My last posted ended the day before Easter. It is Tuesday of the following week, nine days later. I meant to report sooner, but that didn’t happen. So here is the lastest. It starts with Easter itself.
Easter was amazing here, as it is in Shelton, or wherever we have lived. This was our first Easter somewhere other than our home church. Thirty-one Easters were shared with Shelton Christian, seven or eight with Kimberly Christian, three with Oakmound, IL, and a few in Nezperce and Pendleton. This year, however, we are in Zimbabwe, celebrating with Chiredzi Christian Church. At this moment in our lives this is as close to a home church as we have. We have invested time, shared several sermons, mentored young staff members, shared with their new pastor as he transitions from Shona churches to our English speaking church. And they are different by the way. I am there about half the time, and the rest visiting churches I have been to before on previous trips.
But this is about Easter. The church here started about 6:30 in the morning, at sunrise. Sherry and I both posted sunrise pictures on Facebook. Sherry’s was way cooler than mine by the way. I was privileged to be the preacher that morning. We turned the chairs to the East and celebrated the resurrection. There was some song, of course, a video, a reenactment of women coming to the tomb and Sherry’s famous confetti sticks sending small pieces of paper floating around the rooms. Not only were they celebrative, but the toddlers were occupied for the rest of the service, making piles, collecting confetti, and being quiet. I did a children’s message which I haven’t done in a while. It was an all-around marvelous day. The day ended with most people staying for breakfast. A number of us had been fasting since Friday, so it was indeed breaking a fast. Scrabbled eggs on a roll with onion and tomato and a banana.
We then went to our house to load the car and get ready to go to Harare to take Sherry to the airport. Our good friends and neighbors invited us over for a special Easter treat. We had heated hot cross buns (that sounds redundant, but an important detail) with a chocolate marshmallow Easter bunny melted in the middle. Oh my! I have a new Easter favorite! Then it was off to Harare.
We took about eight hours making the whatever kilometer drive. We made a couple of stops. One was in Masvingo for Chicken Inn and one in Chivhu for fuel. We witnessed several vehicles which had been involved in some sort of accident, cars and truck on the side of the road not running, and more roadside stands selling whatever they could to passing cars. I can’t remember stopping at any on the way up. For our part, it was rather uneventful. Toward evening we arrived at Central Africa Christian College, a landing place to spend the night.
The next morning, we arose and greeted friends who were there. A national youth gathering was ending so there were some 500 kids from all over Zimbabwe. Some we knew and it was fun seeing them. About 11:00 we headed for the airport. Sherry’s flight was at 3:35 and it was a little early but Kufa and I had to start back or we would be too late arriving back in Chiredzi. We went in and found the counter, got her checked in with not issues, said our good byes, had a romantic kiss good by that should be legend in Harare by now. (OK, kidding. I said that for my Zim friends here who were giving us a bad time.) She headed off to the airplane and I headed home, to Chiredzi. (We have an odd feeling, and I may have mentioned this before, but we feel like we are not homeless, but have two homes.)
With Sherry gone I have filled my time with a number of activities. I have done some biking, getting ready for the ride from McCleary to Westport four days after I get home. I have climbed Chiredzi’s famous hill, Baobab Hill several times. I have done a few odd jobs, preached at a church, which was an absolute blast, and started preparing for my class next week. {Pray about that as we are making some changes in the class presentation.} Today is Independance Day here so it is a holiday. That pretty much brings you up to date on what is happening in Zimbabwe.
Things are still good, God is awesome and amazing work is being done by Him through us. Don’t forget us. We need your prayers for sure, and support is always welcome. God blessing to all.