First off, this title is a lie. There is no generic day. Each squad has a different route. Each team is in a different location. Each person has a different perspective. However, based on my experiences here in Africa this is a blog about the day in the life of Tenaya in Pashu, Zimbabwe specifically.
Unless it’s Sabbath, breakfast is at 7:15am. It’s bread and Zimbabwean jam most days (occasionally these delicious fried dough balls that are like donuts). There is hot water for the instant coffee.
Then at 8am it’s time for ministry. So far that’s been different every day. We might pile into a 12-passenger van (the last row in the van is just a bench that’s placed in the back) and drive an hour, or 20 mins, or 3 hrs. We almost always pick people up and give them rides places. Most of the roads are unpaved, and most of my team gets some level of motion sickness so I listen to music and read usually. Sometimes we do manual labor in the mornings. Making cinderblocks or pumping water is the norm.
Then no matter what we think is happening, it might change in the moment. Think we are going door to door and inviting people to the new church we are planting? Just kidding, turns out there is a huge village gathering near the hot springs for food distribution. Hope you are prepared cause the local pastor will expect you to have a word of encouragement for the crowd. Or you might think we are going to play soccer with the kids in one of the local townships. Just kidding, you are actually on a team with the adults in a very competitive game where you don’t even understand the local language for pass. Or might think you are leaving the next day for a new town, but instead you are dropped off at the ministries office for morning prayers. We visited a medical clinic and counted pills, we visited a school and gave a motivational speech, and we distributed school supplies in a different school. You just never know.
Flexibility is key, having specific expectations can ruin your day, but the ability to roll with the punches can allow for God to show you the most amazing things.
The kind of life you live where you are constantly looking around feeling like it isn’t reality. Like you are living a dream. Taking a mental picture because you know you might never be here again. Walking along a footpath near a dried-up river bed during a gorgeous day following a local pastor to speak with a family in village far from the main road. Those are memories you take with you for years.
After ministry, (which could be at done anywhere from 11-5ish) we head back for lunch. Lunch is usually something called Pop in South Africa, Sadza in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and Nsima in Pashu, Zimbabwe. It is basically cornmeal and water (tasting kind of like grits) mixed together into a thick sticky substance. Sometimes its rice, but there is usually some sort of meat sauce that goes on top of it. (which obviously I don’t eat).
Then we have some time to hang out before dinner. Usually our team takes some time to read or journal or workout. Then come back together to chat or play monopoly deal before dinner.
Dinner is usually the same thing, sometimes with some greens. We do feedback 3 times a week during dinner. Feedback is basically a healthy communication tool that is supposed to be used to help keep people living in community in a good place. It can be super uplifting, calling out things in one another that we saw in the last few days that we wanted to encourage them in. Such as noticing people stepping out of their comfort zones, having a positive attitude in a possibly negative situation, or just noticing that they were intentional in developing relationships or having vulnerability. The list is endless. It can also be used to help call people higher. For example, helping your teammate become aware of how their tone becomes snappy when they are tired and that causes them to say things they don’t mean. Or when a sarcastic friendship is perceived by a different culture, it doesn’t always come across that we value our team in a respectful and loving nature. All designed to move toward a healthy team. Cause we all know no matter how much you love someone, when you are with that person 24/7 (whether family, friend, significant other), there are things that will come up. Learning the discernment to know what things to bring up because they are growth opportunities for the other person, and what things to pray into for yourself because they are a growth opportunity for you to learn to move into that unconditional love for one another that Jesus has for us.
After dinner can vary greatly, sometimes the hosts will have activities like a bonfire or movie night, sometimes we have team time in sharing testimonies or playing games. We did several worship nights. Sometimes people just naturally break off to go to bed.
I haven’t changed, still a night owl who can be found chatting with whoever is willing to stay up with me that night.
Then repeat the next day. <3 Until we travel to the next location.
