Ok so I’m a terrible blogger because I’ve been in Africa for TWO WEEKS and haven’t told yall anything about it!
Shame on me.
Anyways….
We are in Zimbabwe, Africa and it is, in a word, incredible! This month is absolutely one of my top 3 favorite months so far on the race.
We are working with Pastor Jeff and his wife Tammy through their church, Bulawayo Baptist Church.
We are getting to do such an amazing variety of ministries through this church and getting to be a part of everything that the church does on a daily basis.
Soup Kitchen
Tuesdays and Fridays we are able to help make and serve the food for the soup kitchen that is run out of the church. We help prepare the food in the kitchen, one of us is able to share a short encouraging word, and then we serve and fellowship with all of the people gathered.
There is a 90% unemployment rate in Zimbabwe right now, so the face that we get be a part of helping to feed the community is absolutely wonderful. We have gotten to meet so many amazing people with some incredible life stories.
Killarney
Every Friday afternoon after the soup kitchen, we travel to a squatter village outside of town. This is a community that is living in poverty that I haven’t quite ever seen before. The picture in your mind when you think of rural Africa is quite close to how this community lives. They have little access to food and water; they live in tiny mud huts, and are not at all supported by the government in any way.
The first week we visited Killarney, the village had been learning about evangelism and so we practiced going two-by-two around the village praying for their family and their neighbors.
I went with a woman called Nambu (her real name is entirely too hard for me) and she was so on fire for the Lord. We had 30 minutes and she was determined to visit as many huts as possible. We prayed for many people that day, mothers who couldn’t feed their children, people who were sick and dying, and a family who couldn’t even get asthma medication for their little girl. She wasn’t allowed to expend ANY energy at all, because she didn’t have an inhaler and could easily die. She can’t run around and play like the other children because this cost was much too high for this family.
For the first time on the race, I actually broke down and cried for this family. I can’t imagine such a life. I sat with this family and we all cried out to the Lord together for strength and provision. It was one of the hardest times and most incredible times on the race for me.
Market Ministry
The team and I like to call this ‘Shop N Share’. Every Thursday we get to go into the local market to fellowship and pray with the men and women there. Not only do we get delicious produce but also we have gotten to make lasting relationships with the women there. We have a women’s bible study at 1pm each week in the market where we get to learn about the Lords love and provision for us.
We have loved getting to know these women!
Holiday Children’s Club
Last Wednesday we hosted a holiday club, like a VBS, for over 400 kids in the villages. We had games, bible stories, singing, and lunch for all of the kids. We sliced 250 oranges, made 450 cups of juice and loved running around with all the kids that day. It was wonderful to know that those kids got to hear about Jesus and have a full belly that afternoon.
Church Painting
Every Monday, and any other days, we have been painting a few rooms at the church. Anything extra we can do for this church is welcome; they have been so wonderful and supportive of our team.
Not only are we on a new continent but I have a new team as well! I absolutely love our team Wabi-Sabi (meaning imperfect beauty). They have been so amazing in vulnerability, being a safe space for me, and being so much fun. I always feel so at ease and myself around these girls and we have the best time together.
I’m so thankful that my 9th month on this race has been as amazing as this!
The Lord has truly blessed me so much and I cant wait to see what’s to come!
Peace out.
