7th August 2026
Arriving at the Harare airport was a simple process thankfully. I’m familiar with the routine by now. The biggest hiccup was trying to fit an entire plane of people onto a bus to get them from the tarmac to the terminal. Only a handful of people didn’t make it on the bus. From there we made our way to passport control where no instructions were given, but thankfully I knew we needed to fill out customs forms. We were able to do so on our phones relatively easily. We then stood in a short line to pay for our visas before collecting our baggage. I paid in cash because that’s what I’ve always done, but paying by card is now an option.
After having our bags scanned one more time, and receiving some well wishes from the evening security crew, we headed out to see if we could find a ride to our accommodations for the night. Mabasa had told me to try and use inDrive which I gather might be similar to Uber but much cheaper. I had seen an app that I could have used but I chose not to download it. I asked a police officer who was standing at the exit and he looked at me like I was speaking a language he didn’t understand. He led us over to a taxi driver who gave me the same look. He then asked where we were going. I gave him the address for Sky Apartments where I had booked a room. $20 to go just over 3 miles. Next time I’ll try inDrive. At least the guy was pleasant and we arrived safely.
We were driven through the near empty streets of the city, windows cracked open getting some fresh, cool winter air, filling with the scent of wood fires. Our driver filled us in on the price of fuel and a few other things as he drove. Our short drive took us to Sky Apartments, a little compound filled with various little cottages. The rooms are nice, although our shower and toilet are in their own separate little rooms. The place is so quiet at night. After getting settled and testing the shower, we got some much needed sleep. Thankfully we each had our own beds. And thankfully the hostess who had checked us in upon arrival pulled out some extra blankets. Eventually sunrise came and so did the crowing of some roosters.
We opted for breakfast in the morning which included something similar to an English breakfast, though the typical sausages and bacon was replaced with beef sausage and mince meat (ground beef). The sausage was seasoned with cloves which was a first for me. It was a pleasant breakfast. The warm milk in our cornflakes was a nice touch, and almost made up for the cold tile floors in our room. One of the staff turned the tv on in the dining room so after our break Josh and I sat and watched the end of a soccer game while drinking our coffee and chatting about sports and life.
Mabasa was scheduled to arrive to pick us up sometime near 10am. In the meantime we had some spare time. My phone rang. It was Mike Nyamasoka, deacon from Harare. Since we were so close and wouldn’t otherwise see him for several more days, he decided to stop by. Before Mike arrived Josh read while I took a short nap (still recovering from the trip). Mike came while I was still mostly sleeping. Josh was sitting on a bench reading. Mike walked up to him and told him he should stand up so he could properly greet him. This was the first time they had met. Mike knew who Josh was but Josh didn’t know who Mike was until that moment.
Checkout time was 10am, but Mabasa was caught in the Harare traffic which can sometimes turn into a near standstill for no good reason other than the fact that there are cars on the road. This meant Josh and I had to get our bags out of our room. Thankfully we had already packed. We moved our bags near the front office and chatted with Mike in the sunshine. It’s winter in Zimbabwe and the nights can be pretty cool. So can the mornings. When Mababasa arrived we loaded up the truck and headed on down the road, Mike driving to the outskirts of the city before handing the wheel over to me.
We said our goodbyes to Mike and got on the road headed towards Kadoma. I’ve driven only a little bit in Zimbabwe so this was my chance to get some more on the road experience. Thankfully the drive to Kadoma is mostly filled with relatively nice highways. The traffic was moderate and we made good time, only getting stuck behind a few large trucks and busses a few times. Before too long I was navigating the pothole ridden roads of Kadoma, following the pathway to Eiffel Flats.
Arriving into Kadoma feels a little like arriving home. I’ve stayed at the Chichaya’s house several times. I know where things are, I know the daily routines, I know the dogs, I know the trees. I noticed a few minor upgrades to the place, some almost immediately. After we unpacked the truck and became familiar with the place (for Josh’s sake) it was time to eat. We had a nice meal as a family and a delicious dessert to follow.
Tomorrow we will be heading to Kwekwe to see the Pombi family for Sabbath services. We will also be joined by a few brethren from other areas who have already arrived in Kwekwe for the evening. There is one main purpose of my travels to Zimbabwe in general and that is to see how my brethren are doing. This includes visiting the pastor to hopefully encourage him and see what needs he might have to he can better serve the brethren. This also of course includes visiting the brethren and the congregations in different areas. This gives me a chance to meet people I might not have met before, to see what needs they might have, to see how they live and what their struggles are, and to build relationships.
Building relationships is the core of what we all have been created to do. God the Father and Jesus the Word took great care in fashioning us in their image. This includes more than just the fact that we have faces. We have been created to have creative minds, to desire to learn and grow, and to desire to build relationships. We first learn the building blocks of relationships from our parents. We learn how to interact and how to love (I’m only focusing on the positive aspects of this for the moment). Ultimately hopefully we also learn how to have a relationship with the creative Beings who created us. Ultimately we have been created to become part of their family. There are at least a few Bible verses that come to mind when I think of our calling to become part of the family of God:
“For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: ‘I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.’ And again: ‘I will put My trust in Him.’ And again: ‘Here am I and the children whom God has given Me’” (Hebrews 2:10-13, NKJV).
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:1-2, NKJV).
Shortly before sunset, after I had remembered to send a few emails, Josh and I grabbed a cup of coffee and went out into the yard to walk around. We were joined by Mabasa and Layla (the youngest Chichaya) as we tried to identify the different trees around: mango, naches, banana, palm, etc. The goal for the rest of the evening is to prepare for the Sabbath and also try not to fall asleep too early so we can actually sleep through the night. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll ask Josh to write another post giving his thoughts and observations on his first trip to the continent of Africa.
-Lewis VanAusdle
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