Thursday, December 31, 2009

"ZIM-team Alliance"





This is to alert you to something specific we'd like to ask you to pray with us about.

We have spoken in this Blog of the issue of collaboration.

Networking and the coordination of shared resources is an intentional component of our strategy both within Zimbabwe and in the Southern African region. We are also intentional about the involvement of other key global participants.

As momentum for the initiative increases in Zimbabwe, there is building momentum in North America as a small group of local congregations of Christ followers prayerfully consider the role they might have as part of this alliance.

An Alliance, by definition, is a collaborative relationship among churches, groups, and individuals who commit to resource the realization of a shared vision.

This is going to be much more than the kind of partnership where churches provide the money and the mission does the rest. The thing that excites us about the alliance concept is the fact that participants will share in every aspect of the ministry, from visioning and strategy formulation to hands-on engagement as time and finances allow.

We're wanting to tap into expertise represented by participating alliance members when it comes to practical issues like farming practices, clean water, child and women welfare and any number of other spiritual, social and/or medical issues that have to do with the crisis. Most of all, the main goal is a spiritual one, and will need discerning spiritual leadership on a number of levels ... including prayer and counsel with hurting Zimbabweans.

Global church-to-church cooperation with the Zimbabwean Church is what it's all about.

Please pray for already interested parties as they track through the discernment process.

Want to be a part? You are invited to prayerfully consider that possibility!

Our team will be engaging in intentional conversation in the new year with groups and individuals who have shown interest in participating in the Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Alliance. Participation in the discussion will not commit anyone to actual involvement, but it will benefit interested parties by providing them with the kind of information necessary to contribute to a prayerful discernment process.

Please write to budwestcoast@shaw.ca if you'd like to know more.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

How Do The Numbers Compare?

We all know that Southern Africa is not the only region in the grip of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  Even so-called  "first world" nations have not escaped it.

Experts predict, for instance, that as the epidemic gains momentum in South East Asia it will make the impact felt by Africa pale into relative insignificance.

The global battle continues to rage, but positive reports continue to come in from some regions of the African continent.  Some West Africa nations are case in point.  Our people in Swaziland, for instance, report a significant shift in the numbers of recent years.  This phenomenon is not reflected in the numbers below, because they represent the reality, as far as it could be assessed, by the end of 2007. We expect statistics presently in the making to show real progress.

Nevertheless, the statistics enumerated below reflect some of the points made above, and serve as an interesting point of comparison.  One of the things the statistics point out is the degree of devastation the pandemic has caused among the senior sectors of African society as compared to North America.  This reality is brought to bear at the level of the younger generations in Africa, particularly the adolescent generation.

Literacy rates are fairly similar, while life expectancy varies dramatically. This speaks of hope that the potential to hear and understand can bring.  The time is right, the mechanics are in place, good things are being done, the positive potential is real ... we are encouraged.  We're grateful for your encouragement and participation in the cause.


Southern Africa - US - Canada Comparison - SIn

Friday, December 18, 2009

Statistics and Other Information

This is for those who are interested in statistical over-views.

We are indebted to George NcFall (TEAM) for the statistical maps added today.

They give us as accurate a view available today of background statistics for Southern Africa in terms of population and age distribution and the  impact of HIV/AIDS.

NOTE: This is a work in progress.  As information is sourced, we will make it available to you.  Should you have information that could be added to these maps, or suggestions for other maps, we'd love to hear of them.  Write to budwestcoast@shaw.ca.



Southern Africa_4 Maps_Pop_AgeDst_Lit_Urb_S -



Southern Africa_4 Maps_HIV_AIDS_Impact_S -

Thursday, December 17, 2009

“AIDSLINK” Newsletter

TEAM and SIM share a common vision in terms of where and how to respond to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Southern Africa.  Leaders of both organizations are serious about working together to address this common challenge. 

SIM has been on the forefront of HIV/AIDS response since the pandemic became known.  In addition to direct hands-on involvement where TEAM is working alone, TEAM is committed to making a meaningful coordinated contribution to the momentum SIM has achieved. 

SIM’s HOPE for Aids teams are working in some of the same areas where TEAM is engaged (see http://hopeforaids.org/)

H – Home-based care
O – Orphan care
P – Prevention
E – Enabling

SIM has also developed “AIDSLINK,” an excellent  newsletter by which people are being kept up to date on information having to do with HIV/AIDS.

We have obtained permission to publish this newsletter on our Blog. 

You can also subscribe to receive the newsletter if you wish to do so.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

"From There to Here ..."

Many friends have asked us how it came about that we moved from the work focus we've been committed to for many years to something so different.


"From evangelism and church planting to humanitarian work" ... some have said.


This post is for friends and ministry partners who are interested to know the process by which we advanced from where we were to where we are.


It is no contradiction. It is obedience to an ever deepening conviction to complete the task.


We have just added a slideshow presentation to the Blog that will help you track with us across the terrain by which we have come, not to simply humanitarian work, but to action that is being motivated by a commitment to a genuine theology of compassion;  mentoring and facilitating people in the pews to a practical response to the mandate Christ gave when He said "AS the Father has sent me, so send I you."  


Please click on the title "Background & Vision for the Zim HIV/AIDS Initiative" in the "Links to Slideshows, Reports and Presentations" window on the right-hand side of the Blog, or simply click on the link 
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/EwP1AWHUKW1aXs


We thank you for your interest.

We are indebted to our dear friends Doug and Jackie for the role of encouragement they have played in our lives. We are grateful for having had opportunity to travel with the DTW team in Kenya in 2008. This experience occurred at a very significant time in our life.

Friday, December 11, 2009

"I Am Because We Are ..."





If you can spare an hour and a half to take a deeply moving and reflective journey to another world click on:


Maddona’s documentary, “I am Because We Are” will show you another side of Maddona, but it will show you much more … and trigger thoughts and reflections that could well take you off on any number of tangents.

There are many avenues and varied approaches by which different people from different socio-economic vantage points are involving themselves in the collective response presently underway to come to grips with the multi-layered horrors of today’s African predicament.

In my mind, the situation is serious enough to stifle any criticism of any of these approaches.  I’m grateful for any sincere response.  It matters enough that something is being done by any and every effort that’s being made that it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s sustainable or not, or whether it’s contra or counter cultural or not.

The documentary’s title comes from a Zulu saying, “I am because we are,” that speaks of the deeply ingrained sense of community that exists among Africa’s traditional peoples. 

As I watched and reflected on the interpretation given to the saying by the documentary, I couldn’t leave the African context … and it made me feel that much more that we are on the right track with our vision.

A traditional African person finds his or her identity in the greater “we” of the community in which he or she resides.  We see the African predicament when we look into the eyes of an individual African who is part of that predicament. 

Ironically, one can look into the eyes of another African and see a different Africa altogether, but it is the marginalized and disenfranchised we’re concerned about.

How much of the helplessness and hopelessness we see deep in those individual eyes is a measure of the helplessness and hopelessness of the collective society because deterioration and disintegration in society has brought about tragic deterioration and disintegration to countless individuals.

My guess is that one is a reflection of the other.  Some may argue that we need to improve the society for the benefit of individuals.  I would argue the opposite.  I would argue that to give meaningful attention to one is to give meaningful attention to the whole.

That’s why our vision centers on giving ourselves to facilitate an indigenous movement that is presently underway; on the part of poor people to poor people, in the name of Christ, that is profoundly relevant in cultural and social terms, with a view to bringing physical, emotional, social and spiritual redemption to individuals … who make up the whole … that will, in turn, impact individuals for the better.

Could this be the hope for Africa that Africa has been hoping for?

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Subscription Service offered …

We’re looking for feedback.  Feedback comes from a network of family, personal friends and other folk (soon to become friends) who are interested in the project.  A network needs to be informed. The best way to be informed is to keep up to date with the progress of this exciting initiative by signing up to receive an E-mail alert every time a new post is added to the Blog.

We invite you to do so by entering your E-mail address in the top right hand corner of this Blog.

We need advice, are open to council, could use lots of encouragement and would just like to gain a sense of who wants to be included in our network, so we welcome Blog comments and E-mails. 

You can write to Bud at budwestcoast@shaw.ca.
You can write to Mandy at mandaliz9@gmail.com.

Monday, December 7, 2009

"Everyone One Hundred Campaign"



TEAM will be launching a great campaign in January 2010 that is intended to offer you hot-off-the-press weekly content designed to edify and challenge you. 

Not only will you see a weekly selection of prayer requests from around the world, you will also receive helpful materials to encourage spiritual growth in the areas of prayer and giving.  You can also look for specific answers to prayer and other news.

All you need to do is log on to www.TEAMeveryone.org, enter your E-mail address, name, mailing information and phone number, and you will receive a thank you message via email that includes seven key items to pray for in the days leading up to the start of the campaign.

You’ll see there an excellent summary of each of these key items (including Zimbabwe’s HIV/AIDS initiative). These requests, and others that will follow, will each speak to amazing open doors for ministry God has given to TEAM. It's a great way of keeping your finger on the pulse of what God is doing through TEAM around the world. 

If you consider global prayer a ministry in itself, this campaign is for you. 



Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Living Positively With HIV ... South Africa Reaches a Significant Mile Stone"

People can live positively with HIV.







The people you see here are a part of a happy community of multi-generational individuals who are being cared for by Karanda's "Home Based Care" initiative.  They gather regularly for counselling, training, emotional encouragement and spiritual edification.  At these times, they receive a re-supply of the medicines that ... along with other practical disciplines ... are keeping them alive.

If it had not been for the fact that the Zimbabwe government eventually recognized HIV and AIDS some years ago for what they are ... after having denied the existence of AIDS ... these people would be dead.

Associated Press reported today that South African President, Jacob Zuma announced that South Africa will treat all HIV-positive babies and expand testing.  This announcement marks a dramatic and meaningful shift in the country in Africa with more people living with HIV than any other.

A Harvard study of the years under Zuma's predecessor, who questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, concluded that more than 300,000 premature deaths in South Africa could have been prevented had officials there acted sooner to provide drug treatments to AIDS patients and to prevent pregnant women with HIV from passing the virus to their children.


The United States government is contributing to this new turn of events with a gift to South Africa of $120 million over the next two years for AIDS treatment.


NOW ... if only the money and provisions can get to those who need them the most ... That is our prayer.

Friday, October 30, 2009

"Looking For Partners ..."




We are poised and ready to move on to the next challenge that will see us settling in Zimbabwe to head up the Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Initiative team.  If it were not for the project partners who have signed on to participate with us, we would not be able to contemplate going to embrace the next phase of this great challenge.  We are so grateful for those who have said they want to partner with us in principle and in practise.  We're finalizing our contact list so as to be able to keep everyone informed of progress along the way.

GOALS:
- Team leader in place by February 2010.
- Assessment and improvement of present initiatives underway by March 2010.
- An HIV/AIDS team with leadership in place by August 2010. Expatriate and national staff to be identified, recruited and deployed as we move toward the goal of an assembled and engaged initiative group on the ground.
- Select national champions, with network contacts in place, to be identified by December 2010 to participate in international HIV/AIDS consultations and workshops.
- A Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS forum to be in place, functioning and with training in place by June 2011.
- A national board of advisors to be in place by June 2011.

We're looking for more partners.  If you'd like to be added to the list, please drop us an E-mail with your contact information to budwestcoast@shaw.ca.  If you'd like to contribute to the project, you can do so on-line at https://www.teamworld.org/GIVE/GiveOnline.aspx.  You'll see there, other options available for donations.

Onward and upward  ... with thanks.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

"Running Wild"

For those who may be interested ...

Some time ago, my family encouraged me to put down in writing some recollections that remain from the wonderful experience of growing up in tribal Zimbabwe.   We invite you to take a journey with us back in time to a simpler and very happy time ... The links to the chapters of "Running Wild" are included in the right hand column of the blog.




A grammatical note:  This draft was written to begin with in the first person, then altered to the third person.  Regrettably, there are some scattered errors in this draft that have not yet been adjusted.

Friday, October 16, 2009

"A Fresh New Global Overview of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic"


In February, 2009, Hans Rosling explained the HIV/AIDS pandemic with the aid of fabulous new shifting graphics.

He has converted the best available data from UNAIDS and WHO into understandable Gapminder bubbles.

While the statistics are difficult to accurately quantify in some areas of the world, especially sub Saharan Africa, this does illustrate the reality as we know it.

The two key messages that the global HIV epidemic has reached a “steady state” with 1% of the adult world population infected and that there are huge differences in HIV occurrence between and within African countries.

Many African countries have the same, relatively low, HIV levels as can be found in most of the world, whereas 50% of the world’s HIV infected persons live in a few countries in Eastern and Southern Africa (with 4% of the world population).

You will notice that Zimbabwe’s HIV rate of infection soared at one stage, but has been reduced quite dramatically in recent years.  While the rate of infection is still alarmingly high, we would suggest that one of the key factors in the turn-around had to do with government’s shift in policy that went from denying the existence of HIV to recognizing its reality and beginning to allow something to be done about it.  

Hans Rosling closes his speech by summarizing probable reasons for the high HIV burden in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa and he claims that the focus must be on preventing further HIV transmission in these highly affected populations.

Please go to "Relevant Web Reports ..." to the right, and click on "A Global View Of The HIV/AIDS Pandemic."

I encourage you to watch this clip, and go to http://www.gapminder.org/videos/ted-talk-2009-hans-rosling-hiv-facts/ where you will be able to download the movie FREE in order to pass it on. 

Thursday, October 8, 2009

"Radio Interview …"

We invite you to listen to a radio interview we were recently privileged to participate in  for a group of radio stations in North Carolina.

You'll find the link to the interview to the right under "Links to Slideshows, Reports and Interviews."  If you have trouble accessing the MP3 file, you can paste and copy the following link into your browser: http://www.divshare.com/download/9831866-57d    


While there was not enough opportunity to tell the whole story, we were able to speak to the dynamic that drives us.



We welcome your comments …

Friday, September 25, 2009

"A breakthrough vaccine for HIV?"

ANY news that indicates progress in the fight against HIV infection is good news.

Thailand has been the testing ground for a new HIV vaccine, or combination of two vaccines already in existence.  The world heard today of the results of that test.  At first glance, it is very exciting news ... the whole world holds its breath for continued positive indicators.

Under closer scrutiny, there seem to be many variables, especially as it relates to other regions of the world presently in the grip of the pandemic.

You can read more about it on the link listed to the right under "Relevant Web Reports ..."

We continue to watch, pray, and do everything we can in the meantime to reach out to those infected, affected and not yet infected but at risk ...

Monday, September 21, 2009

"An encouraging day ..."

Today is one of those days that contribute to the encouragement factor.

We are reflecting on a $500 gift we just heard about from a church in North Carolina.  Also, today, a draft proposal for the Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS initiative has been forwarded for consideration by a gifted professional in Chicago without charge.  I've also been in touch with another wonderfully gifted professional from USC who is interested in helping out with one of the most significant aspects of the Zimbabwe strategy; the formulation of a forum of national initiatives.  Then a friend sent me a Facebook message to say that he has arranged for an on-going donation to be deposited in our home office account monthly. When I checked the account this morning, I discovered personal contributions that people had quietly made without any indication to us of their having done so ... giving without regard to reward. How gratifying is THAT ... for all concerned?

Words cannot express how special it is when individuals and/or groups of individuals respond to an inner prompting to invest in what our lives are invested in.  It brings a warm deep-down understanding that someone else's heart is beating in rhythm with ours ... that we're not alone in the huge endeavor.

There's a fine line between "soliciting funds", and "making a need known."

We are not into soliciting funds, but the need is great!

Should you be moved to participate in a tangible way, please contact me at budwestcoast@shaw.ca and I'll be more than happy to point you in a direction that will allow you to select one of a few carefully accounted for, tax deductible ways to be involved.

Don't you just LOVE it when a day like today comes along?

Saturday, September 19, 2009

"It's a good beginning."

The video clip http://teamworld.org/LEARN/Video_Zimbabwe.aspx (please see the box on the right, under "Zimbabwe report ...") ends with the words, "It's a good beginning."

The clip tells the story of "Tatenda", a young girl who was sent from the hospital to die.  "Happiness," another twelve-year old girl took charge of Tatenda and literally reversed the course of her prognosis through nothing more than tender loving care.  It is more than significant that "Tatenda", which means "we are thankful" should have been helped by "Happiness."  The most significant response in Zimbabwe today is one that is entered into with joyful enthusiasm and motivated by old fashioned loving care and concern

This is a tiny window through which the reality can be seen, where the poor are helping the poor.  As this story is multiplied through the sincere efforts of deeply motivated individuals and groups of individuals, real change is taking place.

The good work being facilitated in Zimbabwe by TEAM is being complemented in country by other like minded organizations and national initiatives.  We want this good work to grow and expand across the nation.  It will take a harmonized. coordinated effort to get it done.

With a "finger on the pulse" and with a locally realized practical response in place we will ensure best results from available people resources and donor funding.

If you feel compelled to have a part or be a part in this challenge, please write to me at budwestcoast@shaw.ca.

Friday, September 18, 2009

It’s all about the compelling motivation …

If you had your ear to the ground around the time of the Kenyan presidential election  in 2007, you will have heard of the horrible inter-tribal violence that took place across the country in the aftermath of the election in December of that year. 

We were in Kenya six months later where we met and spoke with people who had been impacted in one way or another by the violence.

We stood in the ashes of a burned down church where women and children who had gathered there for safety and protection had been burned alive.  We stood and looked down at the mute evidence of those lives … small pieces of clothing with burn marks that showed where the flames that had consumed the rest had ended … the burned remnants of childrens’ shoes … arbitrary house keys lying in the ashes.

Later, as we sat in the boardroom of Daystar University, we heard how a dazed group of pastors from local churches had confessed that they had actually been involved in perpetuating some of the violence. 

It was as if they had woken up from a dream, and couldn’t understand what had happened.  They had come to say, “Please help us understand why we were killing each other.”

We sat with brilliant scientific researchers from universities in the States who were with us on the trip and listened as they interacted with their Kenyan counterparts about how to respond.

I listened with a pastor’s heart and began to reflect on the fact that while research is valid and even needed, the main thing was being over-looked.  The issue is a deeply spiritual one, as far as followers of Christ are concerned.  The great commission does not just demand great conviction.  It ALSO requires great compassion.

If we’ve never understood, “As the Father has sent me, so send I you,” we need to understand it now in the face of the horrors resulting form the AIDS pandemic across Africa.

In the weeks and months that followed that meeting, I reflected on the decades we had been involved in evangelism and church planting in Zimbabwe.  I reflected on how passionate we were when it came to discipling followers of Christ on the theology of conversion, but wondered if we had been diligent enough when it came to the theology of compassion.

I went back to the Book, and was astounded to realize more than I had ever realized before, how much of Christ’s earthly ministry was taken up by reaching out and touching hurting people.

Throughout our career, we have been driven by the necessity of sharing the Gospel message to people who needed to hear it so that they, having embraced it, could take it to others who hadn’t heard it yet.  That passion remains.

But now, we feel equally driven by the necessity of demonstrating and teaching the compassion of Christ in a world of people that so desperately need it.     

I honestly wonder whether our culture of Christianity has distorted our view of the Christ whom we claim to follow. It’s not enough to say what He said.  I’m convinced that his heart is grieved when we don’t do as He did. That too is part of the mandate He left us.

Then, as I looked at the history of the global response to what I refer to as Africa’s predicament, I was equally challenged.

Poor people die in Africa not because of the world’s indifference to their poverty … and the ills that poverty brings … but also because of well intended yet ineffective efforts on the part of well meaning outsiders looking in.
HIV initiatives in Africa are a dime a dozen.  Most of these involve the development of a “project” that is then planted in a given location with varying degrees of cultural adaptation and use of local resources. 
These have met with varying success, require large amounts of money and rarely survive eventual nationalization of the program with its accompanied tapering of external resource input and accountability. 
At best these programs impact one or two of the of the amazingly diffuse number or problems associated with the HIV crisis (orphans, treatment, child led homes, education, prevention etc., etc., etc.).The net result is less than a blip on an incidence curve that is spiraling out of control.
There is, however, one exception in Africa.  Uganda was the first African state to report HIV infections of an epidemic proportion.  It is also the first nation in Africa to demonstrate not only a slow down in the number of new infections annually, but an actual decrease in the number of HIV infected cases. 
It happened slowly, because there was no catalyst to speed up the natural gradual process, but it happened.
Even the Ugandan government openly states that this turn around was due to the involvement of the Church, not one building or one congregation but tens of thousands of believers in multiple congregations, all across the country.   It started small with one person here, another person over there saying, “enough is enough, something has to be done!”  Individuals started, others gathered around them and eventually whole churches got involved. 
The initiatives varied from poor widows impacting child led households in their communities to sophisticated schools for orphans, feeding programs and treatment centers.  Some aligned themselves with official government programs exponentially expanding their effectiveness, while others stayed small and focused. 
Eventually, many aligned themselves with churches in the West, not only increasing their own effectiveness but impacting the western churches in ways their leaders could only have dreamed of.
The things we witnessed during the time we spent in Zimbabwe earlier this year proved to us that Africa is changing.  Zimbabwe is changing.  The old “I don’t want to get involved” attitude is being replaced by a desperate desire on the part of poor people to do “something”, “anything” to ease the pain and suffering around them. 
African church leaders are coming to their missionary counterparts begging for help and advice.  It is into this scenario that we have introduced our HIV/AIDS initiative. 
We are not interested in a well-developed program that can be plopped down in the center of Zimbabwe.  We want to be a simple, unobtrusive catalyst. 
Someone has said, “We can either look at the HIV epidemic as the worst medical disaster to hit the earth since the Black Plague or see it as the greatest opportunity Christ has given His Church to demonstrate His love to the to the disenfranchised and marginalized sectors of global society since Christ Himself walk on this earth.”
 A Sample Vignette
There is an elderly widow woman in the Eastern highlands of Zimbabwe who was reaching out to teen led homes in her community with the little she has herself.
Twenty years ago we heard stories of grandparents in Africa having to raise their grandchildren because of parents who had died of AIDS. 
Today the situation is far worse.  Now, a generation later, those grandmothers have died, many of the grandmothers who were to have replaced them have died from AIDS, the parents have died and the small children are left to themselves, teens and even pre-teens have been saddled with the responsibility of not only caring for themselves but raising their younger siblings as well.
In one small village this elderly widow could no longer sit back and ignore the plight of the teen led homes around her.  Beginning with the closest home she committed to visit them at least once a week, bringing food when she could, which was not often.  
When she visits these orphan led homes, she teaches the young children how to cook and keep house,  gives instructions to the older children among them how to run a home.  She models how to plant and care for their small garden, and teaches the youngest among them how to read.  
She ends her time with them each visit by reading from the Bible and praying with the children, giving expression to the love of God that causes her to reach out in love.  The children have grown to love her and look eagerly forward to her visits.  
She added homes to her list until she was visiting five homes every week. Realizing that she had reached her limit, yet driven by the enormous need, she has enlisted ten of her widow friends, teaching them to do as she has done.  
Now, through the efforts of a single widow woman 55 homes in this small community are receiving mentoring and a clear picture of Christ’s love.  
This is a true story and is just one example, one of many points of light, springing up all over Africa.

Monday, August 31, 2009

HIV/AIDS Southern Africa Trip

Bud and Mandy Jackson are coordinating TEAM's HIV/AIDS initiative in Africa.

In the early part of 2009, they spent a month in Zimbabwe to see TEAM's hands-on involvement in the tribal northeast of the country.   Another month was spent in South Africa, seeing what was going on in KwaZulu Natal and up into northern Zululand.

Because a main part of the strategy involves networking and partnering with other HIV/AIDS-related organizations and agencies in North America and Africa, much of the time spent in Africa was dedicated to building the relational groundwork necessary, and beginning to build a framework of cooperation of intention with wonderful people of like mind and shared purpose.

You are invited to share Bud and Mandy's experiences through the medium of this blog, as you join them in their travels and gain an understanding of where their hearts are in the face of Africa's struggle with the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Anticipation ...

Friday, January 2nd (Frankfurt, Germany)

During a twelve-hour lay-over in the stark interior of Frankfurt’s international airport, we had plenty of time to give thought to the transition we had entered into as we left the pristine and abundant conditions of the Pacific Northwest coast of Canada and turned our attention to Zimbabwe, a nation in the tenacious grip of serious inflation, severe poverty and unemployment, and struggling with the devastating impact of diseases like malaria, AIDS and cholera.

Mandy wrote, “My return to Zimbabwe after a seven-year absence was a spiritual, mental and emotional hurdle for me, but I was more than ready to face it.  During the intervening years, I’d been diagnosed with and received treatment for “post traumatic stress syndrome” that was a result of a series of stressful incidents I’d encountered during our last term of service there. 

As we waited at Frankfurt airport, I again praised the Lord for the deep sense of purpose and excitement I felt anticipating our return to Africa, knowing that this was His appointed mission and time for us.  I also thanked Him for the sense of peace He’d given me, despite my misgivings about Africa’s unpredictability.”

Taking care of last minute correspondence before landing back in Africa, I wrote to a friend to say, “Well, here we are waiting in yet another airport departure lounge...

Waiting for another plane to take us to another destination.

We're about to board our flight to Jo'burg via Frankfurt, then on to Harare.

This has been a tough trip to prepare for.  There are so many unknown quantities.  I never thought I'd have such a mixture of emotions about returning to my homeland. We have a case packed with a few personal items, and extra bags crammed full of dried foods, nuts, nutritional bars and second hand clothes.

At the same time, we are excited ... and looking forward to the challenges that will face us.  We have a supply of anti-malaria tablets, have invested in a UV water purifier, bought some H2O purification tabs, have a collapsible water bottle stashed away in our carry-on, and are good to go.”

Saturday, August 29, 2009

Arrival ...

Saturday, January 3rd. 2009

The first wave of nostalgia hit me as we landed at Harare International airport.  Although not as international as it once was, it was nostalgic nonetheless to walk off the aircraft and into the main concourse late on the Saturday night of our arrival from Johannesburg.

Many of the bulbs that would normally bring brilliant light to the comings and goings of travelers who ventured there were not functioning.  As eyes adjusted to the gloom, we noticed a group of civilian-dressed people sitting behind a two-countered desk, bantering and visiting together.  Thinking this was a preliminary step to the formalities of immigration and customs, we made our way there.  After paying for entrance visas, a reminder of altered status from resident to visitor, we continued on our way.

Without any further ado, we collected our luggage and were swept up by a couple of porters who led us directly through the “nothing to declare” route into the public receiving area where we saw friends who had come to meet us.

The second wave of nostalgia arrived as we stepped out into the balmy Zimbabwean night.  After loading our collective personal and additional luggage, we piled into a double cab pick up truck and made our way out into the darkness. 

Mandy wrote, “Personally, I would have preferred to arrive during daylight hours so that I could see my surroundings clearly.  Arriving at night unnerved me, and I found myself suspicious of the dark that hovered beyond the reach of our truck headlights and the occasional functioning street light.

I kept reminding myself ‘He who has led you hitherto will lead you all the journey through’, and I was thankful that my Father knew exactly where I was and was watching over me.  They say that ‘ignorance is fear’, but in my case a consistent tracking of in-depth news from my earthly homeland had enlightened me enough to know what dangers potentially lay beyond the ‘safety’ of our vehicle!

Forty-some years of memories prompted by such familiar surroundings, fragrances, atmosphere, and balmy night air, flooded my mind and emotions as we traveled well known roads to our mission’s headquarters on the opposite side of the city.  

I noticed the ‘new’ procedure of negotiating intersections where robots (traffic lights) were either non-functional or partially functional, but always confusing. Even when the lights were present and working, they could not be relied upon. Sometimes, only the ‘caution’ light would be working from one approach, and only the ‘go’ light working from the opposite approach.  At other times, the lights on all four corners (if there and working) seemed to have a mind of their own.  Worse case scenario was evident at a few places where all four lights were green at the same time.  We soon learned the best way to navigate across intersections was to keep one eye on robots directing the other approaches (wherever possible), and the other on any vehicles coming from the sides! .  As Bud said one day, in the course of a trip across town, ‘The thing that dictates the flow of traffic in Zimbabwe these days is personality!’ It seemed the more aggressive drivers had no problem making progress as they nosed their way into the fray and emerged on the other side without a scratch. Thankfully, Kiersten, our seasoned driver, knew what she was doing that night!”

The third wave of nostalgia washed over me as we traveled.  With head hanging out of the left rear window, I inhaled the familiar fragrances wafting on the night air, and was transported back to the socio-linguistic groove that welcomed me as a long lost friend.

Mandy had a slightly different reaction … “I was immensely relieved to enter the gated and walled compound of our destination, and to find that the electricity was working.  Soon I found myself unwinding as the tension released it’s grip on my body.  A cup of herbal tea in hand I sat up in bed under the mosquito net while an infusion of peace and ‘rightness’ in my world flooded in.  I slept soundly.” 

So, after a forty-hour trip halfway around the world, we slept well for what remained of the night.  The whine of mosquitoes venturing back and forth on the outer surface of the netting securely tucked around us was a final welcome as we drifted off to sleep.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Tshipise, here we come!

Sunday, January 4th. 2009

We were up early the next morning, preparing to hit the road south.  Once the ladies had returned from a last minute excursion in the direction of the shops, we embarked on the all-day journey that would take us toward the border with South Africa and a cozy night at the Lion and Elephant Hotel on the banks of the dry sand of the Bubi River.
Mandy’s excursion in search of supplies for the trip South was an interesting experience. “Going shopping early the next morning to buy some provisions for our journey, I felt like a visitor to a once familiar place.  So much was still the same to me, and yet so much had changed.  There was a feeling of ‘disconnect’ between what I saw and what I knew to be reality. This theme continued to play throughout our month’s stay.  




Before we’d passed the outskirts of Harare I noticed the first of very many abandoned vehicle carcasses in various stages of deterioration.  This alerted me to the reality of the heightened risk one undertakes when driving Zimbabwe’s roads.  The combination of excessive speed, carelessness, awful road conditions and the unpredictability of “the other” driver calls for skillful defensive driving and a total dependency on the Lord’s hand of protection.”



The day was a wonderful adventure, given the level of excitement most of the occupants of the Toyota van shared.  This, in spite of having to negotiate numerous Police road-blocks and menacing potholes, and some road-crossing cattle along the way.  Providence planned the timing of arrival at our destination in a way that allowed for a leisurely stroll along the riverbed.  Late evening bird song accompanied our intent investigation of signs of the wild as we walked, turning just in the nick of time to make it back to the dim distant lights that beckoned from farther away than we thought.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Lion and Elephant Motel (on the Bubi) and on to the border crossing …

Monday, January 5th

Mandy had an opportunity to visit with a woman in distress that morning at breakfast.  


"During breakfast, I was alerted to an elderly lady sitting on her own on the other side of the dining room. After hearing about the sad circumstances she was facing, I felt drawn to go over to her to chat with and pray for her. She was a recent widow.  She had traveled to the border with her son the day before to enter South Africa in order to see her sister who had only a short time left to live. She’d been denied passage through the border and after finding a rideback to the motel, had parted from her son who’d continued on. Now she was waiting for a friend from her hometown to come and get her. The toll of the stress of the past nine years showed on her face and in her eyes. She’d lost the family farm to the government, she’d lost her husband, she was living as frugally as she could to make her limited resources stretch. She was about to lose her sister, and here she was in this moment, all alone. I was so glad that I could encourage her to trust in The One who would never leave her alone, nor forsake her."



After a lovely breakfast in the open-sided dining area on the riverbank, we loaded the vehicle and made our way toward Beit Bridge and the experience commonly referred to as, “crossing the border.”   


It was just as well that we had steeled ourselves for the lengthy stand-still interludes, under the wonderfully hot Africa sun, that interspersed occasional tentative footsteps in the direction of the air-conditioned interior of the Customs and Immigration building. Shuffling our way in the queue through the necessary formalities at the border gave me two great opportunities! The first: to feel and absorb the heat of the African sun on my skin again, and the second: to engage in conversation with folk around us.


Mandy had an interesting conversation with a young African man in his mid-twenties. She writes, "He was on his way to Messina in his ‘bakkie’ to shop for clients living in Zimbabwe. During at least ninety minutes of conversation, he opened window for me to see life from his perspective and as my heart ached for him, I was amazed at his ability to laugh and keep going despite his incredibly stressful challenges. Challenges such as:
* having to close down his two general dealers stores due to: the shortage of fuel, the empty shelves at his wholesaler suppliers, the devastating lack of buying power of his clientele, the unpredictability of government edicts, the unreliability of workers who either steal because they’re so hungry and desperate or are absent more often than not due to illness.
* having to move to the border town, away from his wife and children in order to try to make a living any way he can.
* being the sole provider for his wife and children, and for their combined extended families at his rural home.
* having to keep applying and paying for a valid visa to enter South Africa that only lasts for a couple of months at a time.
* Having to pay for the school fees, uniforms and books of his younger siblings despite the fact that most of the government school teachers had stopped reporting for work due to the non-payment of their salaries for months on end."
After finally breaking free from officialdom, we made our way into Messina. The welcoming embrace of the little town, at one time a perennial reminder to our family of our arrival for holidays in South Africa, was different to what we recalled.  Once a lazy border town, Messina was now a crowded bustling boom-town, populated for the most part by Zimbabweans who had managed to make it to the place where they could purchase supplies of the unobtainable basics intended for the gauntlet that would transport them back to waiting families and businesses back home.


Mandy describes her re-entry into the land of her birth this way; “As we approached Messina, we were confronted by a huge billboard that boldly stated, ‘Zimbabwe is starving for Democracy,’ with the picture of a child entrapped inside the rib cage of an animal carcass.  How poignant, how real, how tragic, how humanly helpless and hopeless the message is.  It hit me hard.’

After purchasing a few basic supplies, we embarked on the final leg of the journey that would take us to Tshipise, a quiet oasis of green dotted here and there with shaded thatched chalets and the warm waters of the mineral pools that are its central attraction.  It was here that we were to meet up with TEAM-mates who would gather from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.  Later in the week, the area leader and his wife from South Africa joined us for the time that had been set aside to talk about the challenge of a proactive response to HIV/AIDS in the ministry areas represented.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Annual Conference ...



Tuesday – Friday, January 6th – 9th

The joint TEAM family enjoyed a wonderful time of rich fellowship, good food and not a little bit of fun in the week that followed; all of which was a wonderful relief, if not release, for co-workers who had been standing firm in the face of intensely difficult ministry circumstances in the days, weeks and months prior.

A troop of vervet monkeys visited us every day, the dominant male acting for all the world like a feudal baron while his wives released their new-born babies within the safety of the setting to learn the rudiments of walking on unsteady legs as they traveled across the landscape of their new natural world on tip-toes of touch, smell and taste.

Toward the end of the week, the conference broached the pressing issue of widows and orphans and the ever-looming presence of the HIV/AIDS crisis.  We had left North America with a 

clear sense of providential direction to our thinking.  The team we had interacted with in Canada and the US had seen clear possibilities emerge that revolved around TEAM’s unique strengths and degree of credibility in the ministry areas where we serve.  We arrived in Southern Africa committed to listening, observing and seeking to learn from the perspective of workers on the front line.  In short, we had embarked on a fact-finding trip.

It was toward the end of the week of conference that we received the first clear indication that the thinking and reflecting of our co-workers on the front line of the battle had been following a parallel path to ours.  With clear vision on the part of the area leaders of both Zimbabwe/Mozambique and South Africa, and genuine interest on the part of those attending, it began to become clear that the pandemic had already brought all of the key players to a point of meaningful action.

The annual conference agreed to initiate the formation of an HIV/AIDS task force as a first step in the direction of an organized intentional step toward compassionate ministry.

Mandy too, found conference to be a refreshing experience. "It was such therapy for me to be in the midst of my fellow co-workers again. I loved every minute of the opportunities I had to hear about their ministries, to catch up on their lives, and to sense their challenges both personally and in ministry. God gave me moments of one-on-one time with several ladies and it was wonderful to be able to connect at a deep level, praying and bearing each other’s burdens."