Lemonade is refreshing on a hot day.
I was sitting outside under a tree finishing listening to a message by Pastor Ed Donnely. Emma had made fresh homemade lemonade. She brought it out to me in a glass with ice and it was very good and very refreshing. As I sat there drinking the lemonade, sitting under the shade of a tree in Africa, I was thinking on how good God is in giving us refreshments for our souls.
I had just finished listening to a message that was just that. Lemonade for my heart and soul.
I have been feeling weary and worn out and just losing perspective and I just finished drinking in a glass of refreshing lemonade. I have been encouraged and given grace to continue on… Just when I feel like I am tanking.
I stayed home from church with Caleb and Jackson and Emma. Emma had a sore throat, but Caleb has been sick with a fever on and off for a few days. Often I find the Lord gives refreshment like that to me when I am needing it most and I end up listening to something online.
I tried several times to download a message a friend preached back home on caring for the orphans and needy, but our internet is not fast enough to do that. (I’ll keep trying Rick). Then I tried to find and download messages from the Adopted for Life conference that was this weekend in Louisville. ( In our own backyard, We would have really liked to be there). Not able to get those either. Then I got James’s MP3 player and he had recommended some messages by Edward Donlley, a pastor in Ireland. They were from Numbers, and he said they were really good. So I scanned through the titles and picked one. (I was not drawn to the idea of a sermon from the book of Numbers, but the Lord humbled me and showed me the Holy Spirit will speak to us from ALL of the scriptures. What a great blessing to me.)
Here is the link for those of you interested. )
well I tried to put the link up..Sermonaudio.com look up pastor Edward Donlley and the title is "Separated to the Lord" from 2008 I belive)
He spoke about being separated unto the Lord. And how many times the Lord will call us to deny good and legitimate pleasures to glorify Him even more.
I listened to it again this evening and took extensive notes…
Here are some of the highlights, all quoting Pastor Donlley now.
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The Nazarites took a voluntary vow. You didn’t have to. Each individual’s choice, to take on the vow.
Giving up for a time, legitimate joys because of devotion to God. Pleasurable things that they could enjoy in a good conscience. There are times that in the service of God we have to give up these things.
(As he spoke, the week flashed before me. No hot water. A pleasurable thing , but compared to service to God, what is hot water?)
The Nazarite vow was external, temporary, it didn’t change people’s hearts, even a godly Nazarite like Samuel. Even he was not able to keep the people faithful to God. It just didn’t really work.
We are just the same as the Israelites, we are just as weak and sinful as they are. It doesn’t change us. It doesn’t give us new hearts, it doesn’t deal with our sins. We need something better. Someone better. A perfect Nazarite. A powerful Nazarite who will not only show us by His ways, but save us… not only teach us but transform us. Illustrate holiness but be holiness itself and the Giver of holiness.
Jesus Christ was the ultimate Nazarite, the perfect Nazarite. Not outwardly of course, he almost seems to have gone out of his way and shows that the vows are fulfilled and ended. Far from abstaining from wine, he turned water into wine. Far from staying away from uncleanness and dead bodies, he touched lepers and dead bodies and brought them back to life. So in a sense he wasn’t a Nazarite but in the fullest, real, truest sense he was God’s Nazarite. God’s separated man.
Giving up legitimate joys for the sake of Gods service. Did anyone ever do that like the Lord Jesus?
All the joys of heaven were His by right. He owned them he was his Father’s son, living in the glory and bliss of eternal light with God his father and he gave it up and laid it aside.
Fellowship with his father. He gave it up. He surrendered that joy and went into the darkness and cried my god my god why have you forsaken. It was not wine he gave up, it was heaven. Never was there a life more completely handed over to his Fathers control than that of Jesus.
It is because we are in him that we are a separated people, not our own efforts. We are a separated holy people in Christ our Nazarite. What a challenge it is to us…
Are we in practice living separated lives?
What legitimate joys are you giving up for God?
Pleasures, possessions? Things you could have, no sin in having, entitled to have, God wouldn’t find fault in you having them.
A Voluntary thing, anything like that you are giving up for God or will give up for God’s service.
If we say, “no I can’t think of anything. I don’t see anything. I have a right to these things”, then surely there is something wrong. Are we becoming soft and self- indulgent? Are we losing something previous generations had of sacrifice and doing without for the sake of God?
Do you give till it hurts?
Can you think of anything in your life that you say you have done without? That you have given over to God? What about control? Any areas that you have not given over to God? It is an illusion, we don’t control our lives. We don’t control whether we are going to live another minute on earth?
Surely this passage speaks to us. As the Israelites were challenged when they saw the Nazarites. How much more should we be challenged by our Nazarite Jesus. How much he gave up? How much he was under his Father’s control?
The Nazarite knew it was only for a short time and then the vow would be over. And it would be over with a covenant meal. That’s how it ends with part of the offering being returned to him.
Is that a picture for us?
We are called to deny ourselves for a time. To suffer loss for a time, do without for a time. Any loss for God at most is only temporary. And at the end there is a glorious feast, a wedding.
Not because our lives have been offered up but because His has. You will not regret the cost. The greater our present sacrifice the greater our future joy!
May we give it up gladly if it helps us to love and serve Him more.
--------------------------------------------------------
How this spoke to me, as even this week we have had struggles and are lacking the things that are fine to have.
Fresh squeezed lemonade for my own soul! Maybe for yours as well?
After I drank my lemonade I listened to a few songs by Andrew Peterson and those ministered to me as well.
Then I walked around the house into the backyard and I saw a couple butterflies and a few birds today.
I am sure they have been here, the last 5 weeks that I have been here in Zambia. But I saw them today! Amazing! How we cannot see things that are here all the time, and then one day we see them. May our eyes be opened even more to all that is around us.
Here are the lyrics to one of his songs.
Let Me Sing
I wanna open up my eyes
And see a more beautiful world
Let the hand of God Almighty
Sweep his colors through my life
I wanna hold tight to the laughter
And ride it like a child
On the winds that billow joyful
Through the sky
I wanna open up my heart
But you know, sometimes it's hard to find
Because I've buried it beneath the selfishness
That I've hidden behind
I wanna stand my ground unshaken
But I wanna tremble when I kneel
And let my song remain unbroken
Through the tears
So let me sing for the love
Let me love for the lost
Let me lose all I have
For what I found on the cross
Let me trust you with my life
Let me live to give you praise
Lord, let me praise you
For the grace by which I'm saved
Lord, let me sing
I wanna open up Your word
And let the thirsty enter in
So they can drink deep of the water
You have given to them
I want to run the race with vigor
I want to fight the fight with strength
And let my song rise from a whisper
To a scream
I wanna open up my arms
And embrace that old rugged cross
I wanna take pride in the reason
And be humbled by the cause
And when this lisping, stamm'ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing your praise
I'll sing your praise
So let me sing for the love
Let me love for the lost
Let me lose all I have
For what I found on the cross
Let me trust you with my life
Let me live to give you praise
Lord, let me praise you
For the grace by which I'm saved
Lord, let me sing
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
Pictures
Here are some pictures. Mostly of the street we have bought alot of furniture from.
Everywhere we go, there are people walking and working and standing and just busy with their day. Always lots to take pictures of.
Yesterday we went to Alice's resturant, where she works. It is called Nakulu K, or Granny's.
It was downtown in a small alleyway. Barbara works right near it, so she met us and took us the rest of the way. We ordered from their menu. All Nshima, and sat outside. Several stares and 2 guys said something about the muzungus. So I asked Barbara, "What did they say about us?" She laughed because she did not know I knew they were talking about us.
They said something about "look at those white people eating Nshima!"
Washing your hands before eating with your hands.
More pictures from kalingalinga
Right next to the furniture shop are these houses. The woman here is washing out her dishes and cooking outside.
Jack
Everywhere we go, there are people walking and working and standing and just busy with their day. Always lots to take pictures of.
Yesterday we went to Alice's resturant, where she works. It is called Nakulu K, or Granny's.
It was downtown in a small alleyway. Barbara works right near it, so she met us and took us the rest of the way. We ordered from their menu. All Nshima, and sat outside. Several stares and 2 guys said something about the muzungus. So I asked Barbara, "What did they say about us?" She laughed because she did not know I knew they were talking about us.
They said something about "look at those white people eating Nshima!"
Washing your hands before eating with your hands.
More pictures from kalingalinga
Right next to the furniture shop are these houses. The woman here is washing out her dishes and cooking outside.
Jack
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Happy Things!
Big news for the day , yesterday we got our CAR!
We were so excited and when we got in to do our errands, we all had a seat and a seatbelt!
It is a Toyota Prado Land Cruiser. It has 4 wheel drive and is what many recommended to us for driving here and around Zambia and Africa.
It has air conditioning which is also great and is an automatic, so soon I will start driving. So just as you all were praying for James, please pray for me.
The last 2 weeks I was driving back home, I hit something two different times. Which added to the emotional difficulties of those last few weeks. They were minor things. I backed up and “tagged” the bumper of another vehicle. She used the term “tagged” and I was very thankful she was kind about it all, and then another day I was pulling in to get gas and scrapped the side by the wheel when I did not clear the island. So the second episode actually happened first, the very day we were told the man would buy the car from us. And the First episode I mentioned was on the day before we sold the car.
So my track record the last month was not good. It was a 12 passeneger van which was long and harder to drive anyway, but this is still a big vehicle and having those incidents in my mind, I hope I don’t stress out even more.
Yesterday I went back to the Tuesday market and this time had a better idea of what I was doing and it was less crowded. I bought some fruit and vegetables. All the while I had about 10 different teenage boys or younger come up and ask me if I wanted them to carry my bag, while I shopped. I said no thanks, again and again.
We picked up some curtains that we had made. It was so nice to be able to put them up over all the windows in our room, and the girl’s room. Makes a huge difference when it gets dark outside and you want to feel settled in the house. We also bought more fabric and plan to take that today for curtains to be made for James’s office and the living room/ dining room.
Then we went outside of town to look at the progress on a bed that is being made for our room. It is where they do lots of woodworking. James had gone there a week ago and got a small table to use until our dining room one was finished. It was definitely an experience going there.
Men wait on the edge of the street and crowd around the car to be the first one to “get your business”. James said the first time he drove down that way, one man ran alongside the car for about a half mile.
Since there is someone specific that he is working with now, he goes and tells them all no and has called ahead for the right guy to meet him at the corner. So yesterday we all went. We experienced the swarm of men around the car wanting business, but after we pulled over and waited for the right man, they all left. We had wanted to drive right up to the mans shop, but that was not possible as he was down in the middle of a lot of other shops and the only way was walking. Since we had all the kids with us, that was going to be a bit more difficult. But as we walked out, them man Patrick had a couple of his workers with him, and they each picked up one of the boys and carried them through the mud to their shop. We were walking with them, so it was not a problem, but I kept looking back to check on Jackson and see how he was doing. He can be pretty expressionless when he is in a new situation. He is rather shy as well so James stayed by him and walked through the mud.
As we were walking, passing everyone and hopping on rocks to find the less muddy spots, I thought to myself, this is a great experience for the kids! I felt almost like the people you read about in books, that have their things carried through the swamp, or they themselves are carried, through the mud and water. So, the boys got special treatment. When we arrived at the shop I told the one man, he could put Jackson down because he was heavy and he said that’s ok, “he is my friend.”
When we asked Jackson about it later he said he liked it. We looked at the progress, and then got ready to leave. They were carried back to the car. I did not have my camera with me, as we didn’t anticipate going anywhere but the market, but I wish I did. I took a picture with my camera phone and then was not able to get it to my computer, so I took a picture of the picture on my camera. That is why it is not a good one, but you can get the idea anyway.
The kids went swimming today for the first time. The pool was ready. That was their Valentines Present from their dad. Quite different from the last picture you saw of the pool.
They had fun.
•
Our dining room table was delivered today too. Here is a picture.
We had the table and 12 chairs made out of solid wood for half the price of what it would have been at home. Wood is more expensive here, but the labor cost is so much less.
We have it against the wall for our family’s use, but when we have anyone come over we can pull it away from the wall and add 4 more chairs. We just need Fred Dunda to make us a huge lazy susan!
Then lastly another exciting email I got this week was that our shipment is still scheduled to arrive very soon. I am not sure the details at this point of when it is here from that time, when we will actually get our things, but I was very glad to hear that, and you can pray for it to go smoothly and we would be able to get it quickly! Thanks!
We were so excited and when we got in to do our errands, we all had a seat and a seatbelt!
It is a Toyota Prado Land Cruiser. It has 4 wheel drive and is what many recommended to us for driving here and around Zambia and Africa.
It has air conditioning which is also great and is an automatic, so soon I will start driving. So just as you all were praying for James, please pray for me.
The last 2 weeks I was driving back home, I hit something two different times. Which added to the emotional difficulties of those last few weeks. They were minor things. I backed up and “tagged” the bumper of another vehicle. She used the term “tagged” and I was very thankful she was kind about it all, and then another day I was pulling in to get gas and scrapped the side by the wheel when I did not clear the island. So the second episode actually happened first, the very day we were told the man would buy the car from us. And the First episode I mentioned was on the day before we sold the car.
So my track record the last month was not good. It was a 12 passeneger van which was long and harder to drive anyway, but this is still a big vehicle and having those incidents in my mind, I hope I don’t stress out even more.
Yesterday I went back to the Tuesday market and this time had a better idea of what I was doing and it was less crowded. I bought some fruit and vegetables. All the while I had about 10 different teenage boys or younger come up and ask me if I wanted them to carry my bag, while I shopped. I said no thanks, again and again.
We picked up some curtains that we had made. It was so nice to be able to put them up over all the windows in our room, and the girl’s room. Makes a huge difference when it gets dark outside and you want to feel settled in the house. We also bought more fabric and plan to take that today for curtains to be made for James’s office and the living room/ dining room.
Then we went outside of town to look at the progress on a bed that is being made for our room. It is where they do lots of woodworking. James had gone there a week ago and got a small table to use until our dining room one was finished. It was definitely an experience going there.
Men wait on the edge of the street and crowd around the car to be the first one to “get your business”. James said the first time he drove down that way, one man ran alongside the car for about a half mile.
Since there is someone specific that he is working with now, he goes and tells them all no and has called ahead for the right guy to meet him at the corner. So yesterday we all went. We experienced the swarm of men around the car wanting business, but after we pulled over and waited for the right man, they all left. We had wanted to drive right up to the mans shop, but that was not possible as he was down in the middle of a lot of other shops and the only way was walking. Since we had all the kids with us, that was going to be a bit more difficult. But as we walked out, them man Patrick had a couple of his workers with him, and they each picked up one of the boys and carried them through the mud to their shop. We were walking with them, so it was not a problem, but I kept looking back to check on Jackson and see how he was doing. He can be pretty expressionless when he is in a new situation. He is rather shy as well so James stayed by him and walked through the mud.
As we were walking, passing everyone and hopping on rocks to find the less muddy spots, I thought to myself, this is a great experience for the kids! I felt almost like the people you read about in books, that have their things carried through the swamp, or they themselves are carried, through the mud and water. So, the boys got special treatment. When we arrived at the shop I told the one man, he could put Jackson down because he was heavy and he said that’s ok, “he is my friend.”
When we asked Jackson about it later he said he liked it. We looked at the progress, and then got ready to leave. They were carried back to the car. I did not have my camera with me, as we didn’t anticipate going anywhere but the market, but I wish I did. I took a picture with my camera phone and then was not able to get it to my computer, so I took a picture of the picture on my camera. That is why it is not a good one, but you can get the idea anyway.
The kids went swimming today for the first time. The pool was ready. That was their Valentines Present from their dad. Quite different from the last picture you saw of the pool.
They had fun.
•
Our dining room table was delivered today too. Here is a picture.
We had the table and 12 chairs made out of solid wood for half the price of what it would have been at home. Wood is more expensive here, but the labor cost is so much less.
We have it against the wall for our family’s use, but when we have anyone come over we can pull it away from the wall and add 4 more chairs. We just need Fred Dunda to make us a huge lazy susan!
Then lastly another exciting email I got this week was that our shipment is still scheduled to arrive very soon. I am not sure the details at this point of when it is here from that time, when we will actually get our things, but I was very glad to hear that, and you can pray for it to go smoothly and we would be able to get it quickly! Thanks!
Monday, February 22, 2010
N'Gombe
Today I went with Maureen, out to a compound called Ngombe.
That is where she lives. Or used to live. We were going to pick up her things and her baby so that she could move into the "servants quarters" (that is what they call them here) on the back of our property. A small house with electricity and a toilet and a shower (cold water I think). It has its own fenced area and we can not see it from the house. She lives very far to walk and the amont of money she was to be paid would only cover her traveling expenses every day on the bus and her rent. So we offered for her to stay in the house.
We hired a truck, and the driver and her and I went out there. There were many bumps and holes along the way. As we got closer into the area, more stares and calling out "muzungu" or white person. A few children called out, "how are you?!!"
We arrived at her place and her friend Rachel came with Maureen's baby. We started loading up the truck and Maureen showed me around and introduced me to her landlord. She told her friend Rachel, "Come and meet Madame". (That was me...still getting used to that) The guard as well will say "good evening, Madame". Feels strange and kind of nice at the same time.
SO while her neighbors were helping her load up I stepped around the corner and took a few pictures of some kids.
My dilema when I have my camera and I want to take a picture is this.
I want to capture these things in photos and get them back to where you all can see them and hopefully understand a little bit better what life is like here where I am. Not necessarily life for me, but life for the multitiude of others. I so much want to do that.
But I also want to respect people and not be taken the wrong way. I don't want it to be taken the wrong way, or thought in any way that I would be takiing pictures to exploit anyone or anything. And I know that is not my intention, and I know you all know that is not my intention, but I don't know that those who seeme with a camera know that.
I especially did not want to make Maureen feel uncomfortable. As we were driving over she asked me if this was my first time inside a compound. I told her yes, and then asked, was it ok that I was coming. She said yes of course.
But even as she was showing me around her home and the water well that several houses shared together, I would have loved to take more pictures. But I am very happy and thankful with the 9 pictures I did get.
There were 3 kids leaning against the wall. I walked over and said hello and then shook each of their hands. ALL 3 of them shook my hand tenatively and then ALL 3 of them slowly looked down at their hand and moved their hand a little bit.
It was as if they were not sure about shaking this white womans hand. They were not
I was afraid, but just seemed to be thinking about it.
I started taking pictures and showing them their picture on the digital camera. They LOVED it. A few then wanted their own pose without other kids. One little one in particular (in the nebraska shirt) just burst out laughing every time. It was so precious!
I asked Maureen if she would like a picture with her friend Rachel. She seemed very pleased and said yes.
Maureen is on the right and her friend Rachel is on the left, holding Maureens baby Jackson. ( They call him Jack)
Rachel kept telling the baby, "You are going today!" "You are going today!"
As we drove away I said to Maureen, "they will miss you", and she said, "and I will miss them".
I was struck by how this might be better for her and her baby, but still hard and maybe a little sad too. When we offered for her to live she said , "Yes thank you very much" and later I asked her if it would work out and she said, "I am very happy!". So it was a joy to be able to help her out and bring this happiness. But I was mindful today that she too will miss her friends. Rachel said she might come and visit, and Maureen said, "We are like sisters".
That is where she lives. Or used to live. We were going to pick up her things and her baby so that she could move into the "servants quarters" (that is what they call them here) on the back of our property. A small house with electricity and a toilet and a shower (cold water I think). It has its own fenced area and we can not see it from the house. She lives very far to walk and the amont of money she was to be paid would only cover her traveling expenses every day on the bus and her rent. So we offered for her to stay in the house.
We hired a truck, and the driver and her and I went out there. There were many bumps and holes along the way. As we got closer into the area, more stares and calling out "muzungu" or white person. A few children called out, "how are you?!!"
We arrived at her place and her friend Rachel came with Maureen's baby. We started loading up the truck and Maureen showed me around and introduced me to her landlord. She told her friend Rachel, "Come and meet Madame". (That was me...still getting used to that) The guard as well will say "good evening, Madame". Feels strange and kind of nice at the same time.
SO while her neighbors were helping her load up I stepped around the corner and took a few pictures of some kids.
My dilema when I have my camera and I want to take a picture is this.
I want to capture these things in photos and get them back to where you all can see them and hopefully understand a little bit better what life is like here where I am. Not necessarily life for me, but life for the multitiude of others. I so much want to do that.
But I also want to respect people and not be taken the wrong way. I don't want it to be taken the wrong way, or thought in any way that I would be takiing pictures to exploit anyone or anything. And I know that is not my intention, and I know you all know that is not my intention, but I don't know that those who seeme with a camera know that.
I especially did not want to make Maureen feel uncomfortable. As we were driving over she asked me if this was my first time inside a compound. I told her yes, and then asked, was it ok that I was coming. She said yes of course.
But even as she was showing me around her home and the water well that several houses shared together, I would have loved to take more pictures. But I am very happy and thankful with the 9 pictures I did get.
There were 3 kids leaning against the wall. I walked over and said hello and then shook each of their hands. ALL 3 of them shook my hand tenatively and then ALL 3 of them slowly looked down at their hand and moved their hand a little bit.
It was as if they were not sure about shaking this white womans hand. They were not
I was afraid, but just seemed to be thinking about it.
I started taking pictures and showing them their picture on the digital camera. They LOVED it. A few then wanted their own pose without other kids. One little one in particular (in the nebraska shirt) just burst out laughing every time. It was so precious!
I asked Maureen if she would like a picture with her friend Rachel. She seemed very pleased and said yes.
Maureen is on the right and her friend Rachel is on the left, holding Maureens baby Jackson. ( They call him Jack)
Rachel kept telling the baby, "You are going today!" "You are going today!"
As we drove away I said to Maureen, "they will miss you", and she said, "and I will miss them".
I was struck by how this might be better for her and her baby, but still hard and maybe a little sad too. When we offered for her to live she said , "Yes thank you very much" and later I asked her if it would work out and she said, "I am very happy!". So it was a joy to be able to help her out and bring this happiness. But I was mindful today that she too will miss her friends. Rachel said she might come and visit, and Maureen said, "We are like sisters".
Saturday
First I want to thank everyone who posted a comment or sent me or James an email of encouragement this week. I do appreciate it, and it has been a blessing. Thak you for all your prayers for us as well, and for your interest in reading the blog and kowing how we are doing.
Saturday was the first day I just stayed at home, all day long. It was so nice to not be running around, and be in our own place. It was a good day overall, mixed with some sadness.
Emma asked me to play paper dolls with her, on the top of the bunkbed. So I climbed up there and we played for a while. It was so good to just stop and spend time with her and play. I think she had a lot of fun, because at one point she said she was smiling and laughing so much she had to hold her cheeks down to keep from her face hurting. So I then said something serious, in a funny way and she burst out laughing again. It was so good.
I remember reading in a book about moving as missionaries, and one practical thing I had read said to stop and take time to do something with your children. Even in the midst of boxes and packing and unpacking. So I am thankful for the practical piece of advice, and need grace to continue stopping and making that time. It was a blessing to me as well.
Sarah was the last to unload her duffle bag and she set about trying to make the room her own again. She cut the horse calendar she had back home and hung each page up on the wall, and set up a few pictures and her Indian sculpture. There is a running joke between Mrs. Hardy and Sarah and her best friend Lydia. Something about a peace pipe. So, when we were out west Sarah found an Indian sculpture and bought it for Mrs. Hardy. She gave it to her and a few months later Mrs. Hardy found 2 indian girls and gave one each to Sarah and Lydia. It was sweet Sarah has had it by her bed at home and every place we have stayed since we left home.
Ian had a harder day. He was really missing his friends. We wrote some emails, but he so much wanted to be back home playing with his friends. There are no boys his age that he has met yet, other than at school and church. But no one that we have gotten together to play with. Our friends the Allens had come by to see the house and bring us a meal that day and I think all the girls playing together and having fun actually made Ian miss his friends more. So we shed a few tears together, and then later James and him prayed that the Lord would provide a good friend for him. Please join us in that prayer.
He had asked me if I thought it was harder on him or his friends, because he lost all his friends and they just lost one friend. Good logic, I had to agree it was harder on him.
The last duffle bag I unloaded had a Ziploc with the stack of cards that we were given the last week at church, and by friends and neighbors, as well as a DVD that was made of people from church saying goodbye to us. I will just stop a moment and say thank you to all of you that gave us monetary gifts during that time. It was a great blessing to us, even though I have not had time to individually thank you.
THANK YOU!! ( you know who you are… )
We have yet to watch the DVD, along with a video and pictures someone else gave us from our last Sunday. I looked at the bag and thought, “not now”. ( I had been having a better day) We had read the cards already, and I am not reading to go through them again. I really do want to see the 2 Dvd’s, but I want to wait a bit longer on that also, and then have my box of tissues ready.
James picked up all the chairs we had made for the dining room table. We are temporarily using a smaller one, but this was the first meal with all of us in a chair at a table in our new home. Today we went to church and then came home and took a nap. James tried to make tortilla chips last night and today. They sell potato chips and cheese puffs here but no tortilla chips.
Every Sunday night when we would come home from church we would get out the tortilla chips, sprinkle cheese on them melt them in the microwave for 23 seconds ( James had it down to a science, I would always burn the cheese at 30 seconds) then have nachos. Pretty much every Sunday night. Once in a while we would throw in ice cream floats for a special treat to go with the nachos. But no chips here. So he attempted to make some. Not too bad for a first try, but not exactly chip like either. I was going to ask if anyone has made homemade chips before (or crisps, chips are fries here) and had a good recipe? or if someone wanted to take on the project of having a test kitchen and send us the best recipe you find? Chips probably don’t ship well either, not like Red Vines licorice, Reese’s, or Slim Jim’s!
I found some slim jims in the bottom of a suitcase yesterday and I put them in my bag today for a snack for them. You would have thought it was some special candy treat that they have never had. They were so excited. Ian even said, “I didn’t know they had Slim Jim in Zambia!” I had to break the news to him that they didn’t, or at least I haven’t seen them yet.
The kids are home from school next week, and since we still don’t have Emma’s books we are not doing much schooling in that regard anyway.
I hope to look at internet options this week and get started on having that put in at the house. That’s my task James asked me to do, and I am eager to do it. Assuming everything goes on Africa schedule, maybe we’ll be set up with reliable working internet by the end of March, or early April?? ! And a hot shower. I am pulling for by the end of the week on that one, but we’ll see. I bathed the little boys last night. I tried to be quick and not fill it up much, but there is just something about washing your hair and the cold water running down your back, you just can’t not make a noise, or cry if you are 4 years old!
We got an email from our realtor that the house at home might be looked at on Monday.
I told James I have mixed emotions on that one. Yes, it would be good to be sold so we don’t have to be concerned about taking care of those things now from here, and the extra expenses, but I am missing my home! My house that was my home and still is my home!
So you all pray for us on that one. My heart is not in it right now to pray for it to sell.
The Lord has been very kind in blessing us with a good place here, plenty of space and even with a pool; but it is not home. Yet. I should add that. Better stop there, tears are coming.
Saturday was the first day I just stayed at home, all day long. It was so nice to not be running around, and be in our own place. It was a good day overall, mixed with some sadness.
Emma asked me to play paper dolls with her, on the top of the bunkbed. So I climbed up there and we played for a while. It was so good to just stop and spend time with her and play. I think she had a lot of fun, because at one point she said she was smiling and laughing so much she had to hold her cheeks down to keep from her face hurting. So I then said something serious, in a funny way and she burst out laughing again. It was so good.
I remember reading in a book about moving as missionaries, and one practical thing I had read said to stop and take time to do something with your children. Even in the midst of boxes and packing and unpacking. So I am thankful for the practical piece of advice, and need grace to continue stopping and making that time. It was a blessing to me as well.
Sarah was the last to unload her duffle bag and she set about trying to make the room her own again. She cut the horse calendar she had back home and hung each page up on the wall, and set up a few pictures and her Indian sculpture. There is a running joke between Mrs. Hardy and Sarah and her best friend Lydia. Something about a peace pipe. So, when we were out west Sarah found an Indian sculpture and bought it for Mrs. Hardy. She gave it to her and a few months later Mrs. Hardy found 2 indian girls and gave one each to Sarah and Lydia. It was sweet Sarah has had it by her bed at home and every place we have stayed since we left home.
Ian had a harder day. He was really missing his friends. We wrote some emails, but he so much wanted to be back home playing with his friends. There are no boys his age that he has met yet, other than at school and church. But no one that we have gotten together to play with. Our friends the Allens had come by to see the house and bring us a meal that day and I think all the girls playing together and having fun actually made Ian miss his friends more. So we shed a few tears together, and then later James and him prayed that the Lord would provide a good friend for him. Please join us in that prayer.
He had asked me if I thought it was harder on him or his friends, because he lost all his friends and they just lost one friend. Good logic, I had to agree it was harder on him.
The last duffle bag I unloaded had a Ziploc with the stack of cards that we were given the last week at church, and by friends and neighbors, as well as a DVD that was made of people from church saying goodbye to us. I will just stop a moment and say thank you to all of you that gave us monetary gifts during that time. It was a great blessing to us, even though I have not had time to individually thank you.
THANK YOU!! ( you know who you are… )
We have yet to watch the DVD, along with a video and pictures someone else gave us from our last Sunday. I looked at the bag and thought, “not now”. ( I had been having a better day) We had read the cards already, and I am not reading to go through them again. I really do want to see the 2 Dvd’s, but I want to wait a bit longer on that also, and then have my box of tissues ready.
James picked up all the chairs we had made for the dining room table. We are temporarily using a smaller one, but this was the first meal with all of us in a chair at a table in our new home. Today we went to church and then came home and took a nap. James tried to make tortilla chips last night and today. They sell potato chips and cheese puffs here but no tortilla chips.
Every Sunday night when we would come home from church we would get out the tortilla chips, sprinkle cheese on them melt them in the microwave for 23 seconds ( James had it down to a science, I would always burn the cheese at 30 seconds) then have nachos. Pretty much every Sunday night. Once in a while we would throw in ice cream floats for a special treat to go with the nachos. But no chips here. So he attempted to make some. Not too bad for a first try, but not exactly chip like either. I was going to ask if anyone has made homemade chips before (or crisps, chips are fries here) and had a good recipe? or if someone wanted to take on the project of having a test kitchen and send us the best recipe you find? Chips probably don’t ship well either, not like Red Vines licorice, Reese’s, or Slim Jim’s!
I found some slim jims in the bottom of a suitcase yesterday and I put them in my bag today for a snack for them. You would have thought it was some special candy treat that they have never had. They were so excited. Ian even said, “I didn’t know they had Slim Jim in Zambia!” I had to break the news to him that they didn’t, or at least I haven’t seen them yet.
The kids are home from school next week, and since we still don’t have Emma’s books we are not doing much schooling in that regard anyway.
I hope to look at internet options this week and get started on having that put in at the house. That’s my task James asked me to do, and I am eager to do it. Assuming everything goes on Africa schedule, maybe we’ll be set up with reliable working internet by the end of March, or early April?? ! And a hot shower. I am pulling for by the end of the week on that one, but we’ll see. I bathed the little boys last night. I tried to be quick and not fill it up much, but there is just something about washing your hair and the cold water running down your back, you just can’t not make a noise, or cry if you are 4 years old!
We got an email from our realtor that the house at home might be looked at on Monday.
I told James I have mixed emotions on that one. Yes, it would be good to be sold so we don’t have to be concerned about taking care of those things now from here, and the extra expenses, but I am missing my home! My house that was my home and still is my home!
So you all pray for us on that one. My heart is not in it right now to pray for it to sell.
The Lord has been very kind in blessing us with a good place here, plenty of space and even with a pool; but it is not home. Yet. I should add that. Better stop there, tears are coming.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
SOS Village
Today we went to the SOS Children's Village
It is just outside of Lusaka, and is an orphanage and a school as well for the orphans and some children from the area.
There are about 200 children that live there, and about a hundred more that attend the school also.
Kabwata Baptist Church has recently begun an outreach to this SOS Village.I wanted to go and see what it was like and if there was anything we could do to help.
They have 3 sunday school classes with the children and then the teenagers and some of the workers attend the church service that runs at the same time. So each week they have teachers and a preacher that come as well as others who want to help with crowd control. There is the potential for more children to attend the sunday school class, and more of the workers to attend the church service, if the children are being taken care of at the classes.
There are several brick "homes" spread throughout the campus. 12 children live in a home with 2 women. One is the "mother" and the other, the "auntie". The children stay in the same house/family home until they are 16, then they move to the young peoples housing or center.
This week, there were several young women from the church that had come to see and help out as well. Hopefully they will continue to have people want to come and help in this ministry.
Esther, one of the women who has been helping there for about a month and a half told me that the children are doing better now. When they first started coming they almost wanted to cry, because the kids were so loud and not sitting still or quiet to listen and it was very hard to get control of the class. They are doing better now, but they had not ever had church services to attend.
The girls and I went to sit in on the SS class and James and the boys went to the service. Afterwards one of the women that works there took us back to her house, though she was not a "mother " to 12 children. I belive she was more administrative, her and her husband and they helped get the contact for Kabwata to come and work with the children.
We visited for a few minutes with the other ladies and then headed back to where the service had ended and found James. He was talking to Simeon. He was orphaned when he was 6 years old and is now in 10th grade. He said that there are 2 boys he has been with since he moved there. I asked him if they were kind of like his brothers then since he has known them so long. he said yes, and that is what they tell us to treat each other like family. He goes to school and said that he would like to be a doctor.
He also said they each have different chores and responsibilities that they have on a daily basis and then they rotate.
I am having touble with uploading this video clip. SO if it is there...
This video is only 24 seconds. I set the camera down because at the end a couple kids start pushing and fighting and I thought I should stop videoing and help.
but I think it shows what I mentioned about the need for more helpers.
It is just outside of Lusaka, and is an orphanage and a school as well for the orphans and some children from the area.
There are about 200 children that live there, and about a hundred more that attend the school also.
Kabwata Baptist Church has recently begun an outreach to this SOS Village.I wanted to go and see what it was like and if there was anything we could do to help.
They have 3 sunday school classes with the children and then the teenagers and some of the workers attend the church service that runs at the same time. So each week they have teachers and a preacher that come as well as others who want to help with crowd control. There is the potential for more children to attend the sunday school class, and more of the workers to attend the church service, if the children are being taken care of at the classes.
There are several brick "homes" spread throughout the campus. 12 children live in a home with 2 women. One is the "mother" and the other, the "auntie". The children stay in the same house/family home until they are 16, then they move to the young peoples housing or center.
This week, there were several young women from the church that had come to see and help out as well. Hopefully they will continue to have people want to come and help in this ministry.
Esther, one of the women who has been helping there for about a month and a half told me that the children are doing better now. When they first started coming they almost wanted to cry, because the kids were so loud and not sitting still or quiet to listen and it was very hard to get control of the class. They are doing better now, but they had not ever had church services to attend.
The girls and I went to sit in on the SS class and James and the boys went to the service. Afterwards one of the women that works there took us back to her house, though she was not a "mother " to 12 children. I belive she was more administrative, her and her husband and they helped get the contact for Kabwata to come and work with the children.
We visited for a few minutes with the other ladies and then headed back to where the service had ended and found James. He was talking to Simeon. He was orphaned when he was 6 years old and is now in 10th grade. He said that there are 2 boys he has been with since he moved there. I asked him if they were kind of like his brothers then since he has known them so long. he said yes, and that is what they tell us to treat each other like family. He goes to school and said that he would like to be a doctor.
He also said they each have different chores and responsibilities that they have on a daily basis and then they rotate.
I am having touble with uploading this video clip. SO if it is there...
This video is only 24 seconds. I set the camera down because at the end a couple kids start pushing and fighting and I thought I should stop videoing and help.
but I think it shows what I mentioned about the need for more helpers.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Week of Shifting
Shifting is what they say here, when they refer to moving.
Monday we spent the night at our new house. James was able to finally get the long anticipated mattresses and went to pay for the bunkabeds. ( that’s what they call them, the kids have gotten a kick out of that). The bunk-a-beds were delivered about 5pm and they took them apart outside and then had trouble getting them through the doorway of the house. The first set took some maneuvering and then the top part of the second set could not get through. It had the rebarb posts that attach the 2 beds together on the bottom part and it just would not fit through. So they left the bed and said they would come back tomorrow with pliers and something to try and get it taken care of.
But I know my husband very well and knew he would have those beds set up in the rooms that night. He told them “don’t worry about coming back and I will take care of it.”
We left it where it was and then went to Arcades Shopping Center to Mike’s Kitchen for dinner. Mike’s Kitchen is a chain out of South Africa that has good food, but the main draw that night was Jackson wanted to go there for his birthday. So we took our little Valentine’s birthday guy there for his 4th birthday. The reason the kids like it so much is there is a play place with a jumping thing, 2 trampolines and 5 tvs set up with their own video games. So while you are waiting on your meal you can play.
So we ate dinner there and then stopped to get a few tools for James to try and fix the beds.
After dinner at Mikes Kitchen we went back by the house we had stayed in when we first arrived and picked up the rest of our things. Initially we were just going to get a load and then come back later, but we ended up getting everything, thrown in the trunk and the kids holding various things on their laps as we headed out. We still plan to go back there Friday to say goodbye to Alice, and get directions of a restaurant where she cooks at for lunch.
We shouted out our “Z Como” (thank you) to Mr. Sakala the night guard and headed “HOME”.
It was pretty late by then, and James set to work on the bunkabed that was still in the hallway, after we carried everything in. The kids looked around for PJ’s and toothbrushes ( which we didn’t find till the next day) and got ready for bed. But before they went to sleep James also had to hang up their mosquito nets. So he managed to get the other bunkabed in and we helped lift it up on top of the other one and got everyone tucked in bed. That phrase “tucked in bed” has new meaning now, as I often will check the nets and tuck them in a bit to the bed.
James attempted to shower before we went to bed at 11 and the water shut off.
We all slept well, everyone in their own beds.
Tuesday
We woke up in our new Home. The water was back on, but the hot water was not working. So no shower for me. The kids were scurried off to school late and a bit harried and that was how the day started.
We have a woman, Maureen who we have hired as a house helper. Having a few people that you give a job to is very normal here among the Zambians, and really in many places all over the world. She is a single mom with 3 kids that live with her brother several hours away, and then she also has a baby, named Jackson who is 5 months old. She was highly recommended to us and we have liked her so far.
She arrived later in the morning and then helped with cleaning and house things. I attempted to do laundry again, for the second time and the dryer shut off again. So we had the contractor come and repair it again. The first time he came and put on a higher grade outlet. The second time he replaced the plug that attaches to the dryer because it melted onto the outlet. So no dry clothes again.
I started unpacking bags and rearranging things and trying to settle in. It seemed to go fine, and Jackson and Caleb stayed entertained much of the day as did Emma. I finished clearing out the last of the kids duffle bags and I found a bottle of perfume…
Let me digress here to tell you about some dear friends, the Dues. Larry and Trenda are in their 60’s and we have known them for 13 years. When we first started driving to Louisville from Berea to attend our church, we met them. Just happened to sit down in front of them and one Sunday they asked us if we needed a place to stay on Saturday evenings so we wouldn’t have to drive the hour and half to church on Sunday morning. They lived about 25 minutes outside of Louisville in a town called Shelbyville! We were delighted at the offer and so started a special friendship with them in some ways being parental figures since we lived far away from both our parents. A year later and Sarah Catherine was born early (so my mom was not able to be there,) and Trenda came to the hospital and helped in labor. We continued our friendship and then we moved away to Montana a few years later. We moved back to Louisville after 3 ½ years and James found an interim job in Shelbyville. Where the Dues lived.
A year and a half after that we started a bible study in Shelbyville at the Dues house. When I had Jackson (early again) she came and watched the kids all day and then brought them to the hospital and then cooked chicken and dumplings for us when I came home with him.
When Sarah and Ian were little and she would be working in the nursery we told her that we always knew who held them and cared for them in the nursery because when we picked the kids up they smelled like her. Her perfume.
So I found the bottle of perfume in the bottom of the bag and took it in my room. I sat down on my bed, opened it up, smelled it and almost instantly the tears welled up in my eyes. Pretty amazing how our sense of smell can bring back the familiar faces and memories. I closed the bottle and sat there a few minutes tearful. Then I got up and went about the rest of the day unpacking.
The day was busy and full. After James brought the kids home from school and Maureen left to go home we went to the Tuesday Market which is at a church nearby. It was about 5pm and very busy and crowded. It was neat to see everyone sitting there with their vegetables laid out.
I walked around buying things while James kept the kids with him. It was very crowded and we had to push through and finally got our things and headed to the car. Always being around people, crowds of people can get wearisome. Then we went to the shopping center, to GAME, to buy more things for the house. Then after that, crowded experience James took the kids to the car to take everything there and I went to Shoprite the grocery store. It was a crazy time everyone getting off work and buying groceries and tons of loaves of bread because they are cheap. I went through the store trying to remember my trip there with my friend Stephanie and I found several things I needed and then got to the meat department.
(I used to be a vegetarian for about 15 years, but started chicken when I was pregnant with Sarah and then these last 2 years have gone back to beef..Evidently just in time as you don’t hear of too many vegetarians in Zambia)
There were drops of blood on the floor from the meat and I started looking for the chicken filets. I could not find any, and so tried to figure something out and headed quickly through the rest of the store to wait in the long line at the checkout. James and the kids headed in around that time and I checked out and we started heading out of the store. James and I stopped to talk for a few minutes, he asked what was wrong I said I was worn out and hungry and at that point I did not say, but I felt like I was about to cry.
We started walking to the car to put the groceries away, the kids were walking ahead of us and I was the last one, and we saw our friends the Allens, Steve and Stephanie and their 5 kids. My first thought was, “oh no…” They asked if we wanted to join them for ice cream, then Stephanie walked over and said hi and how are you doing? I burst into tears, literally, and broke down crying right there in front of Galitos chicken with 10 children watching me, people walking by and Stephanie hugging me. There is no explanation for how I felt, other than it must have been building up over the day and weeks. I told her this is the first day I have cried. She said she totally understood, and was so sweet and encouraging me. They asked if they could buy us dinner since we had not eaten yet and I excused myself to go finish crying in the bathroom. I locked the stall and just stood there really crying. Even now as I type this, I think how sad. I opened the door went to the faucet and it would not turn on, went to the next one and it wouldn’t turn on either, third try and a little bit of water came on. I splashed it on my face and tried to start to compose myself, all the while these professional women were applying their makeup and smoothing their hair. I looked for a paper towel and remembered they don’t have them. So I walked out of the bathroom to the hallway where they have a few hand dryers. Previous times trying to use them, they don’t stay on, they start and then stop and then start and then stop. I was trying to dry my hands and then dry my face off from the tears and water and I was not too successful, so I ended up just using part of my shirt to dry my face off and walked out of the bathroom, with red eyes and a puffy face.
The kids were having a great time with their friends all sitting in a booth and Steve and Stephanie and James and I sat behind them and we were able to just talk. Steve encouraged me as well saying he knows exactly how I was feeling, and then we talked about several things related to being here, the challenges just living life is harder and things take so long to accomplish, seeing so much poverty and living with the weight of that all around you. Very helpful things. We both remarked at this Divine appointment for us to meet and spend this time together. We left, very thankful for God’s hand in moving us and them to be there at that exact spot and time, even when I initially felt, “oh no!”
There are so many decisions that have to be made right now. I need sheets or towels or dishes. The thought process is very stressful at times. Which ones, Wow that costs so much. That’s all there is. We need it, so ok I’ll buy it. And every item is like that. Or I go buy something at the market or we buy something on the side of the road and its right then and there you have to decide and the person is watching you, or you try to negotiate the price and that if I am worn out can be stressful too.
We talked some about having a house helper and how eventually you get to the place where you are comfortable with them and they are helping out so much, but this initial time is hard, its so new. Trying to figure out, “ok teatime break… at what time? You need tea, well I don’t have any mugs. Um here’s some tea and bread for toast. Then you are supposed to provide lunch for the workers and how that works out, you buy a bag of mealie meal for them, and then maybe they have a burner stove top cooker that you provide with some pots for them to cook their meal outside in the guard shack. But all things that have to be worked out and you have to figure it out and talk about it. So yesterday it was hard.
I realized too, I just was going going all day long because she was working all day long too and I was exhausted. Later in the evening James was helping me to see that she is working and my doing school with the kids and playing with them and taking care of them is my work. And to try and think of it that way, as 2 people working alongside each other.
So today I tried to think about it that way. And to stop and take a break. Stop and take a moment to pray. Play with the kids. I am very thankful, the day went much better and Maureen was able to help me a lot today as well. She knew what to do to wash all the vegetables in a bleach and water solution, she helped me get things put away in the kitchen, and several other things. I felt more comfortable today with her helping and being here. She is quiet. And I can be quiet too, so that’s ok.
When we got home last night, James got the kids ready for bed and he told me to go take a bath. I opted for a shower instead, the hot water was working again, and I had not had a shower in 4 weeks.
There was not much pressure, but it was hot and nice, and I was thankful.
Wednesday
We were able to buy the water filter today. We had to go downtown to a store that sells them. So now tomorrow we will have to figure out how to use it since there is no instruction manual. But once we get it operational, then that will be a job in itself for Maureen to help with. Boiling water and then letting it sit a certain amount of time, and then running it through a filter and then putting it into containers.
We found the fabric store after a few tries today that you can buy fabric at to make curtains, and when we finally arrived, CLOSED for lunch from 1-2. So I think I may go with a friend there another day.
There is so much driving around trying to find things.
James just got back from the store. We were looking for a certain type/size of mosquito net for our room and he said, they obviously didn’t have exactly what we were looking for because, “Its AFRICA”.
So he “rigged” it up. Just like the water hose that didn’t come with a nozzle to attach it to the spicket outside, so he tied plastic around it and a piece of roping from the mattresses.
I know a lot of this is good for us. Well probably all of it is. We are learning to “make do” as so many people do. Much of the worlds population does not have a walmart on their corner, to just run to whenever you need something. These small inconveniences are nothing compared to what so many around us are living in and going through. Just trying to survive.
The other day I was working around the house, and I felt hungry. So I just walked into the kitchen and got a snack. I was struck with how normal this is, when just a few kilometers away people are hungry for a snack and they don’t have one. Then I thought, I bet this gardener at the house we were staying at would like a snack whenever he wants one… So MUCH we take for granted.
Well its getting late and I need to try and post this now.
Thank you for your prayers. Please keep them coming.
Another blessing today. And a drum roll please… There was an empty laundry basket at the end of the day and clean clothes!
Thursday
Well I thought they were all clean clothes. And that I would have been able to post this, but I was not. I woke up and checked the dryer for the last load of the evening and they were still wet and now smelled moldy from sitting closed up all night long. The dryer stopped working again. The dryer is brand new, so the problem has always been with the outlet. So I then put the wet clothes back into the washer to wash again, but the water pressure was very low and it would not fill up. And again this morning, no hot water. There are 2 Geysers on this house so theoretically we should have hot water, and there are 2 reserve tanks. But there seems to be a problem so every day the contractors have been here working on both those issues. Seems like they think they solve the problem, only to wake up in the morning with the same issues.
So today hopefully they solved the dryer problem. At least now at almost 10, I just turned it on and it is still running.
I was able to go to the fabric store to pick out material for curtains for 2 of the 3 bedrooms. I was holding out on the boys room, since I packed their curtains, but have no idea about when they should be arriving.
We met some new friends in our neighborhood and they invited us over to dinner tonight. They are a couple from America, (the wife is actually Dominican, we found out this evening, and his family is from Antigua). They have 4 children, and live about 5 minutes from us. It was a blessing to spend the evening with them and were encouraged by our time together. The Lord has been so kind to us, in putting people in our lives to help us in this transition. She told me about several places downtown that they shop at so you can buy things in bulk and they are much cheaper and then you are not always running to the store.
We just got home, everyone had a cold shower and bath and are winding down for the night.
We also just received a message from the man who was buying our car. He is in South Africa and found a vehicle and it is heading back here. So hopefully next week we should be able to have it. Which would be great!
4 weeks ago today we landed in Africa!
Monday we spent the night at our new house. James was able to finally get the long anticipated mattresses and went to pay for the bunkabeds. ( that’s what they call them, the kids have gotten a kick out of that). The bunk-a-beds were delivered about 5pm and they took them apart outside and then had trouble getting them through the doorway of the house. The first set took some maneuvering and then the top part of the second set could not get through. It had the rebarb posts that attach the 2 beds together on the bottom part and it just would not fit through. So they left the bed and said they would come back tomorrow with pliers and something to try and get it taken care of.
But I know my husband very well and knew he would have those beds set up in the rooms that night. He told them “don’t worry about coming back and I will take care of it.”
We left it where it was and then went to Arcades Shopping Center to Mike’s Kitchen for dinner. Mike’s Kitchen is a chain out of South Africa that has good food, but the main draw that night was Jackson wanted to go there for his birthday. So we took our little Valentine’s birthday guy there for his 4th birthday. The reason the kids like it so much is there is a play place with a jumping thing, 2 trampolines and 5 tvs set up with their own video games. So while you are waiting on your meal you can play.
So we ate dinner there and then stopped to get a few tools for James to try and fix the beds.
After dinner at Mikes Kitchen we went back by the house we had stayed in when we first arrived and picked up the rest of our things. Initially we were just going to get a load and then come back later, but we ended up getting everything, thrown in the trunk and the kids holding various things on their laps as we headed out. We still plan to go back there Friday to say goodbye to Alice, and get directions of a restaurant where she cooks at for lunch.
We shouted out our “Z Como” (thank you) to Mr. Sakala the night guard and headed “HOME”.
It was pretty late by then, and James set to work on the bunkabed that was still in the hallway, after we carried everything in. The kids looked around for PJ’s and toothbrushes ( which we didn’t find till the next day) and got ready for bed. But before they went to sleep James also had to hang up their mosquito nets. So he managed to get the other bunkabed in and we helped lift it up on top of the other one and got everyone tucked in bed. That phrase “tucked in bed” has new meaning now, as I often will check the nets and tuck them in a bit to the bed.
James attempted to shower before we went to bed at 11 and the water shut off.
We all slept well, everyone in their own beds.
Tuesday
We woke up in our new Home. The water was back on, but the hot water was not working. So no shower for me. The kids were scurried off to school late and a bit harried and that was how the day started.
We have a woman, Maureen who we have hired as a house helper. Having a few people that you give a job to is very normal here among the Zambians, and really in many places all over the world. She is a single mom with 3 kids that live with her brother several hours away, and then she also has a baby, named Jackson who is 5 months old. She was highly recommended to us and we have liked her so far.
She arrived later in the morning and then helped with cleaning and house things. I attempted to do laundry again, for the second time and the dryer shut off again. So we had the contractor come and repair it again. The first time he came and put on a higher grade outlet. The second time he replaced the plug that attaches to the dryer because it melted onto the outlet. So no dry clothes again.
I started unpacking bags and rearranging things and trying to settle in. It seemed to go fine, and Jackson and Caleb stayed entertained much of the day as did Emma. I finished clearing out the last of the kids duffle bags and I found a bottle of perfume…
Let me digress here to tell you about some dear friends, the Dues. Larry and Trenda are in their 60’s and we have known them for 13 years. When we first started driving to Louisville from Berea to attend our church, we met them. Just happened to sit down in front of them and one Sunday they asked us if we needed a place to stay on Saturday evenings so we wouldn’t have to drive the hour and half to church on Sunday morning. They lived about 25 minutes outside of Louisville in a town called Shelbyville! We were delighted at the offer and so started a special friendship with them in some ways being parental figures since we lived far away from both our parents. A year later and Sarah Catherine was born early (so my mom was not able to be there,) and Trenda came to the hospital and helped in labor. We continued our friendship and then we moved away to Montana a few years later. We moved back to Louisville after 3 ½ years and James found an interim job in Shelbyville. Where the Dues lived.
A year and a half after that we started a bible study in Shelbyville at the Dues house. When I had Jackson (early again) she came and watched the kids all day and then brought them to the hospital and then cooked chicken and dumplings for us when I came home with him.
When Sarah and Ian were little and she would be working in the nursery we told her that we always knew who held them and cared for them in the nursery because when we picked the kids up they smelled like her. Her perfume.
So I found the bottle of perfume in the bottom of the bag and took it in my room. I sat down on my bed, opened it up, smelled it and almost instantly the tears welled up in my eyes. Pretty amazing how our sense of smell can bring back the familiar faces and memories. I closed the bottle and sat there a few minutes tearful. Then I got up and went about the rest of the day unpacking.
The day was busy and full. After James brought the kids home from school and Maureen left to go home we went to the Tuesday Market which is at a church nearby. It was about 5pm and very busy and crowded. It was neat to see everyone sitting there with their vegetables laid out.
I walked around buying things while James kept the kids with him. It was very crowded and we had to push through and finally got our things and headed to the car. Always being around people, crowds of people can get wearisome. Then we went to the shopping center, to GAME, to buy more things for the house. Then after that, crowded experience James took the kids to the car to take everything there and I went to Shoprite the grocery store. It was a crazy time everyone getting off work and buying groceries and tons of loaves of bread because they are cheap. I went through the store trying to remember my trip there with my friend Stephanie and I found several things I needed and then got to the meat department.
(I used to be a vegetarian for about 15 years, but started chicken when I was pregnant with Sarah and then these last 2 years have gone back to beef..Evidently just in time as you don’t hear of too many vegetarians in Zambia)
There were drops of blood on the floor from the meat and I started looking for the chicken filets. I could not find any, and so tried to figure something out and headed quickly through the rest of the store to wait in the long line at the checkout. James and the kids headed in around that time and I checked out and we started heading out of the store. James and I stopped to talk for a few minutes, he asked what was wrong I said I was worn out and hungry and at that point I did not say, but I felt like I was about to cry.
We started walking to the car to put the groceries away, the kids were walking ahead of us and I was the last one, and we saw our friends the Allens, Steve and Stephanie and their 5 kids. My first thought was, “oh no…” They asked if we wanted to join them for ice cream, then Stephanie walked over and said hi and how are you doing? I burst into tears, literally, and broke down crying right there in front of Galitos chicken with 10 children watching me, people walking by and Stephanie hugging me. There is no explanation for how I felt, other than it must have been building up over the day and weeks. I told her this is the first day I have cried. She said she totally understood, and was so sweet and encouraging me. They asked if they could buy us dinner since we had not eaten yet and I excused myself to go finish crying in the bathroom. I locked the stall and just stood there really crying. Even now as I type this, I think how sad. I opened the door went to the faucet and it would not turn on, went to the next one and it wouldn’t turn on either, third try and a little bit of water came on. I splashed it on my face and tried to start to compose myself, all the while these professional women were applying their makeup and smoothing their hair. I looked for a paper towel and remembered they don’t have them. So I walked out of the bathroom to the hallway where they have a few hand dryers. Previous times trying to use them, they don’t stay on, they start and then stop and then start and then stop. I was trying to dry my hands and then dry my face off from the tears and water and I was not too successful, so I ended up just using part of my shirt to dry my face off and walked out of the bathroom, with red eyes and a puffy face.
The kids were having a great time with their friends all sitting in a booth and Steve and Stephanie and James and I sat behind them and we were able to just talk. Steve encouraged me as well saying he knows exactly how I was feeling, and then we talked about several things related to being here, the challenges just living life is harder and things take so long to accomplish, seeing so much poverty and living with the weight of that all around you. Very helpful things. We both remarked at this Divine appointment for us to meet and spend this time together. We left, very thankful for God’s hand in moving us and them to be there at that exact spot and time, even when I initially felt, “oh no!”
There are so many decisions that have to be made right now. I need sheets or towels or dishes. The thought process is very stressful at times. Which ones, Wow that costs so much. That’s all there is. We need it, so ok I’ll buy it. And every item is like that. Or I go buy something at the market or we buy something on the side of the road and its right then and there you have to decide and the person is watching you, or you try to negotiate the price and that if I am worn out can be stressful too.
We talked some about having a house helper and how eventually you get to the place where you are comfortable with them and they are helping out so much, but this initial time is hard, its so new. Trying to figure out, “ok teatime break… at what time? You need tea, well I don’t have any mugs. Um here’s some tea and bread for toast. Then you are supposed to provide lunch for the workers and how that works out, you buy a bag of mealie meal for them, and then maybe they have a burner stove top cooker that you provide with some pots for them to cook their meal outside in the guard shack. But all things that have to be worked out and you have to figure it out and talk about it. So yesterday it was hard.
I realized too, I just was going going all day long because she was working all day long too and I was exhausted. Later in the evening James was helping me to see that she is working and my doing school with the kids and playing with them and taking care of them is my work. And to try and think of it that way, as 2 people working alongside each other.
So today I tried to think about it that way. And to stop and take a break. Stop and take a moment to pray. Play with the kids. I am very thankful, the day went much better and Maureen was able to help me a lot today as well. She knew what to do to wash all the vegetables in a bleach and water solution, she helped me get things put away in the kitchen, and several other things. I felt more comfortable today with her helping and being here. She is quiet. And I can be quiet too, so that’s ok.
When we got home last night, James got the kids ready for bed and he told me to go take a bath. I opted for a shower instead, the hot water was working again, and I had not had a shower in 4 weeks.
There was not much pressure, but it was hot and nice, and I was thankful.
Wednesday
We were able to buy the water filter today. We had to go downtown to a store that sells them. So now tomorrow we will have to figure out how to use it since there is no instruction manual. But once we get it operational, then that will be a job in itself for Maureen to help with. Boiling water and then letting it sit a certain amount of time, and then running it through a filter and then putting it into containers.
We found the fabric store after a few tries today that you can buy fabric at to make curtains, and when we finally arrived, CLOSED for lunch from 1-2. So I think I may go with a friend there another day.
There is so much driving around trying to find things.
James just got back from the store. We were looking for a certain type/size of mosquito net for our room and he said, they obviously didn’t have exactly what we were looking for because, “Its AFRICA”.
So he “rigged” it up. Just like the water hose that didn’t come with a nozzle to attach it to the spicket outside, so he tied plastic around it and a piece of roping from the mattresses.
I know a lot of this is good for us. Well probably all of it is. We are learning to “make do” as so many people do. Much of the worlds population does not have a walmart on their corner, to just run to whenever you need something. These small inconveniences are nothing compared to what so many around us are living in and going through. Just trying to survive.
The other day I was working around the house, and I felt hungry. So I just walked into the kitchen and got a snack. I was struck with how normal this is, when just a few kilometers away people are hungry for a snack and they don’t have one. Then I thought, I bet this gardener at the house we were staying at would like a snack whenever he wants one… So MUCH we take for granted.
Well its getting late and I need to try and post this now.
Thank you for your prayers. Please keep them coming.
Another blessing today. And a drum roll please… There was an empty laundry basket at the end of the day and clean clothes!
Thursday
Well I thought they were all clean clothes. And that I would have been able to post this, but I was not. I woke up and checked the dryer for the last load of the evening and they were still wet and now smelled moldy from sitting closed up all night long. The dryer stopped working again. The dryer is brand new, so the problem has always been with the outlet. So I then put the wet clothes back into the washer to wash again, but the water pressure was very low and it would not fill up. And again this morning, no hot water. There are 2 Geysers on this house so theoretically we should have hot water, and there are 2 reserve tanks. But there seems to be a problem so every day the contractors have been here working on both those issues. Seems like they think they solve the problem, only to wake up in the morning with the same issues.
So today hopefully they solved the dryer problem. At least now at almost 10, I just turned it on and it is still running.
I was able to go to the fabric store to pick out material for curtains for 2 of the 3 bedrooms. I was holding out on the boys room, since I packed their curtains, but have no idea about when they should be arriving.
We met some new friends in our neighborhood and they invited us over to dinner tonight. They are a couple from America, (the wife is actually Dominican, we found out this evening, and his family is from Antigua). They have 4 children, and live about 5 minutes from us. It was a blessing to spend the evening with them and were encouraged by our time together. The Lord has been so kind to us, in putting people in our lives to help us in this transition. She told me about several places downtown that they shop at so you can buy things in bulk and they are much cheaper and then you are not always running to the store.
We just got home, everyone had a cold shower and bath and are winding down for the night.
We also just received a message from the man who was buying our car. He is in South Africa and found a vehicle and it is heading back here. So hopefully next week we should be able to have it. Which would be great!
4 weeks ago today we landed in Africa!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
A few random pictures first. Taken in Kalingalinga. The women just sit there all day and crush rock.... 
Local market area. You can see James buying bananas in the background. But notice the big truck. Delivering mealie meal bags. (The staple food product)
Friday:
We have been busy this week trying to find furniture for our house.
This is a big job in itself. If you think about all of a sudden needing to replace everything in your house, but then think about being in a foreign country and trying to do it!
We ordered bunk beds for the kids rooms, and thought it would be fairly standard procedure to find mattresses to fit the beds. But we have been several different places, looking for good mattresses. Every time we have found one, we ask about selling just the mattress and not the boxspring and they tell us no they can’t do that. Or ,if it begins to look promising, they will say “let me ask the manager” and get back with you later that day. Which then turns into later in the week. Or as one person told us, “call you back in 10 minutes”. Well a few days later we are still waiting. We had someone call today to tell us that tomorrow they will have the price for us.
I really would have thought buying something would be a bit easier, after all, we have $ we want to spend at the store…but though it has been a bit frustrating at times, we have not been anxious about it and are just trying to “wait”.
So we are hoping tomorrow, Friday to get the contract signed and take possession of the house. We have a woman coming tomorrow to clean the house, and then we will see if we can offer her a part time job helping around the house later on.
Laundry only took 2 days to dry this week. Yeah! But unfortunately that was only half of it and I am still working on the ironing pile from last week. We have been busy this week, but I have tried to spend the mornings ironing. So it is about exactly where it was at the beginning of the week.
I was holding out for the dryer…
Saturday:
This morning Kasango came with a very large truck and driver to help us get some of our things to the house today. The main thing was picking up the appliances and trying to get them set up at the house, as well as one set of bunk beds, and maybe our bed.
We had a very full day yesterday. James took the kids to school in the morning then came back to pick us, the boys and I up ( Emma was still schooling at the Guffeys) to go to the Crossroads Shopping Center. We had called a woman and asked if she would like a few days work of cleaning the house.
The contractor had finished the repairs and swept all the cockroaches out of the house, but that was it.
So we had planned to meet her at the shopping center to then drive her the mile or so to the house. SO she would then know where we live.
So we arrived there and called her and she said she was waiting at the gate. Well it turns out she was at the Crossroads Lodge, on the other side of town, only a few minutes from where we had been when James picked me up. So it took quite a while to find her, as she then walked to a bus stop, and tried to tell us where she was. Several calls later, and frustrations, we finally found her. She had said a few times on the phone, “I am right here!”. Well we didn’t know where Here was! Or the number 10 bus stop.
But while we were waiting to meet her at the Shopping Center (before we knew of the mixup) we met a couple from New York that live just a few minutes away from us, that are here working with street children and a local Zambian church. We had met briefly at the pool a few weeks ago.
They invited us to dinner whenever we get moved. They have 4 children, two girls and two boys. The boys are about Caleb and Jackson’s age, in fact the youngest will be 4 two days after Jackson turns 4.
So we look forward to getting to know them also.
We took the woman Maureen, to the house so that she could start cleaning it. She was able to get the kitchen and living room finished and was meeting James back at the house today to work some more.
In the afternoon, the kids and I went to a Valentines party at the Allens. There were about 8 moms with their children there. So about 27 children altogether. They had a lot of fun, playing games, making valentines and frosting cookies, and eating snacks. It was great for me to meet these other women. Half of us were “independent” as in not here with a group, and the other half were the families that are here working with Action Zambia. So it was a blessing to meet these other women who have been here longer. One woman told me that they had been here 6 months before they even met other missionaries and they had no one to help them transition into life here. So she said she was so happy for me to have had such a good start. She also lives near our house we are moving to.
Of the group there, it is mostly girls, but a handful of boys. There was an 8 year old boy there that was excited Ian was 10. But it was neat to see, that out of this group of Action Zambia, all of them had either adopted, or were in the process of adopting a Zambian child. So there were white kids and black Zambian kids and black American kids, all running around and having a great time. It was really great to see!
Then in the evening, we went to some friend’s house to join them in a bible study series on marriage. There were 6 couples, and that was quite amazing as well. We met everyone, the Allens and Guffeys were there, but then there was also a couple from Belgium, another couple with a Zambian husband and white American wife ( they met in America and just recently moved here), and then a white couple that were Zimbabweans. That had moved here. It was quite interesting to hear them speak of what life in Zimbabwe was like, and the culture shock he said they experienced in moving from Zimbabwe to Zambia, and how that was also different from South Africa.
Great to meet all different types of people from different places, united in Christ!
Local market area. You can see James buying bananas in the background. But notice the big truck. Delivering mealie meal bags. (The staple food product)
Friday:
We have been busy this week trying to find furniture for our house.
This is a big job in itself. If you think about all of a sudden needing to replace everything in your house, but then think about being in a foreign country and trying to do it!
We ordered bunk beds for the kids rooms, and thought it would be fairly standard procedure to find mattresses to fit the beds. But we have been several different places, looking for good mattresses. Every time we have found one, we ask about selling just the mattress and not the boxspring and they tell us no they can’t do that. Or ,if it begins to look promising, they will say “let me ask the manager” and get back with you later that day. Which then turns into later in the week. Or as one person told us, “call you back in 10 minutes”. Well a few days later we are still waiting. We had someone call today to tell us that tomorrow they will have the price for us.
I really would have thought buying something would be a bit easier, after all, we have $ we want to spend at the store…but though it has been a bit frustrating at times, we have not been anxious about it and are just trying to “wait”.
So we are hoping tomorrow, Friday to get the contract signed and take possession of the house. We have a woman coming tomorrow to clean the house, and then we will see if we can offer her a part time job helping around the house later on.
Laundry only took 2 days to dry this week. Yeah! But unfortunately that was only half of it and I am still working on the ironing pile from last week. We have been busy this week, but I have tried to spend the mornings ironing. So it is about exactly where it was at the beginning of the week.
I was holding out for the dryer…
Saturday:
This morning Kasango came with a very large truck and driver to help us get some of our things to the house today. The main thing was picking up the appliances and trying to get them set up at the house, as well as one set of bunk beds, and maybe our bed.
We had a very full day yesterday. James took the kids to school in the morning then came back to pick us, the boys and I up ( Emma was still schooling at the Guffeys) to go to the Crossroads Shopping Center. We had called a woman and asked if she would like a few days work of cleaning the house.
The contractor had finished the repairs and swept all the cockroaches out of the house, but that was it.
So we had planned to meet her at the shopping center to then drive her the mile or so to the house. SO she would then know where we live.
So we arrived there and called her and she said she was waiting at the gate. Well it turns out she was at the Crossroads Lodge, on the other side of town, only a few minutes from where we had been when James picked me up. So it took quite a while to find her, as she then walked to a bus stop, and tried to tell us where she was. Several calls later, and frustrations, we finally found her. She had said a few times on the phone, “I am right here!”. Well we didn’t know where Here was! Or the number 10 bus stop.
But while we were waiting to meet her at the Shopping Center (before we knew of the mixup) we met a couple from New York that live just a few minutes away from us, that are here working with street children and a local Zambian church. We had met briefly at the pool a few weeks ago.
They invited us to dinner whenever we get moved. They have 4 children, two girls and two boys. The boys are about Caleb and Jackson’s age, in fact the youngest will be 4 two days after Jackson turns 4.
So we look forward to getting to know them also.
We took the woman Maureen, to the house so that she could start cleaning it. She was able to get the kitchen and living room finished and was meeting James back at the house today to work some more.
In the afternoon, the kids and I went to a Valentines party at the Allens. There were about 8 moms with their children there. So about 27 children altogether. They had a lot of fun, playing games, making valentines and frosting cookies, and eating snacks. It was great for me to meet these other women. Half of us were “independent” as in not here with a group, and the other half were the families that are here working with Action Zambia. So it was a blessing to meet these other women who have been here longer. One woman told me that they had been here 6 months before they even met other missionaries and they had no one to help them transition into life here. So she said she was so happy for me to have had such a good start. She also lives near our house we are moving to.
Of the group there, it is mostly girls, but a handful of boys. There was an 8 year old boy there that was excited Ian was 10. But it was neat to see, that out of this group of Action Zambia, all of them had either adopted, or were in the process of adopting a Zambian child. So there were white kids and black Zambian kids and black American kids, all running around and having a great time. It was really great to see!
Then in the evening, we went to some friend’s house to join them in a bible study series on marriage. There were 6 couples, and that was quite amazing as well. We met everyone, the Allens and Guffeys were there, but then there was also a couple from Belgium, another couple with a Zambian husband and white American wife ( they met in America and just recently moved here), and then a white couple that were Zimbabweans. That had moved here. It was quite interesting to hear them speak of what life in Zimbabwe was like, and the culture shock he said they experienced in moving from Zimbabwe to Zambia, and how that was also different from South Africa.
Great to meet all different types of people from different places, united in Christ!
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Good Day
This morning we took the 3 younger kids to a friend’s house (Christie Guffey) while the older 2 were at school and she watched them all afternoon, while James and I went out for lunch and then shopping. We had a nice lunch at the MINT Café. Familiar food that actually tasted familiar too. That is the key. We have had several things that were similar to what we might eat back home, but they always have a different taste. So we really enjoyed it. This was a treat, since we had all the kids when we went out to eat on our anniversary.
We were able to buy a refrigerator, stove and a washer and dryer. That was all at GAME the big shop in Manda Hill. Even though we do not have them yet, I was excited to be shopping for them and know that hopefully by this weekend I can be doing laundry again.
Then we went to Kalingalinga and bought two wood dressers and a desk all off the side of the road at the shops where the men make the furniture. We found bunk beds and will buy those later this week. We wanted 2 sets and they had one and a half… So once they finish the top part we will purchase those for the kid’s rooms.
The same place sells chairs and you can give them your dimensions and they also make tables.
Next we need to find living room furniture and mattresses.
It was very nice just for James and I to be able to go out and shop and spend some time together. So I am very thankful for our friend’s offer. They also invited us to dinner, which was great since we had a full day shopping and being gone. They have been very kind to us!
We enjoyed starting to get to know their family. The kids have enjoyed playing with their children. In fact Caleb was excited that I was leaving and he was being “babysitted".
They are from Alabama, and we met them through a mutual friend of my sister. Brad is here working with pediatric HIV/AIDS. It was neat to hear their story of the Lord working in them to bring them here.
James had a good meeting with Pastor Mbewe this morning, discussing opportunities and ideas for ministry work here. He was very encouraged. Pastor Mbewe leaves this week with his wife Felistas for the USA. They will be gone for 2 weeks. Felistas has been very kind to me and I look forward to getting to know her more.
Hopefully Wednesday we will start to rent it, and by the weekend, we hope to be living in it.
But we’ll see. This is Africa time.
We were able to buy a refrigerator, stove and a washer and dryer. That was all at GAME the big shop in Manda Hill. Even though we do not have them yet, I was excited to be shopping for them and know that hopefully by this weekend I can be doing laundry again.
Then we went to Kalingalinga and bought two wood dressers and a desk all off the side of the road at the shops where the men make the furniture. We found bunk beds and will buy those later this week. We wanted 2 sets and they had one and a half… So once they finish the top part we will purchase those for the kid’s rooms.
The same place sells chairs and you can give them your dimensions and they also make tables.
Next we need to find living room furniture and mattresses.
It was very nice just for James and I to be able to go out and shop and spend some time together. So I am very thankful for our friend’s offer. They also invited us to dinner, which was great since we had a full day shopping and being gone. They have been very kind to us!
We enjoyed starting to get to know their family. The kids have enjoyed playing with their children. In fact Caleb was excited that I was leaving and he was being “babysitted".
They are from Alabama, and we met them through a mutual friend of my sister. Brad is here working with pediatric HIV/AIDS. It was neat to hear their story of the Lord working in them to bring them here.
James had a good meeting with Pastor Mbewe this morning, discussing opportunities and ideas for ministry work here. He was very encouraged. Pastor Mbewe leaves this week with his wife Felistas for the USA. They will be gone for 2 weeks. Felistas has been very kind to me and I look forward to getting to know her more.
Hopefully Wednesday we will start to rent it, and by the weekend, we hope to be living in it.
But we’ll see. This is Africa time.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Weekend
We have had a good weekend. Saturday we stayed around the house and James went to teach a young people’s bible study. A mix up with the time, 13:30 is what we thought and no one was there but it was 15:30. So he ran downtown to pick up the kids school uniforms and then went back to the church. Another thing to get used to, the 24 hour clock.
I made brownies, and was glad they turned out well. They eat dinner late here, like 8pm. So I was cooking early about 4:30 or 5 for our meal and Alice came in the kitchen and we talked some and she said she was hungry so she started cooking her dinner early. Fish. Whole fish with the eyes still on and everything. I thought it was kind of funny, because I had half of the stove, making green beans, corn and chicken and she was frying fish. So I took a picture
As I was cooking, something exciting happened…I got my first phone call in Zambia! Trenda Due called me. It was so exciting to talk to her and hear from her. I think I was probably giddy. James came home from the study and said his mom and dad had called him also, and it was good to hear their voice.
Today we went to church. We arrived at 9am, when the Sunday school hour is supposed to start. We walked into the children’s classrooms and no one was there. The teacher was in Emma’s class but that was all. So we waited around a bit and then they all started coming.
Speaking of coming, If someone wants to say, “I’ll be back, “ they will say, “I am coming”.
This was the second Sunday school class for the kids, and I stayed with Jackson and Caleb again. That has gone fine, as there sometimes are other mothers in there. Caleb was fine today and Jackson was a little hesitant but he did fine as well. Tonight he was telling Emma about, what he did and what the teacher said, “in my class…” .
After the morning service we went to one of the Pastor’s home for lunch. (the names are hard to remember here. It’s not because I didn’t ask or because they haven’t told me a few times) We had a nice visit with them and were thankful for the fellowship. It was our first meal in a Zambian home since moving here. And after we arrived in their home we thought it looked familiar. Turns out it was also the last Zambian home we had been in for a meal when we were here in August.
It was dark and there was a big crowd, and it was the evening of my really long hard emotional day at church. So I don’t remember too much. This time it was a lovely afternoon and the kids played with their kids, which I don’t even remember seeing when we were here last time.
As we were leaving we thanked them, and they said ANYTIME. “Please, if you are in the area, you just stop by, you don’t even need to call ahead or make an appointment, just come by. “
Emma told us something funny from her day at school. She said a girl asked her “What tribe are you from?”. Emma told her she was not from any tribe, to which the girl said, “Of course you are, everyone is from a tribe.” Emma said no, I am not. Then the girl told her, “Go home and ask your mom, and she will tell you which tribe you are from”.
Here are a few pictures I took out the window as we were driving through an area.
I made brownies, and was glad they turned out well. They eat dinner late here, like 8pm. So I was cooking early about 4:30 or 5 for our meal and Alice came in the kitchen and we talked some and she said she was hungry so she started cooking her dinner early. Fish. Whole fish with the eyes still on and everything. I thought it was kind of funny, because I had half of the stove, making green beans, corn and chicken and she was frying fish. So I took a picture
As I was cooking, something exciting happened…I got my first phone call in Zambia! Trenda Due called me. It was so exciting to talk to her and hear from her. I think I was probably giddy. James came home from the study and said his mom and dad had called him also, and it was good to hear their voice.
Today we went to church. We arrived at 9am, when the Sunday school hour is supposed to start. We walked into the children’s classrooms and no one was there. The teacher was in Emma’s class but that was all. So we waited around a bit and then they all started coming.
Speaking of coming, If someone wants to say, “I’ll be back, “ they will say, “I am coming”.
This was the second Sunday school class for the kids, and I stayed with Jackson and Caleb again. That has gone fine, as there sometimes are other mothers in there. Caleb was fine today and Jackson was a little hesitant but he did fine as well. Tonight he was telling Emma about, what he did and what the teacher said, “in my class…” .
After the morning service we went to one of the Pastor’s home for lunch. (the names are hard to remember here. It’s not because I didn’t ask or because they haven’t told me a few times) We had a nice visit with them and were thankful for the fellowship. It was our first meal in a Zambian home since moving here. And after we arrived in their home we thought it looked familiar. Turns out it was also the last Zambian home we had been in for a meal when we were here in August.
It was dark and there was a big crowd, and it was the evening of my really long hard emotional day at church. So I don’t remember too much. This time it was a lovely afternoon and the kids played with their kids, which I don’t even remember seeing when we were here last time.
As we were leaving we thanked them, and they said ANYTIME. “Please, if you are in the area, you just stop by, you don’t even need to call ahead or make an appointment, just come by. “
Emma told us something funny from her day at school. She said a girl asked her “What tribe are you from?”. Emma told her she was not from any tribe, to which the girl said, “Of course you are, everyone is from a tribe.” Emma said no, I am not. Then the girl told her, “Go home and ask your mom, and she will tell you which tribe you are from”.
Here are a few pictures I took out the window as we were driving through an area.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Stories
This week I met a woman in passing and later heard her story.
My friend Stephanie was taking her home on our way to go shopping. I met her and said hello and goodbye and that was the extent of my interaction with her. As we were driving away, Stephanie told me about her.
She is a single mom to a 10 year old girl. She recently became pregnant again, hoping that a man was going to love her and take care of her and her daughter. Now she is alone again and expecting a baby in the next month. She lives in a shanty town area and walks wherever she needs to go.
She is HIV positive.
When her time to deliver comes, she will walk to the clinic carrying a bucket, plastic and some rags.
The bucket is to be used for bringing the placenta and the rags home. The plastic, to use during the delivery. She had some plastic garbage bags that she was given, and money to buy a new bucket.
And that’s it.
Hopefully she will be given medicine that can diminish the chances of passing the HIV virus on to her baby. But there is no guarantee.
The same day we were told of the people living in the shanty towns and compounds, and how this rain effects them. The pit latrines are overflowing and flooding. This then gets into the water supply in these areas and the chances of diseases spreading, especially cholera becomes a reality for them.
We have been focusing much right now on getting our family established and settled, which is good. But these stories come to us and remind us again of the great needs here.
Last Sunday there was a dinner at church. They served up the plates in the line for the kids. I went through the line and tried to tell the ladies, “just a little” or no thank you to a certain item, knowing that my little guys were not going to eat it. But I don’t think they understood me, and continued to fill the plate and hand it to me. I thanked them and then after the boys ate a little, I collected the plates, and began to look for a garbage can. It’s hard to express in words exactly what I was feeling, but I just kept thinking, what do you do when you have extra food in Africa? A serious question.
When a lot of your life you hear, “There are starving kids in Africa”, and you think yes we don’t want to waste food. When you are at home in the states you dispose of it, and really don’t think much about it.
But here, knowing the need is great? What do you do?
We don’t want to be seen wasting food. So I walked around thinking maybe we are the only ones with extra food here to throw away…and then I found a big bowl near the garbage can that people were scrapping the extra food into before throwing the plates away. It just felt strange.
The gardener at the house eats his lunch here every day. There is usually some food that the housekeeper leaves from the day before. But we have still given him a sandwich or extra hamburgers, or something. But I have wondered if this is his main meal of the day, or what thoughts would he have seeing good food thrown away into the garbage?
Today Alice has been here cleaning the house. I was working on cleaning up breakfast and then ironing the sheets to put on the bed. I felt like I kept getting in her way, so I would say, “excuse me, or I’m sorry”. She would say, “that’s ok”. Then she said, “everyone is busy, busy”.
Her 2 nieces came today to help do her washing, of her own clothes. We met one of the girls, Joyce. She looked about Emma’s age, but when I asked her, she said she was 12. I was asking Alice about her family, and she said she is one of 8 children. Then she made a comment that was very sad and surprising.
She has a daughter who lives in Eastern Province, very far away. She is in grade 8. I asked her name and she said Rose. I said, that’s Emma’s middle name, and she smiled and said very nice.
Alice seems young and lives here on the property in a small dwelling, so I didn’t expect she had any children.
I asked her when she last saw her.
2008.
She is hoping to go see her in July. She said it is very far and very expensive. She would take the bus to get there. She is from that area and came here to work. When she goes back she will see her mother and other family members as well.
Sarah is in grade 7. I could not imagine not seeing her for 2 years
My friend Stephanie was taking her home on our way to go shopping. I met her and said hello and goodbye and that was the extent of my interaction with her. As we were driving away, Stephanie told me about her.
She is a single mom to a 10 year old girl. She recently became pregnant again, hoping that a man was going to love her and take care of her and her daughter. Now she is alone again and expecting a baby in the next month. She lives in a shanty town area and walks wherever she needs to go.
She is HIV positive.
When her time to deliver comes, she will walk to the clinic carrying a bucket, plastic and some rags.
The bucket is to be used for bringing the placenta and the rags home. The plastic, to use during the delivery. She had some plastic garbage bags that she was given, and money to buy a new bucket.
And that’s it.
Hopefully she will be given medicine that can diminish the chances of passing the HIV virus on to her baby. But there is no guarantee.
The same day we were told of the people living in the shanty towns and compounds, and how this rain effects them. The pit latrines are overflowing and flooding. This then gets into the water supply in these areas and the chances of diseases spreading, especially cholera becomes a reality for them.
We have been focusing much right now on getting our family established and settled, which is good. But these stories come to us and remind us again of the great needs here.
Last Sunday there was a dinner at church. They served up the plates in the line for the kids. I went through the line and tried to tell the ladies, “just a little” or no thank you to a certain item, knowing that my little guys were not going to eat it. But I don’t think they understood me, and continued to fill the plate and hand it to me. I thanked them and then after the boys ate a little, I collected the plates, and began to look for a garbage can. It’s hard to express in words exactly what I was feeling, but I just kept thinking, what do you do when you have extra food in Africa? A serious question.
When a lot of your life you hear, “There are starving kids in Africa”, and you think yes we don’t want to waste food. When you are at home in the states you dispose of it, and really don’t think much about it.
But here, knowing the need is great? What do you do?
We don’t want to be seen wasting food. So I walked around thinking maybe we are the only ones with extra food here to throw away…and then I found a big bowl near the garbage can that people were scrapping the extra food into before throwing the plates away. It just felt strange.
The gardener at the house eats his lunch here every day. There is usually some food that the housekeeper leaves from the day before. But we have still given him a sandwich or extra hamburgers, or something. But I have wondered if this is his main meal of the day, or what thoughts would he have seeing good food thrown away into the garbage?
Today Alice has been here cleaning the house. I was working on cleaning up breakfast and then ironing the sheets to put on the bed. I felt like I kept getting in her way, so I would say, “excuse me, or I’m sorry”. She would say, “that’s ok”. Then she said, “everyone is busy, busy”.
Her 2 nieces came today to help do her washing, of her own clothes. We met one of the girls, Joyce. She looked about Emma’s age, but when I asked her, she said she was 12. I was asking Alice about her family, and she said she is one of 8 children. Then she made a comment that was very sad and surprising.
She has a daughter who lives in Eastern Province, very far away. She is in grade 8. I asked her name and she said Rose. I said, that’s Emma’s middle name, and she smiled and said very nice.
Alice seems young and lives here on the property in a small dwelling, so I didn’t expect she had any children.
I asked her when she last saw her.
2008.
She is hoping to go see her in July. She said it is very far and very expensive. She would take the bus to get there. She is from that area and came here to work. When she goes back she will see her mother and other family members as well.
Sarah is in grade 7. I could not imagine not seeing her for 2 years
Friday, February 5, 2010
We have had a busy week.
Kids are back to school, healing and peeling from their sunburns. More sporadic internet , some frustrations and lots of rain.
Everyone here has said this in unusual to have so much rain. It has been almost constant. I took some pictures one day when we were out, but was not fast enough for one shot, that would have been great!
About 6-8 ladies, all in their chitenges were trying to cross through a puddle. They had their skirts hiked up a bit, were carrying umbrellas and they all were smiling and laughing. Even now, thinking back, I wish I had my camera ready quick enough! Anyway a little farther down the road and they were covering up the chickens that were for sale, so they would not get all wet.
At the fruit stands by the road, the ladies all sit with an umbrella over the fruit.
We were able to get the money for the house to rent and they have started to clean and fix a few things. We waited for about 40 minutes outside the gate on Wednesday to meet the realtor and the contractor to say what need to be fixed. The realtor finally showed up when we were getting ready to leave to go pick up the kids from school and he didn’t have the key. He said the contractor did. So we made plans to meet them the following morning, Thursday. So when we showed up the next morning the contractor was there but he did not have the key. He said the realtor did!
We left to drive around the neighborhood ( or maybe I should spell it neighbourhood) and then came back at the time we had planned to meet . The realtor was there with the key. So we did a walk through to say what all need to be fixed and cleaned up. They estimated by Monday we would have the keys turned over to us and we would start renting.
If that does happen, we then have to go and buy everything. Refrigerator, Stove ( cooker) , washer and dryer ( I am so excited about that one..) Beds for everyone, furniture to sit on, a table to eat on….
Then once we buy it all, we have to get it to the house. So It will hopefully be by the end of next week that we can actually move ourselves in.
That will be great. It has definitely been challenging to be in this limbo state, we were made for work and for routine. The kids are ready to have their own beds and places to put the few things that we have right now. The house is closer to church and to their school, so that will help in the mornings and picking them up.
James went to get a post office box early in the week. In order to get a bank account you need to have an address. So he went to get one. Everything went through fine and then the woman went to get the key to the box and she said the key would not open the box, so they have to get a repairman to fix the boxes before they could give us the post box. So that held up the starting to get the bank account.
Yesterday though he went back and was able to get one. So we now have an address. If you would like that I can email it to you. We also have our phones. Cell phones. So we can receive calls from anyone and it does not cost us anything. So if you want to call us, get a good international plan and then give us a ring. We have used Cloncom before and they have decent rates. Unfortunately skype has not been working with the connection that we currently have.
We are still waiting to get things completed so that we can have the man go down to South Africa and get a car for us. Once he starts the process, it takes about a week for him to get it. We are very ready to have a vehicle, especially for everyone to have a seat and to be in a seatbelt.
Last night I was able to go with a friend to the grocery store. She was so helpful walking up and down the aisles and showing me things. She said that a friend had done that for her when she moved here and it was a help to her. It was a busy time at the store, so it took almost 2 hours to complete the shopping. Several interesting things you can find there. I bought several things and am eager to cook dinner tonight.
Well there is ironing to do. The laundry is a bit damp, but it had been on the line for 3 days, and there was much more to do. So that laundry had to finish before more laundry could be washed to put it somewhere. That has been a bit stressful. Not being able to have clean clothes when you want them.
And not being able to do anything about it. This morning I was ironing a couple items so that people could get dressed for the day. It had to dry again overnight with the fan on them ( thanks for that tip Aunt Sue) and then iron them.
I heard a bit more on the bugs. They are called something like a pootsie fly. And they form underneath the skin and then you have to pop them ( I guess like pimples) to get the puss out!
Well James is gone to try and work on getting the bank account. He needed 2 passport photos, which have to be gotten somewhere else and then it takes 5 -10 days to get the account set up.
More later...
Hopefully some pictures
-------------------------------
I wrote this earlier in the day and just now am posting it. I was able to take a load of damp clothes to a friend's house and use her dryer. I was so excited when I took the clothes out of the dryer and they were warm and soft!
Also I made dinner tonight, and was able to find ingredients for Fajitas. They don't usually have sour cream but they have greek yoghurt ( spelled that way) and the kids liked it very much.
James was asked today to teach at the young peoples meeting tomorrow afternoon. I guess the preacher that was lined up was not able to do it, so I think he is glad to have the opportunity to fill in.
Emma's friend Chomba ( the tall girl )
She asks, "When is Emma coming back to school"
Kabwata Baptist Church
Huge potholes in the road that fill up when it rains
Chickens for sale
Kids are back to school, healing and peeling from their sunburns. More sporadic internet , some frustrations and lots of rain.
Everyone here has said this in unusual to have so much rain. It has been almost constant. I took some pictures one day when we were out, but was not fast enough for one shot, that would have been great!
About 6-8 ladies, all in their chitenges were trying to cross through a puddle. They had their skirts hiked up a bit, were carrying umbrellas and they all were smiling and laughing. Even now, thinking back, I wish I had my camera ready quick enough! Anyway a little farther down the road and they were covering up the chickens that were for sale, so they would not get all wet.
At the fruit stands by the road, the ladies all sit with an umbrella over the fruit.
We were able to get the money for the house to rent and they have started to clean and fix a few things. We waited for about 40 minutes outside the gate on Wednesday to meet the realtor and the contractor to say what need to be fixed. The realtor finally showed up when we were getting ready to leave to go pick up the kids from school and he didn’t have the key. He said the contractor did. So we made plans to meet them the following morning, Thursday. So when we showed up the next morning the contractor was there but he did not have the key. He said the realtor did!
We left to drive around the neighborhood ( or maybe I should spell it neighbourhood) and then came back at the time we had planned to meet . The realtor was there with the key. So we did a walk through to say what all need to be fixed and cleaned up. They estimated by Monday we would have the keys turned over to us and we would start renting.
If that does happen, we then have to go and buy everything. Refrigerator, Stove ( cooker) , washer and dryer ( I am so excited about that one..) Beds for everyone, furniture to sit on, a table to eat on….
Then once we buy it all, we have to get it to the house. So It will hopefully be by the end of next week that we can actually move ourselves in.
That will be great. It has definitely been challenging to be in this limbo state, we were made for work and for routine. The kids are ready to have their own beds and places to put the few things that we have right now. The house is closer to church and to their school, so that will help in the mornings and picking them up.
James went to get a post office box early in the week. In order to get a bank account you need to have an address. So he went to get one. Everything went through fine and then the woman went to get the key to the box and she said the key would not open the box, so they have to get a repairman to fix the boxes before they could give us the post box. So that held up the starting to get the bank account.
Yesterday though he went back and was able to get one. So we now have an address. If you would like that I can email it to you. We also have our phones. Cell phones. So we can receive calls from anyone and it does not cost us anything. So if you want to call us, get a good international plan and then give us a ring. We have used Cloncom before and they have decent rates. Unfortunately skype has not been working with the connection that we currently have.
We are still waiting to get things completed so that we can have the man go down to South Africa and get a car for us. Once he starts the process, it takes about a week for him to get it. We are very ready to have a vehicle, especially for everyone to have a seat and to be in a seatbelt.
Last night I was able to go with a friend to the grocery store. She was so helpful walking up and down the aisles and showing me things. She said that a friend had done that for her when she moved here and it was a help to her. It was a busy time at the store, so it took almost 2 hours to complete the shopping. Several interesting things you can find there. I bought several things and am eager to cook dinner tonight.
Well there is ironing to do. The laundry is a bit damp, but it had been on the line for 3 days, and there was much more to do. So that laundry had to finish before more laundry could be washed to put it somewhere. That has been a bit stressful. Not being able to have clean clothes when you want them.
And not being able to do anything about it. This morning I was ironing a couple items so that people could get dressed for the day. It had to dry again overnight with the fan on them ( thanks for that tip Aunt Sue) and then iron them.
I heard a bit more on the bugs. They are called something like a pootsie fly. And they form underneath the skin and then you have to pop them ( I guess like pimples) to get the puss out!
Well James is gone to try and work on getting the bank account. He needed 2 passport photos, which have to be gotten somewhere else and then it takes 5 -10 days to get the account set up.
More later...
Hopefully some pictures
-------------------------------
I wrote this earlier in the day and just now am posting it. I was able to take a load of damp clothes to a friend's house and use her dryer. I was so excited when I took the clothes out of the dryer and they were warm and soft!
Also I made dinner tonight, and was able to find ingredients for Fajitas. They don't usually have sour cream but they have greek yoghurt ( spelled that way) and the kids liked it very much.
James was asked today to teach at the young peoples meeting tomorrow afternoon. I guess the preacher that was lined up was not able to do it, so I think he is glad to have the opportunity to fill in.
Emma's friend Chomba ( the tall girl )
She asks, "When is Emma coming back to school"
Kabwata Baptist Church
Huge potholes in the road that fill up when it rains
Chickens for sale
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