Day 4

Day 4 weather report - Rainy and overcast for most of the day.

Standing outside the entrance to the Childrens Village

The day began at 6:30am with the family breakfast around the table where Madi and I (Andrew) argue and tell each other the devious plans we have in store for the other during their next nights sleep. After breakfast we all went our separate ways. Deb dropped the girls off to school while Alex, Jonno and myself headed out to the village for our second visit. On our way to the village Alex needed a recharge card for his phone, so at the next set of traffic lights I called over a guy in a bright yellow vest and traded him $5 for a recharge card. Making a cash transaction at a set of traffic lights while sitting in the car is an abnormal feeling. I felt like I had just committed a crime and told the guys that I felt dirty!! It's just a day to day thing in Zim but for me it just felt weird and wrong...but somewhat cool at the same time.

The girls beating Jonno and Alex in their weird game

The girls at SJCV seemed more comfortable with us three smooth legged white guys today. Alex and Jonno took the younger girls out where they played some crazy game that involved a stick and a brick. Alex and I spent some time teaching a few of the older girls guitar, which they are really enjoying and are catching onto really quickly! We are hoping to record them playing a song before we leave in January. We stuck around for morning tea, which consisted of a butter sandwich and tea.

I could write about this forever but these kids have experienced some horrible things. Some have been abandoned, literally left for dead and it's all too common to find girls that have been raped by members of their own family. From a western perspective they have little, if anything. When you see their facilities and what they eat day to day you will understand this. To see these young women smile, to hear them laugh and to hear them sing songs praising Jesus blows me away every time. While the scars of their past may still be very real, even more evident is the love and saving power of Jesus in their lives.

This is Tando. He has the most amazing smile you will ever see!

On our way home we met up with Abraham (YFC Director for Bulawayo) and PJ (a pastor at Bulawayo Baptist). They are both very keen to get us involved in a whole number of different ministries over the next two months in youth camps, rallies and concerts.

Thank you all for your continuing prayer and support. We are having a blast and I'm sure the people here will end up changing our lives more than we could ever hope to change theirs.




Andrew