The Latest on LiveBirds

What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. –1 Corinthians 15:36

Its Easter weekend  around the world and we are reminded of the truth that life is born out of death.  It’s a living metaphor all around us.  A seedling lies dormant in the ground in order to grow into a plant.  A caterpillar undergoes a period of dark, yet fertile growth to emerge as a butterfly.  And sometimes are hearts have to let go of long entrenched ideas we hold tightly to in order for a greater, more beautiful story to arise and unfold. 

LiveBirds has struggled since their infancy to turn a profit on growing and selling chickens.  While their perseverance and dedication to the business is inspiring, even in the throes of typical new business obstacles, the hope of profit margins never actualized. 

Instead, a new strategy has been born out of the old.  LiveBirds started their first quarter of 2013 with a new, evolving business model. The Zimbabwe team is reducing the risk of chicken farming that requires major investments in inventory, disease vulnerability, and long eight week growing cycles of chicks by transforming their farming business into a ‘peeps,’ or ‘day-old chicks’ distribution business allowing access to impoverished rural areas to grow their own chickens for sustenance and dignity. We never cease to be amazed at the tenacity and artistry of our God in unfolding His story. 

 

LiveBirds changed their strategy by focusing their target market on rural areas that traditionally have little access to buying peeps by selling to these communities 'day old chicks' rather than mature butchered chickens. The rural areas do not have access to birds they can raise on their own unless they travel to bigger cities like Mutare, LiveBirds headquarters, which for some lies some four hundred miles away. LiveBirds is meeting this demand by supplying day old chicks to consumers and farmers. They strategically use the taxi once per week to travel to the rural communities, take orders, and offer cash advances to loyal customers. The following week the team returns with the orders of peeps and receive the remaining balance owed for a profit. Currently, they are up to 500 birds sold per week!  While we remain excited about the possibilities, this venture will remain in trial mode as we chart the viability of the business long term. Please pray for this new venture, and that we will remain open, while willingly listening to God’s plans.

Simultaneously, the LiveBirds Taxi Service continues to turn a steady profit!! As a result, the team is now preparing to purchase a second taxi with the profit from the first within three to six months of time.  Please continue to pray for this venture as well, for continued profit margins, to allow for an expanded Taxi Service and a crucial new employment opportunity for a fellow Zimbabwean. 

 
Finally, back at home in Charlotte the team is also in a period of new life. We are excitedly looking to expand our reach to other countries, while replicating the basic tenets of our business model. Recently our team met with local business leaders, a local University Professor and International Economics Students that have interest in supporting this endeavor. We also met with the Director of Hope for AIDS, Marcus Baeder, and pitched the idea to expand into 12 other countries where they have a presence. There is great enthusiasm on all sides as we are in the process of exploring the next LiveBirds venture. We ask for your prayers as we seek to follow God’s lead in this expansion as well. 

May you be blessed this Easter weekend with new life, and know that Jesus is alive in our increasingly connected world bringing about unfathomable ways we can come to know Him and His dearly beloved people across the globe, while growing our own hearts in the process.

The photographer caught Mr Bob Mwapinda selling the Livebirds chickens to customers, Mrs B Mtisi is a loyal customer of Livebirds and has just bought 5 chickens for a total of 30us.

Livebirds Zimbabwe

OCTOBER LIVEBIRDS UPDATES, prayer requests

OCTOBER LIVEBIRDS UPDATES.

The Livebirds team members managed to slaughter half the chickens that were at the farm with the remainder being slaughtered after a week.Bob, Gladys and Tonderai went to the farm with Donald Mashinge , the new driver, and spent the day slaughtering the chickens. 98 chickens were ready for slaughter, some were sold alive(we are LiveBirds after all) and the rest(77)were slaughtered. Most customers had already been sourced for the chickens and today is distribution day, where all the chickens are being supplied to customers. We thank the Lord for the taxi which is a great help to the poultry business.

Just as things were taking shape a month ago and we were busy closing the gap(a statement coined to mean having a weekly supply of chickens) we encountered a challenge, we got a call from the farm owner notifying us that he was venturing into mining and wanted to use the facilities that we were using . He had already contracted the Chinese miners who flooded the place within a week, the chickens were hurriedly moved to another place on the farm where they are being kept, we thank him a lot for allowing us to use the farm all these months..We are currently scouting around for a place to keep the chickens, we have gone to two places where we inspected to see whether we can move there.

We have not been buying chicks within the last 3 or so weeks since we are trying to find another place to keep the chickens. We are hopeful that we will get the place, should. We have 97 chickens left at the farm that are being kept by Tonderai, a very strong willed and hardworking member.

Please pray for Livebirds especially in view of this challenge facing us.

Misheck

Livebirds Team Leader, Zimbabwe

new batch AGAIN

We have managed to buy another batch of 100chicken that we delivered last Friday, the 14th of September.
Bob Mwapinda(a Livebirds member) and Joseph Musiya(Livebirds Driver) delivered the chickens.

The chickens came amid a time when we were still low about the chickens that had been stolen at the farm. We intend to deliver at least a hundred chickens per week(or every fortnight-should we face any challenge). Challenges are normally from the suppliers that sometimes fail to deliver the chickens on schedule.

We are currently selling the chickens that we slaughtered within the past fortnight and have a target of selling them all by the 30th of September, we shall give feedback on whether we have attained that goal or not.

Photo shows the chickens that were delivered last Friday at the farm.
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LIVEBIRDS TEAM Zimbabwe

Theft at the farm

It is with a heavy heart that we report of a theft that took place on Friday the 14th of September when 28 chickens were missing. The thieves broke through the planks that had been nailed neatly to close a door, permanently. The entrance was nolonger used and this is the entrance that the thieves used to break through.

We lost twenty eight(28) chickens. The chickens were almost ready for market , the photo attached shows the entrance that they used when it was still under construction in July. Hardlife Moyana , who was at the farm, is very demotivated at the theft. He feared that we may be strict on him and make him pay, something which he is incapable of doing. We met as team and decided to write off the theft(after reporting to the police, who are 26kms away).

We have moved the chickens to another room which is safer and under lock and key.
Pray for the success of the business, and the security as well as that we get customers for all our chickens when we slaughter them, we are targeting to sell all our chickens that we slaughtered recently by the end of the month(Sept).

Livebirds Team, Zimbabwe

yet another batch slaughtered!!

On Friday the 7th we managed to slaughter a 100 more chickens, we will slaughter another 80 next week.
We thank God for the healthy chickens, they are pretty big and our customers are very happy at the size.

We failed to buy a 100 more last Friday but this week we shall deliver about 100 chickens, as well as next week so that we have a constant supply again next month. The team members slaughtered 171 chickens a week and half ago, they still have a few left in the freezer and we added the 100 that we slaughtered last Friday. We hope we will sell all the chickens within this month, including the 80 that we will slaughter next week

Good day
LIVEBIRDS Zimbabwe Team

for that Live taste

This recent photo shows the chickens that are partitioned, we have managed to buy 5different lots of chickens, meaning that we are just a week away from "closing the gap", a statement that that was coined between the Livebirds Zim and USA leaders which means a situation where we will be able to slaughter a batch of chickens, which automatically means that we will be supplying businesses and individuals on a weekly basis.

We thank God for the taxi which is making life easier, we managed to buy three batches of chickens these past 3 weeks, and there is Hardlife who joined recently, a huge blessing to Livebirds. Hardlife is worthy a full article of himself which we shall upload soon. We thank God for the team and we pray that God's hand be upon this business venture. The main goal is to have at least 700 chickens in stock  and more than two taxis cashing in every week, Yes-we can
 
Good day
Livebirds Zim Team