Incongruence

There were signs all along, but I still wasn’t prepared for the experience that Saturday was to bring. All week we’d been surrounded with the abounding joy and energy that kids exude when they’re all together and having the time of their lives. The kids easily get pumped up performing their team chants and dances, singing songs to learn their memory verses, and affirming each other with group declarations of “you are a star!” With all their happy “good mornings,” wide smiles, and constantly cheerful attitudes it’s easy to overlook the socks that have holes in the toes and no heels, or their shorter stature that makes a 12-year old girl or 17-year old boy look to be a few years younger.

We started the day together with the kids taking a field trip to a local enclosed wild animal park (think Safari West in Santa Rosa). Fifty-one kids were crammed into super-sized minivans with us following behind in our own minivan and SUV. Faces were glued to the windows as we drove past zebras, antelope of various kinds, warthogs, a giraffe.

Field trip to the Lion Park

Then we entered the lion enclosure and were treated with close-up views of the king (and queens) of the beasts. Back at the park’s center the kids met ostriches, a camel, a giant tortoise, hyenas, and at least a dozen venomous snakes of southern Africa. It was a delight to see the kids’ excitement and laughter as they observed our Father’s creation. While a field trip like this might be a fairly common event for some of the schools in Harare, this was experience far outside of what our kids could have hoped for. What a treat for all!

We were this close to the lions while in a car!

We all returned to the Church of the Nazarene/HOH Transformation Center in Highfield. This is the neighborhood center that all our kids attend. We said farewell and “see you on Sunday” as our kids returned to their homes.

Then our team separated into small groups to visit some of the kids in their homes. It’s hard to find the words for what we saw. Our smiling kids in their bright neon orange camp shirts invited us into the spaces they call home. The most common was a single room with brick-walls and a corrugated metal roof. A single parent or caregiver shared the one double bed with their three kids and perhaps one or two additional ones belonging to friends or relatives. Alongside the bed was enough room for two or three adults to stand single file, or for a child or two to sleep on the floor; a cupboard at the end of the bed held clothes and personal items. The presence of just one window wasn’t guaranteed. It was heartbreaking.

And yet…and yet…into these dark claustrophobic spaces the light of Jesus shines. The children proudly shared with their family the crafts they made and the knitted cap and Bible they received. And outside, in the bright shining sun, they chatted happily with their siblings, neighbors and friends in the communal kitchen courtyard.

Doug in the background while visiting one of the children in his one room home

Neighborhood kids with pastor Blessed’s wife, Grace—they live amongst the children.

Today, Sunday, we returned to the same Nazarene Church/Transformation Center. As our van turned the corner toward the church, ahead we saw a sea of neon orange shirts that the kids were still wearing—NCC-donated Bibles in hand. We were greeted by familiar smiling faces, giving high fives to the kids and shaking the hands of nearly half the congregation. Men were dressed in suits, women in dresses or the uniform of their denomination. Kids shared memory verses and sang camp songs, the choir sang, whistles blew, newcomers were welcomed by hoots and claps, and women gave testimonies about their recent retreat.

Curt preached and shared his testimony, which encouraged us all. It was a celebration…foreshadowing the one we’ll all someday enjoy together when there will be no more tears, no more heartache, no more poverty or injustice, no more dark places…only the Light.

Curt giving the Sunday message, assisted by his interpreter.

Saying goodbye after church on Sunday