Simba

Around the age of two, male lions are kicked out of their pride.  These male lions roam alone, or with other male family members, until they find another pride to challenge. The roaming male lion must fight the male lion of the pride, often fighting to death.  Whoever wins the fight gets the pride.  If a male lion takes over another lion's pride, this male lion will kill off every cub in the pride since they are not biologically related, and then start building his own family with the pride.  "The Lion King," taught us all about the circle of life and gave us humans a glimpse of what life is like for other species.

Meet Simba! Ironically, Simba was a young boy who found himself in much of a similar situation of that of a lion pride.

The hospital chaplain,
Farai and his wife and son

Simba was born HIV positive (as many of the children in Zimbabwe are) and was suffering from Tuberculosis, along with severe malnutrition.  He was one of the sickest patients that had been at the hospital in a very long time.  With the hospital's proper care and nutrition, Simba regained strength and everyone rejoiced when he finally had enough strength to sit up on the side of the bed!  This sweet boy made a lot of improvements during his few weeks at the hospital.  He was a joy to everyone and although he was the sickest patient, he was also easily the smiliest patient at Nhowe.  

It was a shock that no family came to visit him during his few week stay at the hospital.  The hospital chaplain, Farai, showed some concern about this, especially since Simba was very malnourished.  Farai, along with Carl from our mission team, were able to visit Simba at his home after he left the hospital.  What they found there was that Simba's father wasn't around anymore and Simba's mother had remarried another man.  She and his step-father had two other children together.

Simba at home a few days after getting released from the hospital.  He was still so weak and obviously not getting the care or nutrition he needed to survive.

    While Simba was just skin and bones, his half-brothers were plump little healthy boys.  Similar to the lion prides, it was quite obvious that Simba's step-father did not want this stepchild in his home (his pride).

Simba and is family outside their house

  Aside from the medicine side of Nhowe, the hospital also serves as a spiritual oasis and God-centered community.  The employees start each day at the hospital with a devotional. Patients are continually taught the Good News through their care.  For some, this is the first they have ever heard of Jesus!  In a place like Zimbabwe, one of the poorest countries in the world, God is really truly their only hope.  Farai works not only with the patients, but with the patients' families, teaching them and showing them how to live a christian life.  Unfortunately, for Simba and his family, this instruction came a little late.  Just two days ago, about two months after we first met Simba, we received word that Simba had died of malnutrition.

Maida had tears as I revealed the news to her, "But he was better!  He got well!  Why didn't he live?"  It's a mystery to us all how anyone could starve their own child to death.  It's heart-wrenching to think about what Simba went through in his short life as he sat literally starving to death, watching his family eat.  It is a blessing, though, that he spent some of his last few weeks of life at the Brian Lemons Memorial Hospital where he heard the Good News, where he was prayed for, where he was loved, where he was fed, and where first saw Jesus through the medical staff caring for him.

Simba won't be our only loss as we continue our work in Zimabawe in May, but his loss will serve as a reminder to us how precious one life is and how important it is to spread Jesus' love through all walks of life.

The Lord has told you what is good.  He has told you what he wants from you: Do what is right to other people.  Love being kind to others.  And live humbly, trusting your God.  - Micah 6:8

There were two distinct things that stuck out to me as we discovered Zimbabwe together for the first time..

This is the view out the back door of our house!

Just off the airplane, we had
finally made it to Zimbabwe!

One, was watching Maida and Skogen see a different culture for the first time.  I will never forget what that was like and I would encourage everyone to travel with your kids!  Especially go see and learn about other cultures.  In the process, you realize how big, but really how small the world is.  You also see things through children's eyes, which usually is a lot more fun!  Maida and Skogen greatly surprised me in how they embraced everything around them at all times during our stay.  They also were wonderful examples to me, leading me and teaching me, which I never saw coming.

Out and about in Harare.

Two, I will always remember how natural Zimbabwe felt and how "home-ish" Nhowe Mission felt.  The only other thing I can compare these feelings to is church camp.  Did you grow up going to church camp in the summers?  Erik and I still go back to our church camp every summer with our kids for what is called, "Family Camp."  It's a place where you feel so comfortable, at ease, and like you're with your second family.  That's what Nhowe felt like: a second home, a second family.

Maida eating a snack, standing in the doorway of our house.

 We are beyond excited to head back to Nhowe in May and give all we've got to serving there.  It will especially be fun to introduce Klaasen and Torsten to our "second home" and it will be fun to see Maida and Skogen play tour guides for them!

The little neighbor boys blowing up a football.

Maida and Skogen with a few of the orphans at Nhowe Mission.

Building Confidence in our God-Sized Dream

I came home from Zimbabwe, touched immeasurably by what we saw and what we experienced
there, however, I haven't yet been able to appropriately put it into words.  Hopefully a blogpost about our travels will be coming soon (maybe by Maida or Skogen!), but as we enter into 2017, the year we've been planning and dreaming of for the last three years, I thought I'd just give a quick update.

Our time at Nhowe Mission was very reassuring.  It was also very necessary for our planning process.  Now we have more of an idea of what roles we'll play, what the living conditions will be like, and what kinds of things we shouldn't go over without.  Even though it will be hard to leave home, and it's proven rather difficult to save and fundraise the amount of money we need to go for our committed time frame, I have confidence that we can do this and God will be glorified through it all!

There are times when I doubt, though.  There are times when I feel like just buying a house and settling somewhere instead of going to Zimbabwe.  There are times when others doubt our decision and moments when I get so drained trying to defend our family's dream or just wish that others were an encouragement to us.  Today I picked up the book, "You're Made for a God-Sized Dream, " by Holley Gerth.  I've read the book several times and seem to pick it up time and time again, always hearing something I didn't the last time I read it.  Today as I read, I jotted down quotes that jumped out at me.  As I was reading through the book and then again later through the quotes I jotted down, I realized that I have a deep need for more confidence and faith in our God-sized dream to serve in Zimbabwe.  I also need to believe that if God can move me into mission work (which, I never saw coming!), then He can for sure move others to support us financially and prayerfully.

During in our time in Zimbabwe, we interacted with many different orphans of all ages.  These sweet children and college students really spoke to my heart.  Here they were with sad, hopeless beginnings and almost absolutely nothing in life currently, but they were truly thankful that God created them and have placed them exactly where they are in life.  They believed in their purpose.  It was so inspiring!

I was also inspired by the ladies of the congregation we attend here in Minnesota.  Before we went over to Zimbabwe, they had a God-sized dream of making 40 quilts for the 40 orphans at Nhowe Mission.  These ladies worked very hard putting together these quilts and I know it wasn't easy at times!  The week before I left, their sewing machine stopped working and they still had one quilt left to sew.  I was inspired by the determination and problem-solving the ladies did to get that quilt done.  They put in many hours, dodging several obstacles, to fulfill their God-sized dream and it was our pleasure to see what a gift and blessing the quilts were to the orphans.

Our God-sized dreams aren't going to be easy, but if we're reflecting Jesus' light, they will be fulling.  What are your God-sized dreams?  Here are some of my favorite quotes from Holley Gerth's book.  They have inspired and encouraged me today.  Maybe they'll encourage you, too...

"I understand God-sized dreams because I've lived them.  And once you have a taste, there's no going back to life as you knew it before.  
You may say, 'But I don't have big dreams.'
Exactly.
 The size of the dream isn't what matters.
I believe everyone has God-sized dreams.  It's not about how big or how small they are, because he creates each one to perfectly fit the size of your heart.
Your dream might be to move across the world and start a nonprofit organization that cares for orphans - what looks like a grand adventure in the world's eye.
Or your dream might be to stay right in your small town and raise your kids so that they grow into strong mend and women - what looks like something fairly ordinary in the world's eyes.
Both matter equally.
And both are God-sized dreams.
It's not about what you do as much as how you do it.  It's about pursuing life with passion and purpose and going with God wherever he leads."

"No one else can fulfill your purpose.  No one else can make that dream happen.  There is no plan B for what God has destined to come into being through you."

"God doesn't plant desires within our hearts to let them wither and die."

"God-sized dreams make their way into our hearts, homes, nights, and every other area.  Sometimes they feel like an insistent knocking on a door within us.  We can't get any rest until we let them inside."

"The moment that changes everything is when we decide to fear God more than we fear what may happen."

"It's about the God who gave it to you.
It's about the kingdom he's building in this world.
It's about the holy body of Christ."

"Negativity is far easier than perseverance.  Criticism is simpler than encouragement.  Saying the world is going to end can be far more convenient than daring to make a difference in it."

"This is the promise that empowers us to take risks for the sake of Christ.  It is not the impulse of heroism, or the lust for adventure, or the courage of self-reliance, or the need to earn God's favor.  It is simple trust in Christ - that in him God will do everything necessary so that we can enjoy making much of him forever.  Every good poised to bless us, and every evil arrayed against us, will in the end help us boast only in the cross, magnify Christ, and glorify our Creator.  Faith in these promises frees us to risk and to find in our own experience that it is better to lose our life than to waste it."

"It's not because of who we are but Whose we are." 

"Your life matters even more than you know, and you are making a difference even more than you see.  You, my friend, are a warrior.  Every day you dare to dream, you fight back the darkness and add a little more light to the world.  When you keep your heart open, the kingdom wins.  And you, my friend, are on an adventure that's going to take you to places beyond what you could have even imagined.  Places with joy, tears, glory, grace, and most of all, more of Jesus with each step you take."