First week in Zimbabwe

On Tuesday March 7, my dad and I joined Brad and Jessica Johnson, Brian Keene and Tom Wilson on a mission to Harare, Zimbabwe. Brad, Jessica, Brian and Tom were on a South African airline flight from Washington DC to South Africa. This flight made a quick stop in Accra to drop and pick passengers in Ghana. This made it possible for my dad and I to join the team. The flight from Accra to South Africa was about 5.5 hours and another 1.5 hours from Johannesburg to Harare.

We arrived in Harare around 9:30 pm local time. Harare is 2 hours ahead of Ghana and 7 hours ahead of central standard time in the US. We were met at the airport by our host, Rodgers and Emmah Kativu, church leaders and some family members. Rodgers is the head pastor for the Methodist Revival Church International (MRCI) in Zimbabwe. After the usual pleasantries and introductions, we departed the airport for the Coghlan Villa guest house, our residence during our stay in Harare.

We rested the following day, visited Mbare, a suburb of Harare, to get a few souvenirs and joined the Rodgers family for a small group meeting with other Church members in Burrowdale, another suburb of Harare. Tom Wilson and my dad (Joseph Otsin) led a training session in Harare for a group of pastors and lay leaders of the church (MRCI) on both Thursday and Friday, March 9 and 10 respectively. I gave a short presentation about diabetes and hypertension during a self-care session led by Tom on Friday. Diabetes, hypertension, HIV and TB are big issues here and our goal was to teach preventive practices with a special focus on diabetes and hypertension.


Tom (standing in front) sharing with participants at the training session for pastors


On Saturday March 11, we traveled 1.5 hours south east of Harare to a new church at White Cliff. The service was held under a tent in a 55-degree weather in an open field. Tom and my dad preached while Brad, Jess and I shared the gospel with the kids. We shared vacation Bible School lessons for about 80 kids at the children’s service. Jess taught them about salvation using salvation bracelets. They also learned how to play kickball. We had a lot of fun sharing with the kids and were blessed in a special way.


Brad and Jessica (in front and with open books) teaching the kids about the parable of the seeds

Tent service at White Cliff



During the kids service, I noticed a young boy walking behind the shed under which the VBS was being held. He had a malformation of the left hand that piqued my interest. I followed him to his house where I met with his uncle and mom. After obtaining permission to talk to him, I assessed the hand and realized he has bad soft tissue infection with a large abscess. The family informed me that they didn’t have the two dollars needed to take him to the clinic. I contacted the head pastor of the white cliff assembly and we provided funds to help take care of the boy. We are grateful for God’s provisions and blessings that make it possible for us to lighten the burden of those who are less fortunate.
This 10 year old boy had a left soft tissue infection for over a week that was causing severe pain


On Sunday March 12, 2017, we went to Pote- Karoi, a rural place 3 hours northeast of Harare. About a year ago, a woman had given up witch doctor practices and had given her life to Christ at this place. The service we held here was similar to the one we had at White Cliff.  Jess, Brad and I shared VBS lessons with the children in this congregation. We had a blessed time and had over 100 kids at this service.

Over 100 kids attended the Pote-Karoi service. 



Service under a tent at Pote-Karoi.


Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to work with our brothers and sisters here. There are multiple challenges and a miracle is needed to turn things around.

The Zimbabwean mission team.
From Left to Right: Manny, Jess, Brad, Tom, Brian and Joseph



The team with Pastors Itai (Standing) and Simon (Squatting). at the training session



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
The Beard must go…. The past week has been very busy albeit interesting. Esther (my sister) visited on Wednesday and advised me to shave the beard I’ve been growing. Apparently, having a beard in Ghana is associated with being a Muslim. She is scared of men with beards. Nevertheless, she hugged me so that was nice. We had a good visit and it was good to see her again. Esther and I at the mission guest house in Tanoso. She says the beard must go ;)  The team spent 4 days (Thursday – Sunday) at Agona Swedro (Central Region) with clinics and crusades held at Beseadze (about 30-minute drive from Agona). Agona Swedro is in the Central region and about a 2.5 hour from Kumasi (Ashanti region). The location of the clinics and crusades was between a shrine and a mosque. In Ghana, shrines are used by traditional believers (they worship tress, stones, rivers and animals). Therefore, we found it interesting that such a location was approved by the chief. But, the chief has aut...
Read more

One week Medical Mission in Ankaase

It’s been a while since I posted anything on here. Lots have happened since my last post including a recent marriage and job transfer to the Philadelphia area. The Lord has been good to us. On September 21, 2018 I joined Randall Brooks, Dan Chettleburgh, Leigh Scott and Linda Forbes, physical, occupational and recreational therapists from South Bend (Indiana), at JFK for a flight to Ghana. We traveled to Ankaase to work on improving function for stroke patients. We will also be working with  patients with musculoskeletal injuries/pain. The team's Facebook page and pictures can be assessed   here    The journey to Ankaase was uneventful. We arrived on Saturday September 22, 2018  1 pm local time and settled in the hospital’s guest house. Currently, Ghana is 4 hours ahead of eastern standard time. After a brief resting period, we toured the town and took in the sights and scenes. On Sunday September 23, we attended a community church service that was ...
Read more

Preventive Healthcare

Image
On Friday May 19, 2017 I joined community health nurses (CHN) from the hospital and traveled 3 miles Northwest of Ankaase to Dumakyi, a small farming community, to conduct vaccination screening, also known locally as a health outreach program. Dumakyi lacks running water, electricity and basic public transportation. Residents, mostly cocoa farmers living in mud thatched houses, walk to the hospital, 3 miles away, when they are sick. The distance and lack of transportation discourages them from bringing their children for scheduled clinical review and obtaining the required vaccinations. To combat this problem, CHNs visit and vaccinate the children right in their backyard. CHNs setting up under the teak tree. Some students milling about the place before class. We arrived at 9:30 am on Friday morning and set up office under a teak tree in front of the local primary/middle school. Despite bringing the free vaccination exercise to the community, parents are still reluctant to...
Read more