While I am in Zimbabwe I am going to be posting here daily (as long as I have internet access/power) .? I will be posting to the Zimbabwe 2007 series that I started when I first announced my participation in this project.? If you’d like you can also subscribe to the series.

What am I going to be writing about?? At this point I really can’t say.? All I can promise you is that I’ll be chronicling my experiences and thoughts on what I am experiencing.? Kind of broad isn’t it?

Time for another update about my Zimbabwe trip. Between the Fundraisers for Zimbabwe 2007, the 50 Days of Prayer and Fasting that I’ve been participating in (which includes writing and publishing the devotional that my church is using) and my normal day job - I’ve been kept extremely busy and have barely had time to maintain all the websites I manage/own let alone put posts up. Yet, it’s really no excuse, I guess the creative part of my brain is just exhausted by the time the night rolls around and I haven’t been able to muster up the energy to put words down. I haven’t even twittered!

Anyway, tonight I’m finally taking some time to write up another installment in my Zimbabwe 2007 series.

Walk-athon Fundraiser

This was held on Saturday April 28th and all participants walked 10km (The number of average steps in 10km = number of kilometers to go to Zimbabwe). We collected pledges for each km or for the total distance. At last count there was close to $1200 collected for the project!

Had my latest meeting with the Zimbabwe 2007 Team last night. Things are really progressing well with the planning and preparation. From my end:

• My passport has been received and placed in a safe place (I actually got it two weeks ago - earlier than expected!) - of course my photo makes me look like a mobster hehe.
• I’ve started receiving the necessary vaccinations (HepA and B, Typhoid) and have received my Malaria Medication. I still have to get my Tetanus shot and a second dose of HepB. The needles aren’t as bad as I thought they’d be. I don’t like needles but the prick came and went before I had a time to react!
• Fund-raising planning has been going along great and we’re gearing up for some great events in April/May (see the fundraising page on my church website).
• My personal support is coming in fairly well. I recently had a $40 donation via the “chipin” widget here on unfoldingneurons.com (Thanks Colleen!) which was a pleasant surprise. I wish I could add-in support I’ve recieved other ways as the tracker isn’t really reflective of what I’ve had donated to me to date. I’ve actually received around $900 (including the $40 through ChipIn) towards my personal support goal.

Reading the article, What Happens When Children Lead by Patrice Wheeler was exciting for me because it matches the desire I have for children in my own church (and of course my own kids).? Patrice writes about taking some children from the children’s ministry at her church (Scarborough Gospel Temple) on a Short Term Missions trip to Trinidad.? The team consisted of five children aged 11 to 13 and two other adults and as Patrice writes in her article, the children were very involved in the actual ministry on the trip.? Not only that but the preparation leading up to, and the followup afterwards involved not only the children on the team but other children from the church as well in various support activities for the trip.

What excited me in reading this article is to see these young children not only encouraged to be involved in ministry but also released to serve in ministry.? In other words, this church didn’t only talk about wanting to see their kids doing ministry but they actually equipped them and released them into opportunities to serve.