MORE FROM ZIMBABWE (2)

Our team left Columbia airport on Thursday night and after two red-eye flights and a few hours of sightseeing in London, we finally arrived in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, late Saturday morning. We checked into our lodging for the night (that's another story). But here's a shot of our lodging. It would make our Motel 6 look like a Ritz Carlton.

On Sunday morning we divided into two teams--Gary preached in one church, and I preached in the other. Our assignment was at the Glad Tidings Fellowship Church. James looks good even in Zimbabwe!

Denise shared her testimony, Dana sang, and I preached.

The service lasted about 3 1/2 hours. We sang for about an hour and then went into what they called their "praise and worship" time. There were about 250 people present with five cars in the parking lot (two of those were ours). They walk to church every Sunday. The worship was full of energy. One of the things that touched me was that when it came time for the offering, the people, even in their desperate economic times, flooded the aisles to bring their offerings to the front where they placed them in one of two baskets. When we got back into the van to leave, one of the leaders gave some cash through the window. They had taken up a second offering, but I was unaware that they were receiving a love offering for me. Are you ready for this? I counted it myself--$126,000,000. Literally. Talk about financial freedom. Then I was informed that it amounted to about $15 American money. Seriously though--how humbling. No--I didn't keep it. I gave it to the Campus Crusade host for their ministry.

Later Sunday afternoon we drove to Mudzi, the city where our primary assignment was to take place. Here are a couple of shots of the countryside as we drove.

We checked into the Pumpkin Inn. Within fifteen minutes of our arrival, the power went out. The government shuts down the power several times during the day. In fact, we probably were without electricity more than we had it. Thankfully, the hotel had generators that worked a good portion of the time. I still wonder about the meals we ate at the hotel--how they prepared them in the dark. Maybe it's best that I don't know everything.

In the next blog I'll give you a glimpse of our ministry at the local school and the pastor's training conference. Thanks for reading.

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