What We've Been Up To

We’ve settled into our house and have all become accustomed to African time now. Last Friday was our first day of getting to see some of the homes that the children live at and meet their care takers. The children and others that we met were such a blessing to us all and we all had a great time spending time with them. The first place we went to was St. Catherine’s, which is a school for handicapped children. As soon as we got out of the car a group of children came running at us wanting hugs and smiles. Each of them were so precious and so excited to see us. We were there at the time of their weekly assembly so we got to participate in acting out a bible story for them and singing some songs. We all had so much fun and can’t wait to go back next week to see them again. One little girl was so cute and asked for a kiss from each of us as we were leaving.

The next house we went to that day was St. Joseph’s, which is a large compound that houses about 55 boys. We were there in the morning so the boys were all at school but we got a tour of where they stay and got to look at some maintenance things that need to be done that we might have the opportunity to do for them. With there being so many boys at one home, it is important that they have individual attention and relationships that we could provide for them but they tell us that they boys are very busy during the week with school and sports and chores that it might be harder to find a time to be with them. There is a lot that needs to be done on the campus though that hopefully we will have a chance to do for them at some point before we leave.

The third house we visited on Friday was called Father’s House. It is the home of a single woman who takes care of 11 orphans and many of the neighborhood children as well. She was an amazing woman with such a sweet spirit who was so welcoming and giving. You can tell that she loves each of the children so deeply but also that she seems exhausted at times-  as she should, taking care of that many children on her own. They also told us that there is no free education in Zimbabwe so Mary has to come up with a school fee for each of the children that are brought to her. The organization we are working with (ACTS) tries to help Mary with things like school fees and obviously food and clothing for the children since it is hard for her to do it on her own. Mary also rents her house and any improvements or add-ons she does to the house makes the value of her house go up, causing her to have to pay more rent so we can’t even help her with maintenance on her house because it will end up doing more bad than good. Her children are absolutely precious though! They range in age from about 6 to 18 and several younger neighborhood children are frequently there as well. They are so polite and well-mannered and eager to play and spend time with us. We had the chance to color and read with them and then play some games outside with them. Each child was so easy to connect with and get to know. Even the younger ones who didn’t speak very much English were so happy to play with us and try to communicate with us. I had such an amazing time with them and can’t wait to see them again. We are hoping to be able to make some meals for them sometime to take over there so that Mary can have at least a little break from the constant care of all of them.

I have been amazed by the kindness of all of the people we have encountered in Zim so far. Everyone is very friendly and many are eager to help. The country itself is known to be fairly peaceful with limited crime or conflict. The longer we are here the more I’m realizing that I’m supposed to be here and that God put me on the trip He knew I needed to be on. We have already been so blessed by the people we have met and the experiences we have had. I hope that everyone in the World Wide Witness program across the world this summer is having similarly wonderful experiences as well!