Zim II-- 4 churches & 279 km in one day!

On Monday, we headed out of the city of Harare to visit the churches of Gweru Presbytery. At each one we received a very warm welcome, with prayers and singing, introductions and speeches, exchanging gifts and refreshments. Everyplace had cold bottled water and soft drinks waiting for us. Some were serving us lunch or dinner, while the others would have an assortment of snacks--muffins, biscuits, cookies and potato chips.

We started later than we'd hoped in the morning, so we were increasingly later and later to each stop. However, our hosts were very gracious and forgiving, and SO excited to see us. Every church greeted us with singing, and some even met us on the road and sang and danced our bus to the church building in a fine parade!

First stop: Chegutu
CCAP Chegutu

John Mwale, Assistant Secretary (~Asst. Clerk of Session) of CCAP Chegutu

Chegutu's Choir

Rev. Libias Boloma, General Secretary of CCAP Synod of Harare

Members of CCAP Chegutu outside.

Second stop: Kadoma

The Women's guild greeted our bus waving branches, bougainvillea flowers, & brightly colored chitenge fabric.

Singing and dancing, they accompanied us all the way down the road to the church building, and even lay chitenges on the ground for us to walk on. Now we know how Jesus felt on Palm Sunday!

Inside CCAP Chegutu.

From left: Rev. Sinda pastor, Susan Chirongo, Grace Boloma, Libias Boloma, Patteson Chirongo, Fred Anderson, Don Wahlig, Lauren Logan, Jeff Miller, John Carr. CCAP Chegutu.

Third Stop: Kwekwe

Inside CCAP Gweru--lots of singing and dancing!

Lauren & Ryan eating with their hands! They fed us well. Our lunch consisted of the traditional staple, white maize meal boiled and formed into lumps called "sadza" in Shona or "nsima" in Chewa, along with many other vegetable dishes, chicken and beef, and of course, Coke.

Rev. Ashton Galanti, pastor of Kwekwe Congregation.

The outdoor kitchen where our lunch was prepared by members of the congregation.

Fred with Rev. Ashton and Rosie Galanti, outside the manse.

Fourth & Final Stop of the Day: Gweru

The delegation seated at the front of Gweru Congregation. From left: Jeff Miller, Lauren Logan, Grace Boloma, Susan Chirongo, Patteson Chirongo, Fred Anderson, Don Wahlig, Jack Hobson, John Carr.

Our Emcee for the evening works the crowd with a rousing call & response of "Alleluia?" "Amen!"

Notice the message on the wall: "Listen!! Open the door for Jesus & share a meal with him." It is based on Rev. 3 vs. 20, which says, "Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me." It was a good message for the meal we shared together. Gweru congregation also fed us--at about 9pm, and we'd only had lunch at 4pm! It was wonderful to receive such generous hospitality. Again, we enjoyed a huge spread of traditional food, as well as cake and ice cream! Pastor Ndola said, just as there is cake at a wedding to celebrate the sweetness of the relationship, we shall have cake to celebrate the partnership of CCAP and MAPC.

Gweru Congregation's building. We returned in the morning for breakfast.

The women responsible for our lovely meals. Seen here washing the pots from the previous night's dinner.

Cooking breakfast--lots of eggs!