Zimbabwe

"The biggest problem with Zimbabwe is the mosquitoes." Our tour guide was not telling a joke; he was serious.

Lies. This country is a mess right now. One U.S. dollar = more than a trillion Zimbabwean dollars. People literally flung money at one woman I've traveling with who gave -- two dollars for some souvenir money. She is now a Zimbabwean trillionaire.

It's so crazy the national currency of Zimbabwe is...the U.S. dollar. They are putting it in their ATMs here. The banks are shutdown because of that turnover. Craziness.

On the Zambezi river, we saw sparkling water, Victoria Falls in the distance, hippos, crocodiles, and a beautiful sunset. I also met a man named Razon, freezing in the low 50s weather. It's winter here. He was only wearing a skimpy skinned short and vest getup. He was portraying a Zulu warrior. That is, he was, until he stepped out of character.

"I'm suffering."
I look at him. I start praying.
"I am freezing out here. I don't want to be a warrior. I just am doing this because I need a job for my family. I don't want to be a warrior. We are suffering here."
I asked him about his family and their situation.
At that point, it became hard to hear him. I just knew he wanted my room number for something, told me it was something he couldn't tell his boss, and it's up to me what to decide. It definitely seemed unsafe and unclear, so I ruled against it.

It's weird when the only real thing you have to offer is Jesus. As I was about to tell him about Jesus, he got called upon to dock. It would have been a short conversation about Jesus and prayer. The way He sustains us, provides what we need, and blesses us to bless others. And how I'm gonna commit to doing that for him regardless of his actions or decisions. I'll pray for him tonight. I think I picked up five or six people to pray for from this trip. Katherine, my guide at Home for Hope, two old friends I met up with at Capetown, Jonas from the National park, David from Soweto, and Razon. Now, I've just gotta stay committed and hopefully contact all of them by mail, e-mail or post, soon.

Last full day in Zimbabwe and in Africa tomorrow. It's been an amazing trip, in a lot of ways. 3 countries, 6 or 7 cities, interesting folks around, 6 or so books read, and in the midst of 3 or 4 now. Lot more to report from the past week or so. I'm looking forward to it.

I'm sneezing and feel a bit warm so please pray healing prayers for me. No malaria. No swine flu. Don't want you! No, no, no. Also, just pray for some more energy. I'd love to fly back full of life, health, and Light. Gonna advance to the bedroom for some prayer and scripture. DOB (more on him later) told me to go through Isaiah (more on that later too, haha) so I'm at the first half of that. Might read the Beatitudes once more just cause they're rocking.

Love you all.