The first two weeks in Africa are off to a great start. Zimbabwe is amazing and I am loving getting to know this country and its people.
The first few days were spent with my new team doing some training to prepare us for our new roles. If you missed my Facebook post, I am now a Raised-up Squad Leader. That means that each month I will be with a different team. My team now consists of two of my squad mates, Erinn Hampton and Joshua Owens, and our coaches and mentor back in the states. It’s hard to say that I am “excited about this position,” or something along those lines, because I’m not looking at the title. I have an awesome opportunity to get to connect with everyone on the squad and empower them. I just get to be me. But, that’s what I, and the rest of my squad, would want to do/is doing anyways. It does make my race look a little different than I expected but it’s not any different than God anticipated. So, yeah, I’m excited.
The next 9 days I spent in The Bush. It was amazing. I was with Team Dynamic Pursuit who is serving a ministry called Hope Ministries along with Joshua and Bethany (one of the Alumni Squad Leaders). They are working on building an orphanage there so we got to help them with that! Manual labor. And it was SO MUCH fun. We got to learn how to build bricks with a mold pulled weeds, gathered rocks for the base of the foundation, and shoveled dirt on top. We also got to go to a couple schools while we were there and share testimonies and Bible stories. I shared a part of my testimony at one of the schools and we partnered it with the story of Zacchaeus. A big part of my testimony is about not feeling seen, but I guess I haven’t shared my testimony with y’all. Maybe that’s something I’ll do… End of rabbit trail… Singing was also a part of those visits – both from us and from the children. It was a blast. On Sunday we split up between four churches and preached. The people from Hope are amazing. We got the pleasure of working and living with them. Each night we had devotionals and started going through the book of Acts as a whole group. Those were some of my favorite moments – sitting together around the headlamp, talking about the early church and the movement of the Holy Spirit. Also, the food was aaaaa-mazing. I enjoyed eating sadza, squash, greens, and goat meat.
Next, it was back to Bulawayo for a few days of connecting with my team.
Now, I have joined another team and am a part of serving their ministry. We are at an orphanage that is in an old hotel. It’s pretty awesome. They have about 70 children and also house some young mothers. I am partnered with Haley, another of the Alumni Squad Leaders.
At the end of the month we will go to Victoria Falls for a few days as a squad for a mini debrief. At the end of this debrief we will say goodbye to our Alumni Squad Leaders who have been with us from day one. I will miss them very dearly. But, that’s the way it works and it’s a good thing. They are here to help us adjust, guide us, empower us, encourage us for five months then they raise up individuals to step into their places. Ya know, discipleship!
Oh, I almost forget (seriously, I’m not just saying that for dramatic effect). I should probably tell the story behind the title of this blog. While in The Bush, we had the honor of meeting the chief of the area we were in. Throughout the conversation he joked about picking a second wife from among us. Towards the end of the conversation he looked at me and told me I would make a good second wife. We all laughed. Then when we took pictures with him he asked if we wanted to shift around. Then he stood next to me and said, “Yes, by the chosen one of the Chief.” It was a good time. Though I am honored to be chosen, I decided to decline the offer and not move to Zimbabwe. 🙂 Also, as Laura pointed out, I am “no one’s second choice.” Thanks, Laura.
