Anticipation ...

Friday, January 2^nd (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.”