Out of Africa 2007
The bonus in going to Zimbabwe to teach is that en route I am able to visit my Mum and sisters Joan and Patsy in South Africa. Patsy and her husband have a plot on the outskirts of the emerging town of Emelahleni (formerly Witbank). The two weeks I spent in Zimbabwe were sandwiched between very pleasant family holiday stints.
Almost every morning I was woken early by the squeaky-springs sound of guinea fowl puttering around in the yard and would lay snuggled up in bed watching the sunrise over the low lying hills.
The first Sunday, I preached at Shalom, the wonderfully mission-minded church Joan attends. Shalom’s pastor, Jen, does mission trips to Russia and had a strong orientation in support of Israel.
One of my goals in South Africa was to teach my sisters some basic quilting techniques. Before I left, I managed to complete a quilt for Mum, made from many of the fabric remnants she has collected over the years sporting African animals and themes. It was very satisfying.
Although officially retired, Patsy is currently teaching art at a local high school while the regular teacher is on accouchement leave. The theme this term is Art and Culture, and one component involved music. In an unguarded moment I agreed to teach that session for Patsy, confident I could draw on my experience as a violin teacher.
Well! What can I say?! Absolutely nothing in my past prepared me for 25 teenagers all talking at once. Imagine what happened when we handed out percussion instruments and I taught them to beat out syncopated rhythms! Do you remember the scene from Kindergarten Cop where Arnold Schwartzeneger lays on the floor and says “They’re haw-rrible!”? Wee-e-ll! I didn’t actually assume that position, but they were my sentiments. Patsy assured me the classes were well within normal bounds and in fact were quite well-behaved. My respect for teachers who do this full-time quadrupled!
The absolute highlight of my South African visit was going to the show The Lion King in Jo’burg, with a cast as well as the chorus of people born in Africa. Tremendous! In the Broadway version, the hyenas sounded like Brooklyn Jews. In contrast, they sported Cape Town accents in the Jo’burg production, and were a huge hit!
Zimbabwean Interlude
The impact of returning to the country of one’s birth after many years’ absence is intense. Finding words to articulate the emotional effect to those who may never have left Australia, (except perhaps for a brief foray to Bali or Phuket) is difficult. People born in Africa, who have become pilgrims in the world at large, will tell you that Africa gets into your blood and your heart-beat thrums ever after with a continuing echo of belonging. As my aircraft flew over the Limpopo River into Zimbabwean airspace and I looked out at the land below, my chest tightened and my eyes burned with tears… a mixture of nostalgia and sorrow for the great suffering there.
My first objective was to make contact with the elderly man who had worked for my Mother for 40 years and also for my Grandmother a few years before that! He shed tears when we began to reminisce. He doesn’t know his age, but said he could remember me before I started school. That means he’s old!! Over 80, I should think! The gift he specially requested was a blanket. The soft fluffy one I chose sported African animals and it filled my suitcase. He cooked me a special lunch of macaroni cheese in the way he used to when I was little. It was down memory lane for us both.
So many of my contacts for overseas teaching assignments have come through students I have taught at Garden City College of Ministries. Ruvimbo-with-the-stunning-smile studied Old Testament with me for a year. Subsequently I met her mother, Susan, when she travelled to Brisbane for Ru’s graduation. We had instant rapport and I knew I had connected with a true friend. Don’t you feel blessed by God when that happens? I wasn’t wrong, because Susan proved to be a treasure. She took leave from work to accompany me around Harare, cosseted me, fed me up, gave up her double bed for me and slept on a mattress in the lounge.
In particular, Susan taught me to eat with my fingers, so that I would be prepared for our trip to the rural town of Murewa. She never openly remarked, but I often felt I had sadza (maize porridge) everywhere from my right elbow to my left eyebrow. I think I made good progress, really, for by the time I left Zim, I had achieved the level of a 2-year old local. Not bad in only two weeks! The man who had been supplied with petrol and paid to drive us to Murewa “shot through” (as we say in Australia!) After several hours of aimlessly waiting to be collected, Plan B was to make contact with the driver of a truck belonging to Ru’s dad, which happened to be in Harare delivering goods. Taking a prime mover as a mode of transport was a first for me! We made it to Murewa around 3pm. Despite multiple Police road blocks, we were actually stopped only at the last one, just a few km from our destination. Our driver produced his trump card: “I have been sent to collect a visitor from Australia and “they” are waiting for her.” It worked! We were waved through without further ado.
Susan also helped me organise transport – no mean feat in a country strapped for fuel. We had over two days without electricity and she had to cook meals over a wood fire in the back yard. The combination of cold morning and evening air plus the smoke exacerbated her asthma dramatically, which I found awfully difficult to bear. It hit so close to home, and I lay in bed and wept for her as I listened to her labour for breath over the next few nights until the bronchodilators from the chemist kicked in. The only pleasant aspect to having no electricity was eating together by candlelight, while listening to music on my MP3 player. I heard this week that the power situation in Zim has worsened, and the whole country is largely without electricity except for the odd hour here or there. Industry is grinding to a halt. People are literally sleeping at their work place to take advantage of the power whenever it might be available. Please pray for this sad country and especially for Susan’s asthmatic condition under such circumstances. Already, in desperation, people are chopping down trees for fuel. What options do they have? The gospel has never lost its power to raise the hopes and faith of ordinary people. Amazingly, many in Zimbabwe are discovering this afresh.
I managed a modest amount of preaching in Harare and the first occasion was at Susan’s church (Apostolic Faith Mission). There I discovered her Pastor, Claudio, had studied at Harvest in Melbourne and knows Ian Grant and Rod Buckingham. I said I had taught in Zambia for Moffat Zimba, who had also trained in Australia. Claudio was delighted! Moffat was his good friend but they had lost contact, so a couple of SMSs to Peter and we were able to act as go-betweens to re-establish the connection.
The night before I left, I was scheduled to speak at a Prayer Meeting held out at Epworth, a village on the outskirts of Harare. We were late arriving and it was already dark, so as we slipped into our seats, I took stock. The Zimbabweans I connected with so far all had an extremely high level of English, but this was the only time I needed an interpreter as a small number of these rural people were not so fluent. I began to doubt myself, whether the message I had prepared would be too academic, too long, etcetera –even though when I wrote it, I did know it was for Zimbabwe. I shouldn’t have worried! The Lord had it in hand! Within minutes of beginning to speak, the audience responded warm-heartedly and we flowed along together interacting with a great deal of humour. I loved it! If only it could always be like that!
I was really in Harare to teach and did so at two Bible Colleges – AFM on the city outskirts near Warren Hills and AOG in the town centre, opposite the park in the old Rainbow Theatre. Principal Andrew, and Academic Dean Leonard, were exceptional in their support and particularly in helping with transport. Andrew’s up-beat personality made him very easy to work with. Unexpectedly, it was very affirming to discover that my visit coincided with the absence of the OT lecturer, so I was able to fill a genuine need. I am truly looking forward – if at all possible - to returning in 2008 to teach an intensive.
The bonus in going to Zimbabwe to teach is that en route I am able to visit my Mum and sisters Joan and Patsy in South Africa. Patsy and her husband have a plot on the outskirts of the emerging town of Emelahleni (formerly Witbank). The two weeks I spent in Zimbabwe were sandwiched between very pleasant family holiday stints.
Almost every morning I was woken early by the squeaky-springs sound of guinea fowl puttering around in the yard and would lay snuggled up in bed watching the sunrise over the low lying hills.
The first Sunday, I preached at Shalom, the wonderfully mission-minded church Joan attends. Shalom’s pastor, Jen, does mission trips to Russia and had a strong orientation in support of Israel.
One of my goals in South Africa was to teach my sisters some basic quilting techniques. Before I left, I managed to complete a quilt for Mum, made from many of the fabric remnants she has collected over the years sporting African animals and themes. It was very satisfying.
Although officially retired, Patsy is currently teaching art at a local high school while the regular teacher is on accouchement leave. The theme this term is Art and Culture, and one component involved music. In an unguarded moment I agreed to teach that session for Patsy, confident I could draw on my experience as a violin teacher.
Well! What can I say?! Absolutely nothing in my past prepared me for 25 teenagers all talking at once. Imagine what happened when we handed out percussion instruments and I taught them to beat out syncopated rhythms! Do you remember the scene from Kindergarten Cop where Arnold Schwartzeneger lays on the floor and says “They’re haw-rrible!”? Wee-e-ll! I didn’t actually assume that position, but they were my sentiments. Patsy assured me the classes were well within normal bounds and in fact were quite well-behaved. My respect for teachers who do this full-time quadrupled!
The absolute highlight of my South African visit was going to the show The Lion King in Jo’burg, with a cast as well as the chorus of people born in Africa. Tremendous! In the Broadway version, the hyenas sounded like Brooklyn Jews. In contrast, they sported Cape Town accents in the Jo’burg production, and were a huge hit!
Zimbabwean Interlude
The impact of returning to the country of one’s birth after many years’ absence is intense. Finding words to articulate the emotional effect to those who may never have left Australia, (except perhaps for a brief foray to Bali or Phuket) is difficult. People born in Africa, who have become pilgrims in the world at large, will tell you that Africa gets into your blood and your heart-beat thrums ever after with a continuing echo of belonging. As my aircraft flew over the Limpopo River into Zimbabwean airspace and I looked out at the land below, my chest tightened and my eyes burned with tears… a mixture of nostalgia and sorrow for the great suffering there.
My first objective was to make contact with the elderly man who had worked for my Mother for 40 years and also for my Grandmother a few years before that! He shed tears when we began to reminisce. He doesn’t know his age, but said he could remember me before I started school. That means he’s old!! Over 80, I should think! The gift he specially requested was a blanket. The soft fluffy one I chose sported African animals and it filled my suitcase. He cooked me a special lunch of macaroni cheese in the way he used to when I was little. It was down memory lane for us both.
So many of my contacts for overseas teaching assignments have come through students I have taught at Garden City College of Ministries. Ruvimbo-with-the-stunning-smile studied Old Testament with me for a year. Subsequently I met her mother, Susan, when she travelled to Brisbane for Ru’s graduation. We had instant rapport and I knew I had connected with a true friend. Don’t you feel blessed by God when that happens? I wasn’t wrong, because Susan proved to be a treasure. She took leave from work to accompany me around Harare, cosseted me, fed me up, gave up her double bed for me and slept on a mattress in the lounge.
In particular, Susan taught me to eat with my fingers, so that I would be prepared for our trip to the rural town of Murewa. She never openly remarked, but I often felt I had sadza (maize porridge) everywhere from my right elbow to my left eyebrow. I think I made good progress, really, for by the time I left Zim, I had achieved the level of a 2-year old local. Not bad in only two weeks! The man who had been supplied with petrol and paid to drive us to Murewa “shot through” (as we say in Australia!) After several hours of aimlessly waiting to be collected, Plan B was to make contact with the driver of a truck belonging to Ru’s dad, which happened to be in Harare delivering goods. Taking a prime mover as a mode of transport was a first for me! We made it to Murewa around 3pm. Despite multiple Police road blocks, we were actually stopped only at the last one, just a few km from our destination. Our driver produced his trump card: “I have been sent to collect a visitor from Australia and “they” are waiting for her.” It worked! We were waved through without further ado.
Susan also helped me organise transport – no mean feat in a country strapped for fuel. We had over two days without electricity and she had to cook meals over a wood fire in the back yard. The combination of cold morning and evening air plus the smoke exacerbated her asthma dramatically, which I found awfully difficult to bear. It hit so close to home, and I lay in bed and wept for her as I listened to her labour for breath over the next few nights until the bronchodilators from the chemist kicked in. The only pleasant aspect to having no electricity was eating together by candlelight, while listening to music on my MP3 player. I heard this week that the power situation in Zim has worsened, and the whole country is largely without electricity except for the odd hour here or there. Industry is grinding to a halt. People are literally sleeping at their work place to take advantage of the power whenever it might be available. Please pray for this sad country and especially for Susan’s asthmatic condition under such circumstances. Already, in desperation, people are chopping down trees for fuel. What options do they have? The gospel has never lost its power to raise the hopes and faith of ordinary people. Amazingly, many in Zimbabwe are discovering this afresh.
I managed a modest amount of preaching in Harare and the first occasion was at Susan’s church (Apostolic Faith Mission). There I discovered her Pastor, Claudio, had studied at Harvest in Melbourne and knows Ian Grant and Rod Buckingham. I said I had taught in Zambia for Moffat Zimba, who had also trained in Australia. Claudio was delighted! Moffat was his good friend but they had lost contact, so a couple of SMSs to Peter and we were able to act as go-betweens to re-establish the connection.
The night before I left, I was scheduled to speak at a Prayer Meeting held out at Epworth, a village on the outskirts of Harare. We were late arriving and it was already dark, so as we slipped into our seats, I took stock. The Zimbabweans I connected with so far all had an extremely high level of English, but this was the only time I needed an interpreter as a small number of these rural people were not so fluent. I began to doubt myself, whether the message I had prepared would be too academic, too long, etcetera –even though when I wrote it, I did know it was for Zimbabwe. I shouldn’t have worried! The Lord had it in hand! Within minutes of beginning to speak, the audience responded warm-heartedly and we flowed along together interacting with a great deal of humour. I loved it! If only it could always be like that!
I was really in Harare to teach and did so at two Bible Colleges – AFM on the city outskirts near Warren Hills and AOG in the town centre, opposite the park in the old Rainbow Theatre. Principal Andrew, and Academic Dean Leonard, were exceptional in their support and particularly in helping with transport. Andrew’s up-beat personality made him very easy to work with. Unexpectedly, it was very affirming to discover that my visit coincided with the absence of the OT lecturer, so I was able to fill a genuine need. I am truly looking forward – if at all possible - to returning in 2008 to teach an intensive.
Free To Be Kids
Last year I travelled around India with Mary Read who is connected with the organisation Free To Be Kids. Mary has helped set up a home for abandoned babies in Kumily, India.
Mary holds fundraising events where she speaks of the needs of the baby girls in India who are born only to die horrible deaths. Kumily Home requires a full-time midwife and funds to educate midwives to bring babies to the home instead of killing them. Also, the need for a Medical Clinic is urgent.
Last year I travelled around India with Mary Read who is connected with the organisation Free To Be Kids. Mary has helped set up a home for abandoned babies in Kumily, India.
Mary holds fundraising events where she speaks of the needs of the baby girls in India who are born only to die horrible deaths. Kumily Home requires a full-time midwife and funds to educate midwives to bring babies to the home instead of killing them. Also, the need for a Medical Clinic is urgent.
Operation Uganda – September 2008
This organisation has established two children’s homes (incidentally, the 2nd was in conjunction with Free To Be Kids) in Uganda to house orphans of the conflict in the north of the country. There are many thousands of vulnerable children. Their May newsletter explains that the refugee camps consist of approximately 2 million people of which 50% are under the age of 15 years.
Uganda has long been on my heart and I recently chatted to Pastor Russ (who is currently in Queensland raising funds for this work) about what contribution I could make. He would like me to teach a Bible College-style intensive to Pastors and also teach them how to "teach it on" - a sort of train-the-trainer course. It will be such an honour to have that responsibility but also very challenging. I discussed strategies with my sister Patsy in South Africa. She is helping me devise a practical teaching programme based on my lecture notes. Russ says he has in mind including some of the 'refugee' pastors (those ministering to refugees) and I understand that they have very limited resources. Patsy and I aim to compile an easily reproduced booklet to make available to them. I am looking for assistance in making basic teaching resources available to these needy Ugandan Pastors.
Where to Next?
During Semester 2 of this year, I will be lecturing on Daniel at the Bible College, but at the end of the academic year, will fly to Kyrgyzstan, then Pakistan. It is not proving easy to organise, despite these countries being quite close. I shan’t let that daunt me, though, as I love going to Pakistan and in Kyrgyzstan will be reconnecting with friends, missionaries from my own church, whom I first met in Kazakhstan.
This organisation has established two children’s homes (incidentally, the 2nd was in conjunction with Free To Be Kids) in Uganda to house orphans of the conflict in the north of the country. There are many thousands of vulnerable children. Their May newsletter explains that the refugee camps consist of approximately 2 million people of which 50% are under the age of 15 years.
Uganda has long been on my heart and I recently chatted to Pastor Russ (who is currently in Queensland raising funds for this work) about what contribution I could make. He would like me to teach a Bible College-style intensive to Pastors and also teach them how to "teach it on" - a sort of train-the-trainer course. It will be such an honour to have that responsibility but also very challenging. I discussed strategies with my sister Patsy in South Africa. She is helping me devise a practical teaching programme based on my lecture notes. Russ says he has in mind including some of the 'refugee' pastors (those ministering to refugees) and I understand that they have very limited resources. Patsy and I aim to compile an easily reproduced booklet to make available to them. I am looking for assistance in making basic teaching resources available to these needy Ugandan Pastors.
Where to Next?
During Semester 2 of this year, I will be lecturing on Daniel at the Bible College, but at the end of the academic year, will fly to Kyrgyzstan, then Pakistan. It is not proving easy to organise, despite these countries being quite close. I shan’t let that daunt me, though, as I love going to Pakistan and in Kyrgyzstan will be reconnecting with friends, missionaries from my own church, whom I first met in Kazakhstan.
2 comments:
Hi Lizziegee! I read your blog, and it moved me to tears! You go girl. So many people (me included) wish to help more, and you're going out there and doing it. Go for God!
Thank you so much, Tupperlover. Apart from the friend who showed me how to blog, you're the first person to view my blog independently. I'm encouraged! I looked at your blog profile and have to say I'm amazed at your passion for Tupperware. Then I thought about it some more and realised, Yep! It's inert. It doesn't answer back! Regards Lizziegee
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