Rewind

After about 30 hours of traveling I touched down in Knoxville again. Before I jump back in to reality I want to pause and rewind to spotlight the events of my journey to Zimbabwe. When we arrived in Harare, my heart almost jumped out of me with one breath of crisp African air. It was finally real. I was finally back in Africa! My team consisted of other women with my same passions through which lifelong friendships were made. When we arrived at our dorms we unpacked and then quickly re-packed for the 5 day journey ahead of us. We drove the next day to Antelope Park where we had our safari drive and were able to walk with lions and play with elephants. Throughout the day I was amazed by God’s creation. Everywhere I turned He seemed to show Himself in a more awesome way. Our second day at the park we left early to head to Mutare Zimbabwe. Two of our team members had been corresponding with a family there for about 8 years and we were going to try and surprise them. The drive took about 7 hours and when we arrived in our massive vehicle all the school children ran out of the school yards to chase us. We felt as though we were in a movie! We stopped at the church there and the pastor was there waiting with the mother of the family. She was so sweet and could not believe that Sarah and Jackie were there, in the flesh, to see her! She wept and jumped, spilling over with pure joy. We went to the schools to pick up her children and headed to their house. Their township was one that the government had destroyed during ‘operation trash out’. However to our surprise, the government had built housse there for the people they had displaced. Fortunately our family lived in one of these two room houses. We pulled out a few balls and just began playing with any of the children, teens or adults who were around and would play with us. After a while we loaded up and went back to the church to do the same thing there. Pulling out a ball in the middle of hundreds of African children creates chaos rather quickly, we came to find out. But, it created a chance to meet and love on the children of that community through it. Before leaving we had a prayer service at the church with the children and some adults there and sang a lot. It was refreshing to see a church there that was started and run by locals. That night we stayed at a placed called drifters. The houses there were rather nice for Africa, however there was very little electricity and all our meals were made by campfire. That night we had an amazing conversation just our team. Jackie shared how she and her husband came to know the Lord and then I followed with how He has been guiding and directing my life lately. The next day we traveled to Tree of Life. We arrived at Tree of Life that night and settled into our rooms just before the girls arrived. Around 5 that night, two vans full of 34 girls came rolling into camp. As girls poured out of the vans hugs, laughter, tears, and faces full of smiles overwhelmed the scene. Together we sang, danced and played games until they made us go to bed. The next day we started with a run through the park and then began team building activities. We all cheered each other on through rock walls, and high and low ropes courses. The next day, Saturday, we drove to Hatcliff where the girls live to play with them and the children there. Unlike the government houses in Mutare, Hatcliff was never rebuilt. The people there worked hard to find anything they could to make homes for themselves. As we turned into the township, we passed by the first of many houses made of plastic tarps. As we drove by, a mother and three children ran out of the house to see what all the commotion was about. We got out a few balls and just began playing with all the children there. We sang and told them of God’s love. The amount of red clay covering my white long sleeve shirt was evidence to the amount of fun we and the children had. That night I found a small red hand print on the lower back of my shirt. I wanted to never wash it just to have that hand print. That night we were all exhausted but full of joy as we headed to bed. We had to prepare for the church service we were expected to give the next morning back in Hatcliff Township. And that was it, the first week in Zimbabwe. It all seemed to go by so fast and yet so slowly. We had done so much, but had just begun building relationships with the girls. So much more was to come, and God had already shown Himself awesome in so many ways. His love was poured out in abundance in two very needy townships and much more was still to come.