Currently in: Dobromirka, Bulgaria
Our ministry in Zimbabwe at Eden Children’s Village is an incredible product of obedience and sacrifice and how God provides when people step into their calling. Kevin and Susan Fry didn’t know what they were doing seventeen years ago. And while there are still difficulties, God has created a piece of paradise—Eden—in the middle of the African bush. Now they oversee hundreds of orphans and staff who have access to education, food, and healthcare right on site. God has taken care of all the small details. Check out their site to find out more about the ministry.
Three teams were merged together this month. The seventeen of us slept in tents outside but our accommodations were far from rough. Despite facing the expected periods of time without electricity or water, we had access to bathrooms, a cozy living room with a fireplace, and indulged in delicious homemade American meals. All of this knowing that there were killer bees, crocodiles, snakes, and lions lurking not too far away. I witnessed quite the exciting baptism complete with a crocodile in the water, snake sighting, and violent dunking due to demonic spirits surrounding the man.
We had dinner and Bible study with the several of the missionaries there on Tuesdays (it felt just like my missional community back at home!) and date nights on Wednesdays where we played, ate dinner, and had Bible study at the orphans’ houses. Aside from helping out with painting a house that got destroyed from a fire, we all had an opportunity to get plugged into something we were interested in.
I’ve always been curious about herbal medicine and spent a good chunk of my time at the clinic. I assisted in making several different ointments—it’s just like cooking! And I got to hear a powerful testimony of how God healed one of the women on staff–from being diagnosed with two weeks to live to making a complete recovery from HIV through herbal medicine.
During the month, God reminded me what it looked like to seek and hear from Him. I didn’t have any epiphanies but we as humans can tend to easily forget. I did listening prayer. Worshipped during the jaw-dropping-ly gorgeous sunsets. Fasted for the first time. And then during a quiet time, He showed me a picture of myself with my eyes closed and head tilted up to Him in front of a body of water. It was serene but He told me to open my eyes. In doing so, I saw my reflection in the water. In so many words or less, He said, “If you want to see me, look at yourself and the people around you. You are all created as a reflection of who I am. If you want to see me, don’t forget to look there. Invest in the people around you.”
It still boggles my mind but God is GOOD. I played one of my favorite games, Settlers of Catan, several times. There are even AVOCADO TREES, and I loooove avocadoes.
If you want an even better PICTURE of Eden, my talented and now current teammates, Sean and Kelsey, made this sweet fundraising video for one of the missionary families there. And there’s always my Instagram account.
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Fundraising Update
$14,605! Praise the Lord! Thank you friends, friends’ families, and strangers for all the support! I have $1645 left to go!
