It had been eight years since the captain had been to Zimbabwe, once known as the breadbasket of Africa, but over those few years his home fell into utter poverty.

“The main thing that shocked me was the collapse of the infrastructure,” said Captain Terry Masango of the Renton Salvation Army Corps. “After being in the Western World for most of that time, I’m used to seeing things getting fixed whenever they break.”

So when Masango and his family decided to visit home, his church decided to turn it into a three-week missions trip.

“We wanted to help the local Salvation Army, in particular the one where I grew up going to church,” Masango said.

Nine people raised about $2,500 each to make the trip, where they both served and learned.

Zimbabwe fell into poverty after the ruling party forced the redistribution of land, which was predominately owned by the white minority.

As productivity fell, tourism tumbled, and at about the same time the HIV/AIDS epidemic took root.

Today the unemployment rate is at about 90 percent, and inflation is in the millions, Masango said.

“There is untold poverty and suffering against many,” Masango said. “Most people only have one meal a day, and it’s not very nutritious.”

By raising community awareness, the team was able to collect 11 brass instruments for the Highfield Temple Band, the main request made by a local captain.

The group worked mostly in Harare, the nation’s capital.

“We painted the captains house…the administration building and the bathroom,” Masango said. “We met with the staff and kids and we donated some arts and crafts and candy for the kids.”

Along with an orphanage, the team visited the Salvation Army Hospital in Howard. It serves hundreds of patients daily, but it only has three doctors, Masango said.

“In the children’s ward I just walked in a little bit and walked out in tears,” he said. “Some were in pain of things that could have been healed of easily.”

The roads in Harare were falling apart, there was open sewage and many buildings were in disrepair.

“A couple years ago they stopped picking up trash,” said Tyler Svenson, who also went on the trip. “Whenever we returned to the city the smell that always greeted us was burning trash.”

In spite of the devastation, the people are joyful, Masango said.

“It’s in my heart to go back, because the people were just amazing,” Svenson said. “We were being treated to all these luxuries by people who didn’t have things to give, and all just because that’s who they are.”

The group also preached the Gospel when they led 15 meetings with various groups.

Masango left a successful career in the banking industry in Zimbabwe about eight years ago, because he felt called to ministry.

His 8-year-old daughter hadn’t met most of her family before the trip.

“She was amazed by the poverty and surprised that a lot of people walk everywhere,” Masango said.

He was encouraged to join the Salvation Army, because his family was involved.

People throughout the world have leaned on the Salvation Army for basic needs for years, he said.

So his wife Rutendo Masango and he left for training, he said. “We had never been to the states.”

In 2006 he graduated from seminary in California and was sent to Renton.

“We’ve grown to love this community,” Masango said. “We are in a unique position to link this world and our home.”