Zimbabwe #4

Day two of ministry began with staff devotions throughout the hospital, with team members splitting up to join various departments. Our team enjoyed this time together with the CURE staff, discussing God’s Word and the way it impacts our lives across cultures, languages and continents. Several team members commented on the fact that there was much discussion of life’s struggles, challenges and celebrations, how they are universal and not defined by the color of our skin or the address listed on our mail.

Following staff devotions, we split into two teams for spiritual ministry time throughout the hospital ward. We joined the spiritual team in talking with the children and families. While it was exciting to see familiar faces from yesterday, this time was full of both encouraging and discouraging news, with us learning that some kids will have their surgeries delayed, due to illness or additional nutritional requirements, while others are cleared to go and will receive surgery in the next couple of days!

As for me personally, one of the most challenging moments was learning that one of the children we played with yesterday, Takunda, has a condition that the doctors do not feel can be helped through surgery. Our team had the opportunity to pray over Takunda and his mother as they head home from the CURE Hospital with news of no cure for his disease. It was a truly special moment to pray for this family, despite the difficulty of the situation.

On the other end of the spectrum, we were filled with a huge amount of hope as we were able to visit the homes of two children who received the gift of surgery. It was an absolute blessing to be able to see the JOY that now fills these homes and radiates from the families as they watch their children run and climb trees following their procedures. Each family charged both our team and the CURE team to continue on with the mission and enthusiastically expressed their gratitude for the work that CURE is doing, not only for their own children but also for all the children of Zimbabwe.

- Catie for the team