Day 6 – 19th January 2023
The day’s task was to visit one of the church members who lives not far outside of Kadoma. Douglas Kachilima lives on his family’s plot of land in an area called Battlefields. The name comes from the history of naming local mining claims after famous battles. More than 40 minerals can be found in Zimbabwe including platinum, chromium ore, diamonds, and gold. Douglas and his father aren’t miners, but farmers. They share the land, growing a few fields of maize as well as a variety of fruits, melons, squash, tomatoes, and a few chilies. Mabasa and I set out toward Battlefields later in the morning since he had to have a mechanic check a few things on the truck. There might be a few leftover truck issues that seem minor but if they go unchecked could become major issues.
Their plot of land is actually not far off the main highway that runs between Kadoma and Kwekwe. You can easily see the roof of one of their houses being the trees that line the highway, but there’s a set of railroad tracks that prevent people from driving there as the crow flies. Just a mile or so South is a road off the highway that crosses the tracks. Not far along that road is another turn onto the old highway used back when the country was known as Southern Rhodesia. Only rubble from the original tarmac road remains. Although it is only rubble, having the foundation of the old road can be helpful when having to drive through the large puddles and ponds that form along the route in the rainy season. It would have been disheartening to get stuck in the mud less than a mile from Douglas’s home.
With only one tough spot to drive through, we made it easily to Douglas’s home. We were greeted by him and his father as well as the family dog. His wife wasn’t home, but we met several other family members who sometimes stay there. It’s common for children to stay with relatives so they can be closer to a particular school.
Besides a social visit, we also came to see how things are working out with the new borehole well that Mabasa and the LifeNets organization helped facilitate. I believe the funds were donated specifically for Douglas and his family from brethren in the US who have stayed in contact with him after having previously met. The well was dug sometime in September and has already been a benefit to the family. They have been able to irrigate their garden and fruit trees as well as run a water line into one of the houses. It’s unusual to have running water inside a home in a rural village. Having access to water is essential for life in many ways. Besides sustaining human and animal life, and sustaining a family’s source of food and nutrition, having access to fresh, clean water all year round can also help prevent diseases. With water rationing from the municipal water supplies in areas like Battlefields, diseases like cholera and typhoid can become a very real threat. Both Douglas and his father greatly expressed their thanks to the brethren who made this blessing possible.
After showing us the setup for the well, which includes a water tank, and solar panel connected to a pump, we walked around the garden. I recognized several of the plants on my own, but others aren’t necessarily easy to recognize until the fruit begins to grow. Mango trees I can usually tell are fruit trees since their leaves look similar to those on peach trees but larger. I can usually pick out a vine or two but can’t always tell if it’s a cucumber, watermelon, or butternut squash. One of my favorite parts of Douglas’s garden were the Granadilla vines that run along the top of the fence. At certain times of year I’m sure the vines decorate the garden with beautiful flowers, but right now the vines are heavy with fruit. A few of them were ripe enough for us to taste. They’re a bit sour but also very sweet. A refreshing flavor especially after tasting one of the chili peppers straight off the bush. I found a ripe red chili which I promptly ate. While I’ve had spicier peppers in my day, this one could stand up to many others! What I didn’t hear until later after eating the smaller green chili I had taken home with me was Mr. Kachilima warning Mabasa in Shona that those chilies were especially hot! While I don’t regret my decisions I don’t think I’ll have another chili for at least a day or two, especially without food. By the way the smaller green chili I ate later was easily 5 times (maybe more) hotter than the red one I had straight off the bush. The chili experience in no way detracted from our visit.
After seeing the grounds and tasting some of the fruits of the labor of our hosts, we sat down in chairs set next to one of the small houses. A small coffee table was brought out along with a fresh pot of hot tea (milk already added), some juice, and some tea biscuits. That was my first cup of tea on this trip. It was so nice and relaxing to sit and enjoy the hot tea in the heat of the day, to see where some of our brethren live, and to catch up a little with Douglas. If I spoke a bit of Shona I could have had a better conversation with Mr. Kachilima and Douglas’s young cousin. As we sat and enjoyed the view once more before heading back to town, the baby chicks came over to see if they could have a few bites of biscuit and some of Mabasa’s juice.
We said our goodbyes, climbed back in the truck, and headed back down the old broken highway, across the railroad tracks, back to the main highway. On the way back, with the time we had once again being on the road together, we discussed the work of the Church of God, and handled some important issues that pastors tend to have to handle from time to time. Our timing for leaving Douglas’s place was impeccable. We managed to leave before the rain began, and arrived to the school only minutes before Christal came walking through the side gate.
My afternoon from there was very full as usual. While outside, as the rain came and went, Christal and I had the idea to play chess or checkers. We didn’t know if there were any chessboards or pieces around, but there were plenty of small pebbles that could be used as checkers. We found a piece of cardboard that we turned into a game board. Unfortunately Christal accidentally colored in three of the squares that weren’t supposed to be colored in. Thankfully in the absence of glue we managed to stick blank pieces of cardboard onto those squares using a little bit of flour and water.
We finished the board just before I was called away by a prayer request from home. I had received an unclear text from a lady who was in the hospital. Eventually, with the help of a few of the members close to her, I figured out which hospital she was in and was even able to speak to her. It was a long distance team effort and I was able to send out at least a general prayer request.
At last Christal and I were able to play a handful of rounds of checkers using the pebbles we gathered. Thankfully there were at least two different types of pebbles so we could mostly tell our pieces apart. By the forth or fifth round Christal had picked up on the rules pretty well. I suspect by the time I visit again she’ll be able to beat me without assistance.
Unfortunately Layla is a bit too young and a bit too impulsive to catch on quickly to the game of pebble checkers so we had to come up with a different plan. As soon as she and her mother arrived home, Christal, Layla and I were constantly busy playing tug-of-war, jumping rope, practicing our language skills (particularly Shona and Nyanja), and coloring. We created a beautiful scene on a large piece of cardboard. It was mostly flowers and rainbows.
As usual we ended the evening with family dinner, cartoons, and homework. Even Chisomo had homework to do. Since the heavy rain in the afternoon a few days ago the power hasn’t gone off. It is very unusual to have power restored so quickly and not lose it so often during the rainy season in Zimbabwe. Chisomo and I agreed that God has truly blessed my time here uniquely in that way. There have been times when I’ve seen God bring the rains and times when He has stopped the rains from happening. Our Heavenly Father hears our prayers and knows our needs before we do! I had prepared myself for days without electricity but God has given me and my hosts nearly a week straight with almost no interruptions in electricity!
“Be glad then, you children of Zion, And rejoice in the Lord your God; For He has given you the former rain faithfully, And He will cause the rain to come down for you— The former rain, And the latter rain in the first month” (Joel 2:23).
“Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit” (James 5:17-18).
After most everyone went to bed I ended my evening with a call home to Lena. We talked about our day and even had an impromptu Good Works discussion about the plans for the plot of land in Kadoma. Tomorrow Mabasa and I are planning to head back to the plot, find the missing marker, make a few more specific plans for the setup for the Feast of Tabernacles, talk about costs, and hopefully have a live Bible study on YouTube.
We won’t be able to exactly schedule the live YouTube video and we also can’t rely on the cellphone networks. But if you would like to try and catch the live study (or two if we manage) make sure to subscribe to the UCG NYC YouTube channel and turn on notifications. For scheduled live studies (typically on Monday nights at 7:30pm EST) you can use this live link: http://www.youtube.com/c/ucgnyc/live
– Lewis VanAusdle
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