I left off the last post with our arrival at our place of residence for the next six weeks. It is a very nice home not far from the church, our friends, Mark and Meghan, and the store we often shop at, though we are venturing out some, trying other places to find food. We are not in the place we stayed on the last two trips and several things are different so finding our rhythm has been the word of the day.
We got here on Tuesday, so life here began on Wednesday. We started at Mark and Meghan’s getting the lay of the land, where to shop, what the church needs from us, preaching assignments, and renewing a valued friendship. Wednesday afternoon, Sherry went to a ladies’ Bible study and I went home did some sermon prepping and general reading.
The rest of the week is a bit of a blur. We had shopping for ourselves and the team to work on, and those sermons still need to be written.
Saturday was fun, for me at least. We need to acquire some things for repairs at the clinic. One of those tools is a roto-hammer. So Mark took me to a tool supply store here in town. There was the area representative for a tool company (Ingco is the company). They showed us some tools, none of which I needed, though the welder looked fun. If a person spent $5.00, a free hat was given. If a person spent $50.00, a shirt was the bonus. They had what we needed, so I spent enough of someone else’s money to walk away with a hat, a shirt, 2 pens, a journal, and free earmuffs. That was a good day.
Sunday saw us in two church services, one English and one Shona. I also got to share the word, which was a blessing. It was good to be back to Chiredzi Christian Church. That church is our home church here in Zimbabwe. The Shona church was one I was supposed to attend last year but had to leave a couple of days before I got a chance. It was a year, but I got there. I loved both churches, each for their own reason.
Today, Monday, we made a three-hour road trip to Maranda Mission (also known as Dine). It was a scouting trip to see what needs to be done ahead of the team of guests coming in April. There is some work to be done and painting to do, things to buy and repair. Fortunately, there are students who are trying to raise money for a youth conference later this month so we have workers we can hire. After a couple of hours assessing the situation, and a wonderful chicken lunch prepared by our young friend, Prisca, we made the three-hour trip home.
A new aside happened during the drive. We stopped at a roadblock; they occur semi-regularly. The officer introduced himself, which I didn’t follow, and my friend Simon had to translate for me. He asked for my license, and then my passport. I am not in the habit of taking my passport places, opting to leave it at home. But this morning, for reasons I cannot confirm, I picked mine up and put it in the glove box.
Our evening ended wading in the shallow end of the pool, a light fruit salad (apple, grapes, walnuts, and peach yogurt). I am finishing this blog and will do a bit of Greek (I have been rebooting my Greek for the last month) and hit the sheets. Life here is good, the pace is peaceful, and we look forward to visiting more friends in the weeks ahead. God bless.
Bruce
