Our Zimbabwe trip, in a word: amazing!

We just got back from our trip to Zimbabwe and South Africa, and we are just overwhelmed and amazed. It was a giant hug from Jehovah. Such love, such a worldwide family of love. Such beauties of creation. We are so grateful. (It is 2AM and I was so excited to write, I couldn't sleep... so here I am, starting to share!)

I'd like to recap first a few highlights. Then in subsequent posts, I'll get more detailed about days and experiences. Eventually, I'll back-date the posts so it makes more sense in the chronology of the trip, since I was not able to keep up with the blog due to limits of internet access and time. Our trip was divided in two major parts: the convention and related activities in Zimbabwe, then a week or so of visiting South Africa.

The convention was ... amazing. I wish I had a better word. It was primarily the people of Zimbabwe that poured out their hearts to us, and we love them for that. As we walked, we were constantly approached in love and friendship. Young and old would offer their hands, introduce themselves, thank us for coming so far to see them. Over and over. Huge smiles, warm smiles, hugs. Beautiful people of Zimbabwe - some with missing teeth, some with fancy hair-dos, many beautiful young girls with virtually shaved heads, young and old - but ALL with huge smiles that oozed love. Also, delegates from so many places, dressed in their own regional dress!

Lots of men wore these floppy hats! 

I will never forget that warmth. The love. I wish the photos could really capture that!

The convention venue holds 50,000, and the convention organizers were expecting to peak around that number on Sunday.  There are 42,000 Jehovah's witnesses in the entire country of Zimbabwe, and they knew that some may not have been able to attend the convention in the capital of Harare. Plus, there were (I believe) about 4,000 delegates coming, primarily from the US, Germany, Brazil, and some other locations. The languages offered were English (which most Zimbabweans speak also), Shona (the language of the largest indigenous population), Ndebele (a significant population, related to Zulu language), Zimbabwe Sign Language, and Chinese.

On Sunday, attendance exceeded 82,000!  That means that almost 40,000 were from the public accepting our invitations to attend!  That is wonderful and almost unheard of! People were spilling out of the stands and onto the soccer field. Then they were spilling outside of the stadium on the grass, onto an ancillary soccer field, where the brothers had erected speakers and huge video monitors. We were so grateful to see so many guests.

And there were over 1,500 baptized! There were ten baptismal pools, and they were like a river of people!

After the convention, we attended two activities organized by the branch. One was a tour of a village, the other was a day in service. Both were extraordinarily moving.

The village tour brought us into a small village an hour outside of the city, and they showed us how they live - they are Witnesses but live as a typical family lives in the country. They showed us how they plow, draw water, make bowls, make peanut butter (a staple here), harvest grain, cook, etc. (I'll have pictures of that in the detailed post).

Then the service day was so moving. We got to go with local friends and talk to their neighbors about God's kingdom hope. We only got to four homes, because at each home, we were invited to stay and talk. It was funny because at each home, the local sister would introduce us (in Shona language), then say, "Sister Gross has something she'd like to share". I was surprised but so happy to do so! Each person listened to the Bible's hope for the future. And every single person said they'd like someone to come back to study the Bible with them! I asked the local sisters if they agreed just to be polite, but they said no, these people will want to study!  So, if you want to have an amazing ministry - come to Zimbabwe! I'll tell you more about these experiences when I write the more detailed post.

After service, we were fed by the brothers in the congregation - some typical Zimbabwean food! Then we went inside the Kingdom Hall for some experiences and entertainment - both the children and adults sang in African harmonies!

Then we flew back to South Africa, where we spent three nights in Kruger National Park. then went to an elephant sanctuary (fed elephants, rode elephants, learned about them).

Our friend traveling with us, Dan Bell of
Brooklyn Bethel, got an 'elephant kiss'!

We drove from the elephants down toward our next stop, and some brothers met us in a parking lot where we stopped. The sister made some calls and we had an impromptu gathering! They picked up some cakes and met us behind a restaurant in a grassy area. They gave us some gifts - baskets, a necklace and bracelet, and a lovely card. They sang for us in Zulu - then we (Catherine Richardson, Dan Bell and I) sang for them in Spanish, then Dan sang a verse in Chinese! It was yet another demo of such love!

The next day we went to a lion sanctuary (where we played with baby lions, walked with lions, saw cheetahs and more).

Another night was at Swadini Spa... not so much a spa as a rental house in a beautiful area by a lake and some gorgeous mountains.

a visitor in our yard in the morning!

We visited the branch in Johannesburg and had a tour and lunch there.

We loved the beauty of South Africa.

We had the best time ever on our trip to the 2014 International Convention in Zimbabwe. We've been to other international conventions, but this was by far the most extraordinary.

Now I've shared an overview! Next I'll need to take a bit of time to organize my photos and keep telling the story of our best trip ever!