Here I sit in Gokwe Zimbabwe rounding the corner of week two for Africa wondering how in the world will I sum up the multitude of moments and lessons in one blog. Two sentences into it I found out I can’t, so it will be broken into two haha. The first a basic outline of our daily life here in Zimbabwe and second a bit more personal with lessons learned, stories and insight into the heart of local Zimbabwean people.
We started off the month in Kadoma where our host for Flaming Swords Ministry lives. Breaking the ice we walked around the suburb dirt roads following up from an evangelical conference the week before and doing door to door ministry. We do this every day of the week accept Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is saved for sports, games and fun with the locals and Sunday for church. Yet we also have church on Wednesday and Friday. We give sermons and teachings at every service and are constantly pulling out scripture and the story of Jesus with every house visit. Even with all the years of ministry I did in college, I think I have already taught or preached more than all those years combined. It may sound overkill to many back in the states but it’s anything but. The second the American mentality was broken for how we approach scripture and Christian composure it’s been nothing but beautiful sights and understanding towards their need and desire to know God. (More to be spoken on in the next blog.)
We live down a long bumpy washed out dirt road outside of Kadoma. Away from the city leaving PLENTY of darkness to view the mind blowing stars and Milky Way! It’s winter here in Africa, (PRAISE THE LORD COOL WEATHER!!) and along with cooking over a campfire every day, eating family dinners with our local host and kids, no running water and sleeping bundled up in a hammock every night, this by far is ‘the life’ in my mind!!
After one week in Kadoma we left for Gokwe, a smaller town 5 hours away, to evangelize and host a Beauty for Ashes retreat. A retreat lead by the ladies of our team focused on mental and spiritual healing for the broken, abused, raped and poor in the area. We are here for one week doing similar things in the meantime of the program. Door to door ministry, house visits, village visits, preaching, teaching, praying, football kicking and best of all worship dancing haha.
Their staple food here is Sadza, thick paste that is a mix between thick mashed potatoes and grits. Corn, or maze as they call it, and green leafy vegetables, Kale/Collard greens, are huge here. When walking through the village each house has massive storage shelters built up off the ground which they load full of for the cobs to dry before being sent to the mil where it’s turned into ‘mealiemeal’ (corn powder) This is used to make sadza by slowly adding the powder to boiling water until it turns into a very thick and filling paste~thick enough that when eaten with by hand can be used to pick up other foods and tossed into the chomper.
People walk everywhere and relationships are more important than being punctual. When walking through town with our host we are constantly stopping to chat with friends or walking the long way to simply stop by shop owners he knows to say hi and chit chat. It’s truly a family, community mindset here. Because everyone normally walks everywhere, anyone who has an open seat in their car almost always has it available for use. And if you’re the driver, without even asking you will get a tip for the ride from those you pick up, it’s just common curtesy.
Hard to explain anything else without getting deep into the emotional and spiritual side of moments and mentalities here so I will close this blog and ask you to stay tuned and read the one coming next.
Feel free to ask anything regarding how life is had here in Africa or assumptions you have to see if they’re true. It’s hard to write with an outsiders mind with it being month 9 of the race and my second time to Africa now; not much seems to really be a struggle or mind blowing culture shock anymore haha.
