welcome to zimbabwe: April 2006

Tonight at dinner my dad was trying to draw Africa. So this one's for you, dad, and all you curious folk and visual learners.. Zimbabwe is the dark orange country above [the green] South Africa. :)

My home congregation, Christ's American Baptist Church, is amazing. They have blessed me so much with their support and interest in this mission, and God has proven faithful once again in this endeavor. So I just want to thank all of my CABC'ers especially for how they received me and blessed me as I shared this morning and was commissioned.

also as a disclaimer- I also would not be going on this mission if it weren't for Rachel Sweigard. :)

One week to go, and I feel His blessing on this trip more and more as the time draws closer. We can't believe how far this mission and vision has deepened since ten months ago. Meg reminded me of a story of when we were both sitting at camp, doing our Early Arrival duty that week. We were both talking about the possibility of going to Zimbabwe with the Bells. John had recently extended the invitation, saying they'd love to have us. There were other people interested at the time, too. But as Meg and I were sitting there waiting for the eager little campers to arrive to Camp Sunshine, I think we felt the most eagerness as this idea began to emerge... and we just looked at each other, said "Okay, let's go to Zim!" and laughed.

Well, folks, we're going. Who'd have thought?

"A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps." -Proverbs 16:9.

Peace.

It's almost time! Please PRAY :)

Meg and I are getting so excited...and so ready... today we had a brief meeting at Meg's house in Easton with John Bell, who drove from New Jersey to hand over some luggage for us to take back to Zim for the family, and to give us a lot of other information regarding what we will be doing exactly.

More on that later... time for Global Night Commute..! [www.invisiblechildren.com]

Reality in Zim

A girl looks from a broken window at the Just Children Foundation for orphans in Harare. Photograph: AP

State of decline

20 minutes: Frequency that a child dies of Aids and another is orphaned, according to the United Nations children's agency, Unicef, which estimates that 1.6 million children, almost one in three, are orphans.

3,000: Number of people estimated to die of Aids-related illnesses each week, despite an apparent slight decline recently in the HIV rate.

4.3 million: Number of people receiving food aid after several poor harvests blamed on drought and chaotic land reform.

34: Average life expectancy for women - the lowest in the world. For men it is 37, according to the World Health Organisation. The government says the figures are exaggerated.

3.5 million: Number of Zimbabweans said to have emigrated, mostly to South Africa, Botswana and Britain.

Two weeks from today, we will be flying to Zim. I don't really know what to expect, and right now it's hard to see any reality other than giving presentations and finishing finals before we leave. Besides the consideration that I have four finals in two days, I'm also calculating a million other things in my head... from the hours on the plane, to the number of socks i'll need to pack, to the days i'll have to be with my family before i go, to the money i still need to get there, to the awful statistics such as these listed, to the amount of apparent need in Zim. I cannot wait to be reunited with the Bells, learn more about what I can do and what we'll be doing for the month, and discover what God sees when He looks at the heart of Zimbabwe. What does God have to say about the situation? Where will we find justice? Will we be able to do what we are called to do?

please lift zimbabwe in your prayers tonight.

A Bell Farewell

April 09--
Meg and I travelled to New Jersey to bid the Bell family a farewell and safe trip back to Zimbabwe. They leave tonight, April 10. It was exciting to say "see you there." :)

Here are the Bell kids plus some (Kristina, Meg, and me). Besides Kristina, who will be with us in spirit only, these will be our brothers and sisters for a month.

beauty...

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must take it with us or we find it not."

"And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'" - Matthew 25:40

Gateway Primary School

One of the places Meg and I will have a chance to serve is at Gateway Primary School with Headmaster Kevin Ricquebourg. The school is a Christian school in Harare (from which the Bell children have graduated!). The school opens for its second term of the year on May 9, a day before our arrival. The areas in which we have the opportunities to be involved include: Remedial dept, Music dept, Phys ed dept, Art dept, Computer dept, Infants dept, and Junior dept - the latter two involve being in a regular classroom as a teacher's assistant, according to Mr. Ricquebourg. "In addition to the above we would make use of you in the afternoons assisting in the coaching of team games such as netball, volleyball or hockey." (How exciting!)

Please begin to pray for this area - for this school, for the leadership and students attending, for the school year and
academics and for the relationships that will be formed.
We will also probably experience other schools, public as opposed to private, to get a taste for the differences. Please pray for those possibilities as well!

This is just one area in which we know for sure we'll be volunteering. As other information becomes available, especially in involvement with Central Baptist's ongoing ministries, we will keep you informed. Thanks for tuning in! God bless.

Central Baptist Church

central baptist - harare, zimbabwe.

This is the church we will be partnering with in various ministries;
led by Pastor John Bell and Pastor Asafa Makan'a.

The Bell Family:

Rebekah, Josh, John, Miriam, Rachel, and Jed

Teammates!

Meg Schetelich & Ashley Kern
Juniors at Eastern University, studying education and the teaching of languages, each with a desire to go abroad, live a life of service, and change the world.