Two Kilometers Past Nowhere

Two kilometers past nowhere does not make you any closer to somewhere. Siabuwa is a village in a valley in northwest Zimbabwe. This is where people from Timbuktu send people to get rid of them. There is absolutely nothing there! A few mud hunts, a couple schools, but every kind of church you could think of. For what is traditionally a polygamist culture, the Tonga people have been very open to the gospel, and it is spreading like wild fire. There is a church every three kilometers it seems like, pastors are on fire for the Lord, and eager to learn everything they can. The dedication that these men have is incredible!

Last year two of the Tonga pastors were able to leave Zimbabwe for the first time and go to Zambia for the LOVE Africa conference. Getting there however was no small feat. They don’t have cars; they don’t have money for a bus. They hitchhiked; which once included riding on a shipment of frozen fish.  Sleeping under bushes, not eating for two days so that they’d be able to stretch their money as far as it would go. Oh, that we would be that dedicated for the gospel!

Much of our time was spent playing with the children of the village, and the surrounding area. 

(This boy is wearing a batman shirt, which makes him 10 times more adorable.

You can't help but smile at this picture!)

Celebrity status I think would be an appropriate description of how I felt. Everywhere we went the kids would flock to us. The girls were especially enamored by my long hair. They loved it! At one point I had about 10 girls around my headed all braiding different sections. And oh, let me tell you did it look cute ;) My hair was a puffball when I took it out and felt like straw, but it was completely worth it. Just to give girls something to smile about.

The stars were stunning in Siabuwa, with no electricity, and no stores lighting up the horizon. They were beautiful. You could see the Milky Way every night, the moon looked like a night-light. Looking up at the stars all night wouldn’t be long enough.

My time in Siabuwa was definitely an adventure, something so different from anything that I have ever experienced. It has left its imprint on me, one that will not easily pass away.