BEAUTIFUL ZIMBABWE

In July, an opportunity arose for our family to go on an outreach to Vana Vedu Orphanage in Zimbabwe with a team of six other people. We left bright and early at midnight in a combi and a large trailer, heavily laden with supplies for the orphanage. The purpose of the trip was to spend time with Moses (a local pastor who runs the orphanage) and his wife Rofina, to paint the orphanage and to spend some time connecting with the children.

It was an amazing trip and truly a life changing experience. We stayed with Moses, Rofina and their family. Some of the orphans stay with them in their house and the rest stay a few kilometers down the road at Vana Vedu orphanage. Moses and Rofina take the children with the "worst" backgrounds into their home so that they can love them and bring healing to them. It was such a privilege to stay with them and experience a bit of participative culture at its best. We all cooked together, cleaned together, ate together and it was wonderful.












Three things that stood out for us on this trip were:

THE COUNTRY
It is breathtakingly beautiful.....















































THE PEOPLE

The people in Zimbabwe were beautiful. They were radiant, welcoming and friendly. We never saw a person complaining. They were all so accepting of their circumstances and content in the face of it. The electricity (ZESA) as they referred to it was more off than on but they took it in their stride and continued about their business. If the shops had not meat then it was a simple matter of having a meatless meal. No complaining. We spent some time with some fellow believers from a local church there and the thing that stood out for us there is that the Christians in Zimbabwe, teenagers included, seem to be zealous in their faith. Hardships definitely draws us closer to God.

We thought our trailer was heavily laden, but they can teach us a thing or two...



















These little tollgates were plentiful.....










These potholes (pafuri) were even more plentiful. We sacrificed a tyre to one of them....


















Overturned vehicles were a common occurrence. This was a cotton truck.....


















AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE ORPHANAGE

These children crept into our hearts and minds. The were so precious, content with so little, lived for praise and worship (choir) in the orphanage chapel, read their bibles diligently, especially one little girl called Reason (9 yrs old). The thing that broke our hearts is that they love the orphanage but never feel secure as they don't know when the social welfare will come and remove them because of red tape issues. They live in constant fear of this.








On Saturday we spent the day playing with the children and getting to know them.....


















On Friday we painted the orphanage....


















Rofina, a mother with unconditional love toward the children. This beautiful lady is making a difference.....









As we have learned so often in Missions, Culture (going cross-cultural) does change us and it certainly changed us. We will never been the same again after our Zim trip. With each trip that we make, be it to Asia, Africa or anywhere else in God's creation, we come back changed.