I spent last week with an amazing group of youth workers as we traveled from Seattle to Zimbabwe and back. And while I knew a few of them casually beforehand– during the trip we all got to know one another much better as we were drawn together by shared experiences.
There was the sadness felt as we left the Insiza Area Development Program (ADP) for the last time. It’s almost assured that I’ll never go back there.
There was the quick goodbye to the Woodland Inn, the bed & breakfast we called home Monday through Thursday.
An awkward moment passed as glances were exchanged between two Zimbabwean men. Hillary, the Area Development Manager, turned and looked at the farmer who had just spoken. Acting as a translator you could see that Hillary didn’t know exactly what to tell us about what the farmer had just said.
It seems like every time we get out of the trucks it starts to rain. For us, a fun and sometimes uncomfortable happening. For members of the Insiza Area Development Program (ADP) this is a welcome bit of fortune.
The rains are late in Zimbabwe. They were expected in October but by early January the rains hadn’t arrived.
The fact that you read yesterday’s post yesterday is just one of the many amazing things about today.
Lets start there.
This morning we started at the World Vision regional headquarters in Bulawayo. There we got a brief tour of their office and prayed with the staff there. From there we drove to the Insiza Area Development Program (ADP) office to get a briefing of the work we’d be seeing. Then it was decided to make the drive out to visit a dam project on the far end of the district.
As we were zipping along in 3 vehicles, the cruiser in front of us had stopped to take picture of some roadside cattle. (It’s common for them to be on the road.) When we stopped I popped on my phone and looked at the screen… It magically said, “EcoNet 3G.” I quickly turned on the WordPress app and uploaded the post just as we left the tiny hotspot.
That was the only data signal I had all day.
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.
Staring at the screen of the monitor in front of me, the little airplane icon just crossed from the Atlantic Ocean to Guinea.
7 and a half hours left in our flight.
Guinea. Africa.
What am I doing here?
No seriously. I’m on a fifteen hour flight, a million miles from home, I have no idea what the local time is but my body tells me it 2:08 PM Pacific time.
And we just crossed over into Africa. God, what am I doing in Africa? An overweight white American headed to see things in Zimbabwe I can barely understand. Hunger. Poverty. Lack of education and resources. The list never seems to end. The more I think about it the more it becomes clear that I have no idea what I’m in for.
Culture and history are not on my side.
It’s moments like this when I just have to ask God… “What are you doing?”
I don’t get it. I want to get it. I’m not on vacation. I’m not on a mission trip. I’m not working. I’m in some sort of strange ether between it all.
If this isn’t a quest… Maybe even a pilgrimage (of sorts) than I don’t know what else one could be.
So, with that. I’ve got no choice but to press on. I couldn’t go home if I wanted to. I’ve got to see it out. I’ve got to see what I’m supposed to see and meet those who I’m supposed to meet.
In times like this I’m left only to embrace the situation with open palms. Yes, Lord. This is your trip and not mine. I’ve got no idea where I’m going, what I’m doing, I’ve got no power, no resources to bail me out, no connections, no social cues, no language. I’ve got a big pile of nothing on this one.
And yet… I an left with only this simple prayer. “What am I doing here?”
As a team, we are chased by the same question. “What are we here for, Lord? What do you want of us? What do you have to teach us?”
Join me in praying this prayer. In reality, we are all on this quest.
Today was a good, long day of preparation. We got up early and headed to the World Vision Headquarters right after breakfast.
The day was packed with presentations and stories. I was impressed with the level of professionalism of the staff we interacted with. Not in a formal way, more in the way where the people we met are a wonderful blend of passionate and highly skilled. Story of the impact of their work is free flowing and authentic.
Here’s a quick summary of my takeaway thoughts, paraphrases, from some of the speakers: (I sat in the front, so I paid attention!)
I grew up watching The Real World. Long before reality television took over the networks MTV kind of invented a new kind of genre. They put 10 strangers in a house together, brought in a film crew, and recorded what happened.
As our team met tonight at the airport, then dinner, then the hotel… it felt a little like the first episode of every season of The Real World. Strangers met for the first time, shared a little about life, and made small talk.
But, just like the TV show, things are about to get very real.
