Last month, we mentioned in a blog that we are leaving to go back to Zimbabwe the second week of May, and that time is now upon us! We fly out of Chicago this Wednesday (5/13). Just as the 6 months in Zim flew by, so did our 6 months in the U.S.!
Let's back up first. The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. Yolanda has been living in the library. She has been working so hard to finish her last class. Much of her work is translating and analyzing different portions of the Bible, from both Hebrew and Greek. Her countless hours are going to pay off, as she will be done today! It will be very exciting to have her degree completed. Quite an accomplishment (I say as her husband)!
Yolanda here ;-) Andrew was about to write down what he had been doing and he looked at me with a blank stare asking me what exactly that was? I had a good chuckle explaining to him how much he has been doing and gotten done (because he has); however, when one is used to a 9 to 5 job, ministry looks a lot different. Our schedule is more fluid and yet not any less busy. I remember a few months back when we first arrived back in the US, someone was surprised to hear how long back we would be. They then said, "Wow, what a nice long break you guys will get." Andrew and I looked at each other and smiled, clearly this person had no idea what furlough entailed. Of course we had scheduled in several "mini' breaks, and yet some how very few of them ever took place. With fluidity comes a necessity of flexibility as planned schedules constantly go out the back door and one must be ready to change at the drop of a hat. Again, these are not complaints, just mere realizations of the missionary life. Andrew has done such an amazing job picking up the slack when it comes to ministry, these last few weeks. Since I've had my nose in books and needed to give a big push during this last stretch, due to getting behind (due to ministry), Andrew really took on both our loads so I could just focus full-time on getting done 7 research papers, dozens of pages of reading and an exam, all in just in 13 days. He has been so encouraging through this whole process as I really wanted to give my best as I finished up my years of education. Andrew has been running all the errands, sending out all the thank you notes and getting receipts done, budgeting and re-budgeting as we look forward to a new assignment in Zim and keeping you guys updated in the process. He also has been the one taking care of all the paperwork related to all the legal red tape for visas, green card etc., which has been a huge load off of my shoulders. Andrew has become such an integral part of JM2Z and I am so grateful God knew best when he brought him into my life, not just as a life partner but as a ministry partner as well. JM2Z has surely benefitted from having two completely opposite people make decisions, do the planning, set goals and accomplish tasks. Our polar opposite personalities has resulted in a more well rounded ministry because we make up for each other's weaknesses and we carry the workload together. I have no doubt that a single person can be just as successful in missions/ministry but I sure am glad that my journey involves the support and partnership of another. I'll pass you back to Andrew now ;-)
Let's back up first. The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind. Yolanda has been living in the library. She has been working so hard to finish her last class. Much of her work is translating and analyzing different portions of the Bible, from both Hebrew and Greek. Her countless hours are going to pay off, as she will be done today! It will be very exciting to have her degree completed. Quite an accomplishment (I say as her husband)!
Yolanda here ;-) Andrew was about to write down what he had been doing and he looked at me with a blank stare asking me what exactly that was? I had a good chuckle explaining to him how much he has been doing and gotten done (because he has); however, when one is used to a 9 to 5 job, ministry looks a lot different. Our schedule is more fluid and yet not any less busy. I remember a few months back when we first arrived back in the US, someone was surprised to hear how long back we would be. They then said, "Wow, what a nice long break you guys will get." Andrew and I looked at each other and smiled, clearly this person had no idea what furlough entailed. Of course we had scheduled in several "mini' breaks, and yet some how very few of them ever took place. With fluidity comes a necessity of flexibility as planned schedules constantly go out the back door and one must be ready to change at the drop of a hat. Again, these are not complaints, just mere realizations of the missionary life. Andrew has done such an amazing job picking up the slack when it comes to ministry, these last few weeks. Since I've had my nose in books and needed to give a big push during this last stretch, due to getting behind (due to ministry), Andrew really took on both our loads so I could just focus full-time on getting done 7 research papers, dozens of pages of reading and an exam, all in just in 13 days. He has been so encouraging through this whole process as I really wanted to give my best as I finished up my years of education. Andrew has been running all the errands, sending out all the thank you notes and getting receipts done, budgeting and re-budgeting as we look forward to a new assignment in Zim and keeping you guys updated in the process. He also has been the one taking care of all the paperwork related to all the legal red tape for visas, green card etc., which has been a huge load off of my shoulders. Andrew has become such an integral part of JM2Z and I am so grateful God knew best when he brought him into my life, not just as a life partner but as a ministry partner as well. JM2Z has surely benefitted from having two completely opposite people make decisions, do the planning, set goals and accomplish tasks. Our polar opposite personalities has resulted in a more well rounded ministry because we make up for each other's weaknesses and we carry the workload together. I have no doubt that a single person can be just as successful in missions/ministry but I sure am glad that my journey involves the support and partnership of another. I'll pass you back to Andrew now ;-)
A short version of our to do lists Schedule
So what does our foreseeable future look like?
Goals
What will we be doing during this assignment?
So what does our foreseeable future look like?
- May 13 - Fly from Chicago to London
- May 14-24 - Spend time in England with Yolanda's mother as we catch our breath before arriving in Zim
- May 25 - Land in Zimbabwe
- May 26-June 2 - Debrief with Janeece and thank her profusely for doing an amazing job for us these last 6 months
- June 3 - Janeece flies home to Indiana
- Early April, 2016 - Return to U.S. for about 3 months
Goals
What will we be doing during this assignment?
- Continuing consistent Shona tutoring lessons 3 days each week and studying every day
- Cultivate and grow relationships in the urban community that we made last year, and develop new relationships
- Continue to improve the security of the house/ministry base (i.e. raising the height of the outer wall, etc.)
- Depending upon the political climate, we plan to engage in making rural relationships. If at any point this is not an option, we will continue to foster the new relationships built with the women's small groups that Yolanda attended last year. Therefore, the goal would be to get more involved in that arena.
- Plan a trip to South Africa in order to purchase our first shipment of Shona Bibles.
Thoughts
I (Andrew) have been asked how I am feeling about living in Zimbabwe for my longest period so far (1 year). How am I feeling about it? What am I thinking at the moment? My answer is that I feel that we are returning to a very familiar place. Zimbabwe, Chinhoyi (our town), and our house are very familiar surroundings at this point. In some respects, it doesn't seem nearly as far away as it did 3 years ago. We will finally be able to put our pictures on the walls and unpack all the boxes we took last year. Due to the construction projects, we never completely unpacked. We also won't have to live out of suitcases. All of that makes it feel like our house (even though we are renting). That being said, these months in the U.S. have allowed me to realize things that I enjoy or take for granted living here. The following is a list of things I either did or did not experience the past 6 months while living in the U.S. as compared to life in Zimbabwe:
I (Andrew) have been asked how I am feeling about living in Zimbabwe for my longest period so far (1 year). How am I feeling about it? What am I thinking at the moment? My answer is that I feel that we are returning to a very familiar place. Zimbabwe, Chinhoyi (our town), and our house are very familiar surroundings at this point. In some respects, it doesn't seem nearly as far away as it did 3 years ago. We will finally be able to put our pictures on the walls and unpack all the boxes we took last year. Due to the construction projects, we never completely unpacked. We also won't have to live out of suitcases. All of that makes it feel like our house (even though we are renting). That being said, these months in the U.S. have allowed me to realize things that I enjoy or take for granted living here. The following is a list of things I either did or did not experience the past 6 months while living in the U.S. as compared to life in Zimbabwe:
- The electricity never went out.
- I didn't have to take a malaria pill daily
- I only needed to carry one house key (compared to 15)
- I never drove through a police road block
- I never had to put a lock on the steering wheel when parking my car
- I never had to look through bars when I looked out a window
- I never had to carry cash
- If I needed to purchase something, I could search online to see which store had the best deal and where it was, or I could just have it shipped straight to me
- I never felt the need to look out the window at night when I heard a sound
- I could use coupons
- Any candle lit dinners we had were for romance, not out of necessity for light
- I could always drink the water
- There was no need to dust the furniture every day
- No one ever offered me better service for a bribe
- The temperature inside every building was controlled by a thermostat, not the weather
- I never had to take a bath (I am not a bath person), as opposed to a shower
- I didn't have to wait for someone to pump my gas. I could just do it myself.
- I didn't have sticker shock every time I saw a price tag (prices in Zim being 3 times more expensive than the U.S.)
Praises:
- We literally just SOLD our car (Andrew's car that he always had. We leant it to friends during the 6 months we were gone last year)
- I (Yolanda) finished my exam early hours of this morning (also a research paper) so I am officially done! We will be in the UK when my graduation will technically be taking place (May 16th).
- Two weekends ago we were able to make a weekend trip to Lincoln, IL to visit several friends who we haven't seen in awhile and some who we hadn't seen in 2 yrs (since we left Lincoln)
- This past weekend we were able to see Andrew's sister and grandpa one last time before leaving. It was an unexpected visit and my in-laws covered all our expenses
Prayer Requests:
- In the next 48 hrs, we expect to get very little sleep. Please pray for times of rest for our minds to be alert. Pray that we do not forget to pack anything or leave anything behind here at the house
- Pray for smooth travels as we fly, have layovers and commute between 3 continents once again
- Pray for our emotions, and especially for our family and friends as we leave for a year
- Pray for our bodies as we struggle with jetlag, lack of sleep, and stress in general
- Pray for rest and relaxation while in England and a good visit with my (Yolanda) family; as well as renewed energy when we finally get to Zim
- Pray for all our supporters and their continued commitment to partner with us throughout this year
- We literally just SOLD our car (Andrew's car that he always had. We leant it to friends during the 6 months we were gone last year)
- I (Yolanda) finished my exam early hours of this morning (also a research paper) so I am officially done! We will be in the UK when my graduation will technically be taking place (May 16th).
- Two weekends ago we were able to make a weekend trip to Lincoln, IL to visit several friends who we haven't seen in awhile and some who we hadn't seen in 2 yrs (since we left Lincoln)
- This past weekend we were able to see Andrew's sister and grandpa one last time before leaving. It was an unexpected visit and my in-laws covered all our expenses
Prayer Requests:
- In the next 48 hrs, we expect to get very little sleep. Please pray for times of rest for our minds to be alert. Pray that we do not forget to pack anything or leave anything behind here at the house
- Pray for smooth travels as we fly, have layovers and commute between 3 continents once again
- Pray for our emotions, and especially for our family and friends as we leave for a year
- Pray for our bodies as we struggle with jetlag, lack of sleep, and stress in general
- Pray for rest and relaxation while in England and a good visit with my (Yolanda) family; as well as renewed energy when we finally get to Zim
- Pray for all our supporters and their continued commitment to partner with us throughout this year
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