Wow. I can’t believe I’ve been to ZIMBABWE and back. wow wow wow. To God be the glory, great things He truly hath done.
Now... What an intimidating task… trying to summarize my trip, putting the scenes I saw and experienced into words yet not lose any of the meaning and impact that it had. I’ve come to find out that “it was great” just doesn’t cut it for people. But, it was. It was great. Unless you want a lot of jumbled thoughts of what I’m still trying to process in my heart, just take that as an answer. Or read this blog. It’s the best I’ve got for now. :)In summary, I’m taken back to a youth group where a small handful of us were blessed to be a part of their worship service and then lead their Bible study that night. First off, lemme just say, that wherEVER we went in Zimbabwe, their worship blew me out of the water. If you’ve never gotten to worship overseas, just trust me in that you should be thankful that heaven won’t be full of a bunch of white people. And this particular night wasn’t unlike any other worship time in Zimbabwe… about half of the songs were in Shona and the other half were in English. Each equally passionate, joyful, and full. So full. A line in one of the English songs jumped out and slapped me right in the face…. I’ve sung this song time and time again, and was thankful that the Lord made me stop and let this line sink in as He spoke to me through it this time.... “Lord unveil my eyes, let me see you face to face.” These lyrics come from the song called “Power of Your Love.” So appropriate.
Lord unveil my eyes, let me see you face to face.
Yup. That’s it. That’s why I’m here, I thought. Lord, show me glimpses of your face in Zimbabwe.
And did He ever.
Scenes I never want to forget:
-People walking along the streets carrying anything and everything on top of their heads. Seriously- it was impressive.*
-Women everywhere carrying babies tied around their backs.
-The school assemblies… the children dressed in uniforms that all blended together as they filed in. the whites of their eyes popped out and were fixated on us as if we had come from across the globe from a completely different culture to share something monumental. And praise the Lord we had. They were so attentive and responsive. -Riding on the bumpy, dusty roads on Al’s “safari cruiser”. THAT is how EVERYone should see Africa.
-Buckets of w
ater beside all the toilets to use to flush when need be.
-The transparency of the students lining up and spilling their hearts out to us, asking us for prayer. They were so eager. So hungry.
And did He ever.
Scenes I never want to forget:
-People walking along the streets carrying anything and everything on top of their heads. Seriously- it was impressive.*
-Women everywhere carrying babies tied around their backs.
-The school assemblies… the children dressed in uniforms that all blended together as they filed in. the whites of their eyes popped out and were fixated on us as if we had come from across the globe from a completely different culture to share something monumental. And praise the Lord we had. They were so attentive and responsive. -Riding on the bumpy, dusty roads on Al’s “safari cruiser”. THAT is how EVERYone should see Africa.
-Buckets of w
ater beside all the toilets to use to flush when need be.-The transparency of the students lining up and spilling their hearts out to us, asking us for prayer. They were so eager. So hungry.
-The fun counselors of Lasting Impressions camp along with the wonderful Croudace family that is it's backbone. So thankful to have met them all.*
-As I was washing feet at the women’s conference in Kadoma, not one pair, but two pair of feet suddenly appeared in the mix. A little girl had come with her mother and I got to wash her two little feet in between her mother’s. Precious.
-Team time every night around the amphitheater fire at Lasting Impressions.
-The miracle van that we PILED all 13 of us AND our luggage in. It's a trooper.*
-Going to sleep with the girls in the A-Frame—all the laughs that place provided
-Our little rat visitor in the middle of the night.
-The sky. The stars. The southern cross. The shooting stars.
-The loud, beautiful, joyful worship of the churches and schools we attended
-The sunsets of lake Kariba. Un. Real.
-The sunrises of lake Kariba. I thought the words “I can’t wait to wake up to the sunrise
tomorrow” would EVER come out of my mouth. But they did. And it was GLORIOUS every. single. morning.
-Spotting wildlife along the edges of the land far away as our boat floated in the middle of the lake.
-Our big happy family slumber party atop the house boat each cocooned in our own little mosquito nets.*
-Being within feet from wild elephants. Just silently staring in awe and wonder.*
-The little scares of the crocs and hippos.
-The thrill of catching not 1 but TWO fish in Africa!
-Staying awake one night with the spotlight on the hippo that decided to take a swim beside our house boat. Well worth the lost sleep.
-Thei
r accents. Love and miss those accents.
-The weathered smiles of appreciation from the old folks as we handed them blankets, tooth paste and tooth brushes.
-The cupped hand claps as “Thank-yous”
-The Baboons and Zebras along the side of the road
-Getting to hear John Dee switch from English to Shona without the blink of an eye.
-The many, many smiles at the orphanage. Gosh, those
smiles….*
-How ecstatic they got over blowing bubbles.
-Getting to hand out backpacks and goody bags to the children at the orphanage. I felt like Santa Clause, it was awesome.
-The commotion of the market.
-The numerous scenic stops along the way.*
-And, as much as I want to forget the scenes I saw in the hospital, I pray I never do. America has no idea how fortunate we are.
-As I was washing feet at the women’s conference in Kadoma, not one pair, but two pair of feet suddenly appeared in the mix. A little girl had come with her mother and I got to wash her two little feet in between her mother’s. Precious.
-Team time every night around the amphitheater fire at Lasting Impressions.
-The miracle van that we PILED all 13 of us AND our luggage in. It's a trooper.*
-Going to sleep with the girls in the A-Frame—all the laughs that place provided
-Our little rat visitor in the middle of the night.
-The sky. The stars. The southern cross. The shooting stars.
-The loud, beautiful, joyful worship of the churches and schools we attended
-The sunsets of lake Kariba. Un. Real.
-The sunrises of lake Kariba. I thought the words “I can’t wait to wake up to the sunrise
tomorrow” would EVER come out of my mouth. But they did. And it was GLORIOUS every. single. morning.-Spotting wildlife along the edges of the land far away as our boat floated in the middle of the lake.
-Our big happy family slumber party atop the house boat each cocooned in our own little mosquito nets.*
-Being within feet from wild elephants. Just silently staring in awe and wonder.*
-The little scares of the crocs and hippos.
-The thrill of catching not 1 but TWO fish in Africa!
-Staying awake one night with the spotlight on the hippo that decided to take a swim beside our house boat. Well worth the lost sleep.
-Thei
r accents. Love and miss those accents.-The weathered smiles of appreciation from the old folks as we handed them blankets, tooth paste and tooth brushes.
-The cupped hand claps as “Thank-yous”
-The Baboons and Zebras along the side of the road
-Getting to hear John Dee switch from English to Shona without the blink of an eye.
-The many, many smiles at the orphanage. Gosh, those
smiles….*-How ecstatic they got over blowing bubbles.
-Getting to hand out backpacks and goody bags to the children at the orphanage. I felt like Santa Clause, it was awesome.
-The commotion of the market.
-The numerous scenic stops along the way.*
-And, as much as I want to forget the scenes I saw in the hospital, I pray I never do. America has no idea how fortunate we are.
A smaller, more condensed list of some across-the-board things I learned in a deeper way:
-a lot about prayer in general
-It’s ok to go to the Lord and not have it all together. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway?
-I don’t have it all together, but that doesn’t make me any less usable
-Beauty for ashes.
-If the Holy Spirit resides in you, that’s power enough.
-How intricate, beautiful, and gloriously majestic the Lord’s creation is.
-the kingdom of God is not a kingdom of talk but of power
-Electronics are dumb. I’d rather take a walk to an orchard and pick a ripe juicy orange than sit on facebook any day of the week.
*the Lord goes before ALL things. He is the King Orchestrator. And because of this, we can trust, wait, hope, and rest.
*God is God. NO. MATTER. WHERE.
*the Lord longs to converse with us, romance us, and school us on His love and power.
*He is able. More than able.
Again and again, in the midst of all these scenes, through all those smiles, through everything that I witnessed and learned, the Lord kept bringing me back to the words of Psalm 51:12….
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.
These people didn’t have much, but they knew the joy of salvation. And that was enough. Psalm 51:12 is forever my prayer.
3 comments:
I am glad God revealed so much to you!
Thank you for sharing about your trip and what the Lord taught you/is teaching you. Especially for reminding me that "it is okay to come to God and not have it altogether, isn't that what it's all about?". THANK YOU. Totally been feeling like that lately.
I love you lots Anna, hope the rest of your summer is well!
Just recently God's opened my eyes to how naive I am and how I could use a trip to a third world country. Thanks so much for sharing! God's using you, Anna Cleland.
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