our adventures and wanderings

Dancing at church Singing at church On Sunday the 14th, I woke up and learned that we are going out for church. Church of Christ is planting a new church and we got to be there for the first Sunday. The people from Hambakwe area have been asking Kathy and Major to start a church there. It was a VERY rocky road there. I wondered if the road was just a riverbed that is dry this time of year. Anyways, church was awesome when we got there. When we pulled up, everyone started singing and dancing. Kathy said that would have been normal when Bruce and Carolyn went to a new place. They were CRAZY excited to have a new church there. Purity There was a lot of singing, dancing, and fiery preaching. One little girl, Purity, smiled at us the whole time. I started making faces back and forth with her during the sermon and an older man saw me and thought it was funny. They fed us sadza and some fish that was staring at me for lunch. When no one was looking, I let Patience (Major...

We had plans to see Harare, Mashoko, and Masvingo this week/weekend, but on our second day in Harare, Major got a call that there was a death in his family so we had to head back to Chidamoyo. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the Ruins, but obviously, that is small in comparison. We had some amazing pizza in Harare at a place called Pizzazz. Major also bought us some ridiculously delicious Bar-One ice cream. We felt like we were going out in Indy! We also got to experience the Avondale flea market alone. I would still like to see the ghetto one if we had a Zimbabwean to go with us and show us around (and to help with Shona). We got some knick-knacks, a little giraffe painting, and I got a pair of pants. I learned to barter before trying stuff on. I kept trying on pants I liked and then not being able to get a good price. They definitely up the price for varungu (white people) and not knowing Shona doesn't help our case. It was pretty funny changing there....

The gate in front of Kathy's house It is difficult to sum up the first two weeks in just one post, but I will do my best. We are loving our time here. Chidamoyo Mission is located in the bush. The closest town is about 2 hours away. There is a small township, Chidamoyo Township, which is very close. There are only small shops and stands in the township. The paved roads end WAY before you reach the mission. The mission is centered around the hospital. The hospital serves close to 50,000 Zimbabweans. People come from as far as Harare (a BUMPY five hour drive) to get care at this hospital. They come to this hospital because they get better care here than at other hospitals. The hospital is kept running by many capable Zimbabwean nurses, two doctors, Kathy McCarty, Major Mereki and other staff. Kathy McCarty has been in Zimbabwe and working at the hospital for 34 years. The hospital amazes me every time I set foot there. Kathy and Major have been amazing hosts to us. They are also ...

I have been waiting my whole life for this moment. Here it is, right in front of me. I have imagined, dreamt and fantasized about being in this very place so many times. But, before I get ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning.  In 1963, my grandparents, Bruce Ammerman and Carolyn Litz, decided to embark on an adventure of their own. They answered a call from God to be missionaries in Africa. So, along with their two very young daughters (my aunts), they boarded a flight from St. Louis, Missouri to Rome, Italy and finally to Salisbury, Rhodesia (now Harare, Zimbabwe, which gained independence from Britain in April of 1980). From the airport in Harare, they began a long drive into the bush to their new home: Chidamoyo Mission.  When I was a young girl, my grandmother gave me one of the best gifts I have ever received. It is a book that contains many of the letters she and my grandfather had written to their family back home (in the United States) while the...