Or “blasted,” “obliterated,” “schwasted,” or any other interesting adjective you can use.
Let’s just run on down the Africa/Zimbabwe check list.
60 hours of travel (2 buses, 2 planes, and a van) to arrive to Harare, Zimbabwe? Check!
Dreading the day we have to leave Iris Ministries Zimbabwe within hours of arriving? Check!
Seen a wild giraffe, antelope, zebra, and ostrich? Check!
A meal with Ugali/Sudzu? Check!
Being asked to prepare for a 1.5 hour church service when in fact it needed to be 3 hours? Check!
Being peed on by a baby? Check!
Twice? Double Check!
Playing with more kids than I could imagine? Check!
Basking in the presence of God every day with such intentionality? Check!
Cramming into a van aka combi with 27 or so other people? Check!
Dancing wildly in church with all of the clapping, stomping, and singing you could imagine? Check!
Watch Leah ride the side of a horse instead of on top where she should be? Check!
Washing my clothes after two weeks and having the water pretty much turn black? Check!
Doing the same thing to the water when I bath myself? Almost, but not quite a check!
Hanging out at Pride Rock? Check!
Holding 5 billion dollars in my hand? Check!
Cooking over a fire? Check!
Seeing a headline that reads, “Zebra found in Toilet.”? Check!
Watching rats the size of small dogs run along the top of the fence that runs around the base here? Check!
Everyday being an adventure regarding electricity? Check!
Being part of a baptism for roughly 15-20 people? Check!
Speaking on Servant Leadership at a leadership conference for local church leaders? Check!
Learning more and more about myself, the Spirit, and everything God has for me? Check!
Myself with a few of the local church leaders who came out to Epworth for the Leadership Conference.
So what’s going on here in Harare Zimbabwe? So so much! We spend most of our time in a community called Epworth right outside of the capital. It’s an incredibly beautiful place. There are gigantic rocks all stacked on each other as if God himself picked them up with His own hands and stacked them. It’s a very poor area with all of the buildings being made of brick and mud pretty much. The people there are incredible. They may not have much, but they live with such a joy that is beyond contagious. We’ve spent time completing the construction of a church. Putting in windows and a door. We spent a day at what will soon be Iris Ministries new base at the end of the month sanding down all of the floors and pulling up carpet. We spent three days helping with a leadership conference for a handful of the church leaders within Epworth and Rasapo. There is school to help with as well.
So what’s around the corner then? Prison ministry! A church plant next weekend! Clearing a church members land and making it look as if it’s being used because the government is snooping around and snatching up any land that they feel isn’t being used. Of course more work with the kids and other things too. This month is so different from anything else thus far and I know I’ve been challenged deeper on a spiritual level than any other month.
What’s further around the corner? July first is our final fund raising deadline! Whoo hoo! Problem is I’m not quite there yet. Failing to meet the deadline would not be a good thing. That would mean seeing my lovely face 5 months sooner than any of you probably want to. So where am I at now? I’m almost there. Practically there. But “practically there” isn’t quite good enough as “completely there.” So by July 1 I still need to have $545.83 in my support account. After raising $15,000 so far with the help of many of you, this is should be a walk in the part, but it’s a walk I still need to take. So if you’ve been wanting to help me out but haven’t had a chance yet, now would be a wonderful time to do so! There’s so much left to do for my on the race and your support is changing the lives of many many many people!
Thank you all and God Bless!
P.S. I'd love to post more pictures and videos, but TIA (this is Africa) and internet is often an adventure as well.
