What an interesting weekend! Dr. Mike Reed and I took a hike early Saturday afternoon to see ruins of past gold mines in this area. We also saw a small dam on the Mutare River that allows water from the river to be pumped up to a reservoir near the top of a small mountain behind the university. I bought two bunches of freshly picked pumpkin leaves from villagers near the pump-house. That will supply my greens for several meals! (Look for my recipe soon on our new Recipe Blog.)
Rain set in shortly after we returned to the Guest House. In spite of rain, Mike and I went to a Gospel Concert at the Chapel that evening. It started an hour late, but it was worth waiting for. A variety of student groups sang, but the main event featured an AU alumnus who has become a top musical star in Zimbabwe. He lived to his billing! His message in both word and song was to do and be your best for the glory of God.
Entrance to Old Mutare Mission
Sunday morning I went to church at the Old Mutare Mission. It was a wonderful service. A majority of the thousand attendees were boarding students at the mission. The 50-voice choir was the high school choir. It was excellent. The speaker was a lady lay-evangelist named Mrs. Mukwindidza. She is a sister-in-law of my friend, Rev. Kennedy Mukwindidza from Kansas, who has led many VIM teams to Zimbabwe. I had no idea she was going to be the speaker, so hearing her was a nice surprise.
That afternoon Larry Kies, a long-time faculty member at AU, asked me if I wanted to play tennis. We played an hour of the oddest tennis you have ever seen, on an old volleyball court with a crumbling cement surface. Our net was a volleyball net that we lowered a lot. When using it for tennis, one has to look sharply to see if the ball goes over the net or through it. Then it might take a crazy bounce. We had fun. For the record, Larry won the set.
After the game, Larry invited me to go with him to see Ted and Shirley DeWolf, old friends who live 9 or 10 miles off campus. We had a delightful visit with them. Before we left they gave us a plastic bag full of fresh produce from their garden. I had freshly harvested potatoes and a ripe guava to go along with the greens for my supper. What a nice weekend!
