Giving Thanks

This time of year I am flooded with memories of the five Thanksgiving feasts we celebrated 10,000 miles away in Zambia.  Each one was unique, each one was spent with a different group of friends, and each is a treasured memory.  To remind me again of the blessings God showered on us in a foreign land, I will re-post them this week.

As our first Thanksgiving in Zambia approached, I posted this on November 23, 2005:

 A few things I am thankful for:

In a land where people go hungry, we have plenty to eat.

In a land where many people are sick and dying, we are in good health (David is still having headaches from his bout with malaria, but we hope those will end soon)

I miss my children more than I can say, but I am thankful that others are ministering to them and caring for their needs.

In a land where many do not know about Jesus, I give thanks for the heritage of faith passed on to me through my parents.

In a land where education is available only to some, I am thankful for the opportunities I have had to go to school.

In a land far from my home, I give thanks for the many ways that the Brentwood Oaks Church of Christ family and our friends minister to us.

In a land where many have only the clothes on their backs, I give thanks for what I have to wear.

In a land where many are needy, I am thankful to be able to share what I have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And a few days later I described our Thanksgiving spent with other missionaries in Lusaka:


I’ll be honest. As Thanksgiving approached, I dreaded the thought of our first holiday away from our children, our friends, and our former house in Austin. We had so many great memories of Thanksgivings in the past.

This year, however, God provided us with opportunities to make wonderful new memories in our new land. We scheduled a retreat for all the Americans associated with Namwianga Mission and met in Lusaka, the capital city. Brian and Sondra Davis drove down from Solwezi where they are beginning a new work. The rest of us (Sheri and Lois Sears, the Bruingtons, Roy and Kathi Merritt) drove up from Kalomo on Thursday. We stayed in three cottages at a missionary guest house run by the Evangelical Church of Zambia, so we had our own cooking facilities and even television! On Thursday we shopped for groceries and on Friday we cooked our almost authentic American Thanksgiving dinner. We ended up with two small turkeys (both delicious), dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole (with homemade onion rings), jello salad, green salad, corn casserole, rolls, pecan pie, and lots of other yummy desserts. No nshima for Thanksgiving, thank you!

Besides feasting together we also had times for sharing views on missions and for devotionals, prayer sessions, and lots of singing. On Saturday we all went into the main shopping center in Lusaka and did more shopping, especially for Christmas. We had five little ones under nine in the group, so the Bruingtons took all the kids for go-cart rides and a movie. David and I also managed to see the new Zorro movie that afternoon. Ah, civilization again, if only for a few days!

We ended our retreat with a special Sunday morning service together and then headed back to Namwianga rested, refreshed, and ready to take on the challenges that are waiting for us.

I did miss our children terribly. Sara went to Arkansas to be with David’s parents for the weekend. Our wonderful Brentwood Oaks church family made sure John was taken care of. God provided for our needs, and we made new memories. We are blessed.

Eureka School Graduates from the mid-1950s

From Roy Merritt.

Long, long ago, tiny Eureka boarding school operated here at Namwianga.

A few days ago, three of us got together again!

On the right is Yours Truly, the least educated person here.

In the middle, Dr. Anita Hobby Mitchell, still teaching and doing research at the medical school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

On the left is Dr. Phil Thuma, main doctor at Macha Mission hospital most of his life. Phil works with Johns Hopkins in malaria research, and has almost eradicated malaria in the area served by his institution.

Did you read that right? Yes!

Almost eradicated!

1. Mosquito nets don't prevent malaria because rural Africans live and eat outside. By the time they are ready to sleep, mosquitoes have already dined.

2. Sprays don't prevent malaria because mosquitoes become immune.

3. Prophyactics don't prevent malaria because the disease becomes immune to drugs.

So Phil does goes after malaria carriers. He tests everybody for malaria, sick or not, especially those living near quiet water pools. Then he treats everyone who tests positive, even if they show no symptoms. He has even developed a saliva test for malaria to overcome those who do not want their blood taken for religious or superstitious reasons.

Cynical scientific types told him his results were not reproduceable. So Phil went to work and proved them wrong. Two other campaigns in two different areas came up with similar results. Mosquitoes cannot transmit malaria if the people they bite do not have malaria parasites in their blood.

"Makes sense to me," I thought. "Maybe those fancy, highly paid scientists don't like being trumped by a humble missionary doctor out in the boonies."

Those scientists still were not convinced. "The problem is commitment", they said. "There are not enough people with your level of commitment to do the job on a national scale."

So "lack of commitment" blocks eradication of malaria in Africa, and prevents saving a million lives each year.

Phil is also attacking AIDS. More exciting research. As he spoke about his studies and results and plans I felt a tiny thrill of hope.

What he says is so obvious that it makes sense.

People cannot transmit a virus they do not have.

Phil advocates that we treat all HIV carriers, even if they are not sick. Present regulations forbid treatment of HIV positive people until their blood count drops to specific levels--until they are sick. "What other disease do we treat this way?" Phil asks. "Do we wait till a patient's lungs are half full of fluid before we treat pneumonia? Do we wait till gangrene has destroyed a man's toes before we go to work on his leg?"

Phil may have a key to end this plague.

His main problem?

Commitment.

Mumena Mission Report

Brian Davis from Mumena in Northwestern Province sent out this report today. It touched my heart, and I wanted to share it with you.

We were able to experience a rare and wonderful missionary moment Sunday. In 2000, we were privileged to help plant the Road 68 church of Christ among the Congolese refugees of the Mumena Refugee Camp here in Northwest Province, Zambia. Yesterday as we worshiped together, I noticed that the young man directing the service was Bro. Toomba. As I reflected, I realized that in 2000 Toomba was a little boy on the front row with the other children. I remembered when he was baptized by my nephews Jeremy and Jason Davis during their visit on a campaign in 2006. (By the way, Jeremy and Jason along with their brides – Whitney & Erin - have just arrived to work for 2 years with our team along with Sam & Ellie Rodriguez who have signed on for 5 years!)

As I thought of Bro. Toomba’s history, I felt a tug at my trousers. Looking down, I saw his little girl, Grace. She was making her way forward to sit with the other children… where Toomba used to sit. As I watched her make her way to her seat, I noticed Toomba’s wife sitting in front of Sondra comforting their baby boy, Caleb. The church had asked me to teach on the attitudes of Christ-like leaders from 1 Timothy 3. As I remembered Toomba’s father - one of the church leaders – and as I looked at Toomba and his son Caleb, my heart was filled with hope for this little congregation of 45.

Missionaries often just get to see the bare fields and plant the seed of the Word. Every once in a while, God lets us see a little fruit too! What a blessing!

“For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.

And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.” Zechariah 8:12&13 KJV

In Him,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Bro. Toomba and Bro. Jean, two faithful teachers of the Road 68 church of Christ.

For more information about Brian and Sondra and Mumena, visit their website at www.mumenamissions.org.

Flexibility!

This morning I was reading a blog by Jon Gordon on Nine Ways to Beat Negativity. In the first comment after the article I found this gem: He with the greatest flexibility wins!

I learned many wonderful things from my years in Zambia, from deep spiritual truths about God to disturbing deficiencies in myself. But one of the life skills I learned and treasure most is flexibility. Since I never knew what disaster was going to happen to my careful plans on any given day, I got pretty good at just going with the flow and using Plan B and Plan C . . . Plan Z when necessary.

So here's to flexibility. I hope I never become so set in my ways that I can't roll with the twists and turns life throws my way.

Update - April 11

David has quickly recovered from his bout with malaria.  We have been SO thankful for the counsel of fellow missionaries Sheri Sears and Brian and Sondra Davis.  They advised us to take malaria drugs with us just in case and told us of other missionaries who spent their furloughs trying to get diagnosed and treated in the US--a difficult situation since most American doctors know little about malaria, and the drugs are not readily available.   Our last stop in Zambia before the airport was at the pharmacy, and we are glad we did!

We flew into DFW on Wednesday and are now in Fort Worth visiting our friends the Branscums for a couple of days before going to Austin on Saturday.  

For the rest of our furlough (through mid-June), I will post occasional updates on our activities and blog the stories and photos of Zambia that I didn't have the time or bandwidth to cover while we were there.  

Missionary Retreat

This is the group of missionaries that gathered March 28 - 30 at Mapepe Bible College for a retreat.  Included are Fielden and Janet Allison from Tanzania; Diedre Hulvey, Meagan Hawley, Louisa Duke, and Sheri Sears from Namwianga; Brian and Sondra Davis with Bryson and Noah from Mumena Mission in Solwezi, Zambia;  Mark and Era Thiesen with Eric and Dana from Namikonga Mission in Malawi; and David and Lorie French with Natasha and Susan from Mapepe.  Also shown are the retreat presenters Eddie and Carol Hendricks from Richmond, Virginia, and Grady King from Irving, Texas.  We had a wonderful time together and are already looking forward to our next gathering.