10th January 2025

I can’t help but remember how the dry winds swept over the hills and openly breathed through the cracks in the small cabin where I lay trying to sleep. In the early morning on that particular visit, I remember feeling tired from a lack of sleep but anxious and excited to get out of bed soon. There would be coffee. I would do my best to make sure of that. It was colder than you might think it would be, especially considering the fact that I was now a little more sunburnt than before. It’s peaceful waking up in a place where there are no highways, where the ox carts far outnumber any other vehicle.

The village of Chemba, along with many places in Zimbabwe and several countries in Southern Africa, has experienced quite a long period of drought. Through donations to the Good Works program from our brethren in various places, we were able to fund the drilling of a borehole well in Chemba in late 2022. Since that time the drought had worsened and even the water table receded further from the surface. One goal in the future is to re-drill some wells to a deeper depth in hopes of finding water even in times of drought. I also have hopes of identifying areas where we can have more wells drilled to help provide for the livelihood of our brethren in various places in both Malawi and Zimbabwe (other countries are out of my personal jurisdiction and they have pastors caring for them as well).

In late December, after hearing some of my fellow pastors describe the severity of the drought and the continued higher cost of food and all kinds of goods in the region, I decided to write a prayer request that could be sent out so the brethren in various places could pray together. In combination with LifeNets, the Good Works program again provided a platform for brethren to donate to the cause so the brethren in Malawi and Zimbabwe could buy food and farming inputs (seed and fertilizer). Sometimes God allows His people to find themselves in difficult situations because He wants to see how we react. Will we reach out to Him in pray? Will we do what we can to help our brethren even if we are far away?

So the brethren began to pray and donations immediately arrived. And God provided the rain! It was days later, in some places, that the rain really did begin to fall. Many of our brethren were able to plant some seed and apply fertilizer, and they are sending reports that the seeds are growing and doing well. In some places, like Chemba, the rains were heavy and washed out some of the local bridges and roads. I will say that it doesn’t take very much for the roads and bridges to become impassable there. Regardless of the limits to transportation, the rain is welcome as the groundwater is rejuvenated, the crops that might have been planted are fed, and the ground is again becoming hospitable to the common crops that feed many of the people there.

This week I’ve been trying to track the weather. There is snow in the state of Georgia but God’s people are safe and warm. There are wildfires in California but God’s people are out of harm’s way. It’s cold here in Brooklyn but God has caused the sun to shine. And as the Sabbath is beginning in Southern Africa the brethren are enjoying the knowledge that God continues to watch over them and sustain them.

“Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises on the harp to our God, who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains. He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens that cry. He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy” (Psalm 147:7-11).

-Lewis VanAusdle

(from my personal travel blog posted here: https://visitevery.city/2025/01/10/tracking-the-weather/)