I've failed at communiating my day-to-day routine and this blog should've been posted weeks ago considering I'm halfway through my 2nd month but here it is:
My first month was amazing! I lived in Mutare, Zimbabwe and had the opportunity to coordinate and participate in great ministries.
During the month I was able to eat the local food, meet amazing people, and most importantly, share the gospel.
The following entries were written by my teammate (Raychel) but tweeked by me and is recap of some of the ministries that I participated in during the month.
Tafara is an orphan ministry in Sakubva, one of the poorest communities In Mutare. It functions through volunteer-based caretakers who are responsible for checking up on the welfare of orphans in the community. These caretakers are amazing and do their best to make sure the children in their care are fed and go to school. EVERY DAY they cook a huge meal for 60+ orphans from the donations they receive. My team aided in preparing the meals, conducting ministry with the kids and leading daily Bible study with the caretakers. The pastor in charge of Tafara told me that many of these children never receive love and affection as freely as we gave it, and that even our hugs meant the world to them. Needless to say, that broke and touched my heart at the same time.
Mission of Hope
This is a local ministry for orphaned teens. We broke into smaller groups and I got to spend some great time with a group of 12-16 year old men. Although we were just there for one day, it was incredible how deep I got to go with these young men. I got to spend one-on-one time with many of them. They shared their stories about personal struggles, their aspirations, and goals. I had the opportunity to speak life over their futures. One boy has contacted me since that day and said that he was accepted into college on a full-scholarship for art. The Holy Spirit is moving in a very powerful way.
GoGo Olive
We spent one afternoon in Zimbabwe, visiting a local ministry for older women that have learned to knit. The organiztion enables these women to support their families by knitting keychain stuffed animals. GoGo Olive is more than just a microbusiness. It’s a ministry that works to facilitate spiritual growth and community among these women. It also works to train these women as leaders, and works closely with local prisons to support the women that are institutionlized. Many of the woman who come to GoGo Olive are former prisoners, and through the redemptive power of Christ now go back into the prisons to minister.
Check out their site, and consider buying something to support these women: www.gogo-olive.com
Light House Church Youth Group
One Friday night, we were extremely blessed to get to know the youth at the church we attended while we were in Mutare. Youth group was inspiring and felt like home. It was so awesome to see the unity in the Body of Christ. Several of my squad mates shared their testimonies of how God called them to the world race, and one of my squad mates preached a short message out of Joshua. Then we broke up into small groups, and I helped lead the group of teenagers. We let them ask us anything, and they asked some very challenging questions about the Bible and allowed us to pray for them. The night ended with tea and hot dogs (real food), so you know it was definitely a good night.
Hope for Life
Hope for Life is a Christian-based support group for children with HIV. This was probably one of the hardest, most emotional days of ministry for my team. However, it was incredible to see that these children still had hope because of Christ in them, the hope of glory. One of our host’s friend, Ann, shared with the children about how they are fearfully and wonderfully made, and we were able to play with the kids and hear their stories. One of the most touching moments was when a sweet 15-year-old girl named Kelly stood up and started crying when she expressed genuine thanks for our presence and the hope and faith we brought to that place. This was definitely a time when the kids blessed us more than we blessed them.
For more details, read this blog post from my teammate, Lynette.
Light House Church Sunday School
It’s pretty self-explanatory, but our teams had an awesome time teaching Sunday School with some experiments, an epic puppet show and Bible lessons.
Nzeve Deaf Children’s Center
Deep in the neighborhood of Sakubva, Mutare, there is a place where the deaf community is treated with the love and compassion of Christ. It’s a place where they can feel at home, and where they can receive education and understand God’s Word. We were blessed to serve at Nzeve Deaf Children’s Center by cleaning windows, sweeping, washing vehicles, and helping them prepare for their upcoming government inspection. We also participated in water activities with children and watched their faces light up with the most beautiful smiles. We also had the unique opportunity to attend a deaf church service, and worship alongside of these amazing people that God created. We had the opportunity to "act out" Acts 12, which accounts Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. I think the most amazing thing for me was to see how God speaks and still moves in the hearts of those who can’t hear physically. This was definitely an eye-opening experience for me, and God stretched my heart for these people.
Overall, it was an amazing month! Time is moving so fast. Sometimes, I wake up and can't believe that I've been gone for nearly 2 months.
Keep us in your prayers!
Again, if you want to see more pictures CLICK HERE. It's a facebook page but everyone can see the pictures even if you do not have a facebook account.
