Already into the second month of the new year 2011! And today, Thursday the 11th is the 40th birthday of daughter Darlene. My sister Delight will remember that birth day as she got all rattled—wanting to make tuna sandwiches to take to the hospital and chastising brother Chris for showing up with no sox on. What a little darling—the new born with dark curly hair and a perfect little body. Husband Charlie bursting with pride. My Mom and Dad off in Africa, a long time before the quick communication we have today with email and Facebook!
Now I’m in Africa and so is Delight as I write. She’s back in Congo for a three-week visit while I’m in residence in Zimbabwe, beginning my eighth year with Jim and hoping for many more. We seem to be in our own time warp as far as communication goes. For most of these years we’ve had email at home, but since December we’ve had to invade son-in-law Bowen’s computer workshop to get on the Broadband. We’re not far to town but we try to do emails twice a week so we don’t wear out our welcome at the busy shop. So Facebook is neglected BIG TIME!
This week Monday a long awaited order arrived—our new lounge suite. Jim and I had been looking for months for a good chair for him and a three-seater couch. They told me at the shops that Zimbabwe didn’t make the three-seaters any more. What is popular are the big overstuffed love seats that dominate the lounge, large or small! But we found what we wanted in a shop that brings in goods from South Africa. . It was already marked SOLD. So we had to wait until another came in. It didn’t but we found one in Bulawayo in the same chain of shops. Two weeks later it arrived in Gweru but the shop hadn’t received its allocation of diesel for delivery. And then it arrived in our home on Monday!
On Tuesday 3 ½ year old granddaughter Megan came home with us for a visit. When she noticed the new suite, she immediately protests. “I want the blue [set]. Take this one back to the shop!” But later she patted the sofa, saying, “This is nice.”
Wednesday we were out to Antelope Park for a day at the Pastors and Leaders Retreat. The Park is a game reserve that specializes in birthing lions and preparing them again for the wild. You can walk with the lion cubs (about two years old and anything but cub-ish!) or feed the cubs. Right outside the meeting place in a fenced in area we were charmed by a very small cub just twice the size of a Lab pup who was climbing the gate, very determined to explore beyond. His head and shoulders were through the opening, and he was moaning in little yelps. Like the little train that could, “I can make it. I can make it.” But a park ranger came along and brought his efforts to naught.
A lovely day at the Park. Good food and fellowship. Three speakers in tandem: Henry, a local pastor and host of the Retreat; Bill, a visitor from South Africa who grew up in Zimbabwe, and Jim, particularly, appreciated his teaching on the five-fold ministry [apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers]; and Dr. Michelle who teaches that no disease is incurable and talks fluently about the good chemicals released in the body when we walk in repentance, love and forgiveness. Laughter, she also emphasized, is good medicine, and we proved her point with twitters to belly laughs in our visiting together.
My role as Zim Coordinator for Team Impact University can be very absorbing on some days. That’s when we have ZESA (electricity) so I can scan in documents for students applying for degrees and write up the emails to take to town. There’s two Bible Colleges ready to begin as soon as the manuals are transmitted by email: Baptist School of Ministry and our own Riverside Bible College. We’re neck-and-neck with just about a dozen students each. We had hoped to open in late January but the now, now so easily promised here in Zim often stretches into weeks if not months! Word-of-mouth and the website is bringing in some good response.
The book for Emmanuel Missions at Lalapanzi is proceeding. Director Gert had me interviewing some of his people when we were out there last week. Jim will be teaching at their Bible college every other Monday, so I’ll be on-site often in the days ahead. Jim’s nephew John who lives in the American Northwest has created a website for the orphan and elderly branch of the Mission. You can view it at Ebenezer Refuge.
A reason to rejoice! It’s 7:40 on a Friday morning and we still have ZESA!
