Tuesday, September 14, 2010

word gifts from Zim

So, if you have been reading my blog for long, you know how much I love some kids in Zim. And one of my DEAR friends there is a nearly 28 year old Pastor. Here is an email from him to me. I am copying and pasting just exactly as it was sent to me. You can begin to experience why my heart erupts for all of them. Phillip took time to answer in this email, some basic questions I had about his family. I did not ask him face to face, but as he and I have continued our bond through email, I finally got the courage to ask him if he had ever known his parents...and how he became an orphan.

hallo beloved melissa

praise the Lord for the application letters were send to me from our mother Fatima for both the colleges..busy filling them up with all information requiered.hoping to send them back to you by next week monday and that means i will be in harare next week monday with the kids...

otherwise how are you and your dear husband and not forgeting the kids?wel,cant stop saying 'I MISSS YOUUU'.still praying that my plans of coming there wil be a success..
cant wait to mix and mingle with your family....

i have never stopped appreciating every moment you've been here.i learnt a lot from you melissa.what a wonder you are.truely you are God's messenger.time to time i always reflect on what you used to tell me and that makes me miss you more.

wel,i am a young man aged 28 though my particulars reflect 26.my parents told me that they decided to cut short my age since i had a small body stature and any other reasons that pertains to that is best known to themselves.i grew up in a family of two and thats me and Richard.was born and bred in a small remote farm where dad and mum used to be farm labourers.now,during my grade 7(primary school),dad left us due to a fatal car accident,where he died on the spot.life turned to preach othrwise because from the mention of dad's death,mama got shocked and she became bedridden since then.out of this,no one was able to catter for the family,so i had to arise,go for piece-work at the farm to get the family sustain and that me and Richard are set for school.so i hussled all the way through up until the day i finished writing my o'level when mama decided to leave us.she gave her last breath whilst she struggled to utter her last words.another war began;-Richard for two years dropped from school since i couldnt make it no more..after mamas death,me and richard where evicted from the farm since accomodtion at the farm was for those known to be employed at the farm.almost became destitutes until a friend from school gave a hand to help.after o'level results were out i opted for A'level.i dont forget my class for its been so dear in helping me pay my fees as their friend.wel after all this,got employed in a grocery shop as an assistant.then God started calling me into the ministry.it was so hard though i tried to resist til i decided to go to bible college.so it happed that one day i was invited to go preach at the children's home by one of the staff members,the;thn met our mother Fatima.she got so compelled to understandd more bout my life till i opened up to her.she has been so generous that she made a way for Richard to get started with school again May God bless Fatima indeed and we;Richard and i became part and parcel of rose of sharon till this day.
this is just but a brief account of my life.am ever ready to answere any question with regard to my life.will let you know more as go.

HOWEVER I KNOW THAT GOD IS ALWAYS BY MY SIDE,EVER FAITHFUL TO FULFIL EVRY PROMISE ABOUT MY LIFE.ALL THAT HAPPENED WASNT FOR MY DISADVANTAGE BUT FOR TESTIMONY'S SAKE!!!
feel honoured to be known to you and especilly to keep in touch with you..

WELL,WELL,WELL...GUESS WHAT....18 SEPTEMBER IS MY 28th BIRTHDAY....WOW CANT WAIT!!!!

Love you melissa,always thought of,,,,,

GOD bless you indeed.
Regards to DAD!

LOVE

Pastor Phillip

Pastor Phillip has already surpassed the average life expectancy in his country, of age 27. In a few days, he will have conquered that. I praise Jesus for Phillip. Phillip is now a treasured soul mate....a forever friend. He is HILARIOUS!! He is animated and larger than life with his smile and his ginormous heart. His momma and daddy would be SO proud of the precious man he has become.

4 comments:

Pete Ahlstrom said...

What a moving blog, Melissa! One of your best. We'll add Phillip to our evening family prayers, as well as you and your family.

PS - there's one thing you may need to check on with the company that publishes your blog. They use a "visual verification" to screen out spam, etc. That's good. But lately, almost always (at least on our two computers), there's just a blank space where the "word" should be. I get around that by just ignoring it and hitting "preview" below. When the preview comes up, it tells me it can't publish because that "visual verification" isn't there. BUT when it does that it also GIVES me the word to copy. Which I do, and then it works.

Maybe that problem is just because we have such a slow Internet speed, but I don't think so, because it used to work just fine for us. This has only shown up in about the last month. So I don't know what the cause is, but your publishers should be able to figure it out.

But if that's happening to very many people who read your blog, a lot of them probably won't think about getting around it the way I do. So if your blog publisher can fix that so the word always shows up, you may get a lot more replies again. And you deserve them!

Love and prayers, Pete and the Ahlstroms

Melissa Irwin said...

Thanks for letting me know. Not sure what the problem is but it seems to be working on this end. ??

Sarah said...

I loved reading Phillip's story. I was confused over his excitement at turning 28 until you explained about the average life expectancy. Wow! His testimony is amazing.

I have experienced the same problem as Pete on occasion--not just with your blog but on others as well. It must be a transient problem with Blogger.

Shebecomes said...

Melissa- I found your blog through blogfrog, and I am so happy I did!

I too take solo trips to Zimbabwe, my next trip being in December. I moved there in 2006, but was deported in Feb 2007 when political conflict began to rise, and the government did a clearing out of sorts. I work with a local woman in the area of Vic Falls.

I think I read that you work near Harare- do you partner with a specific organization?

I love finding others who have a passion for the same people as I...so good to meet you!