After 57 hours of travel due to border crossings and bus breakdowns, my new team and I arrived in Doma, Zimbabwe where we partnered with Redeem a Nation ministry for the month of January. The ministry is led by Dave and Cynthia Fortescue with the mission of empowering people to work their way out of poverty through agricultural means. Dave is currently implementing a flower project among 600 villagers. He provides cosmos seeds to the people, they plant and grow the flowers, then he buys the final product. Throughout the process, Dave teaches proper agriculture and farming techniques. The Fortescues live simply and use the same resources that the poor have access to. He lives according to the way he teaches to ensure that people believe escaping poverty is a possibility.
With such a large ministry, Dave is unable to make relational connections with each villager involved in the flower project. He arranged for my team to stay in the villages with the people to help bridge the gap. Divided into pairs, we lived in mud huts, worked alongside the families, and helped with household chores. We pumped and carried water, cooked traditional meals over a fire, and washed dishes in a yard full of chickens. It’s amazing to see how barriers were broken as we immersed ourselves into the African culture. On our last nights in the village, we held Bible studies for the community. My teammate Alyssa and I shared the Gospel to the villagers who were so willing to listen. Afterwards, many people approached our team for prayer.
In all honesty, January was a challenging and uncomfortable month…and that’s exactly the conditions where the Lord likes to work. I continued to learn how to depend on God and allow Him to sustain me. On a personal level, the Lord convicted me of perfectionism. I’m working on letting go of the impossible expectations that I place on myself and replacing them with grace. I have plenty of moments on the Race that I wonder how I even got here. The Lord’s plans for my life were completely different than my own. I’m so thankful that through His love, He led me to exactly where He wanted me.
Thank you for your continued prayers. I know that they make a difference. We have moved onto Mokhotlong, Lesotho where my team will be located for the month of February.
My only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me. Acts 20:24
