Chegutu Chapter

 This sign is rather insulting to my kiddos, don't you think?  : - ) 

 Zimbabwe has some beautiful flowers and gardens. 

 I think of Aunt Grace when I post a flower picture.  She loves photographing flowers and  makes cards from her pictures. 

 But in this picture we're thinking of cousin James, who will get a jolly out of seeing what Evangel had to do to get her computer plugged in.  It took 2 converters and a teapot to balance it. 

 Chegutu Baptist Church was a Zimbabwe highlight.  I am not the greatest at taking pictures at places where we go, but we were here for a week, so I felt free to bring the camera once or twice. 

 The kids' class enjoyed being in a picture.  I didn't learn too many names.  I'd ask, get boggled, and forget the Shona ones, and wasn't terribly much better with the ones with English names. 

 

I'd like to write a whole blog entry on "Translator Troubles".  He had to have one almost every time  he preached in Zimbabwe.  One translated word that caught our attention was "cheapo" in Shona.  I'm not sure how you spell it, but that's what it sounds like, and is the word for "free gift".  It would sound a little funny to hear that Christ's free gift of salvation was "cheapo" to the translators. 

 

 We found an old airplane hiding in the elephant grass!  It had been made into a  restaurant actually, but that was long ago.  Now it's just a wreck in the grass, but still cool to find out in the middle of Chegutu which is far from any large airport. 

 

 Esther is a friend I made at Greenways, the nursing home where we slept, would be my favourite souvenir to take home from Zimbabwe.  She's a sweetie.  Her English was skimpy, but we communicated quite well anyway as she's really expressive.   

 Evangel and I had some kids classes outside under a tree.  Evangel was ready with a bead craft which the kids really enjoyed. 

 My hair was having a life of its own that day.  Maybe that was why people kept staring at me.   

 Paul finished preaching before we finished crafting, so he pitched in to help out.  He passed out cookies to the kiddos.   

 Oops, this is in Gweru, not Chegutu, but still, if I have finally managed to upload something, it stays.  I took the kids to a military museum in Gweru, which the boys LOVED!  They got to climb all over ancient airplanes, sitting in the cockpit of a bi-plane, and even in a spitfire.  "This is so cool!" was what I heard over and over again. 

 

You may wonder why I'm not sticking in pictures of all these wonderful planes.  Well, the museum officials charged 50 cents for each picture taken!  That's $1.00  for every two pictures!  No thank you.  Instead, we took a picture outside, of that Russian tank (my boys tell me) from the street, for free. 

Another church in Chegutu, this brave translator was called out of the audience to try to grasp that American accent and render the same meaning into Shona.  You have to admire them because it was quite a stretch for them. 

 

I wish I could tell you how many people were brought to the Lord in these places.  I don't know.  Sometimes it's years later before we know.  While we've been in Zim, Paul received a letter from Miami, Florida, a real bit of encouragement in a tough time, telling us of the director of a school who was saved as a young girl when Paul preached there in 1993!  She wants Paul to come speak to the children in the school where she works now.  It's so good when we can know, but we're not counting hands, though thankful for the many who say they are choosing the narrow way.  The Lord knows them that are His.