...and a season for every activity under Heaven...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance...a time to embrace and a time to refrain..." Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
It's hard to comprehend that this is my last week in Zimbabwe. The time has flown by so quickly and while I'm excited to see everyone back home, I am sad that I can't stay longer to continue building relationships here. God has blessed me so much more than I could have ever imagined. As John said before he left, I think I have been more blessed by the people here than I feel that I have blessed any one else.
Being here has made me so much more thankful for what I have. I have fallen in love with the kids here in such a short amount of time. Seeing them run to us as we get out of the car at their homes, brightens up my entire day. They each have their own unique personality, each one having the ability to make you grin from ear to ear. They have taught me what being joyful in all circumstances really means. They find joy in the smallest things. I think if everyone were given the opportunity to see their smiles and laughter, face to face, there would be a lot less greed in our world.
Some anthropologists believe that you have to immerse yourself in an unfamiliar world in order to understand your own. I couldn't agree more. Meeting the people here, seeing how on fire for God they are, and hearing about their work in their own community, has made me more aware of all of the things I could be doing back home in the culture that I live in. You don't have to go halfway around the world to serve. You can always find ways to bless people in your own back yard.
I suppose I knew all of this before I came to Zimbabwe. I just didn't take the time to truly think and do something about it. Spending time with the kids in Zim, doing homework, jumping rope, making them giggle, etc. has placed a yearning in my heart to be able to do those things in my own community. I don't want to have the mind set that I can't make a difference unless I go do something in a third world country. Before you go overseas to do something good, you should examine whether or not you are doing that "something" at home as well. If you're not, then what are you waiting for? Having more experience, gives you a better opportunity to understand and minister to the people you will be working along side in any circumstance.
I wouldn't change my time in Zimbabwe for anything and I hope that I will be able to come back someday. We are saying our goodbyes to the kids at Father's House this afternoon and there is a lot of uncertainty in the group. Saying goodbye to the kiddos one last time will be heartbreaking for all of us. Although I don't like the fact that I have to leave them behind, I know that God holds each one of them in his hands and He will continue to take care of them. That gives me peace.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we prepare for all of the hugs and tears that are sure to come in the next few days. Feel free to send any prayer requests you may have my way. God bless. I look forward to seeing you soon.
-Tara
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Weekend Away
Two weekends ago, we had the privilege of spending the entire weekend
with the kids at Father's House. As far as I know, it was the first
time for most of them to spend the night somewhere outside their own
home. We were able to give their mother, Mary, a break for the weekend
as we cooked the meals, provided them with showers, and kept them
entertained with hula hoops, jump ropes, crafts, skits, etc.
We made a set schedule for how the weekend would go, but most of our plans didn't even work out. Everything actually worked out better than anything we could have written down on a calendar. The kids had a blast with just the toys we had brought. We didn't have to create a game or anything. They were pretty good at making their own entertainment and making the rest of us laugh.
The kids really make you think about what really is important in life. For instance, shower time seemed to be one of their favorite times. Mary usually has to fill up water buckets between 1 and 2 am, when the water is working, and the kids then take showers using the water in the buckets. The fact that they got to dance around in the shower, with consistently warm water, was exciting. They find the most joy in the smallest things. In reality, that is how each of us should view life.
My favorite part of the weekend was hearing their beautiful voices as we sang praise songs in the car and at church. Little Takunda, who is 8 years old, is a natural born worship leader. He loves to lead the other kids in song and he has such an amazing voice. He has the ability to bring tears to your eyes. All of the kids were given the opportunity to sing Light of the World in front of the River of Life congregation. It was a blessing to be able to stand along side them and sing with them. Seeing Mary's face afterwards was the most rewarding part.
The entire weekend was a blessing. Unfortunately it went by so quickly. I am continually learning more from the kids than they are learning from me. They teach me how to be joyful in every situation and to be grateful for everything I have. Sometimes God teaches you some of the most important things using the smallest and most gentle of people.
We made a set schedule for how the weekend would go, but most of our plans didn't even work out. Everything actually worked out better than anything we could have written down on a calendar. The kids had a blast with just the toys we had brought. We didn't have to create a game or anything. They were pretty good at making their own entertainment and making the rest of us laugh.
The kids really make you think about what really is important in life. For instance, shower time seemed to be one of their favorite times. Mary usually has to fill up water buckets between 1 and 2 am, when the water is working, and the kids then take showers using the water in the buckets. The fact that they got to dance around in the shower, with consistently warm water, was exciting. They find the most joy in the smallest things. In reality, that is how each of us should view life.
My favorite part of the weekend was hearing their beautiful voices as we sang praise songs in the car and at church. Little Takunda, who is 8 years old, is a natural born worship leader. He loves to lead the other kids in song and he has such an amazing voice. He has the ability to bring tears to your eyes. All of the kids were given the opportunity to sing Light of the World in front of the River of Life congregation. It was a blessing to be able to stand along side them and sing with them. Seeing Mary's face afterwards was the most rewarding part.
The entire weekend was a blessing. Unfortunately it went by so quickly. I am continually learning more from the kids than they are learning from me. They teach me how to be joyful in every situation and to be grateful for everything I have. Sometimes God teaches you some of the most important things using the smallest and most gentle of people.
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| Ruthless concert with the kids |
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| Sweet Juliet |
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| Sandra and Panashe fell asleep in the car ride home. |
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| Me and Juliet |
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| Takunda jumping rope |
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| Playing on the boat. |
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| Panashe performing for the boat crew. |
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| David and Goliath skit. So cute! |
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| Practicing Light of the World for church |
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| Panashe and Takunda, two peas in a pod |
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| Playing on the trampoline at the Putt-Putt place |
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| Waiting for dinner |
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| Evening braai |
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| Sunday afternoon pizza lunch and end of the weekend
For more photos, details, and different perspectives please visit my team members' blogs. We did take a trip to Hwange National Park, Victoria Falls, and Antelope Park. I'm just running out of the time I have on the internet today, so I'm not going to be able to post anything. If you're on facebook though, you can look at my photos. Otherwise, here are the links to the other blogs in case you missed them the last time:
Caroline: http://can09a.blogspot.com/
Jaclyn: http://jaclynpwhite.blogspot.com/ Emily: http://emilymaephillips.blogspot.com/ Blessings. |
Monday, June 25, 2012
Time
Today marks 3 weeks since we left the states. On Wednesday, we will have spent 21 days in Africa. I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I have never been so aware of the brief period of time you have in just two months. I want to do all of these things with the kids, but I feel like I'm running out of time. That is something that I have really been struggling with. I started this journey knowing that I had two months to build relationships with these kids. I thought that was plenty of time and yet now I feel like it isn't enough. It's going to be so hard leaving here, not knowing the exact effect I had on these kids' hearts.
Come to think of it, I guess that is how daily life works anyways. You meet someone of the side of the road, in a grocery store, at school/work, etc. and you have this amazing opportunity to tell them about Jesus through your talk or just by a simple act of kindness. But after you have planted that seed, you may never see them again. You never really know how big that seed grew and that's hard. But the amazing thing is that you don't need to be concerned about that because the rest is in God's hands.
1 Corinthians 3: 5-7 says:
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
As long as I do my task, God will do the rest. It's good to know that it's not up to me. The seeds that we plant and water while we are here, will grow while we are away. It will be hard not to be able to see that growth first hand, but I'm glad to know that God is in control and not us. I have come to find that he does a much better job of it anyways.
Come to think of it, I guess that is how daily life works anyways. You meet someone of the side of the road, in a grocery store, at school/work, etc. and you have this amazing opportunity to tell them about Jesus through your talk or just by a simple act of kindness. But after you have planted that seed, you may never see them again. You never really know how big that seed grew and that's hard. But the amazing thing is that you don't need to be concerned about that because the rest is in God's hands.
1 Corinthians 3: 5-7 says:
What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
As long as I do my task, God will do the rest. It's good to know that it's not up to me. The seeds that we plant and water while we are here, will grow while we are away. It will be hard not to be able to see that growth first hand, but I'm glad to know that God is in control and not us. I have come to find that he does a much better job of it anyways.
Busy Week
Today marks the beginning of a busy week.
Mondays are our planning days. We usually go to the office, catch up on some internet time, and bring out the calendar to plan the possible children's activities for the week. They didn't have internet at the office today so we stayed at the house to plan and now we are at the internet cafe, writing our blogs and catching up on emails/facebook messages.
We have our week roughly planned out and this is how it looks so far:
Tuesday
We have a meeting with some ladies about working with their Orphans and Vulnerable Children initiative. They live in Harare and they have a real heart for the community here. They spoke to us at church two Sundays ago and we're going to the meeting to learn more about it and to see if there is any way we can get involved.
After that meeting, we have a meeting with some of the members of one of the churches here called River of Life. They put on an assembly every Friday at St. Catherine's and we have been involved with that since the first Friday we got here. We were unable to do the assembly this past Friday because they didn't have school, but we're meeting with them to plan a skit and some songs for this coming Friday.
When we're finished with that, we plan on making our trip to Father's House. The bible story for this week is Cain and Abel. John will read the story to the kids and we will ask the kids some questions after we read it. One of the kids will probably translate the story in Shona for us so that they can hear it from both the English and Shona perspective. After the story, we plan on doing some homework with the kids and playing a game outside with them. They enjoy being in the outdoors, which is great!
Wednesday
Today we plan on spending all day at Danai, painting some of the new rooms they have built for the older kids and hanging out with the kids after they get done with school. If possible, we would like to read the story of Cain and Abel to them as well and have a respect lesson afterwards. Last week we read the bible story and had a lesson over Please and Thank You. Since there are more children at Danai, it's a bit more chaotic, so it's nice to start off our time right. The kids also seemed to use what they learned from the lesson, as well. We're also hoping to split up the younger kids and the older kids at some point. We're wanting to do a devotional time with the older kids, which will be a great way for them to just be able to talk to us, and to have our full attention.
Thursday
We're planning on getting up pretty early on this day to go do some devotionals with the kids at one of the private school academies here in Harare. We're not quite sure if this is a set plan yet, though.
After we leave the school, we will be going to a ladies' devotional time, hosted by the River of Life church. We have been told that they will be making bracelets to sell, in order to help bring in some money for the new community center they will be building, benefiting the people living in the surrounding areas. I'm looking forward to getting to know some of these ladies, while making bracelets for a good cause.
In the afternoon, we make our way to Father's House once again. Since we read the story of Cain and Abel on Tuesday, we will be doing an activity today. The ideas are still up in the air for the craft, but we're thinking about either prayer journals or a prayer box. I think the kids would really enjoy that. I made prayer journals with the kids at Urban Connection in San Antonio two summers ago and they seemed to really enjoy them. After our craft, we plan on having some more homework/reading time, and then doing some more outdoorsy things.
Friday
Today is another paint day for Danai and probably our last. The rooms aren't too big so I don't think it should take us too long. In the afternoon, we plan on just hanging out with the kids when they get back from school again. We don't have a whole lot planned for the afternoon, because we are going to pick up the kids and Mary at Father's House to give them a weekend away. The plan is to take them to Emma's house (where the ACTS workers are staying), and just have a fun weekend with them. We are all so excited about this and ready to get to spend the whole weekend with some amazing kids!
That's the basic plan for this week. I just thought you may want to know some more details about the work we are doing. Of course, the things written down on the calendar don't always go according to plan. That's just how life works out, though. Only God knows what we're really going to be doing this week and that's the most exciting part.
Mondays are our planning days. We usually go to the office, catch up on some internet time, and bring out the calendar to plan the possible children's activities for the week. They didn't have internet at the office today so we stayed at the house to plan and now we are at the internet cafe, writing our blogs and catching up on emails/facebook messages.
We have our week roughly planned out and this is how it looks so far:
Tuesday
We have a meeting with some ladies about working with their Orphans and Vulnerable Children initiative. They live in Harare and they have a real heart for the community here. They spoke to us at church two Sundays ago and we're going to the meeting to learn more about it and to see if there is any way we can get involved.
After that meeting, we have a meeting with some of the members of one of the churches here called River of Life. They put on an assembly every Friday at St. Catherine's and we have been involved with that since the first Friday we got here. We were unable to do the assembly this past Friday because they didn't have school, but we're meeting with them to plan a skit and some songs for this coming Friday.
When we're finished with that, we plan on making our trip to Father's House. The bible story for this week is Cain and Abel. John will read the story to the kids and we will ask the kids some questions after we read it. One of the kids will probably translate the story in Shona for us so that they can hear it from both the English and Shona perspective. After the story, we plan on doing some homework with the kids and playing a game outside with them. They enjoy being in the outdoors, which is great!
Wednesday
Today we plan on spending all day at Danai, painting some of the new rooms they have built for the older kids and hanging out with the kids after they get done with school. If possible, we would like to read the story of Cain and Abel to them as well and have a respect lesson afterwards. Last week we read the bible story and had a lesson over Please and Thank You. Since there are more children at Danai, it's a bit more chaotic, so it's nice to start off our time right. The kids also seemed to use what they learned from the lesson, as well. We're also hoping to split up the younger kids and the older kids at some point. We're wanting to do a devotional time with the older kids, which will be a great way for them to just be able to talk to us, and to have our full attention.
Thursday
We're planning on getting up pretty early on this day to go do some devotionals with the kids at one of the private school academies here in Harare. We're not quite sure if this is a set plan yet, though.
After we leave the school, we will be going to a ladies' devotional time, hosted by the River of Life church. We have been told that they will be making bracelets to sell, in order to help bring in some money for the new community center they will be building, benefiting the people living in the surrounding areas. I'm looking forward to getting to know some of these ladies, while making bracelets for a good cause.
In the afternoon, we make our way to Father's House once again. Since we read the story of Cain and Abel on Tuesday, we will be doing an activity today. The ideas are still up in the air for the craft, but we're thinking about either prayer journals or a prayer box. I think the kids would really enjoy that. I made prayer journals with the kids at Urban Connection in San Antonio two summers ago and they seemed to really enjoy them. After our craft, we plan on having some more homework/reading time, and then doing some more outdoorsy things.
Friday
Today is another paint day for Danai and probably our last. The rooms aren't too big so I don't think it should take us too long. In the afternoon, we plan on just hanging out with the kids when they get back from school again. We don't have a whole lot planned for the afternoon, because we are going to pick up the kids and Mary at Father's House to give them a weekend away. The plan is to take them to Emma's house (where the ACTS workers are staying), and just have a fun weekend with them. We are all so excited about this and ready to get to spend the whole weekend with some amazing kids!
That's the basic plan for this week. I just thought you may want to know some more details about the work we are doing. Of course, the things written down on the calendar don't always go according to plan. That's just how life works out, though. Only God knows what we're really going to be doing this week and that's the most exciting part.
Monday, June 18, 2012
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.
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.
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| Taking a walk into town |
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| Preparing for Friday's assembly at St. Catherine's. John was the King in our skit. |
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| We made name tags so the kids could remember our names. |
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| Precious Rejoice. This little one makes me laugh. |
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| Sweet Jayne |
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| 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. |
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| Beautiful Panashe |
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| 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. |
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| Barry showing us the property of Rest Haven, where he wishes to develop a place for the surrounding community. |
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| More of Rest Haven |
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| Housing in the community surrounding Rest Haven |
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| Caitlin's last night as our guide |
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| We hiked up Domboshava on Saturday and got this cool picture of all of our shadows. |
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| Me and Emily on Domboshava |
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| African Sunset from on top of Domboshava. God is amazing! |
Monday, June 11, 2012
The Orphanages
Monday-Fridays are the days that we work in the orphanages. Since we settled into the house on Wednesday and went through orientation on Thursday, we have only been able to spend one day in the orphanages so far. We are visiting one of the orphanages this afternoon, which I am looking forward to. I don't have any pictures of the kids yet because they advised us not to take pictures until we have built relationships with them. I'm sure I will have pictures soon, though. For now, here is some information about the orphanages. Enjoy!
St. Catherine's
This was actually the first place that we visited on Friday and apart from all of the other places, it is a school instead of a home. At St. Catherine's, they educate orphaned children with disabilities. As soon as we pulled up in our van, the kids came running to greet us. They were so precious and stole our hearts immediately. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for long. We were blessed to be able to participate in assembly with them. After we sang a few songs in Shona (the pre-dominant language in Zimbabwe) with them, we acted out a skit about the Ungrateful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35). The kids seemed to enjoy it but I think we were all in agreement that we were in desperate need of some practice in the drama department. All in all, it was a great time.
St. Joseph's
This was the second place we visited on Friday. It is a home to about 50 orphaned boys ranging from ages 7-18. The boys were all in school during the time that we visited. However, we were able to walk around the place to see what maintenance we could contribute to the property. We probably won't get much time during the week to spend with the boys since they will be in school, but we may be able to set up some weekend activities with them. It was also strongly encouraged that we get them involved in the maintenance we would be doing around the place so that they would have a sense of pride in their home. This will also give us even more chances to build relationships with them, which will be a key element of our service in Zimbabwe.
Father's House
This was our third place to visit on Friday. This home is run by a woman named Mary, who is one of the most genuine women I have ever met. She has amazing strength. . Hopefully we will be able to help her out in a way that will give her enough time to take a break for herself, since she takes care of the 11 children living in her home, on her own.
One of the things that I find amazing about this home, is that all of the children seem to be so well-disciplined. When you think about 11 children living under one roof, you think about complete chaos. However, it seems to be the exact opposite. It was a joy to spend time with each one of the kiddos as we colored some pictures, read a few books, and played a few outdoor games. We were even able to meet a few of the neighborhood kids, who apparently visit the home quite often. We were all in mutual agreement about how much we enjoyed spending time at this home.
Danai
The name Danai in Shona means "to love one another." This is actually the home that we will be visiting this afternoon so I don't have any stories to tell quite yet. What I know about this home so far is that there are 24 children living here, ranging from ages 3-16. They mostly need us to spend some one-on-one time with the kids, helping with homework, and lending a helping hand with the little ones.
That's all I have for now about the homes. There will be more to come soon! In the mean time, you can read some of the blog entries posted by my fellow team members and friends:
Caroline: http://can09a.blogspot.com/
Jaclyn: http://jaclynpwhite.blogspot.com/
Emily: http://emilymaephillips.blogspot.com/
St. Catherine's
This was actually the first place that we visited on Friday and apart from all of the other places, it is a school instead of a home. At St. Catherine's, they educate orphaned children with disabilities. As soon as we pulled up in our van, the kids came running to greet us. They were so precious and stole our hearts immediately. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for long. We were blessed to be able to participate in assembly with them. After we sang a few songs in Shona (the pre-dominant language in Zimbabwe) with them, we acted out a skit about the Ungrateful Servant (Matthew 18:21-35). The kids seemed to enjoy it but I think we were all in agreement that we were in desperate need of some practice in the drama department. All in all, it was a great time.
St. Joseph's
This was the second place we visited on Friday. It is a home to about 50 orphaned boys ranging from ages 7-18. The boys were all in school during the time that we visited. However, we were able to walk around the place to see what maintenance we could contribute to the property. We probably won't get much time during the week to spend with the boys since they will be in school, but we may be able to set up some weekend activities with them. It was also strongly encouraged that we get them involved in the maintenance we would be doing around the place so that they would have a sense of pride in their home. This will also give us even more chances to build relationships with them, which will be a key element of our service in Zimbabwe.
Father's House
This was our third place to visit on Friday. This home is run by a woman named Mary, who is one of the most genuine women I have ever met. She has amazing strength. . Hopefully we will be able to help her out in a way that will give her enough time to take a break for herself, since she takes care of the 11 children living in her home, on her own.
One of the things that I find amazing about this home, is that all of the children seem to be so well-disciplined. When you think about 11 children living under one roof, you think about complete chaos. However, it seems to be the exact opposite. It was a joy to spend time with each one of the kiddos as we colored some pictures, read a few books, and played a few outdoor games. We were even able to meet a few of the neighborhood kids, who apparently visit the home quite often. We were all in mutual agreement about how much we enjoyed spending time at this home.
Danai
The name Danai in Shona means "to love one another." This is actually the home that we will be visiting this afternoon so I don't have any stories to tell quite yet. What I know about this home so far is that there are 24 children living here, ranging from ages 3-16. They mostly need us to spend some one-on-one time with the kids, helping with homework, and lending a helping hand with the little ones.
That's all I have for now about the homes. There will be more to come soon! In the mean time, you can read some of the blog entries posted by my fellow team members and friends:
Caroline: http://can09a.blogspot.com/
Jaclyn: http://jaclynpwhite.blogspot.com/
Emily: http://emilymaephillips.blogspot.com/
Settling in
Settling In
We're all unpacked and moved in now. Our house is pretty nice and spacious and really not at all what we were expecting. We're able to drink the water because the house has its own well. We do have to be careful about drinking water when we go into town, but we haven't had that big of a problem with that. We just fill up our water bottles in the morning and they last us throughout the day. We do have power outages every once in while at the house due to energy cutbacks, but those haven't seemed to last for long. All in all, we've had a great stay here and I'm looking forward to calling this home for the next 2 months.
Despite the definite upsides to being here, I did have a small adjustment issue when we arrived. As I mentioned in my last post, I got a little motion sick on our last flight to Zimbabwe. While I thought I was feeling a lot better after "getting sick" all over the airplane (least grotesque way of putting that), the adjustment to the altitude and not being in motion, took me a little while to get use to. Needless to say, I was sick for the better part of Wednesday evening and for a few hours on Thursday. Thankfully, our guide Caitlin gave me some motion sickness pills to take and I had brought some Pepto Bismol with me. That seemed to help out a lot.
Before I started to feel better though, Satan decided to take advantage of my weakness. I started to feel really discouraged about being here. And of course I started to think of all the possible viruses I could have besides motion sickness, which made me even more worried. I really started to doubt why I ever came in the first place. Before going to bed early that night, I prayed that God would comfort me and take away what ever sickness I had. I knew that the medicine wouldn't do anything without His help.
After a few dizzy spells the next day, I was feeling much better and I was finally able to act like myself. God showed me His control in my life yet again. He has been reminding me of His power throughout the entire process of preparing for this internship and He continues to remind me daily. I am thankful to serve a God who still loves me even though I'm unreasonable and imperfect.
I do know that Satan will continue to attack. That's the bad news. But if Satan finds it necessary to attack me, it must mean that God really wants me to be here and Satan wants to do everything to stop it. And even though Satan sounds pretty convincing sometimes, I know why I'm here. I came to Zimbabwe because I felt it was what God was calling me to do and I wouldn't be here without the hope I have in Him. I know that He has some amazing things in store and I am excited to see where He leads me.
Psalm 62: 5-6
Find rest oh my soul in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
We're all unpacked and moved in now. Our house is pretty nice and spacious and really not at all what we were expecting. We're able to drink the water because the house has its own well. We do have to be careful about drinking water when we go into town, but we haven't had that big of a problem with that. We just fill up our water bottles in the morning and they last us throughout the day. We do have power outages every once in while at the house due to energy cutbacks, but those haven't seemed to last for long. All in all, we've had a great stay here and I'm looking forward to calling this home for the next 2 months.
Despite the definite upsides to being here, I did have a small adjustment issue when we arrived. As I mentioned in my last post, I got a little motion sick on our last flight to Zimbabwe. While I thought I was feeling a lot better after "getting sick" all over the airplane (least grotesque way of putting that), the adjustment to the altitude and not being in motion, took me a little while to get use to. Needless to say, I was sick for the better part of Wednesday evening and for a few hours on Thursday. Thankfully, our guide Caitlin gave me some motion sickness pills to take and I had brought some Pepto Bismol with me. That seemed to help out a lot.
Before I started to feel better though, Satan decided to take advantage of my weakness. I started to feel really discouraged about being here. And of course I started to think of all the possible viruses I could have besides motion sickness, which made me even more worried. I really started to doubt why I ever came in the first place. Before going to bed early that night, I prayed that God would comfort me and take away what ever sickness I had. I knew that the medicine wouldn't do anything without His help.
After a few dizzy spells the next day, I was feeling much better and I was finally able to act like myself. God showed me His control in my life yet again. He has been reminding me of His power throughout the entire process of preparing for this internship and He continues to remind me daily. I am thankful to serve a God who still loves me even though I'm unreasonable and imperfect.
I do know that Satan will continue to attack. That's the bad news. But if Satan finds it necessary to attack me, it must mean that God really wants me to be here and Satan wants to do everything to stop it. And even though Satan sounds pretty convincing sometimes, I know why I'm here. I came to Zimbabwe because I felt it was what God was calling me to do and I wouldn't be here without the hope I have in Him. I know that He has some amazing things in store and I am excited to see where He leads me.
Psalm 62: 5-6
Find rest oh my soul in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
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| Our spacious, beautiful, and tropical house. Not what we expected at all. |
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| Our dining room, where we eat all of the delicious meals that Caitlin cooks for us during the week. We cook our own food on the weekends. |
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| This is the kitchen. In this picture, Caitlin is cutting up some great tasting squash. I forgot what it is called. Jaclyn, Caroline, and John are the people standing around the table. Emily is behind Caitlin. I wasn't able to get everyone in the picture at one time. |
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| The squash that is nameless at the moment. |
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| Traffic jam going into Downtown Harare |
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| Caitlin told us that this building was much like a tomb. It is where all of the previous leaders and people of influence in Zimbabwe are buried. Interesting! |
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| These sculptors are everywhere around town. |
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| Caroline swinging at the playground we found near the shops we went to on Saturday. |
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| Jaclyn and Emily walking to one of the shops. |
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| Our view from the coffee shop that we stopped at near the shops. |
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| AppleGees instead of AppleBees. We all got a kick out of this. |
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| Caroline and Emily in the van, where we spend quite a bit of time traveling to and from places. |
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| Cooking omelets on Saturday evening. This was our first meal to cook on our own. |
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| Nando's! We stopped here to eat on Sunday afternoon. They have some delicious chicken. John has been wanting to go here ever since we arrived. |
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| Jaclyn, Caroline, and Emily napping and reading on the lawn. This is where we spent Sunday afternoon. Zimbabwe has beautiful weather! |
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