Yesterday, Caitlin and Jamie decided to make a countdown board to Final Debrief! Final debrief is the last time we will all come together as a squad and will be celebrating finishing this thing out. Each day on the countdown is themed for a country we were in with questions about each one. I thought it would be great to follow allow with the countdown and write a blog each day for each country we’ve been in. It’ll be a great way for me to process through the past 11 month and for you all to hear what I’ve done! Today we have 12 days until Final Debrief so on the last day I’ll fill you in on life after the race!
Country: Zimbabwe
City: Mutare
Ministry: We did a lot of different ministries in Zim. We served at Tafara Christian Caring Trust, which does a feed program for area kids. This was one of my favorite ministries the whole race. We also attended Mission of Hope, which is a local ministry for orphaned teens. We visited GoGo Olive one day, which was a ministry that gives older women and women who have been or are in prison make a living through making knitted key chains and stuffed animals. We worked with the youth group at the church we attended, helped with children’s church, and attended Hope for Life a support group for children with HIV. One day, we helped out at the Nzeve Deaf Children’s Center. Month 1 was a shorter month (only a few weeks after launch and travel) but it was packed full of variety in ministry. For a more detailed account of ministry in Zimbabwe check out Raychel’s blog post about it here.
Contact: Felix and Jenni Museka. Jenni is a world race alumni and I loved learning so much from her.
Living Arrangements: My team lived in Felix and Jenni’s home. I took turns sleeping in a bed and on my sleeping pad.
Teams We Served With: Redeeming DUST (my first team) served with Team Ignite.
Money & Exchange Rate: Zimbabwe was uses the US dollar. They were the dirtiest bills I’ve ever seen though.
Language: Most people spoke English or Shona.
Off Day Fun: We celebrated Ngyui’s (Felix and Jenni’s Daughter) dedication with a big party at their house. It was so fun to sit around with their close friends and learn more about Zimbabwe.
Sayings From the Month: “pamusoroyi” (excuse me in Shona), “Alrighty”, “Ok”, “See you” –The tone of voice is what was fun about them.
Great Things From the Month:
-I loved the variety of ministry month 1. I fell in love with a Lovemoe, a little boy at Tafara. It was a short month so I definitely wish we had been there longer.
-I also loved having a WR alumnus as our contact. Her insight was so helpful with it being our first month.
-Month one was a great month for team Redeeming DUST as well. We got to know each other and had a lot of fun.
Hard Parts of the Month:
-Before the race, I had never left the US so I definitely had some moments where a missed home and loved ones a lot.
-Africa Time. Enough Said.
–My heart was broken for God’s children this month after seeing such poverty and illness.
Lessons Learned:
-I was broken for the nations this month.
-I learned to see God as my Dad and understood more of my identity as his daughter.
-Patience.
Memories:
-I had such a fun time at launch in Chicago and staying up all night to see New York on our layover with our squad.
-I will never forget crossing the border from South Africa to Zimbabwe. It took us 5 hours to cross the border in the middle of the night. Thank God for Jamal who helped me stay calm.
-My heart still aches for Lovemoe some days. I feel in love with that mischievous boy and pray that he is healthy, happy, and has a full belly.
-We had so many fun dance parties in the kitchen while cooking dinner. Backstreet boys, Nsync, you name it we sang it.
-We had a fake month 1 debrief with our squad in Pretoria South Africa. Our team went early and was able to attend Passion. It was so great.
Random Thought of the Month:
-Mutare, Zimbabwe has zero speech therapists. This broke my heart. I can’t imagine how many people in that city could use a speech therapist but don’t have access to one. The blog I wrote about this has gotten a lot of attention though and I’ve received several emails from people expressing wanting to practice in Zimbabwe. Looks like God might be answering that prayer!
I loved my time in Zimbabwe and hope I can go back to visit sometime soon. What were you doing in September? What did God teach you? Check back tomorrow for what my month in South Africa was like!
