been a little frustrating at times, particularly during the moments when we have made plans only for them to be dashed. We have no idea why all of these things have happened to stop us from returning to Lesotho but clearly we are not meant to be there at the moment. We are very much trusting God in the knowledge that our return to Africa will be in His timing not ours. Our desire is to continue to serve Him so we need to be ready for when that moment comes.” Please pray for Barry and Heather as they try to get the balance right between their work for Growing Nations and other needs. Pray that God would make it clear to them when they should visit Lesotho, and that he would make clear to them what his longer-term plan for their ministry is.