Amos (Day One)

Amos. He was my day one initiation into full heart wreckage.
Each time we arrived at a children's home, the kids would immediately swarm us, eager to shake our hands, be held, or to give us a tour of their home. At one of our first homes, after all the initial excited greetings occurred, we discovered Amos sitting in a nearby doorstep.

He is a tiny little guy with a mangled foot, abandoned by his parents. I spent most of my morning holding Amos. He spent the morning touching my face, playing with my hair, mashing the buttons on my camera and trying on everyone's sunglasses. (It turns out that a toddler is a toddler!)

At the end of the day, Amos made it back into my arms. He clapped my hands with me as the rest of the children sang for our group and he held my face in his hands. But then, as we prayed for the kids, and all eyes in the room were closed, I felt his lips touch my check. And he kissed me softly five or six times until all of our eyes opened again.

In that moment, I received confirmation that raising money and travelling thousands of miles to Zimbabwe was right. It felt right to love on him...my heart connecting with his. If only for a moment.

~Rebecca

Journey to Zimbabwe

On Saturday, April 3, we set off on a journey to a distant land. With teary eyes, we gave last hugs to family, threw on our backpacks and faced the thrilling reality that we were headed to Zimbabwe. We were excited and expectant, but also fighting fears, doubts and a massive sense of inadequacy.

It was in those first few hours that I laid it all down and asked God to begin a good work in me. I gave Him the trip, gave Him my fears, and began exchanging myself for Him. I boarded a plane with 14 teammates, certain that a refining, life-changing experience (and 26 hours of travel!) was ahead.

After our marathon flight from DC to Johannesburg, South Africa, we arrived weary, but still filled with expectation. It was in these airport waiting areas that pretense began to fall and bonds started to form.

While waiting for our flight on to Harare, we discovered Lindsay's amazing gift of massage. Oh, Lindsay, you do have a gift!
First animal encounter in Africa....

And when we finally arrived in Harare, tired and dazed, it was late in the night. Our weary group stepped into an airport where all of the lights were out. We stood by the luggage carousel feeling deeply grateful that we had arrive safely, and that all but one of our 25+ bags and 5 wheelchairs made it to Zimbabwe.We loaded cars and trucks and drove in the dark of night through pot-holed streets, anxious to catch a glimpse of Africa.

What we found when we arrived was a beautiful sight. Our accommodations FAR exceeded what we were expecting. They were downright DELUXE! We stayed in a large home with bunk beds, meeting space, and two bathrooms (and lots of massive spiders).

Tired from travel, we threw our sleeping bags over old, thin foamy mattresses. We opened the windows and were blessed by a cool, comforting breeze that would be our air conditioning. We closed our eyes, grateful, and filled with anticipation.

In just a few weeks, this home will become yet another Hands of Hope home for orphans.

Hymn
by Brooke Frasher

If to distant lands I scatter
If I sail to farthest seas
Would you find and firm and gather
'til I only dwell in Thee?
If I flee from greenest pastures
Would you leave to look for me?
Forfeit glory to come after
'Til I only dwell in Thee
If my heart has one ambition
If my soul one goal to seek
This my solitary vision
'til I only dwell in Thee
That I only dwell in Thee'
Til I only dwell in Thee

~Rebecca

Messed Up by Their Joy

They live in poverty.
Most have lost moms, dads, sisters, and brothers.
Many have HIV.
Many have been abused.

They have clothes that are too small or too big.
Their stories hurt your heart.

They carry a bowl to a feeding station to get one meal a day.
Yet, they smile.

We returned this week from Zimbabwe, wrecked by their joy.

~Rebecca

Check out NMC Global!

I know a lot of people were hoping to find updates here about Team Zimbabwe's time in Africa and I apologize for the lack of stories to read. Unfortunately we weren't able to update this particular blog while we were gone, but we DID have access to another blog so please, stop by North Metro Globa's site (www.nmcglobal.org) and click on the Zimbabwe tab to read about God's amazing work in Zim!

As we settle back into life here and begin truly processing our time in Zimbabwe, we will still add posts to this blog so don't forget to keep stopping by. Our trip was amazing, our team was amazing, and we have you, our supporters, to thank. God Bless each of you!

In Him,
Karyn