Zimbabwe Day 5

These two videos are a part of the journey to Mukazi. Mukazi is about 25 km from the homestead. It is in the Lower terrain of Zimbabwe which is the the driest and hottest region.

The people in this region of Zim were different from the people in some of the other villages. There was a nervousness that existed with our presence. It is an area that is closely watched by the government. After the revival one of the leaders of the area made it clear that what had happened that day was about Bible teaching.

The great thing about being here is that they want a church in their region. The team from Westerville took a small group to Mukazi to get permission from the leaders for people to come to the school. We took a larger team and did a VBS and a revival.

The school at Mukazi used to be the home of a white farmer. It sat on the top of a large hill that overlooked the plains. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. We thought there were only going to be a couple hundred students but there were over five hundred. After I would teach the lesson I would tell the children they could ask me about anything. They would ask me about my family. One girl asked me how many children I had. I told her three and she followed up by asking why not 13 like families there. I asked them what they did when they got home from school. They responded with things like: gather fire wood, get water, clean or gather cattle.

The revival here was smaller because this is such a new region for the church. There were 29 decisions on this day. Again, God showed up in a big way as we took the message of Jesus to the ends of the earth. Below is a video of the children singing as a welcome.

Zimbabwe Day 4

We went to Chiremwaremwa on Tuesday. Don't ask me how to pronounce the name of this village, I do know it means "bat." So we can just call it the "bat village." We went to the school there and did Vacation Bible School. The video is from one of the classes singing before we did the lesson for the day.

After the Vacation Bible School we did another revival where 140 people made a decision to follow Jesus. It was another great day!

After the revival we went to the church in the village where they held a dedication service for the church and a new preacher. This was really cool because a little
over a year ago Rhonda and I bought a bike for Solomon to get to this village and get the church started. I have the name of this village written in the front of my Bible (which has been there for over a year) so that I would remember to pray for this church. It was awesome to get to sit in this dedication service.

This may have been one of the coolest things for me personally knowing that this was a place on the outer edges of the world I had committed to prayer. I can only thank God for this experience. Below are some pictures of the church.

Zimbabwe Day 3

Here is a video of the children singing at the school. The first is in the classroom and the second is in the courtyard of the buildings that house the classes.

Zimbabwe Day 3

We were in Neguve doing a Vacation Bible School which was followed by a revival. The video is a preacher in the area leading singing prior to Danny and me getting up and speaking about the church and the gift of grace. The music this day was awesome, both at the school and at the revival. As you can see the preacher leading the singing was very energetic. It was such a great day. These people really loved to sing and love God. After Danny and me spoke 195 people came forward to give their lives to Jesus. It was yet another overwhelming moment when God moved in a very powerful way. I loved being able to speak outside. I can only imagine what people in the village around us were thinking when they heard 700 plus people singing together. It is one of those times I thought about what it must have been like in the book of Acts when the first century church met where ever people would gather. What a testimony to how awesome the God is we serve.

Zimbabwe Day 2

I woke at 6:30 in the morning to singing. By the time I got my video camera they had stopped singing, but these women were walking through the village praying and singing. They would stop at different huts and pray. Then they headed for the church where we had a teaching time at 10 and then a church service at 11.

It was amazing to see these women committed enough to get up early and prepare for worship. The worship service was fun, there was a lot of energy in the singing. We took communion and they took up an offering. I was a little surprised they took up and offering considering the average income is about $1200 a year, but people still gave.

I got to preach that morning. It was really cool. I talked about the wondering cattle that are in the village. Since it is dry, people let their cattle (pronounced "kettle") wonder. At the end of the day they go and gather their cattle to come home. While I was talking about the wondering cattle we had a cow and some goats wonder by (we joked that it was my 3-d power point). I compared it to the lost sheep and lost coin. I challenged the church to go out and gather those who are wondering through the village without God.

During announcements after the message, a lady turned in an announcment about a lost goat she hoped people could help her find. I bet none of you have heard that announced in a church service before.

Later in the day I got to see the community gardens and the houses that are being built for the preachers. From there we went to the Moshoko Christian Hospital started by the Pruets in 1958. I will blog on this later.

Zimababwe Day One

After getting to the village at 5 am on Saturday Morning we unpacked and got to bed about 5:30am. We were up at 7:30 getting showers and eating breakfast. At about 9:30 we headed to the church where we were greeted by an enormous crowd of children. When I stepped off the bus children surrounded me wanting to shake my hand and say, "Hi, how are you?" It was an overwhelming experience.

During the children's event I was talking to Blessing (one of the young men helping with the Mushayamunda Trust)and he shared with me that 70-80 percent of the children in attendance were without a father and a mother. They may live with a relative, but they have no parents. Some of the children in the video walked up to 20 miles to be at the event.

There were about 2200 present that afternoon and at the end we offered a decision time where over 300 present made a decision to follow Jesus.

One of the highlight came later in the day when a 12 year old boy, who has nothing, came up to me and shook my hand. As he shook my hand he said, "Jesus loves you."

How can people who have so little understand the love of Christ? I believe it comes from having to trust Him for everything and seeing Him provide everyday.

Do you have Censorship?

This is the first blog about my trip to Zimbabwe. It was an awesome trip and I am thankful for all the people who prayed for our team while we were gone. I am also thankful for a church that supported my journey.

There is so much to share that is life changing, I will share some things this Sunday with some pictures and video.

We did Vacation Bible School at different villages throughout the week. We would go to a local school in a village where they would allow us to take time out of their regular day to share about God.

I was the one who told the Bible story for the VBS. After I was done I would tell the children they could ask me any question about my life they wanted. We were in the village of Mukazi. One of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life. The school meets in what used to be the homestead of a white farmer. It sat on the top of a mountain that overlooked the plains. It was run down, with broken windows and dirty walls. It was obviously a magnificent home at one time.

Mukazi is in an area that is very oppressed by the government of Zimbabwe. When I asked the third grade class if they had any questions about the United States a girl asked me, "Do you have censorship in your country like we do?"

You have to be careful talking about politics in Zimbabwe, but obviously this third grade girl wanted to know about the freedom we have in the United States. The first answer which popped into my head was, "No." But I stopped and remembered where I was and answered, "Sometimes."

We could never do in our schools what we were doing in Zimbabwe. The impact that was made for the kingdom in Zimbabwe in that week were amazing. I wonder what it would be like if we had the same freedom in the schools here that they have in Zimbabwe.