To be honest, I don’t really have the words to adequately explain the joy I’ve felt here in Zimbabwe. From the moment we stepped off of the plane and were greeted by a dozen smiling faces to meeting our host “parents,” their two wild daughters, and 13 day old (!!!) son to teaching children during ministry, the joy remains constant. Saying the word joy to explain what it’s like here feels the same as saying “I love you” to someone that means so much more than those three words. The joy is the kind that is so deeply rooted in each person that it would make anyone believe in something so much greater than his or herself. It has made me see the Lord in such a beautiful light that I’ve seen very few times before in this capacity.
The other day we went to church with our ministry host and we were told to pray with someone we don’t know, so I met a woman and she gave me her prayer intentions and I gave mine, not going into detail, just what would go as the “generic” response. This woman prayed with such boldness I left her arms with tears welling so quickly in my eyes and trying to wrap my mind around what just happened. Even my team who finished praying beforehand was taken aback by and drawn to her intensity that could only stem from the Lord. I left the church smiling to the point that my face hurt.
During ministry yesterday we taught children about how the Lord sees them; beautifully and wonderfully made. There’s a point in the lesson where we ask the kids to say “I am (their name) and I am special.” Just reading over this on paper, before actually teaching it, I was pretty sure it’d be one of those things that we really have to force the kids to do. But as I stood there in the moment, child after child declaring this, saying it with such conviction, speaking this truth over themselves, I found myself – again – smiling to the point that my face hurt.
This month is not only the first time my team has lived alone together, but also the first time we’ve eaten around a table for meals since leaving the States. I’ve found myself laughing so hard more at that table than actually eating. That goes for about every other aspect of this month so far as well. From the moment we wake up at 5:30 to go on a team run (I use the “team” loosely in this sense… it’s more just me and emily trying to keep up with Bo the entire time) and laughing about how out of shape we are, to riding in the (very) small car on the way to ministry and Jackson, being the tallest of all of us, somehow always ending up on Bo’s lap and Rodrigo commentating the entire thing, to being at ministry watching Emily yo-yo (trust me you just have to see it), to finding ourselves in the car with Jackson on Bo’s lap once again on the way home, to being home around that table again, the laughing does not stop. There’s always something happening that sets someone off and then the joy just makes its way around until everyone’s face just hurts from smiling for so long.
I don’t know if the joy of Zimbabwe is contagious, the Lord just thinks we need it, or what but light radiates. If these past few days are any indication of what’s to come, I think it’s going to be a wonderfully, painful month.
