The "Joy" is in the Journey!

This past Wednesday, September 5th, we headed off to Harare to buy building supplies for our new home and bring them back to Doma! So, our journey began at 4:30am. We passed through Doma and on to Mhangura where we picked up flower seeds for a friend. So, we got to ride on a very fragrant pillow for the subsequent 4 hours to Harare. This was all good and the trip was uneventful until we arrived just outside of Harare. At this time, we began experiencing problems with the fuel injection to our truck's engine. So, we stopped at a shop and got the fuel filters cleaned out and put back on, and the truck ran great for the rest of the day in Harare! So, we had a long day of shopping, going all over the city, picking up the needed supplies to begin constructing a home. This took us from 9am to 5pm rushing around almost every moment, squeezed into the back of this little truck! We got supper at 5:30 and set off on our "4" hour journey back to Doma. Little did we know, as the sun was setting, so the consistent progress of our journey would cease! Making a long story short, we spent the next 6 and 1/2 hours going at a max speed of 24 miles per hour with the truck stalling out with no fuel about every 3 minutes! This would have been quite disconcerting under normal circumstances, but to add to matters, Jamison Deacons and Ian Fry were sitting in the back of the truck inside a house worth of door frames, surrounded by wire, doors, shingles and a wheelbarrow. Needless to say, we were a little uncomfortable. However, God is good and we were reminded that we are so joyful to be here in Zimbabwe, so grateful to be serving and laboring to share Christ in this place. So, we made a pillow out of shingles and prayed and praised for about 3 hours before we both fell asleep! At about 11pm, Rory Ervine, our fellow worker at Eden arrived in another truck with the correct tools to adjust fuel intake and we made it most of the way home before the truck died again! Finally at 12am we arrived back in Doma. Exhausted and sore we hobbled into bed and collapsed for what remained of the night. The next day, I found myself reflecting on the situation and rejoicing at the opportunity that God had given to us to witness about His life, grace, hope and truth in our lives! The men we were with (3 Shona men) got to see a few things that they hadn't experienced before. We chose to ride in the back of the truck to affirm to our Shona brothers that we don't think we are better than them! They were surprised that we spent nearly 20 hours cramped back there by choice to give them the opportunity to ride in better conditions in the front of the truck. They were surprised that we bought them food and ate together sharing the exact same food and drink, side by side! All in all, the trip had nothing to do with building materials, breakdowns or discomfort, but had everything to do with sharing Jesus in every way possible in life!
This leads me to a  few realizations and encouragements for you, our brothers and sisters abroad who will read this! 1) How are you doing at utilizing the mundane activities of your live, and even the catastrophes to witness for and be encouraged by Jesus Christ? How was your latest trip to Walmart or Target? Did you share Jesus in some way? Did you utilize that opportunity?
2) Do we have eyes to see that every moment of every day and every breath that we take is a gift from God and an opportunity to either pass by His majesty, grace and love or to rejoice in it and share it with others? Even in that cramped truck, going very slow, getting bruised by door frames, I could see the beautiful African night sky through a small window and it brought joy to my heart and praise to my lips because truly, my God is SO GOOD!

I pray this little post encourages your heart toward more focus on and thankfulness toward God in Jesus! Also, I pray you witness more in the mundane this day and week thinking about God's grace in seemingly unpleasant situations! Rom. 8:28-29, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."  May you be shaped, no matter how inconvenient, unpleasant or difficult, through the mundane tasks of your life this week!