Welcome to the World Race.
Where random dance parties take place in the middle of making dinner…
Where the word “stranger” is nonexistent, and friends become family in a matter of days…
Where love-selfless, sacrificial love- is more than a feeling or an action…it’s a way of life.
And welcome to Zimbabwe.
Where the sun goes down at six…
Where the Zesa (power) is out at least once a day…and when it’s on, we rejoice and use it like it will never be on again…
Where showers come from a bucket…
Where fourteen people fit in the bed of a truck…
Where love and laughter flow in a steady stream, and water does not…
Where fingers are as good as spoons…
Where having a toilet with a seat AND toilet paper is like winning the lottery…
Where you would never know about the lack of resources, due to the abundance in the people’s hearts.
We’ve partnered with two different ministries so far. The first day (Friday), we were with a ministry called Tafara in Sakubve, Mutare. (Sah-koo-vay, Mu-tah-ray). The moment we walked into the backyard of the compound, I felt at home. The women were preparing the meal for the day, and they let me help them with the chicken.
After this, we had a bible study with some of the volunteers. We prayed together, we discussed the word together, and then they brought some of their needs to our attention in hopes that we could brainstorm solutions.
Immediately, my heart felt the burden of an indescribable magnitude. The spoken needs, unmet, flew through the air and collided with our compassion. Children, forced to drop out of school. Parents dead from AIDS, leaving ten-year-olds to fend for their younger siblings and themselves. What could we do?
What can we do?
Somehow, God reminded me that prayer was the place to start. Fueled by a boldness that HAD to have come from Holy Spirit, I spoke up and requested that we declare life over the organization and the orphans in the name of Jesus. We prayed for them, and we broke off into groups and prayed for the volunteers (who volunteer FULL time!!) And then…the children arrived.
At first, a few trickled in. within 20 minutes, there were about 50 kids in the courtyard. They colored with us and played with a box full of toys on the patio, but mostly, we just hung out and loved on them.
We got to eat lunch with the children and volunteers, which means we ate sedsa for the first time! Sedsa is cornmeal with water, made into a thick paste and slopped onto one’s plate.
After lunch, we played games, and the children went home.
I was in love.
The next day, we went to another compound and met with teenagers. I got to sit down with 10 girls, aged 17 to 21. Listening to them talk about their dreams and goals for the future was such a blessing. Pretty wants to be a teacher. Prudence wants to be an accountant. Noreen wants to be a lawyer. They had so much to say about Zimbabwe (they think it’s the greatest country in the world) and how they will change it when they are older.
I believe they will.
We got to speak life over these precious girls. They sang to us in Shona (the language of Zimbabwe) and we started to sing “Our God is an awesome God” in an attempt to share a piece of our culture with them. Imagine our surprise when they joined in!
Besides ministry, there is so much going on in this house! On Saturday, all fourteen of us cleaned house. Our host family (the wife/mother is a former racer) had their baby dedicated in church on Sunday, and we got to see how people party in Zimbabwe.
My team is amazing, and I have no doubts that God hand-picked us to be together. Getting to know them is such a joy! We are growing as individuals and as a team. Today, a woman who has never met us said, “I see you as one. You seem like you are one.” And we’ve been together for less than 2 weeks.
Today, we WERE going to go to the market, but the cab was an hour and forty minutes late (“TIA-this is Africa”) so we took the cab into town to use the internet instead. Tonight, our teams are going to meet the mayor of Mutare.
If this is any indicator of what the next 11 months will be like, I can’t wait.
Thank you for your prayers, thank you for your support, and Thank you for sharing the journey with me 
-Anna
