Look Up!!

Fog lay heavy over the large parcel of land between Staff Housing and the main campus at AU, giving it a very surreal appearance.

This pictures only one of six paths that stretch across this 6-7 long block area ~~ one leads to the farm, one to the health clinic, one to the agriculture building and main campus, one to the sports field, one to staff housing, and one to the Chapel! 



During this school year I have walked at least one or two of these paths 5-6 times during a day!

Part of the path is rocky and uneven, part of it is smooth and well trodden.  Part of it is hilly, and part contains obstacles such as large tree roots and deep ruts.   Isn't this like our lives?  Sometimes rocky and uneven, sometimes smooth and well trodden, sometimes hilly and sometimes filled with many obstacles?

Too many times I've found myself looking down ~~ watching carefully where I walk in order to avoid the sharp rocks, the ruts and tree roots!

But recently on a bright and sunny day I looked up!!!  Little did I realize that all this time I had been walking under some power lines, very well hidden by the acacia trees ~~ can you see them in this picture?  We may not always be able to see God, but God's POWER is always available to us!

Now each day I am reminded to LOOK UP and to connect to the POWER that heals, guides, loves, forgives, and saves!  And may it be so for you. 

We Celebrate the Skill of our Bus Drivers!!

Africa University has received accolades in many different arenas.  Even our bus drivers participate each year in a contest that tests their skills and abilities in maneuvering the big AU buses that transport us to Mutare, on choir and field trips, etc.

Last year our driver, Jacob, was one of three from Zimbabwe who were so good they were invited to an international contest in Poland.  Recently I had a wonderful conversation with him about what all he experienced during his time in Poland!

Here Jacob (r) and Douglas (l) are being congratulated by Dean Beauty from the Faculty of Theology.  Sorry for the poor picture quality, but you can see that Jacob is holding the winning trophy from their participation here in Zimbabwe.

Having driven a school bus when I was teaching at Vashti School (Thomasville, GA), I was very interested in all that he shared.  Of course, the bus I drove carried about 35 passengers, while these buses hold twice that, so you can imagine their size!!

Jacob said that during the three days of the contest in Poland it was very rainy and cold, making it difficult to see and to keep his hands warm!  Not only that, but he had to adjust to driving one bus where the stirring wheel was on the left, just the opposite of the ones here!!!  A little disorienting to say the least!  Then, they had to drive around cones without knocking any of them down!!  And back up within just a few centimeters of the curb behind using only their side mirrors!!  I can't even do that with my car, let alone a huge bus!!

Language was a very different and difficult issue in Poland, but fortunately, his English got him through the worst!

We celebrate the skill of all our bus drivers, and appreciate that they get us where we need to go safely and with a smile!  When I see the kinds of roads they have to navigate ~~ with deep ruts, 8' bushes growing right up to the edge of the road, very narrow, and sometimes very steep either up or down ~~ I marvel at their ability!  All of this in addition to watching out for all, including very small children, who walk along the sides of the highways, day AND night!  And in some places, wild and free roaming animals bigger than the bus!!

THANK YOU bus drivers for your great skill and judgment!!!

Just Imagine . . . !!!

Just imagine what it would be like to have your backyard look out on a wildlife preserve, and be able to chat with its inhabitants!!!

A couple of Sundays ago after church in Mutare we were invited to visit the family who has this privilege!!!  And they were willing to share it with us!!

 This is the mother elephant who comes around about  once a week just to say "Hi!"








The homeowner is throwing some food pellets through the fence for her to get her to stay around a bit longer!

And soon her son came moseying through the bushes to join her!  He is on the left and is bigger than his mother, so tried to push her out of the way so he could get some of the "goodies," too!!

They are such beautiful animals, and live peacefully in this preserve right in Mutare!!

What a treat!  Wish you had been here to share in this very neat experience!!

Mmmmm, Delicious Vegetables!!

I am eating very healthily here because there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables readily available!  Every day I walk past beautiful gardens in front of most of the staff homes in Staff Housing.  They may have orange, banana, guava, mango and other native fruit trees, as well as many different kinds of vegetables ~~ green beans, kale, cabbage, carrots, onions, beets, corn, butternut squash, rake, peas, sweet potatoes (different from our yams), and regular potatoes!!!  I'm sure I've left some out, but you get the picture!!!

This is one of the most elaborate vegetable gardens in Staff Housing, and still doesn't really show how extensive it is.  They rotate their seasonal crops; and corn is often grown under the tarp to shield it from too much sun!

Our housekeeper, Rosemary, takes such good care of us, and also likes to garden.  This is one row of green beans that she planted on the west side of the Guest House.  They produced like crazy after she added a little fertilizer!!  So, we enjoyed fresh beans for over a month, and even had enough to share with our neighbors!!




I think many different little critters like our area, too, as we often find strange creatures on our walls, floor, and windows!!!  Can you identify this living creature??

It is called "a walking stick," and had attached itself to the wall near the beans!!  By the time I got out to take its picture the sun had gone under a cloud or you would have had a much more difficult time identifying it because with the sun there was a shadow to confuse you!!

I have come to make peace with the huge spider that share my bedroom with me!!  No picture, but they are mostly flat and it is like they are suctioned to the wall.  They do not bite, but DO eat insects, so I leave them alone and they leave me alone!!! 

Occasionally, I am reminded of the scorpions we saw during another VIM trip to Belize, Central America!!  Nothing to be tampered with, and I felt fortunate that one of the children identified it and told us to stir clear of it!!! 

What a magnificent God to have provided so many million kinds of species.  And what a shame that so many have already become extinct.  Let us make every day EARTH DAY as we treat it with tender loving care!!  Thank you, God, for the great beauty and diversity all around us!!!

My Two Interesting Housemates!

My experiences at Africa University have been somewhat different this year, due to the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.  For the 2013-14 school year I was living in a Flat at one end of the girls’ dormitory.  This put me in close proximity to students, and I was always aware of things going on around campus ~~ the time the buses left on Friday and Saturday night to take students in to town for parties, and the time they returned in the wee hours of the morning; the exuberance of the male students as they returned to their dorms after watching a rousing soccer match in the Student Union; and the voices of students leaving early in the morning for a field trip!!  I sometimes spent time after supper in the library, reading or working on my computer, and had some wonderful casual conversations with students as we walked back to the dorms together.  

The threat of Ebola anywhere on the African continent became cause for concern.  The Zimbabwe government put in place many restrictions to detect and prevent the spread of the virus.  Africa University has been identified as a real “hot spot,” since we have students, staff and Board members from all around Africa, including West Africa!

The Sister in charge of the Health Clinic received special training and instructions that were to be followed on campus.  One such requirement was to identify an “isolation area” for anyone suspected of having the deadly virus.  After looking at various possibilities on campus, they settled on the Flat where I stayed last school year.

My “new” housing this school year (2014-15) has been in the Guest House at the end of the cul-de-sac in Staff Housing, which is approximately 5-6 long city blocks away from campus.  The advantage of living in the Guest House has been the opportunity to make friends with others who stay at there ~~ a colorful and very interesting group of friends ~~ visiting lecturers, and often part-time lecturers who are only here for a few weekends during a semester.   Another advantage is being able to watch BBC or Al Jazarra news.  It is very interesting to hear especially U.S. news from a totally different perspective!

These are the two gentlemen who are currently my housemates.  Here we are enjoying a delicious trout meal at The Inn on the Vumba, a resort just on the edge of Mutare in the Vumba Mountains.

Dr. Ed Dodge, M.D., (left) is the son of Bishop Ralph Dodge and Eunice, who did most of their missionary service here in Africa ~~ Angola and Zimbabwe.  Bishop Dodge was the first white Bishop elected by the Africa Central Conference.  (See “The Revolutionary Bishop who saw God at work in Africa.”)  Dr. Ed Dodge lectures in the Faculty of Health Sciences during second semester, and promotes healthy lifestyle living.  His course is about the major non-communicable diseases that plague not just Africa but the world:  diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke.  I have gained many insights about Africa from him and his growing-up years in Angola.  He has almost convinced me to become a vegetarian ~~ but not quite!  Every evening we enjoy quite a variety of veggies, along with various fixings of pasta and/or rice.

On the right is Richmond Williams, a GBGM lay missionary, who teaches “Leadership” in the Faculty of Theology.  Richmond also has a very interesting background ~~ his father is an Anglican priest, and he is a white Zimbabwean who has lived in Australia, Britain, and the U.S.  He is married to an American citizen who works in Harare for U.S. AID, and they will be moving back to the D.C. area when their daughter is out of school next month.  He will return to AU in August for first semester, but immigration restrictions and the policies of U.S. AID may force him to continue his work in the U.S.  Rich often brings me delicious whole wheat bread from a Food Lovers Market in Harare!!

What a blessing it has been to get to know all who have been at the Guest House and who have a real passion for Africa University and its mission!!!  They are all very special folks!!!

Inauguration Weekend at AU (Part 3)

The Kwang Lim Chapel was the site of the Morning Worship Service on Sunday, March 22, 2015, with Bishop J. Nanhala, Resident Bishop of Mozambique Episcopal Area, bringing the message.  She was baptized and raised in the Catholic faith (her father was Catholic), but later the whole family joined the Methodist Church (her mother was Methodist!)  She received her BD degree from Trinity College in Ghana, and her M.Div. in Biblical Studies from St Paul’s Seminary in Kenya.  She was serving one of the largest congregations in Mozambique when she was elected the first UMC woman Bishop in Africa by the African Central Conference in 2008.  During her ministry she has been extremely active in ecumenical endeavors in Mozambique as well as throughout 

southern Africa.

 

Bishop Nanhala’s message was based on Exodus 33:12-23, of Moses leading his people in the promised land, and all the challenges and conversations he had with God!  She challenged Prof. Furusa to always put God first and to keep all the promises he made during his installation as VC on Saturday.  It was a powerful and moving service, and was a very fitting conclusion to the Inauguration weekend! 

 Indeed, the Dream is Alive and moving forward with new direction and a new leader who understands that AU needs to move from a "start-up mode" to one of building infrastructure and preparing for expansion!!  Watch for many changes in upcoming years as AU continues to be a leading educational institution in training Pan-African leaders to Learn, Live, and Lead on this continent!!

Inauguration Weekend (Part 2)

Our Security personnel received instructions on where to park cars, vans and buses for this big occasion. 

 Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny!  Having represented Nebraska Wesleyan University at the Inauguration of the new President at Ripon College a couple of years ago, I was a bit familiar with all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds this kind of historic event!

 Most chairs designated their expected occupant, and the AU choir sang their hearts out while everyone gathered.

 The tents were in place on the grass between the Administration building and the Library.  And we were instructed to be in our seats by 8:30 am.  Promptly at 9:00 am the colorful procession of academic staff in their gowns and hoods began, followed by all the Faculty Deans, invited speakers, AU Board Members, and Professor Munashe Furusa.  The AU Choir were seated under a smaller tent on one side of the platform, and business and government representatives on the other side.  Forty-three family members were recognized!! (And later I had the privilege of meeting Prof. Furusa’s mother ~~ very proud, indeed, of her son’s accomplishments!

The Keynote address was given by Prof. Tawana Kupe, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Witwatersrand University in South Africa.  Prof. Kupe had been one of Prof. Furusa’s lecturers at the University of Zimbabwe some years ago!  The new VC was described as a person who is curious, intelligent, consistent, methodical, objective, well trained, complicated, and a student who paid attention to his studies and got the job done!  His accomplishments include being the first in his family to attend university, and to earn an MA and Ph.D.  During the 15 years he worked at California State University, Dominguez Hills, Prof. Furusa held many positions, is an esteemed scholar and prolific writer.  He was extremely successful in bringing education and businesses together by establishing public/private partnerships which provide incredible internships and job opportunities for students.

Prof. Kupe challenged the VC to help AU rise to the challenges of the global community, and to recognize the achievements of others and build on them.

Lunch was served in various parts of the campus for all attendees and guests.

At the Inaugural Dinner Sat. evening at the Golden Peacock, the Foundation for Evangelism donated an endowed chair for the Faculty of Theology, named for Prof. John W. Z. Kurewa, Founding Vice Chancellor!  By the end of the evening over $25 million had been donated by well-wishers, friends and guests for a new girls’ dormitory!!!  What a wonderful way to end a very significant day in the life of Africa University!!