The Beginning

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 they were in the bush of Zimbabwe. Here is a short excerpt from the book, which helps to explain their mindset as they entered their new home: "The ride into the mission is a memory I shall never forget. It was dark and in the evening light we could see bush fires burning all over the hills of that beautiful land. The fires glowing in the dusk had a strange beauty that was quite unexpected...After traveling 140 miles on paved roads north of the capital city Salisbury, we left the little town of Karoi, and began the last 60 miles on the dusty road to the mission station. We were in a new, strange land. We chugged along slowly, over dips and ruts on a very dusty road. It had not rained for many months, and the dust whirled behind us, dimming the view of the truck which followed us. Villages of African huts began appearing all over the countryside. Ladies carrying big containers or buckets of water on their heads swayed gracefully, balancing their heavy loads. Children were playing in the villages. Others sat around the fires with the cooking pots boiling their sadza for the evening meal. Perhaps a thought crossed my mind, even though I was very excited about our new life. 'We are a long way from medical help, a long way from any store, and we are a long way from the comfortable home we left in America. Can we raise these two little girls out in the bush of Africa?' I had dreamed of the missionary life since I was 9 years old, so- 'Yes, I can do this!' I thought it was going to be a life of sacrifice; but soon I was to learn this was a wonderful life to which we had come. In time, I observed this is not a life of sacrifice at all. No, this was a time in Africa that would be cherished my whole life."

Because of my family history, I have had a passion for Africa my entire life. That passion is what pushed me to sign up for the Cultural Immersion Project as soon as I started my college career at Indiana University. I knew that I wanted to be a teacher and I also knew that The Cultural Immersion Project had one program in Africa: in Kenya, to be exact. So, in May of 2013, I boarded a plane to Kenya, not knowing that my future husband, John, was also on board (and a part of the CI Project AND a fellow elementary education student at IU, for that matter). John and I fell for each other pretty much instantly and began our journey together in Kenya, student teaching, traveling and seeking adventure. While in Kenya, the two of us made a pact: "to never be boring." 

Well, the rest, most of you probably know, but John and I returned home to Indiana in July of 2013 and we were married in July of 2014. We taught for two years in Indiana and planned a trip to Chidamoyo Mission in Zimbabwe, where my dad grew up. Shortly after booking our flights to Zimbabwe, we heard about a school named Rosslyn Academy in Nairobi, Kenya. A former teacher of mine posted a link to the school, which said that they were looking for new teachers. At first, I ignored the post. But then, that former teacher of mine messaged me privately asking about my connection to Kenya. I knew then that God was speaking to me. I asked him about the school. John and I applied. We got skype interviews. We got the jobs. So, in July, we will fly from here (Zimbabwe) to Kenya. We will be teaching at Rosslyn for 3+ years. 

Sorry for the long introduction, next time I will post more about our first 3 weeks here at Chidamoyo Mission. 

John and I standing on a mountain overlooking the mission.

-R