jeremiah 9:23-24 - “this is what the Lord says: ‘let not the the wise boast of wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast in about this: the he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.’”
colossians 2:8 - “see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow or deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”
the cost of discipleship, dietrich bonhoeffer - (on cheap, self-imparted grace) “even if he absolves himself from his sins a thousand times, he has lost all capacity of faith in true forgiveness, just because he has never really known it.”
so i’m currently lying in bed, listening to damien rice, burning the midnight oil, trying to plan games for vacation bible school tomorrow. forty kids with boundless energy. one multi-purpose room. thirty minutes. piece of cake.
these past couple of weeks have flown by. i seriously cannot believe that i only have three weeks left here in zim. but maybe that’s a good sign. my mind hasn’t been focused on things ahead - i have managed to stay in the present, learning and sharing as much as i can. it has been such an enriching time. because it’s late, and i still have work to do, i’m afraid that this one will be short. but hopefully i’ll be able to write again soon.
- one of the ministries that i am working with while i’m here is the social concerns ministry of central baptist church. social concerns is a ministry which, in partnership with international aid organizations and benefactors, brings physical assistance in the form of food and cooking supplies to the poor of harare. distribution takes place every tuesday and thursday afternoon. but aside from participating in the distribution of the actual materials, i’ve also accompanied some of the ministry leaders on “home visits”, when they drive around the city and visit the people who come to the church for assistance at their homes. as i’m sure most of you already know, zimbabwe is a country in crisis. economic, social, and spiritual crisis. but just as in any conventional third-world country, it is not the policy-makers who suffer - it is the poor. this i understood academically before i even began to plan the trip, but did not truly understand until it stared me straight in the face. we’ve taken trips all around town, but easily the most memorable experience we had was in the neighborhood “mufakose”, known for being one of the worst. five of us, in a beaten-up toyota pick-up, pulled up in front of a house, and three went inside - itai, tom and myself. we were there to see an elderly lady and her husband, who was suffering from leg problems, skin cancer, and a host of other maladies. on the way there, i asked if we should call ahead, to let them know we were coming. you know, just to be polite. everyone laughed, and informed me that i was in africa - there is no such thing as a closed door. hospitality at all times is the mantra to live by. i sighed. her grandson greeted us at the door and sat us down in the front room (there were only two in the house, besides the kitchen). she came out shortly after, full of energy, and greeted us as honored guests in her home, giving us the grand tour. proudly she showed us the patch of sugarcane which she was growing in the back yard and insisted on cutting down about seventeen million sticks for us to take home to our families. the tour ended back in the front room, and there we sat and read from the Word. itai and tom spoke to her and her grandson in shona, the native language, so i just tuned out for a little while, soaking up the room and examining every picture frame from the comfort of my armchair. ten minutes later, the sermon was over, and tom offered to pray so that we could be on our way. i bowed my head to pray, but felt a tap on my shoulder. “she wants you to pray,” said tom. “what? she can’t be serious. she knows i don’t speak shona.” “i asked if i could pray, but she wants you to pray.” “umm...alright.” truthfully speaking, it was a mediocre prayer. the whole time i was just trying to wrap my mind around the situation, wondering what to pray for, how to communicate the love of God clearly, how to speak slowly and use simple words so that they could understand, etc. i finished, looked up, and was shocked to see her crying. she stood up, wiped her eyes, came over to where i was sitting, and gave me the biggest hug of my life, whispering “i love you child” and “thank you, thank you” over and over again. my eyes returned her tears. thank goodness we have a God who is more powerful than our shortcomings.
- two weekends ago, i traveled to bvumba heights, a beautiful region in the eastern highlands, with ten other young adults from central baptist church to attend a baptist union of zimbabwe (buz) youth retreat. we met up with other churches from the eastern region at the eagles training centre, nestled in the mountain range which separates zimbabwe and mozambique. i could write a novel on that weekend alone, so i’ll spare you the details. basically, it was a wonderful time. it was my first real experience with shona culture, and as a foreigner, i didn’t quite know what to expect. but the efforts taken by everyone at the camp to make sure that i felt included in their activities made the transition easier than i ever thought possible. we played lots of soccer and rugby, ate lots of sadza and beans, sang lots of songs and danced lots of dances, and spent a lot of time just hanging out. i was admittedly a bit shy at the start of the camp, but as the days wore on and people kept pursuing me, inviting me into their community, i had no choice but to take the leap. it was wonderful. they even asked me to sing for them, which i did on a few occasions. on the last night, they asked me to share a testimonial from the weekend, just something that i would like to pass onto them, something that had impacted me in a significant way. i told them that, to me, they were now the face of the global church. thank goodness we have a God who is King over all the world.
- last week was hifa (harare international festival of the arts) at the harare gardens, zimbabwe’s equivalent to central park in manhattan, a few blocks away from church. it felt a little bit like heaven. musicians, artists, poets, dancers, and actors from across the world met up in harare to participate in the festival, and i was fortunate enough to be able to go to a several shows. much of the material was polemic and political (as can be expected from a festival like this, artists tend to be an opinionated bunch) but managed to retain its professional quality. quite impressive. everything was wonderful, but two shows stood out as exceptional. nneka, a nigerian/german warrior princess, is the next lauryn hill. outdoor concert, standing room only, rain, mud all over my clothes, and it all went away when she started to sing. look her up. plus her drummer gave me a hug. the last show i went to was semtam, a dj duo from the czech republic. it was late at night, and i went with a couple of friends from church. as soon as they started playing, i could tell that they were good. ridiculously good. and i wanted to dance, but i was nervous. dancing for me always involves some kind of embarrassment. the certainty of this almost kept me chained to my seat. but i was feeling brave, so i went down and joined the few people on the dance floor. eventually everyone emptied out of their seats and made their way to the floor and i, feeling emboldened, just decided to let loose, to dance the night away. so i did, for over an hour. i just danced as i would dance, unfettered by anything. and it was great, until it ended and i looked up, panting, to applause from a section of the audience who had apparently just been watching me the whole time. seriously, i wish i was joking. they were all giving me the thumbs up and requesting the i try some of my more acrobatic moves again. needless to say, i turned bright red, gave them a courtesy wave, and made my way quickly for the exit. i’m laughing as i write this, but i was absolutely mortified at the time haha. oh well. thank goodness we have God, the Father, who created us in His image.
in conclusion, i’m doing really well, except that i’m fairly tired, which i can remedy by ending this blog post. so goodnight, good people. please continue to pray for me, and for my community here in zim. pray that i can use my time well, and that the vacation bible school can go well. please e-mail me if you want to know anything more.
love,
holland
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