Over the course of the last week, my group, Team ZONE and I have been growing accustomed to the beautiful country of Zimbabwe. Since landing, we have helped lead a weekend camp for church youth, attended two different kinds of worship services, and each of us taught at a conference at a local parachurch ministry. Throughout each of our experiences, there has been one consistent lesson that the Lord has been teaching us through the people of Zimbabwe.
A phrase that we have heard multiple variations of is “Let the spirit lead.” The first person to say this was Pastor Abodo of The Rock Church. As we sat in a training session for their annual weekend camp, he encouraged us to be as flexible as possible. In following his advice and allowing the Spirit to lead, we were able to impact over a hundred 4-8 year-old children. 
This phrase became even more real as we began leading a three-day conference at the Institute for Bible Teaching (IBT). During our preparation on-campus, we spent a couple of hours preparing 4.5 hours of material using what we have learned during Fellows. However, when we arrived to the IBT, we discovered that they needed 18 hours of content. Upon learning this, we dove into our notes from our first semester and our individual knowledge of the Bible. Through a ton of prayer, support from our partners, and teamwork, we led a conference and led multiple attendees to Christ.
This joy and flexibility bleeds into every interaction my team and I had with a Zimbabwean person. A great example of this is our good friend Justice, a staff member at IBT’s conference. Even though there was a schedule already in place, he was more than happy to accommodate us all with a huge smile on his face. I knew personally that every time I saw Justice during the conference, he would greet me with a hug and a grin to match. This sentiment proved to be quite common to everyone we met.
All in all, Team ZONE and I have already learned so much about the people of Zimbabwe and their culture. Their central focus on community and the people within it has been so influential to our group, and we can’t wait to take this notion back to our families and friends.
Noah Holmes – Zimbabwe (Team ZONE)
Fellow, Class XX