got back from Zimbabwe Monday...it was an interesting trip and i'm glad i got to go.

we had some major car trouble on the way there. ha... went through 2 cars, before finally renting a truck. we were supposed to leave at 4am. but the car wouldn't start. so we left at 6am. drove a couple of hours. then the engine overheated, so we stopped. then the battery died. they replaced the battery and we started going again. then it overheated again. so we had to drive all the way back to jo-burg with the heater running to keep the engine cool.

unloaded all our stuff and repacked it in another truck. prayed and got in. and guess what? this second truck wouldn't start either. ha this was at 4pm. so 12 hours later we were still in jo burg!. ha.

so we finally rented a 4 wheel drive diesel truck and it was amazing! :)

i want a truck like that when i grow up. ha.

then we finally got on the road again, and made it. third time's a charm i guess. ha

we went to 3 diff. places while there. camped in the bush for the first few days and got to watch about 74 people get baptized in an animal traugh....within the last year, about 600-700 people have accepted Christ, and about 6-7 churches have been planted...mind you, this place is like in the middle of no where...the gospel is just spreading like wildfire...it was really cool to see....

after the baptism, we went to Sanyati to a hospital compound where there is a m couple and the husband is the only doctor in the ENTIRE hospital! ..which, that means he is literally on call 24/7. They almost never have electricity, and a lot of times there's no water either....how this hospital is functioning with sparse electricity, such little money, broken equipment, etc...i mean it seems impossible....but, it's functioning. miraculously. nothing is impossible with our God...It's amazing how they have really taken care of what they have, and lives are being saved and needs are being met both physically, as well as spiritually....it really is a place of hope admist a lot of turmoil. ...and for this doc to be spread so thin, he and his wife both were so joyful despite the hard circumstances....it was really neat to see and hear all that is going on...

then, we went to the capitol and visited a church that is doing some awesome ministry within the city. doing lots of human needs projects while penetrating lives with the hope of the gospel...

my job while there was to do sketches of the people of Zim and all that we saw and experienced...it was super hard, because i wanted to be able to draw as fast as you can take a picture. and that's just impossible. i would see really cool things and want to draw them, but the people would move before i could capture them, or we'd have to leave...i got so frustrated at first....but, eventually got used to it and just tried to do my best...

hopefully some of them turned out ok. :)

i'll post pics and sketches soon.

now, i'm in Cape Town! Just arrived today and will be working with Hope2Africa teaching an art class for one of the camps they're doing for some youth.

I'm already falling in love with this city even though i've only been here a few hours. it's really beautiful! you turn one way and see mountains, and another way you see the beach....so the best of both worlds. :). basically, no matter where you look, the scenery is beautiful.

Anyway. that's life in a nutshell. a long nutshell. ha.