30 hours of travel from Seattle to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe is over. If you haven’t done a 30 hour trip one way, I highly recommend it. It is completely incomprehensible and indescribable, simultaneously joy-filled adventure & the constant, aching pain of airline induced physical discomfort mixed with boredom. (Most of us watched 3 movies, read a book, and slept on our 15 hour flight. Except for Leah who seems to be asleep every time I see her on a plane.)
Today we make an important shift. We move from a preparation mode, one that started months ago with invitations, visas, planning, conference calls, onsite training, and traveling to the Area Development Program (ADP) to a mode of immersion.
Jesus calls us to immerse rather than step out of our culture. We do this all the time in the States, for the most part Christian American culture is so syncrotized with American Christian culture that we have a hard time knowing where we synthesize.
When you visit another culture you deep dive (immerse) into this. You are surrounded by a culture you don’t fully understand while also recognizing bits of Christian culture you notice intuitively.
Our team is still in very high spirits. With a good night of sleep, some tasty Mexican food for dinner, and a very good breakfast we are fully ready to immerse ourselves at the Insiza ADP.
I don’t know what to expect today but my heart is ready. What I hope to see today is the hands and feet of Jesus at work, living out the Gospel by not only renewing of hearts but also an expression of the Gospel in making lives better through the work of World Vision.
Pray for us as we Immerse. It is good for the heart but also very hard. Pray that God softens our heart for the things that break His.
Sidenote: I know I’m not sharing video or photos as I normally would, but data is both very limited and hard to find.
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