Heal Africa

Since arriving in Africa, after 32 hours of bus riding over a total of 10 days of traveling and waiting…travelling and waiting, we arrived in Mutare, Zimbabwe. Apparently the theme of Africa is “hurry up and wait”…that and “be fluid”. Plans change in a moment’s notice, and the start and finish times of everything are merely suggestions it seems. It’s oddly refreshing to be on such a laid back schedule – even though it’s still very full. The other day, we anticipated going to ministry at 9am…and instead rolled out around 12:30pm. This is normal here. Of course the opposite is true as well. We were told ministry would end about 1pm or 2pm…so about 5pm, we actually left. By nature, ministry here requires flexibility, or even better, fluidity…you must go with the flow. Always be prepared for the unexpected, and allow God to change things every step of the way. 

I’m finding that the unexpected from God often come in the form of blessings. We thought we would be tenting here, for instance…instead we are staying in a beautiful home of a family we are working with – for free. Plus it’s abounding with home improvement opportunities which sets my mind reeling with options to bless this family. We expected to have the bare minimum for food, but we are being fed well…meat every day. It’s ridiculously beautiful here, mountains surrounding us, monkeys in the trees, the edge of a mountainous natural game preserve less than a mile from the house. The weather is perfect, the people are so friendly…and they almost all speak English!  I love it here! It’s not the “Africa” experience I had envisioned…it’s not better or worse, but it’s amazing. 

This country, even as beautiful as it is, is desperately in need in many ways. Their economy is still in shambles under the power hungry government regime of Robert Mugave. They don’t even have a currency at the moment. So as bad as we may think the US economy may be, be encouraged that this country actually uses our US dollar as their main currency now to try to help stabilize their own economy. But, it’s still not so easy to come by. As I learned, the appearance of ATMs all over town is rather deceptive, as you can’t actually get any money out of them…or from the banks – only through Western Union or Money Gram…or a quick trip across the border into Mozambique. The people here have learned to be so flexible as their fragile economy recovers. They learn to improvise with the power outages, and food shortages. But people here are quick to point out that things are getting better…little by little. Food is beginning to be stocked on the shelves again, supplies are slowly reappearing in stores, the power stays on most days…people are finding hope in the small steps of progress.

The ministry we are working with here is called Heal Africa, and little by little, God is using them to do just that. They have many projects they are working on, but the latest is a free mobile health clinic that they have started in a particularly poor community in Mutare. To get through the door of a regular clinic in this country, you must pay $6 – and while that doesn’t seem like much to most who will read this blog, it is an impossible price to pay for those who need this care the most. We have helped run this clinic twice since we have been here and each time a line of people greet us at our arrival in the morning and the last of the patients are seen after the sun has set. Each time they open the doors of this clinic, the line is longer than the time before. We sit with the people while they wait, we pray over them, we dispense the free medicine to them after they are seen by a nurse. There are so many who need help, and they are so grateful for us being here. I was walking with one woman after giving her son a bath to get rid of scabies, and she asked where I was from. America I said. “Wow…you love us don’t you?” Yes I do…yes we do. 

When the dream of this ministry began, they only had a wish list of drugs and medical supplies that they needed to start the project – and within a few weeks, they had received a donation with every single thing they had on their list without even telling anyone of the specifics of their need. Praise God! That was only the beginning though. This donation was only a one time one, and Heal Africa still greatly needs a sustained supplier of free drugs to continue serving the poorest of poor in this country. Additionally, they are in desperate need of some more vehicles…possibly an old ambulance from South Africa or even the United States to run the clinic from. Also, a truck or SUV that can handle the rough local terrain and abundant deep pot holes is very needed – particularly as more teams come to serve with the ministry. Currently, we are being toted around in multiple trips in someone’s personal car…a little Toyota Corolla. Poor little car’s underside and exhaust pipe drag the ground every day as we go into these barely reachable places. 

Our team has felt a particular burden from the Lord to try to help raise money for this need. For $8000, they should be able to purchase a reliable ministry vehicle. If you would like to be a part of this ministry and give towards this need, please contact me or the organization directly: [email protected].