Today was relaxing. We woke up late, 8am, ate breakfast, took long hot showers complete with spiders, then sat down in the sun on the courtyard in front of our rooms and planned the presentation we are going to give tomorrow. This week Hilltop UMC will be putting on an event they are calling "Deaf Week". Each night different presenters are coming and then this weekend we will be a part of the frist Deaf conference ever held at Hilltop UMC and as far as we know, the first Deaf ministry conference ever held in all of Zimbabwe.
Since today was slow I will take the time to give you the history of Deaf minstry in Zimbabwe. In 1999 Carol Stevens traveled to Zimbabwe with Bishop May and members of the cabinet from the Baltimore/ Washington conference to check out what was going on in Zimbabwe for the Deaf. They attended a church service at Hilltop UMC and Carol interpreted the service for a Deaf member of the team that had traveled. At the end of the service a man named Amos came up to Carol and said that he felt called into Deaf ministry. Amos joined the team for the next two weeks as they went all over Zimbabwe looking for the Deaf.
Now 7 years later Carol and Amos have set up a Deaf ministry at Hilltop Church. Amos currently is serving as the pastor. They set up a Deaf club called Sangani that meets to socialize and make things to generate profits for the Deaf which is great in a country where 80% of the hearing residents are unemployed. Amos has also been very strategic about where he wanted the Deaf ministry. He set it up at Hilltop UMC because it is the place that practically all of the seminary student interns go to before recieving their own churches. He is essentially planting seeds for the other Deaf minsitries. Also Amos has started setting up groups of interpreters that not lonly interpret but also go out into the communities and train other interpreters.
So there you go you are now up to date.
This evening just as the first ngiht of Deaf week was about to start the load shedding cut off the electricity in Sakubva the extremely poor area where the church is located. A hearing man told me that they do this in order to save electricity for the downtown area of Mutare. Who cares about the poor anyways right? This left us with 6 candles and one flashlight to light a sanctuary that can hold 500 people. AND it was a DEAF presentation so being able to see is pretty important. It pretty much cut off all communication for the Deaf that attended but because this was the week specifically set aside for the Deaf, the show went on and aboslutely no one complained. I can't wait to get home and listen to people gripe about the LCD projector no working on a sunday morning.
Dear Lord,
I know I have only been in Zimbabwe for 3 days but please help my transition home. Lord I have heard it said but now I am experiencing it myself. The people here have nothing, no jobs, money that is worthless, no electricity yet they are still grateful, they are still satisfied because they have you. I am in awe of your presence on the earth. help us to be wise with our money in the states help us to not be ashamed and guilty but to not be wasteful and wanting. The people in Zimbabwe need your help too God. The average age expectancy is 29 years old. Help them to find health and jobs and prosperty without losing year. Thank you for all that you already do. You are precious and amazing Lord. Amen.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
MAY 28, 2005
Today I woke up to the pitter pattering of kitten paws on my tin roof and I incorporated them into my dream like you do when you hear your alarm clock and you wonder why somebody isn't answering the telephone. I walked outside, on time today, and saw kirk pointing and saying "MONKEYS!" they weren't kitten paws after all. The Monkey sat perched on the porch just long enough me to scream "COOL A MONKEY!" and run into my bedroom to grab my camera. However, in true monkey fashion or atleast what I assume would be monkey fashion, he ran away just as I had him in my view finder.
We headed to church this morning at Hilltop UMC where we were the honored guests. The place was packed; the drums were loud, and the music was tribal and beautiful and just right. Laurel and I were given two translaters because we could not see the interpreters over the heads. My translaters sign name was mustache but, for the life of me I can't pronounce his spoken shona name.
Sadly enough, everyone was astounded by our offerings since I alone gave $20 US which with the black market reate is 4 million Zim dollars and their goal for the Harvest collection was 500 million. Why didn't I give $50 or the entire $300 I brought? I know I can live without that $300. God forgive me.
On our way to the youth prayer group that Laruel and I were invited to at night, our driver Abraham, whose name sign is "fat"... ouch..., told us that in 2007 it is rumored that Zimbabwe will be out of electricity because they have no way to produce it and no other country will except their worthless cash. He also saith that the other countries will only except US cash because it is excepted everywhere as oppsed to the Euro which is twice the value of the US dollar.
At the prayer group we spent time singing and explaining to eachother about the structure of the US and Zim youth groups and then the holy spirit came. It blew through the doors and washed over all of us as we got off the pews and slunk to the floor and faced our benches, bowed our heads and prayed aloud. "Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth." The Shona and English, Zimbabwe accents and our two American accentsmixed together like waves aplashing against the gritty sand shore and nothing was distinguishable. It was magnificant and for a moment I was glad that I was not there with a Deaf person because just how there are things that are so visibly beautiful about sign language that you can't interpreter them for the poor hearing people that don't understand, this moment was not interpretable. Thank you Jesus.
There are so many things happening here that the English major in me wants to describe for you but I don't have the time or the ink like all the monkeys we saw when we came home this afternoon or the dinner we ate at the "fancy" but TACKY American style theme resturant that cost us 17 million 200 thousand Zim dollars... or the way the entire valley shouted for joy when the electricity was turned back on and how the cheers of the children made me cry as I listened from Hilltop church... or the way the lizard crawled into Carol's room... or when Zellie chased a bug for 20 minutes so she could pretend to take a picture with me and throw it on my instead... or when we drove back in the back of the truck to christmas pass and I forgot my sunblock as I ws standing just under the equator or when...
Amen.
We headed to church this morning at Hilltop UMC where we were the honored guests. The place was packed; the drums were loud, and the music was tribal and beautiful and just right. Laurel and I were given two translaters because we could not see the interpreters over the heads. My translaters sign name was mustache but, for the life of me I can't pronounce his spoken shona name.
Sadly enough, everyone was astounded by our offerings since I alone gave $20 US which with the black market reate is 4 million Zim dollars and their goal for the Harvest collection was 500 million. Why didn't I give $50 or the entire $300 I brought? I know I can live without that $300. God forgive me.
On our way to the youth prayer group that Laruel and I were invited to at night, our driver Abraham, whose name sign is "fat"... ouch..., told us that in 2007 it is rumored that Zimbabwe will be out of electricity because they have no way to produce it and no other country will except their worthless cash. He also saith that the other countries will only except US cash because it is excepted everywhere as oppsed to the Euro which is twice the value of the US dollar.
At the prayer group we spent time singing and explaining to eachother about the structure of the US and Zim youth groups and then the holy spirit came. It blew through the doors and washed over all of us as we got off the pews and slunk to the floor and faced our benches, bowed our heads and prayed aloud. "Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth." The Shona and English, Zimbabwe accents and our two American accentsmixed together like waves aplashing against the gritty sand shore and nothing was distinguishable. It was magnificant and for a moment I was glad that I was not there with a Deaf person because just how there are things that are so visibly beautiful about sign language that you can't interpreter them for the poor hearing people that don't understand, this moment was not interpretable. Thank you Jesus.
There are so many things happening here that the English major in me wants to describe for you but I don't have the time or the ink like all the monkeys we saw when we came home this afternoon or the dinner we ate at the "fancy" but TACKY American style theme resturant that cost us 17 million 200 thousand Zim dollars... or the way the entire valley shouted for joy when the electricity was turned back on and how the cheers of the children made me cry as I listened from Hilltop church... or the way the lizard crawled into Carol's room... or when Zellie chased a bug for 20 minutes so she could pretend to take a picture with me and throw it on my instead... or when we drove back in the back of the truck to christmas pass and I forgot my sunblock as I ws standing just under the equator or when...
Amen.
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