We have had a couple of busy weekends, and we have one more starting this Friday (I am writing on Monday.) Last weekend we had revival at Chiredzi Christian Church. I talked about the in my last report. As you might recall, we did a quick trip to Rutenga Church of Christ for a morning teaching on stewardship. I was a great and fun weekend.
This weekend we make a three-hour trip to Dine/Maranda. We actually went on Thursday afternoon following my sharing the devotions at the monthly preachers’ meeting for Hippo Valley Christian Mission. The days before we left were filled with getting beds and mattresses for the Waiting Mothers’ Village and the men’s dorm for mission teams. We hoped that they would arrive on Friday as they left town late in the afternoon. The truck got lost, easy to do when you are headed into the bush, as roads are not marked. Sherry stayed awake all night, waiting. And it did come, about 1 am. We had understood that when it came the pastor would come get us so we could help unload and pay the man the remaining funds. The pastor was kind and wanted to let us sleep. And I did, but as this was Sherry’s big project, she did not. I will say, when all was done, they look great. There was also some planning, painting (isn’t there always in Zimbabwe) and preparation for the next day. It turned out to be a full day.
Saturday was the first big day of the weekend. I was teaching two or three churches on stewardship. The session was to start at half-nine. (In Zimbabwe and other places that is 9:30), and as is common here, if you have a vehicle, you will be picking people up for the session. So we the pastor and I headed off to get 18 people from Mwanazani (well that might be close). I have a two-seat pickup with a canopy and pastor has a small Toyota. We arrived at the place (30 minutes from Dine) and waited for everyone to come. It was closer to 25 than 18, so we packed in the two vehicles (another common practice here) and headed back to the church in Dine. I was warned that in Zimbabwe half-nine was more like ten and that was true. I finally started about 10:30 with a song, some introductions and I talked for about two hours. Actually, made it through the whole lesson, which I usually don’t accomplish. The teaching was well received, and we had a great time. That was followed by a traditional Shona lunch. We had chicken and goat (which were both alive at breakfast time, so we know they were fresh.) There was also sadza. and rice with a Coke or Fanta. Then there was visiting, watching the roofers putting on a new roof of the church, and general fellowship. We then took those we picked up home and Sherry did some work on the mothers’ village.
Sunday was to be our next big adventure. I was sharing my stewardship lesson at Mlelezi Church of Christ. As it was two hours away, we started for church at 7am. There are two ways to get there, at least. One is the short way, and it is a very bad road. We took that we to get there. There is a second way, the long way, and it is a bad road. That was our return to Dine route. We made it on time and had a great day of sharing. The worship service that morning was shorted. I took an hour and a quarter sharing on stewardship, but didn’t get all the way through. Still, it was a great morning. After service we had lunch. See above for the menu. I did skip the sadza this time. Actually, they didn’t give me any. As we were leaving, we stopped to look at the progress of the new church which Highline Christian Church in Seattle is helping fund. We had been there less than a month before so help paint some bathrooms. Those were done except the paint for the doors which we brought from Chiredzi. I was amazed at the progress the church made on construction. It is going to be a very nice building.
At 11:44 we started our journey back to Chiredzi. The original plan was to stay until Monday, but there were rumors of some protesting on that day, so in the interest of safety we hurried home. Two hours to Dine where we stopped for little over half an hour to load, give a gift for the chief, close up the guest house, and say our goodbyes. Then it was off down the road, some not very good, some better, and about 110 kilometers of very good road. You can figure out how many miles that is. We had a 6:00 deadline as we do not drive at night here. We make it with ten minutes to spare. We stopped and had dinner with our pastor here and then were home from a peaceful night’s sleep. I didn’t mention before that while in Dine there was a cult group that meet just across the road and sing (or chant) most of the night with very loud drums. So, we needed some serious sleep. We had the lack of sleep, long drive, waiting for beds, teaching, and all else we did.
Today has been a day of rest and staying low. The mentioned protest did not happen here and after I finish this, I am thinking of going on a bike ride. We have a few things to do before we head to Mozambique on Friday for more teaching. Watch for a report from next week.