Yesterday we went out to one of the outreach churches, at a place called Muchagoeyi (you try to pronounce it!) I thought I was just going to see the location, so I wore street clothes – jeans and a sleeveless top. The latter I very much regret, as my left arm is badly sunburned from the drive, about 2 hours each way on a very hot day.
When we were about half way there Samson said, “If we can get some people to come along, would you be able to minister to them.” OK, sure. This is typical Africa, things can pop up at a moment’s notice. “Be urgent in season, out of season” is definitely the motto here.
We arrived to find a small shelter – basically a few sheets of corrugated iron for a roof, held up by sticks – inside of the beginnings of a brick building. There were a few people seated when we arrived, and more straggled in over the next hour or so. Samson asked me to bring a “short message” but then when I thought I had finished, he asked me to go on. Then when I finished the full message, I ended up praying for everyone there.
The area is the home of both Samson and Valerie, and his mother (who is a year younger than me) is the pastor of this church. The church has been given 14ha of land, which they are developing as their church home, but also planning to develop an agriculture/ farming project to raise funds for the ministry.
This is my last night in Zimbabwe. As I think about my impressions of the country, it seems to me that it is a nation that can’t make up its mind whether it wants to be African or American. In some aspects it is much more western than some of the African countries I have visited – in dress, in food, in major shops. But in other aspects it is much more primitive – particularly in the garbage dumps along the streets. The local currency has been devalued so much (today’s exchange rate was 6,300 Zim dollars to 1 US dollar) that they have simply given up and mostly use US currency (although local currency is still in circulation.) The roads are some of the worst I have encountered, and road rules appear to be totally non-existent. I’ve talked already about the frustrations of “power shedding”, so I won’t go over that again, but yesterday morning someone took advantage of the power being off to steal the electrical cables from around the community where Samson and Valerie live! Still shaking my head about that one.
Finally for today’s post, a bit of good news. Adams went to the Kenyan Immigration office in Nairobi early this morning, and was able to sort out my visa woes. I now have the visa for Kenya and Uganda in my hot little hands. Praise God, and big thanks to those who prayed, and to Adams for his huge effort on my behalf.