Greetings from Mutare, Zimbabwe, my friends! I sincerely apologize for my lack of updating over the last few weeks; I literally was working 5-days-a-week until the day before I left for launch and the last week and a half has been quite the blur. I won’t bore you with all the intricate details, but here’s a glance of events beginning with launch and ending with finally making it to our ministry location here in Mutare. If you’re only interested in our ministry, skip to the next blog, which talks about some of our ministry. Anddddd we're off… (I’m aware that the next paragraphs are full of sentence fragments, but just bare in mind the periods are merely being used to separate thoughts and not to signify sentences. The Journalism major inside of me is screaming stop, but it’s the only way to get this out. Plus, it’s pretty entertaining.)
Said a tearful good-bye to my dad and left with my mom on Monday September 3 to go to my aunt and uncle’s two hours outside of Chicago. Went to downtown Chicago with Mom on Tuesday morning and ate delicious local food. Went to the Chicago zoo. Saw many animals, but a lot of them were also missing. Maybe they partied too hard on the holiday? Arrived at launch Tuesday night for treasurer and leadership meetings. Welcomed the rest of our squad to launch on Wednesday. Learned about ATL’ing (Asking The Lord-for direction) and prayed over a community. Said a tearful good-bye to my mom on Thursday. Found out on Friday my team was coming to Zimbabwe for our first month!
Packed up and intended on leaving Chicago at 7:30 PM to arrive in NYC a bit before 10. Flight delayed because of weather and didn’t arrive in NYC until after midnight. Organized ourselves and headed into NYC (the city that never sleeps!) with people from my squad. Got into the city around 3 AM and explored all night. Watched the sunrise on the Brooklyn Bridge. Got back to the airport around 9 AM on Sunday. Took a short nap in the floor of the airport terminal. Caught a flight from NYC to Atlanta. Slept from before take-off until descent through the clouds. Arrived in Atlanta around 4:30. Was told at some point my team was actually going to Botswana for ministry. Boarded a plane to leave at 7:35 PM for Johannesburg, South Africa. Got delayed because of difficulties with the entertainment system. Sat in the middle seat of the middle row between two middle-aged male strangers. Spent 15+ hours on a plane. Blocked the realization that we were flying over the open ocean from my mind. Arrived in SA around 6 PM on Monday September 10!!
Got my first passport stamp!! Went through customs. Ate my first South African food. Took a bus ride to a compound. Got turned around at least 3 times. Arrived at the compound. Slept in a bunk bed and felt like I was at camp. Had a rest day on Tuesday-enjoyed many outside activities and explored the compound. Got overwhelmed by trying to organize team finances. Was told we were REALLY coming to Zimbabwe for ministry. Learned about declarations and had a great worship session/dance party. Took my first shower since leaving Chicago and even had HOT WATER. God is good.
Woke up Wednesday and intended to leave at 1030 AM for the bus station. Got told at 9:15 I needed to be ready at 9:30 instead because the cab was smaller than we thought. Saw some of downtown Johannesburg while driving to the station. Hung out at the bus station and had to turn down people selling knick-knacks every 5 minutes. Realized people weren’t lying when they said we’d literally be the ONLY white people there. Took a short nap lounged on multiple packs. Boarded a bus with my team and team RedeemIng D.U.S.T. at 1 to head for Mutare, a 19-hour bus ride. Stuck out like a sore thumb. Enjoyed jamming to loud music played over the speakers. Realized the music was uncensored and very vulgar. Laughed awkwardly. Got pulled over by African police. Made a rest stop and accidently opened the stall door on many ladies even though there were locks. Realized privacy isn’t a huge value here. Drove for a while. Began getting annoyed with obnoxiously loud music. Got pulled over by African police. Made another rest stop and kept walking in on women. Learned to look for feet under the door rather than a locked stall. Re-boarded the bus. Discovered earplugs to drown out music.
Drove for a while. Arrived at the South African border. Stood in line to get our exit stamps. Felt like I was in a criminal movie. Got back on the bus and drove to customs for Zimbabwe. Waited on the bus for an hour. Took three hours to get through customs because 14 people of different ages, from different places, with no occupations all traveling together are not exactly inconspicuous going into a country not accepting anymore missionaries. Made it through customs and got our visas. Waited for customs to check the bags. Spent five total hours getting through the border. Climbed back on the bus and drove for a while. Tried to sleep through insanely loud music. Got pulled over by African police. Re-boarded the bus. FINALLY made it to Mutare around noon on Thursday. Couldn’t believe that an 18-hour bus ride turned into a 23-hour bus ride. Met Jenni, our contact. Piled in two loads into the back of a pick-up truck to ride to her house. Immediately fell in love with Mutare as we drove through. Took the afternoon to stretch out and rest. Decided that our team would tent outside during our time here and the other team could have the rooms inside. Found out about our ministry for the next day (next blog).
Whew. Okay, so I know that was a whole lot, but SO MUCH happened in such a short amount of time. Sunday I was thinking about how I had been in NYC only a week ago and how mind blown I was that it hadn’t been like a month. Crazy!
We are SO blessed to be here! Jenni and her husband, Felix have just been so wonderful in opening their home to us and it’s been a true joy getting to know them and serve them. Their home is so warm and inviting, and we even have internet, electricity, and running water! They’re all a bit sketchy (this is the first we've had internet in about 3 days) and cut in and out sometimes, but the Lord is really giving us peace, patience and the ability to adjust. We’re taking bucket showers, which is hard to get the hang of, but I’m honestly just thankful that we can be clean (: Tenting isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be and I’ve actually slept pretty well during the last few nights. We’ve been eating well and consuming a variety, which was definitely unexpected. God is SO GOOD, my friends. Check out my next blog to find out about what God has set for us to do here in Mutare!
