I am currently in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe and have been here a little over two weeks. On 10/8 I will be leaving to stop by Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to be a tourist for a day then heading to Victoria Falls to meet with the rest of my squad to travel into our third country, ZAMBIA.
I can’t believe this month is almost over! But to update everyone on what I have been doing in the lovely town of Chinhoyi, my team and I have been working with Youth for Christ ministry. Everyday contains something new to serve the Lord and the people.
Here are some of the ministries we have done here:
Evangelism
My team and I worked with the young adults that attend the church of A.F.M and teach them how to evangelize. This was really cool because it was only last month of myself learning. The first house we went to was one of the girls on our team and we got to speak to her mom, her grandma, and her mom’s friend. It was so cool to see how this girl recently started a relationship with Jesus and wanted that for her family. We were able to share the gospel, answer questions about the bible, and pray healing over her grandma’s eyes. I was really proud of my group, Sunshine, because it only took one house before they lit up with the fire to get to as many houses as possible to tell more people about how Jesus changed their life. I am so excited to hear how these people change their community!
Build a Playground
Our ministry host, Edward, attends Celebration Church and they have been wanting to build a playground for several months. They haven’t been able to build one just because the church couldn’t find people to help. We were able to serve this church by first clearing the ground (by hand tilling btw) then pouring sand then adding a swing set, seesaw, and some tires to play on. I pray that the generations that play on this playground will come to know the Lord and spread the gospel like no other.
Beauty for Ashes Event
So, what ministry typically looks like for my team is told the night before that we have to host an event or run a bible study and come prepared to teach about Jesus the next day. This allowed a great opportunity to do a beauty for ashes event with the young adult group one Sunday afternoon. I got to talk about Matthew 16 and discuss our view of God. Everyone split into groups and discuss how they view God and it was truly inspiring! In my group everyone views God as their protector or their everything, and that is just freaking amazing!
Teaching
All last month in South Africa I was a teacher in front of Diepsloot high schoolers, so teaching this month seemed like it was going to be nothing, oh was I wrong! My team went to a boarding school here in Chinhoyi and first I have to say it is FANCY. Anyways, we got to talk about forgiveness. Forgiveness was one of the topics the students wanted to learn about more and after doing a Q&A I can see why. They view forgiveness as something they have to work for or something they cannot receive based on what they did. It was really cool to share what Jesus as done for them and how they can live like Him.
Concert
One Saturday my team got to partner with the Youth for Christ ministry team to hold a concert. The idea was brought to Anesu, my amazing friend, to teach on the theme of being a soldier for Christ. She had our team plan out the schedule and we got to partner in worship and passing out snacks, preaching, and leading a small group! This day was very long but ended with young people leaving encouraged and with a new idea of what it looks like to live a life for Jesus!
Gospel Show
The gospel show was at a local school in Chinhoyi, that my team and I had the privilege of getting to speak to students about prayer. This was planned by the students and it was an absolute honor to witness. When we first arrived, there were about 300 students then slowing more students joined and by the end there were around 1000 students getting to worship and hear the word of God! The students are about to go into a week full of exams to move on into the next grade and yet they came out and praised God! Their passion to know more of God was extremely inspiring!
Sunday Service
This past Sunday I got the opportunity to share part of my testimony about God’s promises in my life to around 300 students. I was very vulnerable of how I don’t always see God in the waiting or see His promises, and the emotions and struggles behind that. But since I have tasted and seen the goodness and faithfulness of God, I can hold onto who I believe He is and continue with life. This service was at another local high school and the whole service was ran by students, honestly I didn’t even see any adults there. The service started with the students telling the devil to move out of that space because they were there, and it was freaking cool! These kids know who their enemy is, but they also know who they serve and what authority they have to tell him to leave! My teammate, Daniel, preached an amazing word about Joseph and I left that school knowing Jesus will dwell in those students!
Home Visits
One ministry that I have been excited for before even arriving in Chinhoyi was visiting rural villages near Chinhoyi and speak to girls with HIV. The last two days we finally were able to do this. We went to two different villages and spoke and prayed with families that have children that are receiving treatment for HIV. The first day we spoke to girls from the age 10-24 that are currently struggling with this disease, then we went out into the homes and visit families. Me and my teammate went to one home were we met Lisa and her mother, Christine, and her daughter, Bless. This family was very kind, as most people are in Zimbabwe, but they carried the joy of God inside them that clearly shined through. I was able to learn Lisa’s story and discuss how such a blessing she is to her daughter and her daughter is to her, while also learning how to strap Bless to my back with a towel. After visiting Lisa and her family, I got to play with some children from the village. The next day we went out to other village and visited several homes and pray healing and provision for families. While we were walking back to the clinic to wait for our ride, several of the local children followed us back and I had the opportunity to do an impromptu worship and bible study with these little ones. They taught me some games and I taught them they are a child of God! This reminded me of Matthew 21:15-16 of the little ones praising Jesus!
