I was excited to bring Andrew to my home town, Masvingo. In some ways it hasn't changed at all in ten years and in other ways it's not at all the same place I grew up in. We drove past the homes I grew up in, and I was shocked to see how bad the roads had gotten. The pot holes are so bad that I was grateful we were in my brother's land cruiser compared to our little spacio, which would have had a hard time traveling on the poor roads. We went to Great Zimbabwe Ruins, which is the worlds 4th largest pre-historic structure. We enjoyed ourselves climbing the mountain and seeing the beautiful landscape. We were grateful to be staying with goods friends, fellow missionaries and a present board member - the only board member that lives out of the country.
Along with my excitement to show Andrew where I grew up, I was also excited to introduce him to my home church. We attended a women's fellowship event (where they invited the men as well). Karen, who we are staying with, was also the speaker. The topic was unity, and the issue addressed was the importance of unity within the church irrespective of race, which is a major issue here. The men's choir sang several beautiful hymns. It was a joy to to introduce Andrew to several church members and people who have watched me grow up.
The following day we attended church and Andrew met some more folks I knew. I also met my name sake - Yolanda, who is 11 years old now. It was amazing to see how many of the toddlers and young children had grown up to be in either middle school or teenagers.
Things are ridiculously expensive here. In the capital you can get pretty much anything you want, but you have to pay astronomical prices for them. The cost of living is 3 times more expensive here than in the US. Money doesn't go very far here, and some days when we look in our purses we wonder what we spent it on. The high cost of living and the low salares make for either very poor people or barely those making ends meet.
We have gotten several other things accomplished this week so far, but of course things move a lot slower and do not get accomplished quite as fast as we would like. God is teaching us patience. We were happy to find out that we would not need to get international driver's licenses, which will save us $100. On Wednesday, we got a new ID for me, something I was required to do. It was a full day's process - neither of us were excited about the long lines and unnecessary waiting.
Our plans for the end of the month might change due to presidential elections. We can't say much else concerning that, but please keep us in your prayers.
Our plans for the end of the month might change due to presidential elections. We can't say much else concerning that, but please keep us in your prayers.
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