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Sunday, July 30: Let me say first we have arrived
safely in Nyadire, Zimbabwe, albeit with little more than the
clothes on our back since our luggage has yet to arrive - 47 checked
bags are out there somewhere but God will provide.
Our initial impressions have been so powerful and emotional, we
can't fully describe our first 24 hours. Today was the annual
Thanksgiving worship service. The spirit of the people of Zimbabwe
is beyond words for me. God is truly at the center of life here. And
the music! I filmed portions of the service with my video camera and
had tears streaming down my face. I believe I speak for others when
I say nothing has prepared me for what we have experienced in our
first twenty four hours.
Tomorrow we start our various initiatives - construction,
medical, and children. We are being graciously attended to and have
been very well fed.
Each day we hope to have a different member of our team update
you on work here. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.
Chuck Billerbeck
Monday, July 31: Greetings from Zimbabwe. Today, the
Construction and Children's teams began their various intiatives and
programs. The construction team started working on an empty nurses'
dormitory where the plan is to subdivide the building into 12
private rooms so the housing capacity can be expanded by over 20
nurses. This is a critical need area. The work is hard, dusty but
extremely rewarding. We made great progress today.
The Children's team also had a big day. VBS started with over 95
children. Word of mouth is spreading and the attendance will surely
increase tomorrow. The team did a wonderful job. They had 95
children singing "Who built the Ark" loudly. The children
here are so engaging, so uninhibited and just a joy to be around!
We'll update you again tomorrow. As always, keep us in your
thoughts and prayers.
Chuck
Tuesday, August 1: Day of dirty toil . . . Zimbabweans are
cheerful, competent bricklayers. Much construction accomplished
today . . . enough bricks, enough cement, & lots of muscle . . .
still no buckets of tools, but great improvisation, so the work is
getting done.
Seems like a zillion children arrived at VBS, & all teachers
survived without any of our materials . . . somewhere between Newark
& Harare. The big smiles & bright eyes are worth all our
efforts. Nurse Sue is learning how to teach, by observing the caring
student nurses, who are so excited about learning. Pastor Kim was up
to give a sermon to the high school students at 7:00 AM today. We
are in ecstasy this evening, because Jeff & Chuck (reason Nancy
has to send email tonight) have set out for Harare, & should
return by midnight with 27 pieces of our 48 pieces of luggage. Of
course, each person is praying it is something of theirs that will
arrive . . . especially a change of clothes, although we are all
getting rather attached to the attire we have been wearing since
last Thursday.
Do keep up the tremendous prayer support, we do so ask that of
all of you. Signing off at 10:30, which is 4:30 in the afternoon for
you.
Grace & Peace, Nancy & All Friday, August 4: (Mark
and Kelly Elder arrive) We have arrived safely in Harare at 7:00am
with little or no problems. Had the 10 cent tour of London and had
no problems going through customs in Harare. We spent the day with
the Staff at the United Methodist Conference in Zimbabwe. Sara and
Drew met us here this afternoon and we met with the Bishop and staff
to strategize about the future. We are a getting ready to go to
Nyadire now as I can see them loading up the SUV (it’s 5:35PM). The
team that is here is making a lot of progress on construction,
children’s activities, etc. They are still waiting for some
luggage to arrive. Weather is pleasant. I find it refreshing, they
find it cold. Mark LaRosa Monday, August 7: Things are
going very well. We have minimal access to the internet and it is
difficult to get a phone call out with poor land lines and the phone
cards do not seem to work well.
People here are very nice, hard working, happy, and very
accommodating. They are trying to make the best accommodations for
us. We have only had well water since I arrived. We went to Africa
University over the weekend and it was beautiful . . . an amazing
success story. Then we visited the Old Muture Orphanage close to AU.
This is an amazing story too. So many wonderful and well raised
children. They have 80 Children. We also attended a church service
here. The music was wonderful.
The conditions at the hospital are very difficult this week
without water. The government has not been paying for medical and
surgical supplies and the vendors are getting anxious. The trick is
for me to keep everything in perspective. This week I will be
meeting with key hospital staff to help them prioritize issues,
develop ideas for the hospital, and bring many back to the
congregation.
The weather is sunny everyday, like September. Warm in the day
and chilly at night. Everybody here likes to have their picture
taken and then see it.
Mark LaRosa Wednesday, July 9 (a.m. phone message from Mark LaRosa)
Jen LaRosa spoke with Mark for exactly
eight minutes. We have not received email from the team recently
because they’ve had no power. The phone lines are “sketchy”…
sometimes off, sometimes on. No running water; they’ve been boiling
water to drink, and bathing has not been an option. Fortunately the
weather is mild, with cool nights. The construction team has made
good progress. Yesterday the medical people went to the clinic. The
clinic is a tree! They saw 240 babies in one day. All of them are
well. No one is sick. Mark reported that these people worship daily
and spiritedly. Wednesday,
July 9 (p.m.email!)
Greetings from Zimbabwe. We have been having a very
difficult time sending e-mails so we have not been able to
communicate since last Wednesday. Needless to say, we have been
immersed in a unique culture and way of life since our arrival. We
have learned to adapt to no running water for five days and no
electricity during various times during the day. The surprising
thing is how easily I believe we have all adjusted. The siren call
for this trip has been "Calm, Patience, and Flexibility" and I
believe the team has done very well in this regard. Our focus has
been on the work we are all doing and the relationships we are all
building. The most enduring image I believe we all have is the
spiritual foundation of our hosts. We have learned more about faith
from our hosts than we could have ever imagined.
Sadly, it's Wednesday and our trip is coming to a close shortly.
Six of us will be home Sunday evening and the remainder of the team
next week. We have much to talk about upon our return.
We'll see you soon.
Chuck Billerbeck
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