zimbabwe worship project

Africa. A continent ridden with political uproar, sickness, death, poverty, instability, endless needs.

Initially, it was hard to pin down why I stepped foot onto red earth in December, yet God often simply asks us to put one foot in front of the other. Then we arrived. What we discovered was an undeniably anointed spirit of worship.

Authentic worship, unlike any previous experience, arose despite daily struggles for food, water, work—everyday luxuries virtually non-existent in country where everything’s collapsed.

During our first weekend in Zimbabwe, we hosted a conference for seventy-five young Zimbabwean leaders: today’s movers-and-shakers. Truth, worship, unity, restoration, encouragement, peace and kindness encompassed us. It’s as if these people are our kindred spirits 8,000 miles away.

Talking at our team house after the conference, I asked Craig and Korn, “What if we recorded a worship CD of their music?” The idea was birthed a month before the trip, but I kept silent. Korn, a good friend, audio engineer and bass player in our band, said, “I’ve been thinking about that for a year.”

Interesting.

The next day, four of us are in Simon’s diesel repair and wrecker shop, talking about the week ahead. As we’re about to leave, we ask Simon, a Zimbabwean worship leader, about recording possibilities. “Sit down,” he said, quite seriously. “I’ve had this on my heart for the past year.”

Really interesting.

Three people with the same inkling, a fourth with the heart, connections and resources, sitting in a mechanic’s shop in one of the world’s most desperate countries? It’s not a strange coincidence; this is God’s work. “If God is behind it, it won’t fail,” Craig said.

Logistics confirmed, on April 2-16, we’ll return to Zimbabwe to host a series of worship nights, one at the youth conference, three nights in churches, including Mbare, the heart of the poorest and most historically racially-charged places in the country.

The worship sessions will have professional audio production and HD video to capture the experience. When the CD(s) are released in the U.S. (and the world through online global music distribution), the financial proceeds will go toward urgent needs in Zim, from basic necessities to micro-lending, from children’s ministry to a group house of orphaned boys taken off the streets and turned into men.

In another twist of God’s good graces, my father, Pastor Mike, will be joining us on this trip as a teacher. It promises to be an amazing shared experience as father and son, his first trip to Africa, and perhaps a culmination of my own prodigal return to the faith he’s walked so diligently on earth, (likely grimacing as I’ve made mistakes coming into my own).

Zimbabwe will be blessed with his teaching, his integrity, his wisdom.

In January, I traveled to the Amazon jungle in Ecuador on a mission trip to the Waodani Indians, the once-savage trip made famous for killing five missionaries in 1956 and converting to Christianity in the aftermath. I was invited as a videographer, helping to tell how the global church can support people 100 miles deep in the remote rainforest.

We don’t know what God’s going to do next; life in the Spirit is exciting. As Elizabeth Elliot wrote in Through Gates of Splendor about her martyred husband Jim, who discovered “the Book of all books is the Bible, and that to follow its teaching is not necessarily to live a cloistered, dull life.”

The Christian life doesn’t always mean globetrotting every few months, but it does mean continual surrender to the One who is our everything.

It’s terribly cliché to tell you prayer is more important than money, but I’m an entrepreneur living on grace, not reason, over the past two years. The Ecuador trip came up only ten days before I stepped on the plane, after asking my church for financial support, the rest of the funds came in without me having to ask.

(Angel investors, perhaps?) God is our Provider. Prayer is important.

So, if you have the means, I humbly ask for financial support, the Africa trip is $2,500. In full disclosure, my company will be producing the Zimbabwe Worship Project alongside Vital Connections. We’re planning to expand into audio production, using the audio equipment from this project in the future. However, it’s Kingdom work. The details involve simply creating and naming things.

I pray I’m not perceived as a wild-card who only comes around when he’s looking for cash for world travels. Please accept my apologies for the poor communication over the past months—I should’ve penned hand-written thank you notes, but life in America can swallow a man in responsibility. Please know your prayers and financial gifts are authentically appreciated.

• Pray for the team: Mike, Korn, Teresa, Michelle, Amy, Kim, Jo, Corky, Aaron.
• Pray for the worship nights: Authentic worship, technical graces, God’s anointing.
• Pray for Kingdom bridges between Zim and the rest of the world.
• Pray the Zimbabwe Worship Project would plant seeds of change around the globe.

You can view three videos of our last trip on www.YouTube.com/VitalConnections.

If you’re interested in supporting the trip financially or with resources for Zim, please email me at aaroncarriere [at] gmail.com.