We traveled 3 days and then some to get here.
2 overnight buses, 2 planes, 4 borders (5 if you count the fake country we left from).
Smelly, sticky, and so sleepy,
finally we pull into the bus station.
Instantly I'm greeted be a swarm of men offering to carry my bag.
I mean…if you really want to go dig it out from under the pile of about 800 others
by ALL means- go for it sir. It's the big heavy black one.
Oh you think I'm beautiful?
Yep, yes, thank you…uh huh, thank you, yep, bye bye now.
This is Africa.
We finally arrive in Zimbabwe
but we have absolutely no idea how or where to meet up with our contact.
We don't know what he looks like
Will he be holding a sign?
What would such a sign even say?
Is he aware that our bus arrived 5 hours late?
In real life this would totally stress me out.
Normal people would make a plan beforehand for these kind of things.
Instead, we just look around the station for a nice, white, christian looking man haha.
No such luck.
We don't have a sim card for our phone to try to call him.
There's no internet anywhere.
We have no money in the correct currency.
Ok..umm God…how the heck do we find this guy?!
I'm starting to think we'll spend all month stuck ministering at the bus station.
This is Africa.
Later that day our team sits in the backyard
under the shade of a beautiful guava tree.
We're given the rundown of how things work around here-
school in the bush
never, ever show your knees. Its seen as scandelous.
prophetic treasure hunting
leadership conference over the weekend
raising babies from the dead
house of prayer
oh and a holy ghost party every tuesday night.
Hold the phone. Whats a holy ghost party?
…sure!
This is Africa.
Piled 24 people deep in a comby
we head into the bush from ministry.
I'm sitting under the seat on the floor
with one girl on my lap,
a young boy at my feet,
and a mans knees banging against my head at head bump.
His sweat is now my sweat too.
Yikes he smells…nice.
This is Africa.
As I'm looking out the window
the scenery quickly changes from buildings and traffic
to corn fields and giant rocks
and houses made from cloth rags and sticks.
Turning off the path into the school
my heart is instantly overwhelmed by whats around me.
its everything you would "expect" Africa to be
but the intensity of actually being physically there in that moment
is impossible to even faintly describe with words.
At the sound of our tires grinding through the dirt
half naked kids with swollen bellies
come crawling out of holes,
jumping out of trees,
and flying off of rocks everywhere
running towards the van to greet us.
The sound of little voices shouting
"shumba! shumba! shumba!"
suddenly fills the air around me.
My eyes are doing their very best to stay strong and dry.
I can't believe this place exists in the same world as my home in Texas.
This is Africa.
Loraine asks if I want to walk with her to get the water
and I eagerly jump at the chance.
She speaks pretty good english so as we walk
I ask her about her life.
She's 13 years old but she looks at least 20.
Living in the bush is the only thing shes ever known.
She spends her time taking care of her younger siblings,
cooking and cleaning, trying to learn english, and praying to God.
20 minutes later we arrive at the well.
She asks me if I want to try to pump the water
and of course I say yes!
10 long minutes later my arms are about to fall off
but I've pumped enough water to fill up one jug.
Thats enough to last her family maybe a few hours.
Loraine will make this same hard trek for clean water
at least 3 more times today.
I try to life the jug and carry it back for us but its too heavy.
Loraine just laughs at me
and lifts it right up onto her head.
She carries it like that
with a smile of joy on her face
the whole entire way back.
This is Africa.
At the end of every day,
my feet are coated with thick layers of red dirt
my boogers are black
and my clothes are covered in a good mixture of
dirt, drool, and probably some pee.
My arms are limp from holding kids all day.
But my heart is so full.
This is Africa.
Wild.
Rich.
Spirit.
Passion.
Love.
Laughter.
Fresh.
Strength.
Prayer.
Beauty.
THIS is Africa.
…and I love it.
