Visit Every City

August 10th, 2023

We managed to wake up before Mabasa left for town. He had a few things to do in the morning but would be back later in the day. It was nice to have coffee together. Chisomo made sure we had a nice filling breakfast which included beans, an essential part in the traditional full English breakfast. Nick was especially excited about the beans which he had in the past but doesn’t get the chance to enjoy very often.

After food, the first order of business was fishing. Mabasa has installed a couple of fish ponds including one right behind the house. After waking the fish up with some breakfast of fish food, Chisomo set me up with worms, a pole, and a bucket to place my catch in. Nick preferred to watch. I caught a fish on the very first try! Sure he was a small one but the game warden let us keep him. Chisomo placed the little guy in the bucket and I continued fishing.

One by one I fed worms to the fish in different parts of the pond. A good half hour went by and still nothing. Nick gave up and went inside to be productive. As soon as he left I caught a second fish bigger than the first. In the bucket he went. The hook went back in the water a few more times until I caught a third fish twice the size of the second one! In the bucket he went. By the way, no photographic evidence exists of the second or third fish but there are witnesses to their size. As I tried for a fourth, I could hear the big guy splashing around in the small bucket, probably trying to assert his dominance over his companions. After a while I realized the fishes’ bellies had been filled and they went back to sleep so I headed inside with my catch in hand/bucket.

Since Mabasa’s errands in town took longer than anticipated, Nick and I had some time to relax. It was nice not to be sitting while traveling for at least one day. Instead we traveled on foot through the neighborhood. We came across all sorts of birds, in particular one that I think might have been a cattle egret. There were, of course, cows in different places, and a herd of goats. We waved to nearly every neighbors as we went by. We found Eiffel Flats to be a quiet area as usual, filled with friendly and polite people. It’s still winter in Zimbabwe so most people had a jacket and a hat on. By next week the weather should be hotter. One of us is looking forward to that. But we actually leave for Malawi on the day the weather should really warm up.

One thing that I always see when I come to Africa is burnt or burning fields. This agricultural method is used to clear the land after harvesting the crops, to help manage unwanted weed growth, and also to fertilize the soil for the next planting season. There are mixed reviews on the ultimate effectiveness of this method of farming, but many people in most of the African countries I’ve visited (Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe) utilize this practice regularly.

After our walk we ate a delicious lunch, played a game of chess, did some planning for the weekend, and then accompanied Chisomo to town to run an errand. While she wasn’t able to accomplish her errand because some of the shops seemed to be closing early, this worked out well for us since Nick hadn’t really seen downtown Kadoma yet. Also, I didn’t have to try and walk into town. I probably wouldn’t have tried to walk anyway since it would have taken me well over an hour to get there and I didn’t really have a need to be there anyway. We ended up parking in the main shopping area and comparing prices between two competing grocery stores. Currently in Zim there are shops that only take the local currency, but their goods are generally more expensive than the ships that take USD. The majority of the economy still runs on USD since the economic situation is still weak in the country. There were also plenty of people along the sidewalks and the edges of the streets and parking lots selling everything from onions and oranges to winter hats and footwear. One interesting find was something called Monkey Gland Sauce which, a meat marinade for barbecuing which, thankfully, doesn’t actually contain any kind of monkey-derived ingredients.

In the late afternoon Nick, Chisomo, and I had a chance to talk about some of the needs and concerns in the congregations from her perspective. Mabasa was home in time for dinner. After the meal we had a chance to hear some more details about the history and struggles of the pastors in Zimbabwe in their pursuit of shepherding the flock that God has called into His Church here. The beautiful thing is, God is still calling people both near and far. Many times the calling comes through relationships and the good example set by simple people striving to lead a life set out in Scripture.

The apostle Paul wrote to his fellow laborer, Philemon, encouraging him to continue loving his brethren and demonstrating his faith so they might be inspired to grow in their own faith and godly love: “I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother” (Philemon‬ ‭1‬:‭4‬-‭7). The apostle Peter encouraged his brethren, including us today, to continue living a life striving against sin and in service to God at all times because who knows‬‬ who might be inspired by our good example and one day turn to God themselves: “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬-‭12‬).

– Lewis VanAusdle