Hello all. Three months after the fact, I'm finally getting to sort through my journal covering my time in Zimbabwe...so, over the next week, I'll be posting the summaries, reflections, and ruminations from the amazing trip I had in Zimbabwe. I've edited a bit for interest and grammar, but this is mostly everything I wrote during my time there. So, without further ado, enjoy...
First Entries: 5-18-10
Well, I made the first leg. I’m currently sitting in Amsterdam’s Schiphol (pronounced Skip-Hole) airport awaiting my flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. The first flight was pretty painless for being 6 hours and 43 minutes - I was able to sleep through most of it - so I’m pretty much adjusted to Zimbabwe time now - same as Amsterdam time. It’s about 9am here, an hour and a half til take off.
God blessed me with a great row buddy for my flight - Cynthia from Vermont, a gardener turning nurse, who classifies herself as “always random, never sketchy,” and, cherry on top, Christian! She prayed for me before we landed. She hadn’t flown in 8 years - she had been all over the world, but never much liked the flying. She was headed to Rome to visit her best friend whom she hadn’t seen in decades. I held her hand during both takeoff and landing and she tugged my sweater back across me when it fell while I was sleeping (“the mom instinct,” according to Cynthia). And get this, she has a friend in Zimbabwe, who has a game park by Bulawayo--perhaps the one we’re visiting. (Post-trip remark: this was not the game park we visited.)
The Amsterdam airport is a bit like being in a giant IKEA. Everything is very sleek and modern. The signs are golden IKEA yellow, nearly everything that can be automated is--mini-victory--I successfully exchanged USD for Euros and got Starbucks for breakfast--just like home! It’s those little familiarities that have helped so far. .
Getting on the plane was a bit nuts. I was in line to go through the gate, and then they had to check my passport because I’d checked in online. After a successful passport check and descent down the loading tunnel, I realized I was missing my sweater--kind of a big deal when its the only one you brought for two and a half weeks. I got it back, after being questioned by 3 people. Then on the plane and all good.
On the plane in Amsterdam...definitely getting the international flavor--the older Spanish gentlemen seated by me, the old friends at Starbucks chatting in Dutch as one points out the schmutz on the other’s face. Beauty in simple things, not lost in translation.
Weird covers of current songs are playing on the airplane, like Kings of Leon “Use Somebody” sung much slower, just voice and piano, by a girl. Bizarre.
I’m still not really in a “God-place”--it’s been awhile since I’ve spent real time with Him apart from church. I think today on the plane will provide a lot of opportunity. I don’t really know what God has in store for me. But I pray He speaks, directs me and helps me discern.
Before I went through security at Boston, Katie and I prayed and she told me about a man who was a missionary to the US from Rwanda. He said, “I never worry about getting there, because God called me to that place. It’s the getting back that I worry about.” Needless to day, that helped me relax a bit, and it was a sweet moment with Katie.
Now, on to 10 hours and 43 minutes in the air...let’s hope I can stay awake.
Reflection on plane, whilst an hour outside of South Africa:
I’m excited to pray and hear God speak to us and the people we meet. No doubt, I’m a bit nervous and scared, but I know God’s got me in His hand-safe and empowered by the Spirit. I have to try in order to learn. Shortcomings are okay, God covers and uses them.
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