Written Feb 8, 2020:
Welcome back!
There’s a lot to catch up on this week! We left for Zimbabwe 6 o’clock Monday morning, took a plane to Lilongwe, then to Harare in Zimbabwe.
We were picked up by a contact there and were driven to a district called Chivi which was not actually where we had planned to go. We drove to an unexpected meeting house about four hours south of Harare and there met some YWAM people and ate dinner. We also got to meet the pastor who would be hosting us for the week. At about eight pm we headed from there to a village sitting at the base of mount Chirogwe which was another two hour drive lol. We arrived at the village and met the pastor’s family, got situated, put our mosquito nets up, etc and went to bed at eleven thirty. Needless to say it was a long and unexpected day but I’m thankful that we were kept safe and we got to eat along the way.
Tuesday we met with the pastor and talked about the different ministries we could do like going to a local clinic, door-to-door, and kids ministry at the local school. We went before lunch to the clinic to meet the head nurse and tell them about our plans and we met with a primary school as well to plan when we could come there to do ministry. We were so excited to have a schedule for the week through to the next Monday, the day we were told we would be moving to another pastor’s house for another week.
We went back to the house to eat and rest for a bit and planned to go door to door, but before we left we were told that we had to cancel that ministry because we didn’t have permission to do ministry, which we didn’t know we needed. So we submitted and did worship and decided what to do for food because we didn’t have anything at the time. Right as we started to worship, the van pulled up with our food for the week! We ate dinner and were ready for the ministry we had planned that evening where we could meet with and encourage some people from the village.
We were waiting for our evening ministry when Daph, our leader told us that she had just found out that we couldn’t do ministry that night or the next morning at the clinic because we hadn’t gotten a yes from the district office to do ministry. So our ministry was cancelled and we were told it would be safer to stay on the property. What’s crazy is that on the long day’s journey from Malawi to Zimbabwe, God spoke to me that Zimbabwe was going to be much more difficult than Malawi. No kidding!
It felt weird because we were so ready and excited to do the ministry that we planned, but then we were told no. I realized that night, that must be what God felt like when we tell Him no. So ready to move and do some good but held back by rejection.
So we decided to give it to God and planned to do intercession and worship the next morning and spent the night lying on the rock outside our house looking at the stars and hanging out as a team.
Wednesday we got up and began to do intercession. We began to intercede for rain in Zimbabwe because we found that it hadn’t rained more than a few days in two or three years. The drought is so bad that the economy is taking a hit and people aren’t able to grow food, so they can’t sell food, so they can’t buy any for their families. Even Victoria falls is just a trickle right now.
We cried out for rain to fall on Zimbabwe and cut off ties to witchcraft and the enemy that would hold it back. Just a few hours later, grey clouds began to form on the horizon and the wind began to blow. That afternoon it rained. In Zimbabwe. And for every day after that until today. Some days it has even poured! God is so good and has blessed the country again with rain.
While we were eating dinner, the pastor told us that because things weren’t handled well with the DA that we wouldn’t be able to do ministry the whole time we were there, but that what we could do is go door-to-door to people’s houses and minister to them there. He also said that instead of going to another pastor’s house the next Monday that we would be taken to Bulawayo on Saturday which is in a different district, and our original plan, where we knew we have permission to do ministry. We were quite shocked at how good God is to make a way for us when our ministry had been cut off. It was also a nicer facility with running water and electricity which the village didn’t have. We did not deserve this blessing and we were so thankful for the opportunity to do ministry.
Thursday we went door-to-door in the morning but we only got to go to one house because it was an hour walk there and it was over 100 degrees out. Me and Daph stayed at the house after lunch to rest from getting overheated and the rest went to the clinic to see if there was still anything they could do.
While we were resting it started to pour! And pools of water were formed on the rock. we walked in the puddles of water warmed from the rock and we felt like we were in a resort. The rest of the team came back later and we spent time together the rest of the day.
Friday we did the same thing but closer to where we were staying so we were able to visit a few of the closest houses! It was a great time of encouraging and praying for people, empowering with God’s truth that they have the power of the Holy Spirit in them to bring the rains and heal the sick just like we did. It rained again that night.
Saturday we readied ourselves to move to Bulawayo, excited to move somewhere where we could do open ministry. We were ready to go right after lunch and then waited as it started to pour harder than it had the whole week. We worried for the guy coming to pick us up because the roads are mostly mud in the middle of nowhere and cars can get stuck in the mud. We waited a couple hours, took a nap, and then interceded for YWAM Perth for about thirty minutes when the van finally came! We headed out from there around five and slowly but surely made our way to the site where we would stay for the next two weeks, arriving at 10:30 at night 😂
We were met by a bunch of people who had stayed up waiting for us to arrive so they could help us get our bags in and welcome us. They were so welcoming and told us they had made dinner for us if we’d like to eat. Of course we ate and it was so delicious! Seriously a treat. We went to bed after midnight after settling in, happy to have our own comfy beds and good food and running water and lights to turn off before bed.
Sunday morning we readied ourselves for church and ate breakfast, getting to talk a little to the people who lived at the place we were staying. I absolutely love the atmosphere. There are many teenagers and young adults that have been adopted into the family who live here and just hearing and seeing them at breakfast, it really felt like one big family. They gave us such a warm welcome and were so sweet and friendly.
We went after breakfast to church where we split and a few of us did kids ministry with the kids. They were so sweet and well behaved and their English is so good which surprised me a bit because of the other experiences we had. We did our program teaching about Samson and Delilah, playing a game and doing worship after which was so fun. After church we went back to our house for lunch and then team time where we played games to get to know each other better. We then had time to spend time with God and wash up before a delicious dinner, and then a wonderful night.
This week has been all over the place as you can see and it has been a real test of where I am in the development of my character to be more like Him. I have so much more growing to do, but God is so good and gracious and merciful and forgiving. He has been way too good to me and the team. I have had many learning points this week about trusting Him that He has control over the situation and that I need to be a loving and forgiving person ALL the time, even in hard times.
Thank you all so much for the love and support and especially the prayers! I really feel like our team is being protected. If I don’t get to post as regularly, it’s because the phone service in Zimbabwe is worse than Malawi and we don’t have access to WiFi lol. So I’ll do my best to be consistent. Until next time!
Hugs from Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Journey With Kaylee 