Life goes on

The weeks just seem to run together and before you know it 6 weeks have gone by. We have been consumed with working on our car and trying to get our new budget with Shepherd’s Staff worked out in detail. We have had our second team come and go and that has been an awesome experience for all of us. The last team from Franklin Tennessee, just outside of Nashville, left on Saturday and we are expecting another team from Birmingham Alabama on Friday. The outreach that they do with the communities is so rewarding and it really gives both locals and internationals an opportunity for God to work in them and through them. The Rolling Hills Team built a cover over our medical clinic and re-leveled the buildings where the ground had shifted. They also fed about 200 people at the celebration. We had a Nashville songwriter “celebrity” and his family on the trip and they jumped in and participated in all the activities. He only sang one song at the celebration but is sure makes us miss country music!!
We had an opportunity this past weekend to attend a “Lobola” with our Zimbabwean family Brian and Blessing. This was the couple that got married last year, January. The Lobola is the ceremony where normally the future son in law would pay a “bride price” for his future wife to the family. We did it a little backwards because the mother and father allowed them to get married last year before Brian had the money to pay them. We were thankful that he allowed them to go ahead and get married but we really thought they had forgiven the Lobola. Unfortunately for Brian, they had not and it cost him a lot of money (used to be cows and goats) to make it true with the family. I know this doesn’t seem right to our Western way of thinking but it gives them a lot of security in the community as a whole. It lasted about 2hrs but an experience that will last a lifetime.
Lastly, we have started to listen to God’s lead for the next season of our lives as our visa’s run out at the end of the year. We are praying and seeking God’s will for direction. This is always a stressful time as we want to be sure we do what He wants us to do, not what we think we should do. Please pray with us as we need wise counsel and guidance for this next course in our lives.