Ten months ago when I started the World Race, I thought April 2014 was going to be spent in Uganda. However, an announced route change early on in the journey replaced Uganda with Zambia. So naturally, I expected to be in Zambia, and although the majority of my squad is wrapping up their ministries in Zambia, my team and I have actually had the privilege of being in Zimbabwe instead!
The month of April has looked quite differently for my team as we were given the responsibility of seeking out and identifying the Unsung Heroes within the country of Zimbabwe. These are the men and women living and serving in some of the most impoverished populations within the country, but rarely receive recognition for their dedication, service and hard work. The vision of the Unsung Hero program is to connect and network with these heroes in an effort to come alongside them and provide assistance to their efforts in furthering the Kingdom. World Race teams, (like my team) have had the opportunity to be on the ground in Zimbabwe and personally meet with Unsung Heroes and begin to assess how AIM (Adventures in Missions) could serve them in the future with additional teams. We’ve spent the majority of the month in two of the three largest cities, Bulawayo and Harare (capital), and have met numerous contacts who are serving among the poor, providing hope to the people of Zimbabwe, and reaching out to the vulnerable men, women and children all while seeking to further God’s Kingdom. Though we did our part in researching various ministries in Zimbabwe, some of our best connections have been due to networking, but ultimately the result of divine appointments orchestrated by God. A few highlights from the month:
- Meeting with one of the Unsung Heroes from the month who runs Harvest Family Valley, which is a part of Mind the Gap – Africa. Though I only spent a short time with her, she is filled with joy and has an incredible heart with a big vision and dream. Harvest Family Village seeks to rescue and restore vulnerable, poor and orphaned children within Zimbabwe by establishing families, instilling hope and preparing them for a future. Children are raised in a loving, supportive and Christian atmosphere where they can feel as though they belong and are safe.
- Overwhelmed by God’s abundant blessings in the way of discounts, free coffee drinks, transportation, home-cooked meals and great conversations with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
- Spending Easter Sunday with an incredibly loving family who took our entire team in as their own and provided us with great fellowship, food and a comfortable place to relax for much of the day!
- Being able to serve with one of the ministries that we met, by interacting and loving on Zimbabwean children at a children’s village. Though these children come from difficult pasts, they are so much fun to be around and beautiful both inside and out!
- Attending church and being able to worship with a passionate body of believers! This was also the first time in quite a while, where I felt like I could fully engage and pay attention as I could clearly understand the language and no translation was needed!
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Please be praying for my team as we begin our travels tomorrow to meet up with the rest of our squad in Zambia before heading to Malawi … our final month of ministry before returning back to America. Pray for us as we embark on this final month to make the most of every opportunity, treat this month with as much enthusiasm, focus and passion that we had at the start of the race and not allow thoughts about our futures take us away from what God wants to do in and through us!
