Children, Children Everywhere

Monday, July 27, was the time for us to visit Chitikatira, which is Kennedy Mukwindidza's home church and community. The other members of the team had worshiped at the Chitikatira United Methodist Church on Sunday, and now it was time for all of us to visit the school.

Chitikatira Primary School is adjacent to the Chitikatira United Methodist Church. We had brought a variety of gifts to present to the school, including soccer balls, candy, pencils, and other school supplies.

We pulled in around 9:00 am, and we made our way to the Headmaster's office. Her name was Mrs. Madzima, and I was glad to be there as a guest and not for any disciplinary purposes! She looked like the kind of school administrator who would not put up with nonsense of any kind!

Before too long, the time came for the children to be called together. With the
rapid rhythm of a beating drum, children began to emerge from their classroom buildings. They came in an orderly yet excited manner. This was clearly going to be a special morning.

There were dozens of them. There were hundreds of them. In fact, there were more than 1,200 of them!

They gathered on the assembly ground in front of a concrete platform where the teachers, staff, and other guests--including our VIM Team--were seated. There was a speech by the Headmaster and then a traditional dance done by several of the children. It was energetic, vigorous, and athletic. Each member of the VIM Team was invited to speak, beginning with Kennedy Mukwindidza.

After the speeches came presentation of the gifts and school supplies. They were displayed for all to see, and pictures were taken. Then, all the items were returned to the Headmaster's office for distribution later.

The excitment continued at a high level, with the singing of songs. Then Don Corwin, one of our team members, plunged into the crowd and began to greet children. There was a surge toward him, and I decided to provide some relief by going into the crowd myself.

Children surged toward me, reaching out their hands, greeting me, waving at me, giving me "high fives." There were easily dozens, although I'm not sure about hundreds!

Eventually I looked up to see Don Corwin waving good-bye to the children. Then the surge toward me increased. I thought for a while that I could continue greeting children while making my way through the crowd. However, the surge continued, and I eventually lost my balance and down I went!

I managed to avoid falling on any of the children. About then, a teacher came to my rescue. "You can't greet all of them," she said, as she escorted me through the remaining children.

It was a remarkable way to begin the week--with children, children seemingly everywhere!

The Report of Section 23

"Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday" is a special day throughout the United Methodist congregations in Zimbabwe. It is held the fourth (or perhaps last) Sunday in July.

Most congregations celebrate that Sunday. There are some who celebrate the occasion the first Sunday in August. It is a time for celebrating God's goodness and bringing "special offerings" of one kind or another.

One of the dynamics is that the report for "Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday" is done by sections. A section is a group of up to ten households that is part of the congregation. Each section routinely gathers weekly for a prayer meeting. Most of these meetings are on Wednesday, but a few are on Sunday.

Sections do not appear to be an optional choice. It is simply part of the way that you live out your life as a United Methodist believer in Zimbabwe.

After the conclusion of the regular service on July 26, it was time for the "Harvest Thanksgiving Service." Sections were called up one at a time. Typically, their report began with singing from the back of the church building, and the section members came forward. The entire service was emceed by a remarkably energetic young woman, who kept things going if they are seemed to lag.

There are currently twenty two sections in the Streamview congregation. They reported their accomplishments and their gifts one by one. There was also a section report from the United Methodist Women, the United Methodist Men, the United Methodist Youth, the Junior Church (Sunday School), and the Choir. Sometimes there is a "Visitor's Section" that is called on to report.

I decided to claim Section 23, by which I meant my own congregation in Hutchinson. When the time came for my report, there were those among the congregation who spontaneously arose and sang. That was a blessing, since it kept me from having to try to sing!

I was able to present a variety of gifts on behalf of Section 23, the U.S. section. They included:

• An offering of $1,031 that I had brought with me in person,


• A special additional offering of $500 that I had been given to bring with me,


• A wooden "cross and flame" emblem for use on the church's altar table,


• A clergy shirt and stole for Rev. Murauro,


• A purse and necklace for Unity Murauro, the pastor's wife,


• Special gifts for the lay leaders of the congregation,


• 144 gift bags for the children of the congregation, and


• A "Future with Hope" card signed by the members and friends of First United Methodist Church.

I am not sure when I will be able to report again in person on behalf of Section 23. But it was a joy and a privilege to be able to do so this year.

Preaching at Streamview

One of the privileges that I experienced during my Volunteers in Mission Trip to Zimbabwe was the opportunity to preach at the Streamview United Methodist Church, which is located in a "high density suburb" of Mutare.

It is officially known as the Chikanga East Circuit. The name of Streamview comes from the fact that the church is within sight of a nearby stream that flows during the rainy season.

The church was founded within the last five years. It is a "new church start" from an established congregation--the St. John United Methodist Church, which is located in the same township. The current pastor at Streamview is the Rev. T B Murauro, who is in the second year of his appointment there. He completed work at Africa University in 2007.

At the present time, the congregation is worshipping in what can best be described as a shed, with a galvanized tin roof. It is, as the congregants joke, a "well ventilated" church building, which has any number of gaps and openings through which the wind can blow. It does have electricity, thus providing modest lighting and affording the use of a sound system.

The congregation sits on backless benches rather than pews. Many of the benches were contributed by one or another of the sections into which the congregation is divided.

There is no nursery for infants or young children. The children are situated off to one side, with supervision provided for them. There were at least 150 of them. The youth and adults are seated in the congregation.

On the Sunday I was there, the singing was led by men of the congregation. It was energetic, lively, and powerful. The only accompaniment was a drum and shakers.

It was "Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday," which is a special time for all the United Methodist congregations throughout Zimbabwe. It is a time to celebrate the goodness of God and to make a "special offering" of one sort or another. At Streamview, these special gifts included several bags of cement that will be needed in the continued construction of the church building.

The "Harvest Thanksgiving" service follows the regular service, and it involves a reporting--by sections--of what is being brought. This includes singing, good-natured boasting, and a presentation of a combined gift by the section.

The worship service is ordinarily scheduled to begin at 10:30 am each Sunday. For "Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday," the schedule was adjusted to begin at 9:00 am. That did not prove to be exactly when we started, although there many parishioners present by that time.

The beginning of the service was more or less at 9:45 am. We eventually concluded a little after 2:00 pm.

There is no bulletin distributed to the worshipers. They use the same order of service week after week. It is based on what is found in the United Methodist hymnal--not the 1984 hymnal but the 1964 hymnal. That is available in Shona, and that is what is used.

Hymnals are not provided by the church. Individuals or families bring one to use if they have them. There doesn't seem to be a great need for hymnals, since the songs are all familiar and the service essentially the same from week to week.

Virtually all of the service was in Shona, except for my sermon. I had asked about the possible need for translation, but the pastor assured me that his congregation understood English. In fact, most people in this part of Zimbabwe are functional in several languages--including Shona, English, Manica, and Portuguese.

My sermon that Sunday was based on Exodus 3:1-12, It was perhaps an unexpected choice for such an occasion, but it seemed fitting. Like Moses, all of us experience ourselves "beyond the wilderness." Things seem beyond our capacity to cope, and we find ourselves relying more fully than ever before on God.

For people in Zimbabwe, 2008 was life "beyond the wilderness." It was the worst that anyone could remember. It was worse--at least in some ways--than the years of tension and conflict that led eventually to independence in 1980. The best thing about this year's Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday was that the year was 2009 rather than 2008.

When we find ourselves "beyond the wilderness," we are more ready to notice what God is doing. For Moses, it was a bush that burned but was not consumed.

For me, a bush that burns but is not consumed is the church in Zimbabwe. The United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe has been on fire for God since the preaching of the first sermon in Mutare in 1897, and yet the church is not destroyed.

People can see--and hear--the work of God through the church in Zimbabwe, and it can speak to them in ways that invite them to become part of that work.

Finally, God called Moses to "set my people free" so that they can "come and worship me." A worshiping congregation is thus the fulfillment of what God intends for us as his people. The worshiping community at Streamview--as well as at First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS--is thus a sign of God's intended purpose.

I am not sure how well the sermon connected with the congregation, but I do know that I was blessed by the experience. It was not necessarily "beyond the wilderness," but it was a place where the call and claim of God was powerfully present. It was a place where people respond energetically and enthusiastically to the call of God in their lives. It was a place of blessing and hope and possibility.

My hope and prayer is that every place of worship might be such a place--whether in Zimbabwe, the United States, or wherever. May they be places that are on fire but are not consumed!

Meeting Grace

My trip to Zimbabwe for a Volunteers in Mission trip began, ended, and was characterized throughout by grace. And it was not just an experience of God's grace but an actual experience of meeting Grace--on the flight from Johannesburg to Harare.

My flight to Zimbabwe went about as well as possible. It began with out of Mid-Continent Airport north of Kansas City, MO, on Wednesday, July 22 on United Airlines. I was thoroughly packed--and repacked.

In my checked luggage, I was taking a number of items for distribution in Zimbabwe--many of them contributed by members and friends of First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson, KS. One was a container of wrapped bars of soap for delivery to the Fairfield Children's Home.

Another container had over the counter medications to be delivered to the Old Mutare Mission Hospital. I had four partially deflated soccer balls (and two air pumps) for the children at the Primary School in Chitikatira. I also had a dozen or so pairs of work gloves, all of which found use at the mission work site in Zimbabwe.

I had gifts for the children at the Streamview United Methodist Church where I would share in worship on Sunday, July 26. (There were 144 gift bags, but that turned out not to be enough!) I also had things to give to my friends and family in Africa, including the host family whom I hadn't yet met. I also had three purses to give away, a "Cross and Flame" emblem for the Streamview church, and a variety of jewelry to be distributed sometime during my visit.

I also had a suitcase filled with "prayer bears" from the Hillsboro United Methodist Church to be given--somehow, sometime, and somewhere--to the pastor of the Fern Valley United Methodist Church in Zimbabwe. I had no specific plans to visit there, and no arrangements had been made in particular for me to meet the pastor.

As I began the journey, it turned out that one of my luggage items was overweight. I was already committed to taking all that I had, so I paid the fee of $200.00. The third checked bag generated another fee of $200.00, so those were perhaps the most expense "prayer bears" that the Hillsboro congregation ever distributed!

The flights all went well. The sequence was Mid Continent Airport in Kansas City, MO, to Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC. There, I changed to South African Airways, first for the flight to Johannesburg (via Dakar, Senegal). Each leg of that flight was eight hours in length, with about an hour and a half on the ground in Dakar. After arrival in Johannesburg, the last flight was from Johannesburg to Harare, again on South African Airways.

On the flight to Harare, I was in the window seat, while another member of our team was on the aisle seat. There was between us a woman flying back to Harare after a trip to the U.S. to see family. A conversation ensued, and it turned out that she and her husband operated an orphanage on the outskirts of Harare for orphaned and abandoned children. It is called the "Newstart Childrens Home."

Unknown to her, I was carrying a gift of $100 in cash that I had been sent prior to my departure. It was from a faithful United Methodist from Grenola, KS, who knew of the overall situation in Zimbabwe and had sent me this money " to use wherever [I] see the need."

The need--and opportunity--was right next to me on the flight to Harare. As we were on our descent to Harare, I gave my seatmate five $20.00 bills to help with the costs at her facility. I told her it was a gift from someone in Kansas who just wanted to help.

It was a completely unexpected gift to her--much like God's grace is for us. As we landed in Harare, she thanks me graciously for this gift and asked me to extend her appreciation to the person who had made it possible.

Oh, my seat mate's name? It was Grace. More specifically, it was Mrs. Grace Farang, who is committed to "the big task of caring for unwanted and orphaned children."

My visit to Zimbabwe truly began with Grace, and it was blessed by God's grace the entire time!

Off the Grid

One of the decisions that I made about my Volunteers in Mission trip to Zimbabwe was to go "off the grid" for the journey. I did not take a laptop computer with me, nor did I take my cell phone.
I had anticipated being able to blog while in Zimbawbe, but I actually did so only once. There are some issues about internet access there that are different than what I experience in the states.

For one thing, "dial-up" is the ordinary and routine way of connecting to the internet. It had been quite a while since I had experienced the waiting required of "dial up" access, so that was a re-learning experience. Even the "internet cafe" that I used one day was "dial up." It was priced at $1.00 for twenty minutes, but it took about ten minutes just to get to my Google home page and to begin to check e-mail messages.

Along with "dial-up," there is sometimes simply a "failure to connect" issue. There is no particular explanation or reason. You are just not able to connect to the internet at that particular time. There was no use fretting or fussing. You just waited and tried again later--sometimes the next day or the day after that.

In addition, there are random power outages that affect part or all of the city. There did not
seem to be any rhyme or reason to their occurrence. These outages were not related to storms or to anything in particular. They just happen, and you adjust to a new reality. There were at least three or four power outages, as I recall, during my time in Zimbabwe.

The ultimate reason for going "off the grid" was because I stayed with a host family rather than in a hotel. When I visited Zimbabwe in January 2007, we stayed at the Mutare Holiday Inn. That was convenient, and it offered time for taking notes. Living with a host family, however, was a much more valuable and vital experience, even though it reduced the time for any note taking or writing.

I was hosted by the Kennedy Masunda family. They live in the Fairbridge Park area of Mutare. Mr. Masunda is a local businessman, with two stores in Mutare and one under construction in Rusape. Mrs. Masunda is an active lay person (and also a Local Preacher). They have a daughter off at college in South Africa. They have two sons at home. They also have a full-time maid and a gardener. The Masunda family is active in the Streamview United Methodist Chuch, which is the partner congregation for my congregation, First United Methodist Church in Hutchinson. By Zimbabwean standards, the Masundas are relatively well off. I found them to be gracious, hospitable, understanding, and helpful.

The pattern of staying with a host family is one of the critical aspects of the Volunteers in Mission trip sponsored by CCIP-Zimbabwe and led by the Rev. Dr. Kennedy Mukwindidza. I originally had some reservations about this arrangement, but I have come to be a strong proponent.

My experience in Zimbabwe was much richer and fuller than it had been two years ago. Part of it was the opportunity to spend more time there. The other part was the opportunity to stay with a host family.

So, I was not able to blog as I had anticipated while in Zimbabwe. But I gained something far better--a friendship that blossomed and grew while I was there and one that continues to bless me now that I have returned home.

And a great deal of it had to do with going "off the grid."