Hello Peeps!
Can you believe that it has been three months on the race already? So far we have been to three different countries. We have worked very hard in Pretoria doing lots of physical labor: putting up a fence, tearing down a small build structure, filling up a 500 foot hole, putting up a ceiling, and digging up plants and trees to create a beautiful garden. Even though it was more physical then I thought it would be for our first month, it was still amazing and God was definitely present there. I read so much of the Bible and we even read it together as a team. I learned a lot about God in this month and got pretty close with my teammates. They have become a second family to me.
From Pretoria we moved to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe where we stayed for about 4 days. We had orientation and we learned about Hope Ministries, what they stood for, and got to meet our host. From Bulawayo we went to Binga, Zimbabwe. We spent the rest of our month in the bush. The bush is a village area that is self-sustaining. They literally grow their own veggies, pump there own water, etc… So here we did the total opposite of Pretoria. We were thrown into the fire of door to door evangelism, which was super brand-new to me! The first time I had to do it the translator said, “Alicia is going to share the gospel with you”, and I froze like a deer in head lights and just stared at the lady… I prayed that the Lord would give me something to say to her quick. As I’m still looking at her, my teammate Averie jumped in (praise the Lord for teammates). She saved the day and after she broke the ice a little we had a conversation and the translator finished it out. But what I didn’t realize is what I learned the first month would be what I need for this month in Zimbabwe.
From Binga, Zimbabwe to Livingstone, Zambia, this month I got to be apart of a big girls group called Omega. There were 17 of us and we focused on the future of Zambia, and speaking into their lives. So we dealt with a lot of kids from toddlers to high school students. Each day looked different. One day we got to clean glass out of field preparing for camp. Another day we got the chance to spend time in an orphanage and love on the kids there. Another day we got to go to a school and do skits for the older kids, which was super powerful. We also went to another school for younger children and got to dance, do skits, talk about the Bible, and just love on them! What we didn’t anticipate was the heat!!!! This month was their hottest month, so we sweat a ton every day and night. But look, we made it though!
These 3 months have all looked different and so has God’s presence in each of these months! It’s been a blessing just being on the race and I’m very grateful each and every day.
-Alicia Smith
