When my team first heard about our ministry in Zimbabwe, to say the least, we were not excited. The three things we knew were; the ministry site was located three hours outside of a city, we needed to buy all our food for the month in one trip, and that we would be with two other teams. There was a lot about this that was going to be difficult, as we were imaging a little shack in the middle of no where confined with lot of people. Well, to say the least, we were a tad wrong.
Arriving at the entrance, we were amazed! The ministry site was called Eden, and for good reason. There was nothing like driving up to a house with tents already set up and a spectacular view. We were literally in Eden. The sun would rise on one side of the lake and set on the other. Not only was the view like something out of a painting, but what it offered was so much more than expected. We lived on a commercial farm where we ate fresh veggies, meat, eggs and milk. The experience was nothing like what we had expected.
The Eden staff were outstanding and we were welcomed with open arms. Between how they lived in community and ran their organization with 100% faith I learned a lot! They loved the kids in their orphanage so well, and treated them as family, even throwing them birthday parties.
One of the highlights for me was seeing how efficient everything was ran. They employed local staff to work on the farm, in the school, and in the medical clinic. They pay fair wages and show the love of Jesus in tangible ways. It is clean to see their employees are happy by their work ethic and hopes to make it better place.
To be honest I am doing a terrible job of telling you what this month was like. Words just cannot express how much I fell in love with Eden. Words cannot grasp the unique environment of this community. I feel more blessed by being apart of the daily lives of these people than I could ever express. Thank-you Eden for loving us so well, thank-you for welcoming us as family, thank-you for teaching us about life, love and community, thank-you for being where God has you and THANK-YOU for having such contagious big faith.
