Heart of Africa

Day 12 of being in Zimbabwe, and Africa is becoming more and more real. When people say they have a heart for Africa, it is not that they have a heart for a specific continent on the globe, it is that they have a heart for the  people here. The people in Zim have beautiful spirits. After only spending 12 days here, I have come to recognize that.

We had the wonderful opportunity to spend some time with the ACTS workers yesterday and they are such a fantastic group of people. The majority of our afternoon was spent in the kitchen singing both familiar songs and learning new African songs. It is so amazing how music can bring people from completely opposite sides of the world closer together. I am looking forward to singing with them more often. Hopefully we will be able to catch something on tape so everyone can have the opportunity to see it. It is a scene worth recording.

The kids in the orphanages continue to touch my heart as well. We were so blessed to meet the children at Danai last Monday. Their sweet spirits were overwhelming. They immediately grabbed our hands and pulled us through their house. It was such a precious experience. After giving us a tour of their home, we sat down with them and did some school work. I had the privilege of working on some reading and math homework with a 5th grader named Jayne. She was so bright and did not need much of my help at all, but it was a joy to be able to explain some math problems to her. I enjoyed her company and I hope she enjoyed mine as well. I am excited to get to know her more.

We have also noticed that the children at Danai love to hula hoop and each one of them seems to have specific skill set for it. Their eyes seem to all brighten and their smiles go from ear to ear when we bring the hula hoops out of the car. This is another scene worth recording and I'm hoping that we will be able to do that soon.

We have since spent various amounts of times at Danai, Father's House, and St. Catherine's. (We are still trying to figure out some good times to visit St. Joseph's.) Each one of the children at the four of these places have their own stories. I have only been able to hear a few of their stories so far, but the stories that I have heard have been heart breaking. I know that as I continue to grow in relationship with these children, their stories will tug on my heart more and more. I'm not looking forward to that pain, but I am looking forward to showing them the love that they deserve.

We start figuring out a more set schedule today and I am so excited to be more present in the homes. I can already tell that these children are going to teach me so much. As I grow in deeper relationship with them, I will be drawing closer to my Heavenly Father as well. What a blessing!

Please continue to be in prayer for the work we will be doing here and for each of the precious children: Blessed, Gerald, Joseph, Kudakwash, Tawananyasha, Ruvarashe, Shekainah, Joshua Rejoice, Faith Tichaona, Sussana, Jasper, Jayne, Shakespear, Craig, Talent, Nyasha, Nginidzashe, Munenyasha, Loveness, Blessing, Potia, Jawett, Harry, Ano, Panashe, Crispen, Ngoni, Harold, Takunda, Ngonidzashe, Pride, Rudo, Sandra, and Juliet. God smiles on each one of them.

I have some pictures you can look at below as well. We are still unable to take pictures of the kids. We did manage to take some pictures of the photos they had already given us and although those obviously aren't the best quality, at least you can match some faces with names.

Taking a walk into town

Preparing for Friday's assembly at St. Catherine's. John was the King in our skit.

We made name tags so the kids could remember our names.

Precious Rejoice. This little one makes me laugh.

Sweet Jayne

The baby in this picture is Ngoni and the boy holding him is Shakespeare, Jayne's brother. They are both wonderful. Ngoni is a bit scared of strangers, but hopefully he will warm up to us. Sorry that the picture is sideways.

Beautiful Panashe

Juliet. I helped her with some of her homework as well. She didn't talk much and I'm not sure if she understood some of the things that I said, but she did seem to understand some of the math concepts I was explaining to her.

Barry showing us the property of Rest Haven, where he wishes to develop a place for the surrounding community.

More of Rest Haven

Housing in the community surrounding Rest Haven

Caitlin's last night as our guide

 

We hiked up Domboshava on Saturday and got this cool picture of all of our shadows.

Me and Emily on Domboshava

African Sunset from on top of Domboshava. God is amazing!