And so came the first weekend.

Well we did a couple of days of doing 'nothing' Friday and Saturday. I did manage a bit of a walk around Chinhoyi, and attracted a little attention as a white male out walking alone – this was the one occasion I actually 'made it' into the countryside. There's relatively little game close to towns, so in theory I should have been safe from wildlife. Of more concern was the feeling that passing vehicles were slowing as they got close to me, though no-one actually did or said anything that might give firm grounds for nervousness. People I passed frequently greeted or returned a greeting, what ever they may have thought.

The image below is from that walk.

Sunday we went to church with M and M. A few names we'd heard in passing, and we met many people we'd not known of at all before. The time of praise was good, in that it was focussed on God, rather than being a polished performance, which is inherently not helpful. (*edit* - that sounds all wrong - the time of praise was GOOD, and we were very much lifted by it). It once again reminded me of some changes in what I feel I'm called to do within the church, and I could hear and see places that I might have contributed to what was happening. People were warm and friendly, and we had a great welcome. I was also really glad to see both black and white in the same congregation, although the decoration of the church was very 'white charismatic' in flavour, with lots of scripted banners. It felt as though we could have fitted right in, and it's obvious that the same Spirit is at work in Africa as England.

Sunday afternoon and evening were given over to social activities, with the same friends from England we'd seen at Vic falls coming over with more of their family, plus a local we'd not met before. Bed came early as we were planning a 5am start again.