Tuesday from Zimbabwe
It is Tuesday afternoon here...I taught two more sessions on leadership this morning. The participants were very engaged and I've received much gracious feedback on the sessions. I love this kind of setting and teaching opportunity. I can tell by our discussions that the concepts will have immediate impact in their congregations and the Body of Christ as soon as they return. It's great!
I learned that the expense of things here isn't quite as I thought. It is true if you are using the "official" exchange rate. However, inflation is so out of control that converting funds to local currency is done on a "secondary" market. Via that route, the exchange rate is 7 or 8 times higher than the official rate. For example, $1 USD might equal 15,000 on the official market, but over 100,000 on the secondary market. This means things are in fact quite a bit less expensive than I first thought. It is confusing and frustrating...even for the residents. As we drove into town today, we passed long lines circling around the corners trying to buy bread and other staple products.
The conference is wonderful because 7 different denominations are represented. Most of them have never "mixed" with other expressions of the Body of Christ. I can see barriers melting as they understand they have the same goals and face the same challenges. Everyone is so appreciative of the training and they ask wonderful questions. They are already making plans for more training and for sharing this material with their church leaders--and that is precisely the aim of the conference.
That's it for now!
Matthew
I learned that the expense of things here isn't quite as I thought. It is true if you are using the "official" exchange rate. However, inflation is so out of control that converting funds to local currency is done on a "secondary" market. Via that route, the exchange rate is 7 or 8 times higher than the official rate. For example, $1 USD might equal 15,000 on the official market, but over 100,000 on the secondary market. This means things are in fact quite a bit less expensive than I first thought. It is confusing and frustrating...even for the residents. As we drove into town today, we passed long lines circling around the corners trying to buy bread and other staple products.
The conference is wonderful because 7 different denominations are represented. Most of them have never "mixed" with other expressions of the Body of Christ. I can see barriers melting as they understand they have the same goals and face the same challenges. Everyone is so appreciative of the training and they ask wonderful questions. They are already making plans for more training and for sharing this material with their church leaders--and that is precisely the aim of the conference.
That's it for now!
Matthew
posted by CUMC Team | 9:22 AM
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