Outreach

The last two weeks I've been off with my team on an outreach to Ebenezer Agricultural Training Centre. If you remember from previous updates, I was supposed to be going to Mozambique, but due to some travel issues we ended up just going here instead, and I'm so glad we did. It's located about an hour from Bulawayo, Zim. In a nutshell, it's an agricultural college with a two year program that trains apprentices in not just agriculture, but also business and other life skills. It was an absolutely beautiful place with a passion that reminded me a lot of home. No, I'm not from a farm, but I do love mentoring and working with students that are in the same age range as the apprentices there.

We pretty much spent our days helping in the fields and talking with apprentices so that we could here some of their stories. We ate sadza morning noon and night, led some classes/Bible studies, and played soccer, volleyball, cards, etc. We also got to attend and share in the local churches here. It was so fun and encouraging to sit in on the dance party that is worship and see the genuine love for God come out through all that was said and sung.

If you've ever traveled internationally with me, you know how frustrated I get with language barriers. As great as it was to be in this type of familiar environment of training young people, it was also extra frustrating that I couldn't just go and talk to anyone and connect with them on a deeper level. Please be praying for me as I try to learn a couple languages and be more bold with forming relationships.

Perhaps I'm just tired and getting overly sentimental, but it has been so good to be here. Every new and crazy thing I come across is an incredible adventure just waiting to happen. I love finding giant snails, running into donkeys and cows on trails through the middle of nowhere, standing in the rain, being lulled to sleep in a tent by the sound of a wild pig... pray that I never lose the joy and wonder of exploring the world God has made and meeting His people.

Please sign up for my email updates if you want to hear more stories. I'll be sending something out in a couple days. To wrap things, up, here's some random stuff I learned.

Learning Points:

• True joy is from the Lord. Not from where you are, who you're with, or what you have.
• Blisters heal in approximately 2 days.
• When blisters break open they don't heal in approximately 2 days.
• Throwing rotten tomatoes at people is exactly as fun as it looks on TV.