Hello from Zimbabwe! I arrived safely on Thursday evening and
traveled to Fairfield Children’s Home on Friday afternoon. Saturday
we all attended a wedding for the one of the workers at Fairfield.
This was also the day that Nyarai moved in with me to House 11A.
Nyarai is the oldest child at the children’s homes and is preparing
for her high school exams in October, which will determine whether she
is able to go on to the final two years before college.
Having Nyarai in the house has made me realize it is time to grow up
and learn to cook:) When I was alone, I just ate whatever happened to
be in the cabinet. I remember when I was young, my mom would often
cook chicken for dinner. She always gave my brother and me the
biggest, nicest pieces and gave Dad the next biggest. She was left
with the smallest piece of chicken. I asked her once why she did that
and she said, “That’s what mom’s do.” I remember thinking that day
that I never wanted to be a mom if it meant I had to take the leftover
chicken! For some reason, that stuck with me.
On the day Nyarai moved in, she brought with her one laundry basket of
clothes, one box of school books, the stuffed frog I gave her a few
years back, and a
plaque with a poem on it given to her by ourassistant administrator. She works hard at school, helps around the
house without me even asking, and stays up late into the night
studying for her exams. We went to town to buy groceries the other
day and among our purchases, we picked out a package of chicken. When
we cook it together, I can think of nothing that would make me happier
than to give Nyarai the biggest, nicest piece of chicken!
I Corinthians 13: 11 “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like a child: but when I became I
man, I put childish ways behind me…”
I miss you all and hope you are doing well. Pray for us in Zimbabwe.
The HOPE program is continuing to assist children, but some are very
ill. Please pray for their health and for strength for the workers.
Thank you, as always, for your wonderful support!
Wenyu Munashe,
Janine
So good to hear you are there safely, Janine. I'll send an email but wanted to get some comments flowing on the blog. I hope the cultural, language and relational stuff comes back to you in short order so that it feels as if you have picked up where you left off, but this time even better equipped.
ReplyDeleteLoving you on my knees, dear friend!
ReplyDeleteBegan reading your book. I read aloud as Ron and I drove the 7 hours return trip to Houston. Choked in tears so often, for it is not just your story, it is ours as well as we relived in your stories our own South Africa and the dear friends we left there, their plight, the kids. I can see Fairfield in my mind -- I see you there in my heart. God go with you, my friend.
ReplyDeleteJanine, I liked your chicken story as it reminded me of my mom too. She would make a big chicken dinner on Sundays and as my friends would roll in to our home at Rock Lake in the summer she would often eat what was leftover and it was never the fried chicken!
ReplyDelete