A group of 14 members of Crosspoint Community Church, eight high school and college students and six adults, recently returned from a mission to Zimbabwe, Africa, offering supplies, monetary support and helping hands for Alistair and Shelley Croudace’s Lasting Impressions leadership camp located on their ranch in Kadoma, near Harare.

A spokesperson for the group, 17-year-old David Thomas, related some of the group’s experiences, including culture shock at the country’s administrative practices and the needs seen by the group during their ventures into different parts of the country.

The group was literally held captive at the airport until their host showed up and gave officials a specific address for their destination.

“We realized how far we were from the West not long after landing,” Thomas said. “But the culture shock experienced at the airport couldn’t compare with the needs we saw on the road from Harare to Kadoma where Lasting Impressions operates. The entire country seemed populated by a people with one purpose. It was their solitary desire merely to live by any means. It was written on their faces. With a single glance, you understood that these people were lucky to eat and did not have the time or energy for much else.”

Thomas says the first week was spent planning, building and sight-seeing. Croudace took the group to a safari park where they fished, discovered wildlife and walked with adolescent lions.

They also learned to appreciate Zimbabwe as a beautiful country.

“After a long day of exploring wildlife, when the strange stars of the southern hemisphere greeted us, we finally realized just how far from home we were,” Thomas said. “But to think that God was here too and bigger than the stars in any sky, we took heart in Him.”

But there were bad times, too. They were stopped and questioned constantly by the secret police. And, at one point, a gas shortage within the country left them believing they might not be able to return to the airport at the end of their mission.

The group’s real work began the second week and challenges with the campers at the ranch were tackled.

“Half the students were special education and half were in a gifted program,” Thomas explained. “They tried to keep themselves separate from each other, but by the end of the week they had pulled together as a big team. We helped train them to meet the many extreme challenges they have living in such a harsh country. We led high ropes and team-building initiatives.”

Thomas said one of the most heart-warming events of the trip was helping a young girl named Natalie with an extreme physical disability to successfully complete the ropes course.

“Undaunted, Natalie completed the course to smiles and cheers from campers and counselors alike,” Thomas said.

In addition to their morning devotions, every night the group had a debriefing and worship rally where they would tie together the day’s initiatives and experiences and teach from the Bible. Counselors gave testimonies each night.

“There was a young man who struggled with drugs and was hostile at the beginning of the week,” Thomas said. “God was faithful, however, and answered our prayers. On the very last night of camp, the Holy Spirit moved in his life and even by the next day we could see a marked change in his attitude and face. He was joyful in a way he never had been before.”

Thomas said the group made many friends in Zimbabwe.

“It was a hard trip, with scary, fun and joyous moments,” he said. “As we told the young man the night he received Christ into his life, if it was just to see him come to the Lord, it would have all been worth it. All the months of planning and prayer and fund raising came to fruition in ways we probably won’t know the full extent of in this life. But we served as we were called, and that is all God requires. We hope all the people of Fayette County will join us in prayer for our hosts, for Lasting Impressions camp and for the people of Zimbabwe.”

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