Bethel

The bethel home here was built & dedicated in 1998, the old home was many buildings scattered throughout the city making it a bit difficult to move around in. They went out of the downtown city area a ways and there was an old farm house and barn for sale, which they have kept and maintained, turning it into a guest house.
The amount of friends living here is around 130 to 135. It has received some serious updates for the international convention this last year to be able to house the new Bethelites and visiting delegates. Its been beautifully done, all of Jehovah's houses look great and colourful in the tropical areas. They have four residence buildings, large wearhouse where they sort after a delivery from South Africa, and an area for the large generators which they seem to use every night to keep power on. Awesome side note..they have dogs! Three of them, when on the leash they do become on alert and guard dog but in their cages they are super nice looking for someone to pet them.

Our hosts were Jon and Cindi Winn. They graduated the124th class of Giliaed and assigned to Zim..four years later they were moved into the Branch where he works as the home overseer & new  maintenance overseer. Cindi is one of the purchasers, literally her job is to shop.. I want that job!  :) She is from Florida and he's from Massachusetts.   We were able to go to family worship on Monday evening after dinner..(which we may have almost missed..apparently weekday and weekend dinners are not the same time..oops). The bible lecture was Do you identify the prophets among us? It was such great and timely information.

There are over12 million people here in Zimbabwe . The Translation office here is for all of Shona and Zimbabwean sign lang. They do have a few small remote offices as well around the smaller cities. They have the audio & recording studio for the DVDs. They oversee the 1100 Cong's here, and many small groups in the bush. They have 16 missionary couples of which we've met almost all of them.  It seems a lot are moved to bethel or into the circuit work either in Shona or English. We met up with the brother who goes through the applications as well I told him I'll staple some American treats to mine..maybe it will slip in the right direction.. His ears perked up when I said fruit roll-ups.. Ha
They need so many more kingdom halls and assembly halls here, they can not keep up with the demand because it takes them so long to build. They have no machinery to help, its done all by hand in clay type soil. We had been okayed to help but they are only building in the rurals and it would be difficult to find accommodations and a bit of a health risk so Bethel didn't recommend we try.  You're welcome Mother. ;)
It was a wonderful few days, we felt a little lazy not working like our brothers so when we went swimming we scrubbed and skimmed the pool for bugs. :) then we felt better.
We now live in a home with no internet so we walk to the cafe down the way to buy a few MIN so we share our thoughts. So especially, parents no need to worry if we go a few days without contact. Our time is being spent wisely in service and we will send our love and experiences as much as we can.

Chipo

Pronounced almost Cheap-O... This is my Shona name, it means Gift. Chandi got Chido..Desire. 

Culture here is soooo strong. Their way of thinking is so different then back home, it's refreshing yet madding at the same time. The brothers are doing better after years and years of Jehovah's direction but it's quite ingrained. The idea of being single here is not favorable, I can't even tell you how many people have told me they were going to get me up with a chieftain so I'll have a ton of little kids and hundreds of cattle... Haha .. Then live on a mountain in the rurals where I have to draw water from  well..yeah thanks but no thanks. 

There is a lot of pressure to have kids, even within the congregation, to the elder women here it means you're going your job as a woman. The babies normally stay home with the nanny while the mothers go in service, sadly, Tracy is trying to get them to bring the little ones in service more. You call the sisters by their children's name, so an example is mi Kiki.. Said like my Kiki.. Meaning Kikis mom. 

The oldest daughter of the oldest son in a family is the TayTay..which means what she says goes..always. If she tells you to move you go, that's why the part at one of the conventions about the aunt telling the couple to move to make more money was so important. It doesn't apply to our way of life but here it's the norm.  If you like someone and she said no you are now crush-less... Going against the family is ticky business, and against the in-laws even harder. If they think the wife is not doing her job they get the man a 2nd wife...of course not within the Christian congregation but there have been brothers who've come home and..hey theres another woman in his home all of a sudden. Having a whole family in the truth is a luxury most are denied here. 

We're getting use to the Shona greetings, slowly. Each time you meet some one you cup your hands clap and do a small courtesy, do it the wrong way and you disrespect the one you're talking too.. Talk about pressure. Plus the wording is different from one situation to the next, super confusing. Like if we may see a person more then once a day the greeting is not the same as if only seen then once a week. 😩

It's the rainy season right now but light in the water department while we've been here, which has made walking much easier. The trails are dusty as are the kids but it's screams Africa so I won't complain. We just bring our zambias, small tablecloth type things, and find some shade to start reading. Strangely zambias are normally cloth from Tanzania sold in Zimbabwe.. Haha

Bethel trip will be the next email sent sometime Tuesday or Wednesday after we settle into our next residence. Much sisterly love from here all my family & friends. 

Diving In

Tony and Tracy really wanted us to understand the Shona culture before moving back to English, it makes witnessing so much easier if you know the kind of barriers you may come up against when teaching. Today I took to the water by diving right in and doing some public witnessing at a market. It really is easy for foreigners to witness because they appreciate the work you're trying just learning a little bit.  Plus it's a conversation starter.."Hey can I practice my Shona with you!?" They laugh then say yeah yeah.. Both Chandler and I were able to attain some english return visits so hopefully by next week we can cultivate some bible studies.   Chandi placed with these maids and they are the sweetest. (Everyone has a maid and or a gardener). The Shona don't think the white culture can learn it so we stun them and they treat us like family. We both ended up placing over 12 magazines just in a few hours. It's beyond refreshing. 

This is a young girl from the camp that is 15 and brings the little ones to the meetings her name is Rosemary.  The culture puts a lot of pressured on the first daughter, they have to take care of all the kids and make sure food is on the table before the man comes home.  So it's a big surprise she is able to study, because they normally are told to get to work not sit around chatting. No matter what age not working is unacceptable here. 

It's been an amazing few days, I can't believe it's only been like 3 days! So many more days, the stories we'll have for you all.