Mwari Wakanaka! (God is good!)

Life is wonderful here in Zimbabwe! We are staying in the community we are working in. We are staying with the Tandi family, a beautiful family who lives in Chinotimba. They are wonderful and so gracious, and have welcomed us with open arms! Things were exciting here right from the beginning. We had a special visitor our very first night! As we were preparing dinner, we suddenly heard Munya calling us to come outside…as we went running out of the house we saw that right across the street was an ELEPHANT! Our first elephant sighting and only feet from our home! Soon people from down the street came running, yelling and banging pots to get the elephant to leave (we have learned that the community does not like the elephants hanging around because they trample their gardens and eat their trees. But we sure do love them! Since then we have seen several more! And most nights we hear the people down the road yelling and banging their pots and pans running the elephants away!) Since then we have experienced a lot of the African wildlife here. One day I saw a herd of 9 elephants crossing the road, including three tiny baby elephants! We daily see baboons and warthogs roaming around town!
I really enjoy life here, living in the community and adapting to the way of life of the people. It has been so fun to become part of the community and culture, such as, learning how to cook Zimbabwean dishes, shopping at the local markets and washing my clothes by hand! I have also adopted some of the Zimbabwean fashions, such as the colorful cloth that the women wrap around their waists as skirts and getting my hair braided! I also have two Zimbabwean names that I go by here (one for each of the languages spoken here.) It really feels that our team has become integrated into the community and the way of life here in Chinotimba. No matter where we go, whether it is running to a tuck shop in Chinotimba or walking down the main street in town, we are sure to run into many of the friends we have met here (you can always hear people calling out to us with our Zim names!) This week our whole team was invited over for dinner to one of the homes that we have been having bible study with. The girls on our team spent the evening with them cooking, and then rest of the team came over later to enjoy the meal together. It was so amazing to get to spend time with the women in the home preparing the dinner. After dinner as the girls were cleaning up, we broke into an African dance party! All the women and kids in the home were packed into the small kitchen dancing for about an hour! What JOY!

The ground is so soft here and people are so hungry to know more about God. People are experiencing God in powerful ways! Entire households are coming to know the Lord and people who have just started following Jesus are taking the good news to their friends and neighbors! God is answering our prayers so quickly, such as many people are being healed and are getting jobs! I have dozens and dozens of stories I could tell you! Here is just one:
Before our team left for Zimbabwe in April, one of our friends from CPx gave us a word that he had received from the Lord. He told us that we would meet a woman named Eunice and that she would have a problem with her right leg. Since being in Chinotimba we have kept our eyes open for Eunice, but had not met even one woman named Eunice. Last Saturday morning my friend, Shannon, and I were planning on spending the day in the locals market with some friends we have met and hopefully meeting other people hungry to know God. Before we left, I felt the Lord say that we were to meet a women dressed in all lime green. When we got to the market, we began walking around. We stopped by a group of women selling (one was wearing all lime green) and began talking with them. After talking with them for a while we realized we didn’t know their names. The women in all lime green told us her name was Eunice! We then asked her if she happened to have pain in her right leg. Eunice got very serious and asked, “How did you know that?” She then told us that she had been in a car accident a year ago, injuring her right leg and that she has only began walking again a couple of months ago. We then told her about how God told us we would meet her when we were in Cape Town! She became so excited and began calling out to everyone around her. People began gathering around from all over, trying to listen to what she was telling them. They wanted to know more! We then were able to tell them that God sees them and loves them. Shannon shared her story with them and we looked at some scripture with them as well. They were so eager to know more and wanted us to come back another time to read the bible with them! This past Saturday, we went back to have a bible study with them. Eunice told us that her leg was feeling much better! (We are continuing to believe that God has a full healing for her!) We then spent time with the group of women who sell in that area and studied the parable of the prodigal son. The women were so hungry and open, and were really teaching one another. One of the women told us that she had fallen away from the Lord and after reading this scripture, she wants to start following him again. We told them that they could pray and read the Word together any time they wanted. They then told us that none of them had bibles. That morning the Lord told me to bring one of our extra bibles, so we were able to give them that bible! They were so excited and wanted us to write in the front of the bible that it was the “Market Ladies Bible!” They said that now they can study together every day! For many of them it was their first time to read the bible for themselves. We walked back by them later that day and they were reading the bible we gave them! We are believing for a movement to be started in the market of people experiencing the Lord for themselves and sharing with one another!
Me and the beautiful waterfalls!


Here is a picture of my friend’s nephew. He was in the middle of a bath! He looked so cute sitting in the bucket!

Here is me and Shannon with our friend's five daughters! We love this family so much!


Our friend with the five daughters taught me and shannon how to kill a chicken! Oh dear!

My friend Shannon sitting in our friend’s home.

This is me sitting in front of our home in Chinotimba!


I am learning so much here and the Lord is doing so much in my heart as well! He is really teaching me what it means to find my joy and contentment in him alone. It has been a really sweet time of growing deeper in love with Jesus and learning more and more my identity as the Lord’s Beloved!

Thank you to each of you who have given me so much love and support! I could not be here without you! If you would like to read more about my time in Zim, here is the CPx blog site: http://www.cpxoutreach.posterous.com). All the All Nations teams have posted to this blog, so here are the titles of the blog postings for my Zimbabwe team! (We are Filled with Joy!, Mwari Vedu Vanonzwa Vanhu! (God hears his people!), Mwari Wakanaka! (God is good!),
Pressing Into the More!, The harvest is plentiful in Zim!) Enjoy!

MUCH love and joy,

whit