Rise and shine! Time to break my overnight fast. We head to the hotel restaurant, joined by other delegates. Ever heard of sadza? It is a cooked cornmeal that is the staple food of Zimbabwe and usually made from white maize. And yes this was the first of many times we would eat sadza while visiting Zimbabwe. This morning we had sadza with bacon, eggs, beans and some fruit of choice. Today we are going in the field ministry with an English congregation – Good Hope English.

As our bus is arriving to the Kingdom Hall, the brothers and sisters are in the parking lot arranged as a choir, waving and singing Kingdom Melodies. The young children are smiling, laughing and waving. After we are all out of the bus, we rush to our Zimbabwean brothers, hugging and greeting each other. I start realizing just how far I am away from home. Yet, I’m embracing strangers knowing that they have the same hope, way of life and beliefs as I do. Everything starts going in slo-mo like a dramatic movie scene. It was like two waves of people clapping together. This interchange goes on for a while and we then meet for service. The junior and senior choirs have me in awe. Just as the senior choir, the junior choir of young kids sing praise in Shona or English and without using the songbook. We receive instruction as to what will be our agenda for the day and some words of encouragement before being divided into groups.

The area we will preach in is a short drive away. Upon arriving, we talk to some boys that are selling candy, fruit and vegetables. Very humble, ambitious also.

So we begin our door-to-door ministry, which I should more appropriately say is gate-to-gate. We meet a few that greet us in Shona and the brother I am working with speaks to them. I also get to preach as we find some English-speaking. We spend a while at one house conversing about the Bible, life in Zimbabwe, life in America and what these gentleman have experienced with many preachers. I invite him to the International Convention, stating that he won’t see anyone trying to advance themselves monetarily to someone else’s  detriment. As we leave, he says, “I’ll try to attend.”

We find our group and it is time to return to the Kingdom Hall to hear about everyone’s encouraging experiences. Little do I know that I will be asked to give my experience. I was surprised that I was chosen but the friends there enjoyed listening to what happened. (I also didn’t find out till later that Vaughn was videotaping me…smh.) I can only upload pics, no vids…sorry. 😉

After a wonderfully provided lunch cooked by members of the congregation, Christian fellowship, joking, laughing…we enjoy more choir singing. Our day with Good Hope is coming to an end and we really do not want to leave. One of the brothers at Good Hope is also a hospitality overseer at our hotel. He invites Vaughn and I on a city tour and to visit some of his family at his home. Of course, we say yes. So as our bus is leaving with our fellow delegates, we join Good Hope and wave goodbye to the bus. It was funny watching them think we were getting left behind. 🙂 The day isn’t over. We have a gathering at the Rainbow?