Baobab Beauties

 We are safely back in Cape Town now, but having fond memories of our Zimbabwe days.  As we were leaving, we had to stop to get our picture taken with an immense baobab tree.  We thought this was a good one,

 until we saw this one!  Doesn't this make you want to build a big ol' tree house?  Like Swiss Family Robinson!  And for Zimbabwe, this isn't even a record breaker, it was just a convenient, right by the road, big Baobab Tree. 

These marvels look a bit like they're upside down, with the roots in the air, particularly right now, as they didn't have much in the way of leaves in the autumn months.  I just read on Wikipedia that South Africa has the 2 stoutest trees in the world, both baobabs, in the Limpopo province, one with a diameter of 52 ft!  Our specimen in picture might be considered two together, I don't know, but it makes me hum that song, about the dry bones, that says,

                            

                                           "See the works of the Lord!"

 

 

They stand out in the crowd

We met the kindest people in Zimbabwe.  In several cases, it felt like people were trying to get us.  They wanted our money, they trapped us, they fined us, they begged from us or pressured us.  So when we met Lena and Bertie, their Christian kindness really stood out to us.  They live on a farm that their grandparents pioneered, taking it from wilderness to this state of gorgeous beauty. 

 There's our car with my birthday present that we towed.  The bright stickers are required by the government.  We were parked just to the left of their house.  I thought it looked like a landscapers dream come true. 

 Their grandparents lined the driveway with trees.  This family has been driven from their home 7 times so far.  Their employees tell them when it is safe to come back. 

 Their parents and grandparents are buried on the land.  Right now they employ 250 people. When these farms are taken over, all those 250 will lose their jobs, and the land will not produce any more whereas now they produce enough to export. 

 

You might think it's all about money, but Bertie says no, it's power.  They'd rather be in charge, and see their people starving then have the prosperity and not have control. 

 

About the money, we did think it was curious that Zimbabwe has and uses so many $2.00 bills.  We tended to do the American thing, collect them, but they wear them right out as you can maybe tell by this picture. 

 

 

But God is in control.  He has His reasons for the ones He puts in power.  He often uses oppressive governments to help people turn from sin and back to God.  We spend our lives helping people turn from sin to Jesus.  One nice side effect is that when enough people turn back to God, He will heal their land.  When Israel had suffered 70 years of captivity and finally turned back to God, He turned the Gentile king who still controlled them to favour them (Ezra 6:22 & 7:27,28).

From old age home to age old home

This is a special group, part of the group Paul preached to,  and people who became dear to us as we stayed.   Dezy, the man who was the fastest sprinter in Rhodesia, is the man on the left. 

 

 When we said our goodbyes to them, we went to Masvingo, to the Great Zimbabwe, as it's called. There are extensive ruins there you can hike around in, and cliff dwellings you can climb up inside.  It was very fun.   

 You have to watch out for falling rocks!  These ruins are not stuck together with cement or anything, just rocks balanced on each other. 

 My Dad always likes pictures of signs and maps, so like father like daughter. This gives a glimpse of how extensive these ruins are.  It was supposed to house 2500 people in the 1400's so it's not small.  This is the second largest ruins in Africa, second only to the pyramids, which was why I thought it important we take the kids to see it. 

Chinhoyi Caves

 One day in Zimbabwe, Paul wasn't preaching anywhere, so we seized the opportunity to go explore some caves not too from our nursing home accommodation.  It was so unique.  We were let loose, with no guide at all, to descend some steep steps into the earth.  We could see light ahead though, so wondered what we would find. 

 We had heard there was water in it, but enough to scuba dive in?!?! 

 Yes!  The water there is at least 315 feet deep, and a startling shade of blue.  It was awesome.  Timmy thought the great acoustics deserved a song so he started up his bass rumble, and we enjoyed the echoes.

 Joshua's camera can take underwater pictures and his caught the blueness of the water, whereas mine just looks black. 

 To get to the water, we climbed down a long tunnel completely through rock, and then came out at the water's edge.  We could look up and see the sky overhead, and caves in front of us, full of water and with bats squeaking from deeper inside. 

  

I found it a hard place to capture on film so just stick The Blue Grotto of Zimbabwe on your bucket list to go see, and you'll understand. 

 

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."

Psalms 24:1

 

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God."

Psalms 90:2 

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.