Arrived in Zimbabwe

After two very long days of travel, we have arrived in Harare! Our first flight took us to London, and with a 10 hour layover we were able to get into the city for a bit to see the Palace and a few of the sites, then boarded our second flight from London to Harare. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, and thanks to much prayer, had no problems with customs officials to bring in the medical and children's supplies. After meeting our hosts at the airport, we headed out on a 1 1/2 hour drive to the city of Banket. The sites, sounds and smells are too much to try to describe with such little rest, so I'll save that for another post. But just to give you some insight into life here for us....we are staying dorm style with 4-5 of us in each room. There is no electricity here, except for a few hours right before dinner each day. So we spend a lot of time by candle light. In fact, last night we had an amazing time of worship together by candlelight. There is no hot water, and the guys are staying in the only part of the building that has a shower head. So the girls are enjoying standing in a bathtub and pouring water over us with a bucket. Today, after a good night's sleep, we were taken around the OM property to assess the projects the team will be working on and then went to the hardware store to get some supplies. Beginning tomorrow, 1/2 the team will work on the projects and the other 1/2 will spend time ministering to the local children. We have an amazing opportunity to send 2 or 3 of our team members out to work with an amazing woman about 7 hours into the "bush". Her name is Vicki, and she is the only medical professional serving the villagers. She lives alone, works alone and is single handedly providing care, compassion, hope and the gospel to hundreds of patients daily. It will be a tough trip for those that go, but an amazing experience and opportunity to bless this modern day "mother theresa". The team is doing really well and is learning to be very flexible. Right now, a few team members are syphoning diesel fuel from a broken down OM vehicle in order to have fuel to run the generator to make dinner tonight. Fuel is not available for purchase in the country....gas stations have been closed for years. The only way to get gas is with cash on the black market. So tonight, we at least have the fuel from the broken down truck. Just a note...for those who have family and friends on the team, there is no internet access and very very limited access to phones. So know that everyone is safe and that we will update the blog as often as we can (team leaders will try to make a call every few days back to Calvary and we are updating the blog from the office). Be praying for us to remain safe and healthy and that God would allow us to be a blessing to the OM staff that have committed themselves to care for the suffering. Pray also that God would use us to share HIS hope with the children and their families this week.

In Awe of His Love and Grace,
The Zimbabwe Team