Trip review:
Our outreaches included but weren’t limited to> Children’s orphanages, rural hut villages, sick and elderly visits, elementary school feedings, men’s group sessions, cultural wedding, remote worksite ground preparation, sponsored children meetings, Sisterhood mother/daughter dinner, pastoral meetings and multi-campus services.
Outcome:
The orphanage children were held, loved on and played with. The time spent with these kids was very heart felt by the team but was invaluable to those sweet children. Their stories of abandonment and abuse are unspeakable but the orphanage that cares for them is a good place. They are currently maxed out at 25 kids. If you want to help > www.ourheighbors.org
The rural hut villages are where we found people in need of prayer and hope. They are living with drought and a lack of food. Some have chronic illness, Some are very old but all needed to know they have a Father who cares about them.
The sick and elderly could be found anywhere we went providing a plentiful mission field. Prayer and time bundled with a few words of kindness did so much to lift their emotions. Those with faith were encouraged to press on, those without gained hope.
The school feedings are where we saw children with tattered clothing sometimes 3rd or 4th generation “hand me downs” and NO shoes. It’s a federal law that requires kids to have a uniform for school or they are forbidden to attend. 1 out of 2 kids have proper clothing. 1 out of 8 have never had shoes. All were afraid to touch a “white person” due to the teachings of tribal witch doctors. Once they saw we weren’t going to hurt them > games of tag and tickle broke out, high five hand slaps were everywhere, Soccer game had 100 + kids playing, every team member had a swarms of smiling faces surrounding them. We learned the details of the feeding program that Celebration does every day for 30,000 kids. I’ve attached a picture. They call it porridge and it’s like oatmeal with vitamins. This one school has 800 kids they feed every day with no spoons.
The men’s group session was a great opportunity to encourage the men as leaders in the church, their families and their community. Our team spoke into their lives about being warriors, perseverance and love. Every man there took away a word that was meant just for him. Very powerful. They are about to embark on the 300MEN so timing on this was perfect.
The cultural wedding gave us the opportunity to learn new customs but more importantly to be the ambassadors we were sent to be. Why is that important? No matter where you go or what you do…. Someone is always watching. Whether we want to admit it we set the pace for our brothers and sisters. When we do the right thing it helps others to do the same.
The remote worksite was a new piece of property that Celebration Zim is preparing for a new campus. Ground breaking was already underway with a footer trench dug for the foundation. We prayed over the site and claimed the building would be too small to hold the church members in Christ’s name. We also worked digging trenches for wiring a security light on a light pole at another property soon to be another Celebration campus. This also has a chain link perimeter fence that we painted with aluminum paint. Our team work ethic and willingness went far.
The sponsored children meetings were part of the Mission of Mercy child sponsorship program that Celebration partners with in Zimbabwe. This gave team members the opportunity to meet their child, share gifts and bond even closer. Very touching. Tears were shed when we said goodbye.
It’s priceless experience to see the person, who you are helping change the course of their life.
The Sisterhood mother/daughter dinner was a smash success as Lynn Wilson spoke to mothers and daughters alike encouraging them to embrace the inner Lioness in each woman. God loves His daughters and this opportunity surely poured into the lives of the Sisterhood.
The Pastoral meetings provided the team with a good look into the operations of true servants. We learned so much about the church’s intense focus on connecting with God each day for direction and guidance. It was a fresh reminder of what we can take for granted sometimes. It spoke to us in many ways.
The Multi-campus services provided the team with a variety of worship opportunities and flavors. Seeing how someone else “does it” can be a real growth/stretching experience. I think we all took away something regardless if this was your first time or if you’d been there before. It also gave us the chance to give offerings to those locations for God’s work to move forward.
We had a spiritually and experience packed 10 day trip as you can see.
Some secondary opportunities we had were visiting the ancient Zimbabwe ruins, Riding the Savanna seeing wild animals and staying on a mountain top resort.
If you ever thought about going on a mission trip…… I would highly recommend it.
This trip was worth every penny and every moment was spent to do it.
