Update from Zach!

I am posting an update from Zach, I have no words for what is written, it leaves me heartbroken and speechless, prayers for them is so much appreicated!

Last night we did our first feed the hunger at night
program.  One night when we were in lower Gweru it was late by the
time we were heading back to the city and when we were getting out of
the truck that drove us back we saw piles of blankets on the sidewalks
in the city.  Then when we looked closer it was kids.  Lots of kids.
We asked Phillip about it and he told us they were the street kids.
There are lots of them.  They have no home for some reason or another
and they live in the city off of what they can beg or scrape together.
They hide during the day because of the "get rid of the street
trash" campaign so you only see them at night.  After that night our
hearts went out to those kids so we were thinking of ways to help
them.  We decided that to start, so we can build a relationship with
them, and because of our limited funding we would just go and feed
them once a week.  So last night (tuesday night)  Phillip and I went
into town around 9pm with PB&Js and some water and went around looking
for the kids.  What we found was pretty sad and there were many more
people than we had food for.  When I have more time I will explain
better.
              Late this afternoon the first child we took in arrived.
His name is Prince he is 4 years old.  His Dad died a couple of years
ago and his mom remarried.  The new husband, hates Prince though and
has tried to get rid of him a couple of times.  The father has also
resorted to beating Prince, he went even so far as to break Prince's
arm once.  Prince still has pain because of it.  He has burn marks all
over his body too because of the father.  He is very reserved and on
the way here for the last day he hasn't said much of anything.  But
once he got here, Taffila (Phillip's 2 year old son) kept asking
Prince to play and dance with him and by the end of the night he had
Prince laughing so that's a good start.  Prince is also having stomach
problems, we're not sure why.  They think it might just be because he
isn't used to eating enough so now that he had enough to eat today his
tummy might hurt but we're not sure, so prayer for him would be nice.
              Well that's about all we have to update you on now.

Update from Caleb!

Wow, here I am in Texas giving you all an update from Zimbabwe! Modern technology! Below is an update from Caleb so I will let him tell you in his own words. It's so exciting to think they will be taking in their first child today and how they continue to feed others and help children become educated! Think about it....we all have a part in this if we have donated to Christ's Initiative or to Zach, Caleb, and Josh individually , how very exciting and humbling. Our God is truly an awesome God! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart, the work could not be done without your continued support and prayers.

Hello all!

I am sorry for the amount of time it has taken me to send this, I have no good excuse except that our Internet time is limited.  See it’s not a good one!
Today is my forty fifth day in Africa, so let me bring you up to date on what we have done and accomplished during our time here so far.  I hope no one expects me to have tamed a lion, because if that’s the case then you’re in for a disappointing update!

Upon arrival in Zimbabwe we ended up having to wait eleven and a half hours at the airport for our ride to pick us up.  Their car kept breaking down on the way, poor guys had been driving for most of the day, as we packed our bags into the back of the truck, Phillip (the Pastor we’re working with) smiled and said “T.I.A.” This Is Africa.  And so it is, and we’ve experienced many T.I.A moments since arriving, but those stories are for another time.
We have been very busy since getting here, although things are slowing down a bit right now; they’re going to be picking up very soon. 

For the first few weeks we had a lot of paperwork to do, it seemed every office we went to inquiring about land for our shelter, identifying children, etc. etc. etc. sent us to another office.  Offices were contradicting each other, one telling us that we needed to start operations before they’d approve us (so that we could prove our authenticity), then another telling us we couldn’t do anything until all of the paperwork was done.  Eventually we came full circle, sent to the office that Zach and Phillip had begun the entire process with two years ago.  So right now we’re “proving” ourselves by doing small things through F.O.Z (Friends of Zimbabwe, the organization on this end that Zach began).  We’ve started the “Education Empowerment Program”, in which we help provide children in need with the necessary tools to go to school.  Here in Zimbabwe you have to have note books and pencils etc. etc. before being able to go to school, they don’t provide anything for the kids it seems.  Through this program we've also assisted in paying for children to go to school, paying the fees that are required.  We’ve also been changing the dynamic of the “Feed the Hunger” program, evolving it so that we may reach more people more effectively.  

We’ve begun renting a house.  We’ve been preparing the home for the kids, getting bunk beds, some appliances, and making it livable.  We’ve spent a lot of time renovating the yard as well, making it less dangerous, tall grass and untended yards are prime real estate for deadly snakes and other critters, as well as a dumping ground for peoples trash.  It takes a lot longer to do this here; we have to cut the grass with a “slasher”, a sharpened hoe like tool, which you swing back and forth.

We have identified some kids on our own (when I say “we” this includes Zach, Phillip, Josh and myself) and are looking forward to having them move in early this week.  This first child is coming today.  

It’s all a process and sometimes it takes longer then we’d like, but all in God’s timing!  He has truly blessed us; He is good and faithful!  It’s been such a blessing to be here, and also very humbling!  I thank you all for your continued encouragement, support, prayers, and friendship; I am blessed to have such people in my life.

Thank you all and God bless!  

“Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.”
-1 Corinthians 10:24
 

Prayer Request From Zach

Below is a prayer request from Zach in his own words. It sounds like the decisions they need to make must be heartbreaking! Thank you so much for your prayer support.

 Also as it comes time to choose kids to come into the
shelter it is getting overwhelming because every where we look there
are so many kids in need and it's really hard to know who to choose
and if we should say no, to say no to some would be crazy but we don't want to take in more than
we can handle so please pray that God will show us the way and give us
a passion for it.

Josh's latest update

Josh arrived home safely and wrote the below when he got home:

Hello Friends & Family,

I am currently sitting in my apartment in Chicago for I made it home safely and luckily with no major travel hick-ups. The whole trip already seems like a bit of a blur, but I am so grateful for it. I am certainly going to miss Africa and the relationships that I have started there. I have alot to catch up on here in the States, but I can't wait to go through all of the photos. Don't worry I will be showing all of you photos, but I need some time to pick them out and do editing if needed, and figure out how I want to show them to you. I also have to develop about 10 rolls of film. I hope to also describe different stories and experiences along with each photo so that you have a better understanding and visual of what has happened over the last month. I am excited about what has already been done and what will be done in the future. 

Thank you all for your continued support! It means so much to Zach, Caleb, the locals involved with FOZ, and I for we have really felt your prayers. I thank those of you that sent me a few individual emails. I apologize for not being able to reply to them while I was in Zimbabwe. My internet was very spotty and limited. 

We have visited and identified a few orphans. We are currently confirming certain things with them and with people that know them or may have information about them. We also have some furniture, new locks, appliances, and more landscaping tools for the house. The next step is to start housing the orphans and continuing the Education Empowerment Program. 

I hope to write to you again soon and with photos next time. 

Peace & Blessings,

Josh

Here are some pictures of the trip to Victoria Falls. GodKnows and Phillip are also in the pictures with Zach, Caleb and Josh.

Ah, the sweet, sweet sound of Zach and Caleb's voices! I went to the women's fellowship gathering this afternoon. When I left at three p.m., I checked my phone. NOOOOOOOOOOOO was my first thought when I saw that the boys had called at 2:45 p.m.! I tried calling the number back but it wouldn't go through. So I called Dave and he told me to put 011 in front of the number. My phone didn't have a connection so I drove a bit further and I had a signal. So I pulled over to the side of the road and dialed. Zach answered! Yes! He sounded very good. He told me about how awesome and how much they enjoyed Victoria Falls. He said they are hoping to have children in by the end of next week. I can't tell you how nice it was to hear his voice!

I also got to talk with Caleb. He sounded good too. He said they had all lost weight because of less food and they walk everywhere. He said he shaved his beard but is keeping his mustache! As of right now he is thinking of staying until October which is what his ticket is for. He feels comfortable now in Africa, having bonded with many of the people there.

I'm not even sure what else we talked about I just know I feel so content having spoken with them! Thank you Lord!

Update from Josh

Josh is so good at putting it all down in writing that I am again letting him tell you in his own words below. It is my hope before he leaves that his detailed updates will rub off on Zach and Caleb!

Hello Everyone,

I can't believe I only have a week left. There are things and people that I miss in the States, but I would love to stay here longer and I am going to miss it. I may be able to do one more update here in country after this, but I am not sure what our schedule for the entire next week is yet, but hopefully these few words will keep you in the loop.

We have completely moved into the orphanage house and have a few things in it like kitchen-wear, curtains, beds, and landscaping tools. We have been landscaping the area a couple hours a day. It is coming along. We love having 5 guava trees and a decent garden! Its nice to have electricity even though it goes in and out, but that is common around here. It's the same with the water. It's pretty interesting to have to wash yourself with just a bucket of water. haha, T.I.A. (This Is Africa).

Our local friend and partner Pastor Phillip with his wife, Suzanna and 1.5 yr old son, Tefila will be living here and taking care of the kids along with our Friend and "faithful servant" as we like to say, named God Knows (yeah pretty cool name). Later we may have a widow named Mother Jamesa who has been really helpful and who already takes care of a few orphans help us out with the kids at the house too.

Phillip is currently traveling to South Africa to get some kitchen appliances such as a fridge and stove. We will be getting some furniture next week. We are traveling for things like this because it is much cheaper elsewhere. We are also currently dealing with people to make us bunkbeds for the orphans that will be staying.

We have already identified a few orphans, but we have a few more to identify and they probably will be moving in shortly after I leave and once we have all the furniture, hopefully by next Wednesday. This week we also helped Mother Jamesa pay for her kid to go to school. She has been struggling and was forced to move, so she didn't have any money left. So we grouped it with our "Education Empowerment Program." And like I said maybe a little later she will be living in the house or in our cottage on the property for free as she helps take care of the kids.

My digital camera is still broken, but I have been taking alot with my film camera as well. Even though the camera is finicky at times, I am really excited to see the film shots. Last week we were fortunate and was able to go to "Great Zimbabwe" which is the place where Zimbabwe got its name. It is ruins of an unkown civilization. The architecture was massive and absolutely amazing. Most everything is made out of stones placed together without any mortar whatsoever. They are absolutely solid and super tall structures on hills and flat areas. There was an altar or two and monkeys all around, and well I just can't explain it. I hope my pictures will do it a some justice even though I think its better if you could just see it in person. What is interesting is that no person or artifact has been found. It is completely deserted. They believe plunderers found it ages ago and wiped it clean, so it is really a big mystery. Some say it could be from Solomon of the Bible because of the amount of work, wisdom, and riches it would of taken to build such a place.

I am excited for tomorrow because we are waiting on a few things for the house so tomorrow we are going to Victoria Falls which is the largest waterfall in the world!

Okay, that is all for now and I hope to talk and see some of you soon when I get back. If I can do another update, I certainly will.

Love & Grace,

Josh

A storm

A few days ago I got an email from Caleb and he talked about a storm they were in. I will let him tell you in his own words:

"The weather here has been very nice, at times uncomfortably hot but the breeze has been very nice. The other day we were out playing soccer, maybe a half mile from home, when a wicked wind came and really dark clouds rolled in. We began walking back home but the wind started to get really fierce so we began to run. The wind was blowing so hard we could barely move. Although we were running as hard as we could our pace was a walking pace! It began to rain very hard and then it started to hail. It was crazy! By the time we stumbled into the house we had welts all over us and I was bleeding! Pretty crazy!"

That sounds like quite the storm! I hate the thought of them being caught in it! This is one of those times it's hard to be a Mom to missionaries, hearing of such a storm and imagining them caught out in it. I know that they are in God's hands, which does bring me comfort.