Whatsup everybody!! It's Elijah here.
The time here has been awesome. I miss you all greatly and hope to see you all soon. God has been working here greatly. I have been with Sam Talbert at Pastor Peter's house in Marlborough, a community in Zimbabwe. There are 14 others staying at our 5 bedroom house. So far, we haven't been too busy. In the mornings we wake up and have a couple hours to: read our Bibles, pray, meditate, journal and do 100 pushups. Then in the afternoons we have been hanging out with the orphans at the orphanage down the street. We have been able to speak at various house-churches and share our testimonies to encourage the people here. There is a great need for love and the gospel and we try to be ready at any time when God wants to use us. There has been a lot of waiting and questioning what exactly our purpose is here, but we have had time to learn from an elder, Ronald. He has a lot of wisdom and Sam and I have learned about our faith, the Bible and minsitry from him. Thanks for all the prayers and support. Keep it up! We need it every day to be humble, gentle and patient in hearing God's word for our calling and purpose, Eph 4:1-2. Like Tyler said, we don't have much time for being on the internet, so hopefully i will write more soon. Sorry for taking so long to post. Bye!!
-Elijah
Monday, July 30, 2012
Hey all! This is Tyler here! Sorry I have not been updating this like I said I would. Due to a whole variety of circumstances with regards to internet access this has truly been the first real opportunity for me to update anything.
Anyway, I have been living in a community called Rugare within the capital city of Harare. It has been an awesome experience! I live in a boys orphanage with 3 boys at the ages of 6, 9, 12. I have gotten to act as a sort of father figure to them and just love on them. They became a part of the orphan home about 6 months ago and have been growing more used to the idea of a family that actually loves and cares for them. Some background on the boys: the 6 year old, Tadiwa, is an orphan who's parents both died of AIDS. He doesn't have it though. Duncan, the 9 year old, was taken from a home where he was heavily abused by his father. It has been awesome seeing how he has just gained confidence and assuredness of the home being a safe place for him, and a place where he is loved. Takura, the third boy is the oldest. Both his parents died of HIV and he has it as well. When he was taken into the orphanage he was very sick, but he is doing very well now that he has medication and such. School is a challenge for him though because he lost most of his hearing to the disease. He is such a joyful boy though! I can smile at him and put a hand on his shoulder and he will just light up!
I have also been teaching students in a bridging school, which is a school intended for kids who need to be caught up to the level they should be at or who just can't afford to go to school right now. It costs around $250 a year to send a kid to school during grades 1-7, but that is a significant and expensive cost here. Immediately after the school, there is a feeding project that feeds about 150 kids a day in the community of Rugare. Its incredible to see how much the pastor I'm working with, Pastor Henry, loves children. There are two orphanages housing a total of about 18 kids that are just like a part of his family. In his 3 bedroom home, he also has another 15 kids that he is housing and caring for. Its incredible!
There is sooo much more I could type, but I am running short on time to do this so I need to wrap it up. I'll just finish with a short story of one way God has worked while I have been here!
There was a day when I was talking to a boy near my home, the orphanage, and I found out that he likes doing flips. Well, I love doing flips too! So we went into the street in front of my home and began doing flips and playing soccer. After a few minutes, there was a crowd of close to 30 kids playing soccer and other games with us out in the street. We were all just having fun and having a great time. As we were finishing up our games though, I got to sit down with all of them crowded around me and just share the gospel with them and share about how Jesus loves them. I got to tell them how we all have been through very difficult situations, and we have all done things that we know were not right. Then I told them about how God came to Earth as a man, Jesus, lived a perfect life, then died on a cross to take God's wrath for our sin. He then rose from the dead three days later showing that he had accomplished the work he came to do.
Romans 10:9 says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
God has been working in incredible ways here and its great to see! I can't wait to come home and share with all of you about it!
-Tyler
Anyway, I have been living in a community called Rugare within the capital city of Harare. It has been an awesome experience! I live in a boys orphanage with 3 boys at the ages of 6, 9, 12. I have gotten to act as a sort of father figure to them and just love on them. They became a part of the orphan home about 6 months ago and have been growing more used to the idea of a family that actually loves and cares for them. Some background on the boys: the 6 year old, Tadiwa, is an orphan who's parents both died of AIDS. He doesn't have it though. Duncan, the 9 year old, was taken from a home where he was heavily abused by his father. It has been awesome seeing how he has just gained confidence and assuredness of the home being a safe place for him, and a place where he is loved. Takura, the third boy is the oldest. Both his parents died of HIV and he has it as well. When he was taken into the orphanage he was very sick, but he is doing very well now that he has medication and such. School is a challenge for him though because he lost most of his hearing to the disease. He is such a joyful boy though! I can smile at him and put a hand on his shoulder and he will just light up!
I have also been teaching students in a bridging school, which is a school intended for kids who need to be caught up to the level they should be at or who just can't afford to go to school right now. It costs around $250 a year to send a kid to school during grades 1-7, but that is a significant and expensive cost here. Immediately after the school, there is a feeding project that feeds about 150 kids a day in the community of Rugare. Its incredible to see how much the pastor I'm working with, Pastor Henry, loves children. There are two orphanages housing a total of about 18 kids that are just like a part of his family. In his 3 bedroom home, he also has another 15 kids that he is housing and caring for. Its incredible!
There is sooo much more I could type, but I am running short on time to do this so I need to wrap it up. I'll just finish with a short story of one way God has worked while I have been here!
There was a day when I was talking to a boy near my home, the orphanage, and I found out that he likes doing flips. Well, I love doing flips too! So we went into the street in front of my home and began doing flips and playing soccer. After a few minutes, there was a crowd of close to 30 kids playing soccer and other games with us out in the street. We were all just having fun and having a great time. As we were finishing up our games though, I got to sit down with all of them crowded around me and just share the gospel with them and share about how Jesus loves them. I got to tell them how we all have been through very difficult situations, and we have all done things that we know were not right. Then I told them about how God came to Earth as a man, Jesus, lived a perfect life, then died on a cross to take God's wrath for our sin. He then rose from the dead three days later showing that he had accomplished the work he came to do.
Romans 10:9 says, "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."
God has been working in incredible ways here and its great to see! I can't wait to come home and share with all of you about it!
-Tyler
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