Saturday at Kalundu

“Communication and transportation. Those are the hurdles to face.” A former missionary told me this several years ago. His words rang true all weekend.

Christopher Siatwiko and Jerrie Sichimwa work with several small congregations in the area. They came to us over a month ago and asked David and me to come to Kalundu to conduct an area-wide workshop for Bible school teachers. David was already booked to do medical mission follow-up for the next few weekends, but I offered to come out on Saturday, September 24, and do a two-hour session from 10:00 to 12:00 if I could arrange transportation. Jerrie assured me that Kalundu was not far from where we had done an earlier meeting at Sianongombe, an hour’s drive from Namwianga.

I talked with Bart Bruington who agreed that he would either take me there or let me use his Land Rover for that day. Christopher asked to borrow our bicycle so that he could “organize” the meeting by contacting all the congregations in the area and inviting them. Transportation and communication seemed to be handled.

I should have known better. I knew Christopher’s English was not great, but I thought Jerrie had gotten the message. Christopher and Jerrie showed up on Tuesday before the workshop and presented a letter from the Kalundu church leader. The letter was addressed to Brother Gregersen and Linda and stated that they were looking forward to both of us being with them for Saturday AND Sunday, September 24 and 25. Apparently as Christopher “organized,” he had expanded a two-hour teacher workshop into a two-day meeting with a teacher workshop as one part. I carefully tried to explain that David would NOT be going at all, and that I had only planned to teach on Saturday for two hours. Christopher smiled blankly. Jerrie and Christopher were committed for the two days and I was their transportation out there and back. Couldn’t I help?

I crumbled. I agreed to do the teacher workshop and one women’s class on Saturday. I would come back again on Sunday to teach the children IF I could arrange for a vehicle. I also offered to bring a singing group from the college for Sunday’s service.

In the meantime, Bart’s Land Rover had broken down and couldn’t be repaired until some parts were located. David was taking our Land Rover north to Sicikwalula for a three-day meeting there. I went to Mr. Limba at the Namwianga motor pool and asked if there was a school vehicle and driver available. He assured me that there was a “small van” available and that Donald could drive. The only problem was that the van had no shock absorbers. I asked him how many the van would hold, and he recommended “not more than 10 or 11 since it doesn’t have shocks.” I calculated the numbers I’d have for each trip and thought I was okay.

On Friday morning, things began to get complicated. David was sick in bed with a high fever from strep throat. Donald couldn’t drive, it seems, because he was officiating at a soccer tournament, and no other drivers were available. Mr. Limba said, “No problem, Linda. I’ve seen you drive the Land Rover. You can drive the van.” Hmm. I’d be okay going out there, because Christopher and Jerrie would know the way. But they were staying overnight, so coming back on Saturday afternoon I’d be by myself. I had visions of being lost in the bush, and I remembered the hours by the roadside when we were stranded at Munali Hill with a breakdown. David from his sickbed said absolutely not. I’d have to find someone to go out there and back with me on Saturday.

I was headed into Kalomo about that time when I met Donald on the road. We stopped to visit. He was sorry he couldn’t go, he said, and he offered to contact Mr. Limba about getting someone to accompany me. “How bad is it to drive the vehicle without shocks?” I asked him.

“Oh, it’s not too bad. It’s this one I’m driving here,” he said, and he patted the side of a SINGLE CAB pickup with a camper shell. It seems that Mr. Limba’s idea of a “van” and my idea of a “van” were very different! Most of the “10 or 11” people that Mr. Limba referred to would be riding in the back bed of the pickup.

Soon after I got back from town, Mr. Kunda, a college student, and Maria, a primary teacher, appeared at my door. They would be happy to accompany me on Saturday. Mr. Kunda assured me that he could change a flat tire if necessary, and that he would be able to help me find the way back. Maria just wanted to go along. We were set.

Since David was sick, he wasn’t going to Sicikwalula after all. Bart Bruington would be taking our Land Rover there on Sunday to speak in David’s place, but I could have the Rover for Saturday. At least one of the two trips to Kalundu would be with shock absorbers and real seats!

Jerrie had assured me the trip wouldn’t take more than two hours. Mr. Kunda, Maria, and I set out at 7:30 on Saturday morning. We stopped in Kalomo to pick up Christopher. His wife and aunt, he said, would be joining us “along the way.” We stopped for Jerrie at another village and then turned onto the Kabanga Road.

The Kabanga Road is miles and miles of bone-jarring, teeth-chattering, conversation-stopping washboard. It is the road by which all other roads around Namwianga are evaluated. “Is it as bad as the Kabanga Road?” is the question to ask about any unfamiliar roadway. My hands vibrated on the steering wheel as we jolted along for the first seventeen miles.

Then we turned off the “main” road onto another dirt road. This one was not too bad, but we did have to watch for huge potholes. A few miles later we turned onto an even smaller dirt road and slowed to a crawl. Eventually we crested a hill and headed down into a steep ravine. I held my breath as we approached the bottom and faced the 45-degree slope of the road leading out. “Mr, Kunda, do you know how to set the vehicle for four-wheel drive?” I gasped. He looked down at the knob tentatively and advised, “Just try it in first gear.” I shifted down, gripped the steering wheel, and gunned the accelerator. The Rover lurched up the side of the ravine. My white knuckles relaxed, and I began to breathe normally again.

We stopped to pick up Christopher’s wife, his aunt, and his baby (another surprise). The rest of the almost THREE-hour trip was more of the same: bad roads, potholes, and ravines. For the final mile we drove on a single-lane cow path. Mr. Kunda and I agreed: the school “van” would never have made it.

We climbed out of the Land Rover at Kalundu and were greeted by the church leaders who asked, “Where is Mr. Gregersen?” I looked at Christopher, and again he smiled blankly. The leaders held some whispered conferences to rearrange their plans. They decided to wait for a few more people to arrive before we began the teacher training. I would go ahead and teach the women’s class while Mr. Kunda taught the men. Maria was assigned to take the children and teach them.

We did those classes and then gathered back together for singing. The day wore on. At 1:15 I finally told Jerrie that I had to go ahead and do the teachers’ workshop so I could get home before dark. The men left for a leadership class with Mr. Kunda, and I did the teacher training. The women were excited and responsive about the ideas I shared. They willingly pretended to be children as we did some sample lessons together. When I finished and sat down, several of them took turns thanking me and begging me to come back again.

We ate the customary meal of nshima, chicken, and greens. I tried not to rush, but the minutes were ticking away. At last we said our goodbyes. I warned Jerrie and Christopher that I didn’t know whether or not I could come back on Sunday. It would all depend on whether I could find another vehicle for Bart to take to Sicikwalula. If I couldn’t, then Christopher and Jerrie would have to stay over on Sunday night and I would come back for them on Monday morning. I left extra food for them, and the rest of us set off for another bone-jarring ride back to Namwianga.

We made it home before dark with time to spare. I was relieved to find David feeling better. Bart tried to borrow a vehicle for his trip so I could use the Land Rover on Sunday, but there was none to be had. As I write this on Saturday night, Jerrie and Christopher are stuck at Kalundu until David and I can get back out there. I can’t tell them that, since Kalundu is far out of cell phone range. They’ll figure it out when I don’t show up on Sunday.

It’s all about transportation and communication.

News and Notes - September 23

We have been plagued with inter-net problems. The e-mail account that we use has suddenly decided to do all kinds of crazy things. Our usual procedure had been to go online for just a few minutes every few days and then read and write our e-mails offline. Now we haven’t been able to read anything offline, even the things we opened when we were online. To complicate things even more, the electricity was off at the Merritts where we go to do our e-mails, so we couldn’t even get online for a while. We are trying hard to get our own inter-net service set up, but it is a complicated process that may require another two weeks or so.

We are now teaching at the college. In addition to our regular classes, I am teaching a college women’s Bible study every Tuesday night. David is also teaching a faculty/staff evening Bible study on the book of Nehemiah.

The diesel shortage is keeping life interesting. There is some diesel available in the area, but knowing where and when to find it is a challenge. Our basic method is to fill up at any station that has diesel so we can keep the tank full.

Last week our house was without water for almost three days. Some villagers along the water line had broken the pipe to get water for themselves. Then they let the water pool up around the broken pipe so they could water their animals. We are now prepared in case we have to go without water again. We have a 55-gallon barrel in the corner of our bathroom that we have filled with water for emergencies. Eventually we will have a water tower and tank, but the construction is proceeding slowly.

Last Sunday we attended the grand opening of the newest orphanage in the area. This one is called Seven Fountains and is run by Rod and Sue Calder. Sue loves taking in the youngest babies, so her nursery rooms are full of tiny ones. In addition to orphan care, the Calders also run a large farm, including a dairy herd. We often buy our milk there.

This weekend David and I will be going on outreaches in different directions. David is heading up north to Sicikwalula for a weekend meeting. I am doing a teacher training workshop for an area-wide gathering about an hour east of Namwianga. David gets the Land Rover since he’s going much farther. My transport will be a small van from the school’s motor pool. I’ve already been warned that it has no shock absorbers, so it should be quite a trip. Who needs a Six Flags ride when you can have a real adventure on African bush roads?

Outreaches

In our August newsletter I described a typical outreach Sunday. For those of you who aren’t on that list, I am repeating the article here. I am also adding news of our most recent outreaches.

Namwianga Mission sends workers out each weekend for outreaches to village congregations in the area. These trips usually involve an early morning start as we drive the Land Rover around the mission and collect Zambian co-workers to go with us. Then we set out on a (usually) long drive over rough roads. When we arrive at the village we are greeted warmly and invited to sit on rough-hewn plank benches inside a mud-brick and thatch church building.

Usually one of the Zambians who came with us gives the communion message and then David preaches. I often take the children outside for a Bible lesson during the preaching. Sometimes the church requests a class after the worship assembly, so David teaches the men and I teach the ladies. A few of the ladies cook all morning over an open fire, and they then serve us a dinner of nshima, chicken or goat meat, and greens.

By three in the afternoon we say our goodbyes and load up again to leave. It’s not uncommon for us to take on a new passenger or two (or TEN) for the return trip, and we often have luggage, bags of groundnuts (peanuts), or a bicycle strapped onto the top rack of the Land Rover.

When we arrive back at the mission our bodies are tired and dusty, but our spirits are refreshed from the fellowship we enjoyed.

On August 27 our outreach was at an area-wide gathering in Dengezu. The five-hour journey was on some of the worst roads we have encountered in Zambia. We were very thankful for four-wheel drive on the Rover. David preached the morning sermon and I did the children’s program. The congregation had built a huge brush arbor to accommodate the 700 plus adults who attended. I had about 180 children in my class. The numbers are astounding when you consider that there were only two motorized vehicles there, both from Namwianga. Everyone else had come on foot, bicycle, or in an ox cart. When we got ready to leave, a group from Zimbabwe asked to ride with us to the main road. We filled the inside of the Land Rover, piled luggage on top, and then four of the young men climbed up on top and held on tight as we bounced and jolted for the next hour. When we dropped them off they still had a long walk to the point where they would catch a bus across the border.

On September 4 we visited another area-wide meeting, this time at Sianombe near Kalomo. David spoke and I did the children’s program. We had 125 adults and 40 children at this gathering.

Last weekend we went to Siomopele for yet another area-wide meeting. This one started on Saturday, so we were there bright and early Saturday morning. David spoke while I taught the children for three hours. That afternoon we taught a class on marriage. We returned to Namwianga for the night and went out again on Sunday morning. David delivered the morning sermon while I had the children. There were nine baptisms.

There are always some surprises at these gatherings. At Dengezu we learned to take our own plates to an area-wide meeting. When there are so many people to feed, dishes are scarce. We ate out of communal bowls there. At Siomopele the church leader came to the children’s program to tell us that the adults were walking to the river for the baptisms and the children would be staying with me. I had already been teaching for three hours that morning, and the baptisms added another hour. Thankfully, the children love to sing, so my translator and I filled most of the time leading songs in both Tonga and English.

When you worship on Sunday morning in America, remember your brothers and sisters in Africa who are also praising and serving the Lord.

Finally

At long last we have moved into our new house! It has been so much fun opening boxes that were packed last January. We still have much to do before we’ll be completely settled, but we are thrilled to be here. As soon as we can get out own internet connection we’ll be sending pictures.

From David - Church Planting

I have already had the privilege of helping start a new congregation. The first weekend in September my Zambian co-worker, Rogers Namuswa, and I went out to follow up on some people who were baptized at Singwamba during the medical mission. We left on Friday at noon and drove north into the bush. It was so far back I thought that if the Land Rover broke down I would be wearing a loincloth, eating roots, and talking fluent Chitonga before we made it back. We found a village headman and his wife that we baptized back in July. He was staying at his uncle's village and preparing to move his family farther north into Kafue Game Park to start another village. We met with his family and his uncle's family (thirty people) around the campfire that night. We told them how to start a church. I told the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. I encouraged them to offer up their knowledge, efforts, and talents to Jesus and watch Him multiply them. We asked Obed, a Christian from a nearby village, to come that Sunday and help them hold their first service out in the bush under the trees. (Both Rogers and I had previous commitments and couldn’t be there.)

That Friday night I tied one end of my hammock to a tree and the other end to the back of the Land Rover and went to sleep with the sounds of hyenas laughing out in the bush. On Saturday morning we did some more teaching and headed back to Namwianga. We distributed Chitonga bibles to four different village congregations as we went along.

This week we learned what happened. The first Sunday the new congregation started with 31 present. There were also some requests for baptism. The next week Rogers and another missionary went for the Sunday gathering. (Again, I had already been asked to speak at an area-wide meeting, so I couldn’t go). There were 54 people for this second Sunday. Thirteen responded to the preaching, and seven were baptized. Rogers had strapped a 6-foot galvanized water trough to the top of the Land Rover to use for the baptisms. Water is scarce this time of the year, so at the water source the Zambians used buckets to fill the trough with enough water for the baptisms.

This new congregation is inside Kafue Game Park, one of the largest game refuges in southern Africa. The kingdom continues to grow in Zambia as God continues to multiply what we offer in time, talents, and effort.
David

No Diesel Again

We have been able to buy diesel for the past three weeks. Now the news is out that Zambia’s ONE diesel refinery is closing down again for two weeks. We’ve filled all the tanks, jerry cans, and barrels we can find, and we’ll be staying close to home for a while.

Moving? Not Yet!

Well, it’s Sunday and we haven’t spent the night in our new house yet! Life has been one interruption after another for the past week. We spent Monday and Tuesday getting the floors done. Wednesday we moved in all our bigger pieces of furniture (and there aren’t very many). We also spent several hours dealing with people who came by wanting money, piecework, or food. Then on Wednesday afternoon we got word that the president of the Zambian Board was coming into town and wanted to stay with us at the Hamby house Wednesday and Thursday nights. So we put the move on hold. We did go ahead and move in almost all our things on Thursday and I got curtains hung in some of the windows in between dealing with people coming by with messages and requests for help. The man who was to finish the kitchen cabinets had still not come, so we couldn’t unpack the kitchen items. We said we’d try to move on Friday afternoon!
On Friday we had our first staff meeting at the college. It lasted from 9:00 to 1:00. As I returned to the house I received word from the Secondary School that I was to meet with the U. S. sponsored students at 2:00. I’ll write more on this later, but I was interviewing the students who receive money for school from individuals and churches in the U. S. I started at 2:00 and finished a little before 6:00. David came to meet me with the news that one of our Zambian friends was bringing his family to spend the weekend. We weren’t ready for company in the new house, so the move was put on hold again. Our friends arrived at 11:00 Friday night with two of their children and a nephew in tow. Their vehicle was having problems that just got fixed today, so they will be here until Monday.
On Saturday and on Sunday morning we were speaking and teaching at an area-wide meeting out in the bush, so we couldn’t do anything on the house. Sunday afternoon we got home around 2:00 and went down to the new house to do a little more work. We are promising ourselves that we will sleep in the new house Monday night no matter what it takes!

Moving?

We THINK we will move into our house on Wednesday. We've spent the past two days working on the floors. You wouldn't think that waxed concrete should be that difficult, but this is Zambia. Some workers were hired to go in and wax the floors last week. They did. In fact, they waxed right over all the paint drops and spills that were still on the concrete. So we have had anywhere from two to six guys working for two days to remove the wax and remove the paint spills (sandpaper and paint thinner and lots of exertion) and then rewax the floors. I have vague unpleasant memories of waxing floors in my childhood, so this has been quite an education. The wax is put on the floors using a rag or just bare hands. When the wax is dry, the floor has to be polished with a brush and then wiped again with a polishing cloth.

Now that the floors are done, there are just a few more details to be finished. We'll keep you posted.

God At Work

We arrived in Zambia on June 23 and quickly discovered that God had placed us in the right place at the right time to help World Bible School students.

Ruth Orr, a WBS correspondence teacher from Lewisburg, Tennessee contacted the WBS office in Austin seeking help. She had several students in the prison at Kabwe, Zambia who had requested baptism. Ruth had been unable to find a contact person who could follow up with her students.

Kevin Rhodes of WBS knew we were in Zambia, so he e-mailed us with Ruth’s request for help. We looked up Kabwe on a map of Zambia and found that it was about a seven-hour trip away. We wrote back to Ruth and Kevin, telling them that we would ask our Zambian co-workers for help in getting to the prison. At the time, however, there was no diesel for sale in Zambia, so we didn’t think we’d be able to go there any time soon.

The day after we sent the e-mail to Ruth Orr, I met Louis Seemani, a member of Namwianga Mission’s Zambian board of directors who was here for the board meeting. I asked him where he was from and I was thrilled to hear him say, ‘Kabwe!’ I told him about the need for someone to visit the prison, and he willingly agreed to follow up on the WBS students.

We e-mailed Ruth Orr with the good news, but warned her that things move slowly in Zambia, so it might be some time before Mr. Seemani would be able to contact her students. The following Monday I received a call from Mr. Seemani. He had gone to the Kabwe prison on Sunday and visited four of the units, including Death Row and the maximum security areas. He had found over 100 prisoners who were already baptized believers, and he had made arrangements to go back the following week with a list of Ruth’s students. We are amazed at how God worked through us to help Mrs. Orr and these prisoners! We believe this is another affirmation he has placed us here for His work.

Stranded on Munali Hill

We knew it would happen sooner or later. It was only a matter of time. Our time to be stranded by a vehicle breakdown happened Wednesday. We had taken Patson, one of the Zambian evangelists, into Lusaka to apply for a visa at the American Embassy. We had spent the Tuesday night in Lusaka so that we could be at the embassy before 8:00 a.m. The application and interview took two hours, and then there was grocery shopping to be done. We were ahead of schedule when we left Lusaka at 2:00 in the afternoon, confident that we had plenty of time to complete the five-hour trip before dark.

At 3:30 the battery light came on and the engine started overheating. We were on a narrow two-lane road in the hills of Kafue by then and began looking desperately for a place to pull off where we would also have cell phone service. We finally located a “lay-by” or additional lane added for passing and stopping. As soon as the Land Rover stopped, the unmistakable sound of steam hissing from the radiator hit our ears. Boiling water spewed onto the pavement and ran down the hill. Diagnosis: broken fan belt.

We called Kelly Hamby back at Namwianga. Just an hour earlier, two big yellow school buses from the Mission had passed us on their way into Lusaka, taking women to a three-day meeting. Kelly called the drivers and asked them to bring one of the buses and tow us back to Namwianga. That seemed like a good enough plan, so we settled down to wait for our rescue.

Patson pointed out that we were on Munali Hill and there was a monument just across the road. We walked over and climbed up some steps to the top of a small hill. The marker noted that from this spot David Livingstone had first sighted the Kafue River. The local natives named the spot Munali Hill in honor of Livingstone. Munali means “The Red One.”

Sightseeing completed, we looked for other ways to fill the afternoon. I finished reading the biography of Albert Schweitzer and worked crossword puzzles until the sky began to darken. When the light faded, David, Patson, and I decided to get out of the vehicle and sit on the hillside. We enjoyed long conversations about our families and work at the mission. Patson taught us some Tonga hymns, and the night kept getting darker.

David had bought a newspaper in Lusaka and had read us an article about the night sky. It seems that Mars was going to be more visible this night than it had been in years. We were to look for it on the lower right of the moon. The only catch was that the sighting wouldn’t occur until 10:45. In the meantime there was no moon at all.

A moonless night in Zambia can be described by words like inky, black, and even . . . spooky. We have heard lots of stories about bush animals like lions and leopards. Our rational minds knew that those animals are found only in game parks, but I’ll admit that more than once we jumped up and shone the flashlight into the brush behind us when we heard a noise. We began to scan the road for vehicles coming our way, hoping each time that the lights were those of the big yellow bus coming to get us.

Four hours after we broke down, the bus finally pulled up. Jeremiah, Donald, and Zimba jumped out with the tow bar and (gulp) nothing to use to fasten the tow bar to the vehicles. They’d been searching the stores in Kafue for rope or chain and had no luck. No problem, we say, because we have these great tie-down straps for the Land Rover! The guys set to work fastening the tow bar to the Land Rover, but what’s this? The bus had no towing hitch! There are two yellow buses, you see, and only one has a hitch. I didn’t even want to ask why they chose to bring this one. There was some sort of hook under the bus, so they fastened the tow bar to the hook. This entire process took about an hour, but finally we slowly pulled out and headed up and over Munali Hill.

Donald and Zimba were in the Land Rover. Jeremiah was driving the bus with David, Patson, and I in it. We’d gone less than a mile when Donald started honking the horn. We stopped immediately, and this time there was no shoulder on the road, so were in the roadway. The hook on the bus faced the wrong direction, so the tow bar had already slipped off. The guys got busy trying to work on the situation, and I got busy with the flashlight directing traffic around our vehicles. Let’s just summarize the next hour by saying that I know a lot more about the size of 18-wheeler rigs than I really ever wanted to know. I utilized my favorite coping technique by singing all the verses of “Anywhere with Jesus” a few times.

(Side note to any of my former students who are reading this: I always taught that song to my classes so you would have it in your head when you were out in some dark, scary place and needed to remember some comforting words. It certainly worked for me!)

Once we were moving again, we decided to try a Plan B. We would stop at a village and leave the Land Rover to be picked up in the morning. We stopped at a roadside village. Again the road had no shoulder, so again we were right in the roadway and I was out directing traffic. By this time it was so late at night that there were very few vehicles moving. The dogs in the village announced our arrival, but no one came to greet us. The guys yelled a few times, but decided the villagers were too scared to come out, so we moved on.

Kelly called us at this point and gave us Plan C. John and Shadrach were on their way from Namwianga with a truck. We would find a safe place to leave the Land Rover with Donald in it, and John and Shadrach would come tow it in while the rest of us came on in the bus. By this time the guys had done a good job of getting the tow bar attached to the bus, so on we went. An hour later we limped into Mazabuka and found a deserted filling station. We unhitched the Land Rover and pushed it into a lighted area. Now we had to unload all the groceries from the Land Rover onto the bus. As we were doing this task, we discovered the station wasn’t deserted. It seems there was a night watchman, and he didn’t want us to leave the vehicle there, at least not without some rental fee. Some negotiations ensued, some kwacha went from David’s pocket into the watchman’s pocket, and Donald, Zimba, and the Land Rover stayed while the bus pulled out.

By the way, the moon did eventually come up and we had a spectacular view of Mars.

It was 2:00 a.m. when we arrived back at the mission. Again the groceries were unloaded. We collapsed into bed at 2:30 and slept as only those who have been stranded for hours by the side of a road in rural Zambia can sleep.

John and Shadrach, meanwhile, had taken a fan belt off another Land Rover at the mission before they set out. When they got to Mazabuka, they put that belt on our Land Rover and one of the guys drove the Land Rover home. All of them got in at 6:00 a.m.

The next day David and I marveled at how calmly we had handled the whole situation. Neither one of us had gotten upset or overly worried. We hadn’t snapped at each other or someone else in anger. We decided that this kind of situation is an expected happening when you live where we do and go where we go.

Just another day in Zambia.

News and Notes - August 26

If you remember, we were told our house would be ready August 20. Today is August 26, and the house is still not ready. It is getting closer, however! The painting is almost done. The kitchen cabinets are almost finished. The electrical wiring and plumbing are near completion.

In the meantime, we moved again. (Move number six in six months!) This time we moved into the Hamby’s house after they went back to the states. The guesthouse where we had been staying is reserved for a group from Canada beginning in early September. Plus, the kitchen at the Hamby house was all set up and ready, whereas the guesthouse kitchen did not have dishes, pans, and supplies out and ready to use. It was easier to move than to dig our kitchen stuff out of storage. Keep in mind that none of our moves here in Africa has involved much furniture—just clothes, books, and office supplies.

There has been diesel for sale for the last ten days or so. We’ve filled up at every opportunity and have kept our jerry cans filled as well. Now we’ve heard that the refinery--remember there is only one in Zambia--has had another problem and is shut down again. We are hoping for the best and are continuing to schedule outreaches.

A new missionary couple and their three children have joined the work at Namwianga. We are enjoying their company and are learning together. Keep Bart and Stacy Bruington and their children in your prayers as they adjust to this new way of life.

We have had so many adventures lately that I can’t get all of them onto the blog until I have more time to write. Be watching for “Stranded on Munali Hill” and for news about the well drilling project.

A scripture has sustained me over and over since we came to Africa. I memorized it in the King James Version years ago and still prefer that wording. From Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

Grace and Peace.
Linda

Part 2 of Trip to South Africa

The border crossing to enter Botswana was not quite as complicated, requiring only an hour for the official paperwork, stamping, and waiting. Then we headed north through desolate flatlands. Our original plan was to arrive at Nata and spend the night, but the delay at the border made that impossible. Just after dark we drove into Francistown. At the restaurant where we ate our meal, the manager discouraged us from traveling farther at night. “There are too many animals in the road,” he said.

So we spent the night in Francistown and headed out at 6 a.m. the following morning. We drove through miles and miles of commercial farming areas. At one point the fields on both sides of the road were waves of black as far as I could see. The fields were planted with sunflowers! Later we passed miles and miles of cotton fields. The cotton had been harvested and was piled in huge mountains that looked just like snow. Since this was the dry season, the cotton could be left in piles until transport vehicles arrived to take it in for ginning.

We understood what the restaurant manager meant about animals when we had to stop for six ostriches to cross the road in front of us. Another time a donkey stood right in the middle of the road like a statue and watched us with mournful eyes as we carefully maneuvered around him. Cows seemed more willing to get off the roadway when they saw us coming.

At noon we were near the Zambian border. We had eaten only snack food for breakfast, so we opted to stop for lunch at a restaurant. There is no such thing as fast food in our part of Africa, so the meal took almost two hours to complete. That slowed us down in getting to the border crossing. Since the border is the Zambezi River, we had to cross on the Kazangula ferry. The line of trucks and cars waiting for the ferry was long, so there was more sitting and waiting. A clearing agent approached the bus and offered to go on across to Zambia and get the paperwork started, so we sent him on ahead. We finally got our turn on the ferry and had a short and uneventful trip across the water. Just a few years ago a huge trailer rig drove off the edge of the ferry and caused it to capsize. Almost all the passengers drowned because they could not swim and there were no life jackets. On this new ferry there were plenty of life jackets and we made sure we wore them!

We noticed two huge groups of children in school uniforms who were crossing into Botswana, and we wondered what they were doing there at 4:00 in the afternoon. When we stepped off into Zambia we were surprised to see Mr. Sikute, a member of the Zambian Board. He informed us that he was there as part of a greeting committee for the arrival of the president of Madagascar, and that the school children were there to sing for the president. The clearing agent grabbed us and told us that there was not enough time to complete the paperwork on the bus, so it was to be impounded in Livingstone for the night and we had to get it there by 6:00. We rushed through immigration and made our way through the crowds of people waiting for the presidential motorcade. The clearing agent rode with us into Livingstone and allowed us to find a lodge before taking the vehicle to the impounding yard.

The next day we endured another six hours of waiting for official inspections and paperwork. The impounding yard closed at 1:00, so there was a flurry of activity from noon on, and we were finally cleared to leave around 2:00. The trip back to Namwianga was blissfully uncomplicated, and we were able to say with enthusiasm, “It’s good to be home!”

Trip to South Africa

We experienced “the other Africa” last week. Rod and Sue Calder run an orphanage and farm next to Namwianga. They suggested that we make a trip to Johannesburg, South Africa, to buy items for our house. They are from Johannesburg themselves and assured us that we would find a greater selection and much lower prices. The Calders were picking up a bus in South Africa, so we could ride home with them. They even found a cousin of theirs that we could stay with. It was too good an offer to refuse!

We flew down last Monday. Rod and Sue met us at the airport and took us to the home of Ivan and Marlene Currie, Sue’s cousins. The Curries live in a beautiful Italian style home and were superb hosts. Besides feeding us delicious meals, the Curries transported us all around the area.

Johannesburg is a world away from Namwianga! The city is every bit as modern and industrialized as Dallas or Houston, if not more so. The malls and shopping centers were huge, the traffic was horrendous, and the pace of life hectic. Almost all of the goods available to buy are manufactured right in South Africa, and the prices were very comparable to what we would have paid in the U.S. We shopped non-stop for two and a half days and were able to get almost everything on our lengthy list.

One highlight of our trip was a hospital visit to see Johnny and Cindy Robinson. Johnny is an American on the medical mission team who began having seizures and had to be evacuated to Mill Park Hospital in Johannesburg on July 9. He was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and chose to have surgery at Mill Park. We spent the afternoon at the hospital with Johnny and Cindy on Wednesday. We were thrilled to hear later that he was dismissed from Mill Park on Friday! He will have a follow-up visit with his doctors this week and hopefully they will be on their way home this weekend. It has been a long and difficult time for the Robinsons, but they have made the best of their situation by sharing their faith in every situation.

We worshipped with the Benoni congregation on Wednesday evening and received a warm welcome. We even managed to find people there who are connected to family and friends of ours in the U.S. It is a very small world in many ways!

Friday morning we set off at 5 a.m. for the return trip to Zambia. In the Calder’s 27-passenger Coaster bus we joined Rod and Sue, their three children, and Rod’s mother. The back of the bus was filled with all the goods that our two families had purchased in Johannesburg. We crossed South Africa on Friday morning, arriving at the border post at noon. Now the complexities of border bureaucracy began! We first traipsed over to a dismal brick office to find a clearing agent. Rod had to clear the bus and his goods through customs, and we had to clear the things we had purchased. The clearing agent did her work and then sent us back to the bus to wait for the customs inspector. He arrived some time later and insisted that he needed to see the vehicle number on the engine to make sure it matched the number on the forms. Rod, David, and Sue began to search for the number as the disinterested inspector stood at a distance and complained of being sick. He offered no help in locating the number, even though there were two Coaster buses just ahead of us that he had inspected, which means he must have had some idea where the numbers were located. His female co-worker finally suggested to Rod that we “just give him something,” intimating that a bribe might speed up the process. Rod carefully explained that as a Christian he was unwilling to do that, so she left and the search for the number continued. Finally Rod scraped some rust away and found the vehicle number. We called the inspector back and he grudgingly completed his part of the paperwork. There was still more paperwork to endure, more waiting, more stamping of official stamps. Three and a half hours after we arrived we were finally on our way into Botswana.

To be continued. . .

OOPS!!!

It’s usually a good thing to be able to laugh at yourself, especially if you’re a missionary in a new culture. We are laughing along with everyone else at Namwianga over yesterday’s goof-up.

There has been no diesel in Zambia for more than two weeks now. Every day we hear rumors that “the trucks will be arriving tomorrow.” And so we hope and wait and conserve what little fuel we have left by staying close to home.

On Friday morning we were on our way to Dube, a congregation near Kalomo, to participate in a church gathering. David was to deliver a lecture and I was going to do the children’s program. We stopped on our way through Kalomo at the filling station to pick up my translator, Jerrie. David asked Jerrie if the station had any diesel yet, and Jerrie said yes. David asked him again, just to make sure, and Jerrie again said yes and pointed to the pump as he declared, “It’s in that pump right over there.” One more time David said, “Are you sure?” and Jerrie again assured him that there was diesel. David even asked why there wasn’t a queue (line), and Jerrie said he didn’t know. We started to pull over to fill up, but then we checked David’s wallet, and he didn’t have any kwacha. So we headed on out to Dube, but we couldn’t keep good news like that to ourselves, so we called back to Ellie at Namwianga and told her the that yes, indeed, finally there was diesel in Kalomo at the filling station.

Innocently we went on with our day. I set up the children’s classes and got them going while David preached. His cell phone rang during the lecture, but he turned it off and went on with the lesson. The question and answer session lasted a long time after he finished speaking, so it was more than an hour later when he returned the call from Ellie and found out what had happened.

It seems that our diesel news spread like wildfire through Namwianga. Everyone who owned a diesel vehicle (and that’s most of the drivers at Namwianga) packed up and headed for Kalomo. The motor pool even loaded 55-gallon drums on the back of a truck and took them in. One driver had gone to Choma (an hour away) to look for fuel, and he hurried back south when his wife relayed the news to him on the cell phone.

It must have been quite a gathering when they arrived at the filling station and found out that THERE STILL WAS NO DIESEL IN KALOMO!!!!! Cell phones began ringing again, telling those on the way to turn back. We’re pretty certain that questions about the sanity and trustworthiness of the Gregersens circulated freely.

With egg on our face we returned late that afternoon. No tar and feathers, thankfully, just lots of good-natured ribbing about how gullible we must be to believe that there would be diesel in Kalomo with no long line of cars waiting to fill up!

Our best guess is that we had a communication breakdown with Jerrie. Since he doesn’t drive or own a car, he may not have even known that there was a diesel shortage and just assumed that we were asking if the filling station was a dealer of diesel. Obviously, he didn’t understand our question.

We’re patiently enduring the light-hearted teasing of our co-workers. At least we can take comfort in knowing that we have increased the repertoire of humorous stories about Namwianga missionaries.

The Haven

Orphan care is one of the many ministries sponsored by Namwianga Mission. The home for infants and young children is appropriately named The Haven. I visited this amazing place recently and interviewed Cecilia Siafwiyo. She and her husband, Thomas, are houseparents at The Haven.

A generous Canadian family financed the spacious brick house. Built in 2001, the home features a large central living area. On one side of the living area are four bedrooms for the Haven’s infants and children. On the other side are three rooms for the Siafwiyo family. Two of these rooms are used as bedrooms and one is used to store cans of baby formula.

On the day I visited, the entire facility was spotlessly clean and in perfect order. Along one wall of the living area were bouncy seats for toddlers. Another wall was lined with high chairs. A table with recessed seats for up to eight little ones sat near the door to the kitchen. Cecilia led us through the infant bedrooms—bright, cheerful places with several cribs and a set of bunk beds in each. Three infant swings swayed gently in the hallway. Busy workers, called “aunties,” were lovingly holding and feeding the little ones.

Even though my visit was unannounced, Cecilia graciously agreed to an impromptu interview. Her daughter Harriet also joined us. Harriet and her husband live in a small house behind the Haven, and Harriet provides much needed help with the children and housework.

Linda: How many Haven children do you have right now? What are their ages?
Cecilia: We have twenty-one today. One went home just yesterday.
Harriet: Eighteen are under two years of age. The oldest child is nine years old. The youngest is three months old.

Linda: How many children do you and Thomas have and how many live here?
Cecilia: We have one child living at home and one who is in boarding school at Namwianga. Our other three children are married.

Linda: How do the babies come to you?
Cecilia: They just come! The Merritts began keeping babies years ago, so people know that Namwianga will take care of needy children.

Linda: Are all of the babies orphans? (Note: In Zambia a child is called an orphan if one parent has died.)
Cecilia: Not all of them. Most of them are here because the mother died and the family has no way to feed the child.
Harriet: But we also get babies from multiple births. We have two little boys who are quadruplets. One baby died and the parents kept one baby. The other two will go back home when they are about two years old. We also have two triplets.

Linda: Do all the babies go back to their families by the time they are two years old?
Cecilia: Most of them do, if there is an aunt, grandmother, or other family member who can take care of them. But some families leave children here and never come back for them.

Linda: What will happen to those children? Will you raise them as part of your family?
Cecilia: (At this point Cecilia had a look of surprise on her face—as if she couldn’t believe I would even ask such an obvious question.) Of course!

Linda: How much baby formula do you use in a day and where do you get the formula?
Harriet: We use six tins (cans) of powdered formula (400 grams each) every day.
Cecilia: Roy Merritt buys it in Lusaka. The mission also provides formula for families who take care of babies at home when the mother has died. Right now we give formula to fifty families.

Linda: How many people do you have working for you here?
Cecilia: There are seven women who take care of the babies. Three of them work at night (5 p.m. to 7 a.m.). Four work during the day (7 a.m. to 5 p.m.). We have one man who does the laundry and another who takes care of the lawn and garden.

Linda: Who does the cleaning and the cooking?
Cecilia: Harriet and I clean the kitchen and living areas. The caregivers keep the children’s area clean. Harriet and I do most of the cooking with help from the caregivers when they have time.

Linda: What was the hardest thing for you to learn or get used to?
Cecilia: Not to sleep well.

Linda: Do you ever get a good night’s sleep?
Cecilia: I am up every night with the babies.
Harriet: When the babies are sick, she only gets one or two hours of sleep.

Linda: Do you ever get any time off?
Cecilia: Not really. I go to church for two hours on Sunday morning, and I go to town to do shopping.

Linda: What do you enjoy most about your job?
Cecilia: Playing with the babies! I love the work I do!

The cost of caring for an orphan at Namwianga is $50 per month. Right now two babies do not have sponsors. If you would like to become a sponsor, please contact us or write to Zambia Mission, 3103 Memorial Road, Edmond, OK 73013. One-time donations to buy formula are also welcomed.

Sunday at Kanyaya

There has been no diesel for sale in Zambia for two weeks now. We are down to a quarter of a tank, so we are staying close to Namwianga. Sunday, August 7, Rodgers Namuswa arranged for us to visit the Kanyaya congregation just a few kilometers north of Kalomo. We had a “Rover-ful” of people with Mr. and Mrs. Namuswa, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Mufwafwa, David Kalimanshila, Jean Mushatila, and Mrs. Jope. The trip wasn’t long, but the road was a narrow path through a wooded farming area. Tree branches and thorn bushes scraped against the sides of the Land Rover, threatening to snap off the side mirrors.

The mud and thatch building had split log seats. The women and children sat on the right and the men sat on the left. When all the seats were filled on the right, the children found places to sit on a straw mat at the front. I should know by now to expect the unexpected, but I was still taken by surprise when Rodgers Namuswa stood up and announced that since there were so many children, Mrs. Jope and I would take them outside for Sunday School! I had a few moments of panic—after all, I was unarmed. I had no flip charts, no crafts, no puppets, and no lesson plan! But I did have Mrs. Jope, and she seemed to be unruffled as she led us out the side door, singing as she went.

We settled the group in the shade of a large tree. Mrs. Jope led a few more songs while I formed a battle plan. These children didn’t grow up with TV, so it wasn’t hard to hold their attention. I told the story of Jesus calming the sea and then we acted out the storm with sound effects. Then I told the story of Zaccheus. The shade tree provided a great prop, and we sent one of the little boys up the trunk to be Zaccheus as we acted out the story below him. One more story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and then the service was over.

After the traditional handshakes and greetings, the men settled under the tree for a Bible class with David and the women came inside for my lesson with them. A few of the women remained outside cooking dinner over an open fire. When Bible class time ended, we women visitors were served our meal on the straw mat inside the building. The visiting men were served in the back part of the room. This is the Zambian tradition for mealtimes—the men eat separately from the women and children.

Besides the usual nshima and chicken, this menu included mpongo (goat) and rice. The rice, the women said, was served because they weren’t sure that David and I could eat the nshima with our fingers like they do. (We can and do.) Nshima is the staple of their diets. Rice is more expensive and is reserved for special occasions.

As we got ready to leave, we went back outside and found the women who had cooked our dinner and thanked them. Apparently the entire congregation was going to have a meal next. I counted ten pots of various sizes arranged in the fire.

We’re already looking forward to next Sunday. We don’t know where we’ll be, but we know that the Zambians will welcome us warmly—and probably cook us some great nshima!

News and Notes

I suspect some of our readers think that we are a little bit crazy for moving to Africa in our fifties. While we admit to a little bit of craziness, we also want to remind you that we have some nice perks over here. For instance, most of you are sweltering in the August heat. We, on the other hand, are enjoying cool mornings and evenings, with daytime temperatures in the 70’s and NO humidity. Yes, I know that our time is coming, and we will eventually be enduring the high temperatures without air conditioning, but we can gloat a little right now, can’t we?

Our house is still under construction. Andrew, the man in charge of the project, assured us this morning that it will be finished August 20.

Last week members of the Zambian Board met with three visiting members of the American Board. The Americans left on Friday just as a new team of drip irrigation and water well drilling people began arriving. This is a happening place!

A church leader from Singwamba was here last week to report that three new congregations have already begun as a result of the medical mission in July.

Haircut

Several of my friends had asked me, “What are you going to do about your hair when you’re in Africa?” To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do. There were several options: Grow it out and wear it in a bun, like a stereotypical missionary wife is supposed to do. Or, cut it myself, which I’ve never done and really don’t want to try. Or, let David cut it. I wont’ even go there. Sue Calder lives on the farm next to the mission, and she let it slip that she has cut hair for some, so that was a possibility. Sue also told me that there was a place in Lusaka that cut makua (white person) hair. With no diesel for sale, the long drive to Lusaka didn’t seem too wise.

Then I heard through the grapevine that Kathi Merritt had used a place in Livingstone. My hair had gotten shaggy, and to make matters worse my curling iron was broken. I did have some hair curlers, but they were locked away in storage somewhere. Desperate times require desperate acts. David and I went to Livingstone to take some people to the airport, so I decided to give the Livingstone place a try.

The salon was unmarked from the street, but I’d heard that you went up the steps by the Pub and Grill and the salon would be on the second floor. David came along for moral support. We climbed a dark stairway and found the salon, a nice-looking establishment at the top. A quick look around showed me there were no other makuas, so I timidly asked the lady at the desk, “Do you cut hair like mine?” She nodded, so I asked if I needed an appointment. “No, we can take you right now,” she replied.

That was a little sudden for me! After all, would they know how to cut my baby fine, wavy tresses? Too late! The lady at the desk called to one of the beauty operators and the next thing I knew I was seated in a swivel chair. The one who was to cut my hair disappeared for a few minutes. David had found a couch to sit on to watch the fun. I looked at him wild-eyed and mouthed the words, “Let’s get out of here!” but he just grinned and shook his head. Too late again!

My unsmiling operator returned and without a word began spraying my hair with water and vigorously (ouch!) massaging the water in to get my hair all wet. Then the scissors appeared. Finally she spoke, “What do you want?”

“Just one centimeter trimmed off,” I said, and held my fingers apart to show just a tiny space. Silently she grabbed her scissors and started to work. She slowly and methodically did her cutting, and from what I could tell, she was doing it just like my hairdresser in Austin used to do. I noticed with a little start that the hair falling on my shoulders was more like an inch long than a centimeter. Oh well, I reasoned, my hair grows fast anyway. She didn’t say a word as she worked, and I couldn’t come up with any small talk to offer.

She finally put down the scissors, and then seemed a little unsure of what to do next. She found a blow dryer and aimed it at my hair as she pulled the top hair up and moved it around. Then she combed it back off my face and curled it under my ears a bit. Finally she stepped back and asked me if it was okay. “It’s fine,” I said. “Where do I pay?” She pointed to the lady at the reception desk.

Now I began to worry how much this was going to cost me. After all, the salon was very nicely furnished and had several operators. What if this was an expensive place and I didn’t have enough kwacha? I was pretty sure they wouldn’t take my Visa card or my Austin Credit Union check. “How much?” I asked, with fear and trepidation. “10,000 kwacha,” came the reply. Whew! I had plenty for the payment and the tip.

David and I agree that I got a good haircut. It’s not exactly like what I got in the US, but it’s close enough.

And the 10,000 kwacha price? That’s little over two dollars.

Sunday in Maamba

Sundays begin early for those going on outreaches. David was up and out the door by 6:30 last Sunday. Martone and Minnie, teachers at the Namwianga Secondary School, had asked David to drive them and a high school boys’ singing group to Maamba for an outreach. I was staying behind to host the Zambian Board members who had gathered at Namwianga for a meeting.

David pulled up at the boys’ dorm and the six guys came running out to climb into the Land Rover. David handed them granola bars and juice boxes, expecting them to eat breakfast while he drove to Martone’s house. Instead, they burst into song—the incredible, moving, rich harmony of Tonga hymns and spiritual songs.

Adolescent boys who would rather sing than eat? It’s hard for Americans, even one like me who loves to sing, to understand the importance of song in the Tonga culture. Like eating and breathing, singing is woven into the fabric of their lives. Longtime missionary Ken Elder claims that more Tongas have been converted through song than through preaching!

Martone, Minnie, and their 18-month old son Bill, were added to the group as the journey to Maamba began. David had a vague idea of where they were going: southeast on paved roads, and one tank of diesel would be enough. This last fact was extremely important since there has been no diesel for sale in Zambia since July 24 and none will be available until after August 12.

After a three-hour trip, the group arrived at the church building in Maamba. Martone had helped start this congregation, and the members had built the brick walls and thatched roof. For today’s service, women had decorated the window ledges and makeshift podium with bouquets of bright bougainvilleas.

The singing for the worship service was led by one of the Namwianga boys. Another one of the boys led the communion meditation. David preached, with Martone translating the sermon into Chitonga. The Namwianga boys’ group sang, as well as the youth group from the Maamba congregation and a women’s sextet.

There were eleven responses after the sermon, with ten requesting prayers and one lady coming to be baptized. The baptism meant a three-mile trip to the mighty Zambezi, one of the four main rivers in Zambia. The Land Rover was the only vehicle in the village, so people filled the inside and climbed up on the top rack for the ride. At the river, the singing resounded again as a church leader administered the baptismal rites and a new creation was added to the body of Christ.

Now it was lunchtime. Martone is from the village of Maamba, and he explained that the group would be eating two lunches today: first with his aunt and then with his mother. So they enjoyed chicken and nshima with his aunt in the shade of a tree near her house, then drove across the village to dine on chicken, nshima, and fish with Martone’s mother. She served the meal outside on a small, low table as the guests sat on short stools. Chickens busily scratched the ground between the diners, pecking at the bits of nshima that dropped to the ground. Eventually one grew bolder and jumped up on the table to steal a bite from the plates. David grabbed the chicken by the neck and flung it off to the ground, delighting the other Zambians.

Martone’s mother decided to go back to Namwianga for a visit, so she was added as a passenger for the return trip. The singing continued on the ride home as the boys led songs in Tonga and in English, old hymns, gospel favorites, and even contemporary songs that our American youth love. At a roadside market, Minnie asked to stop so she could buy some vegetables from the vendors. The minute the vehicle stopped, ladies with baskets of cabbages, tomatoes, carrots, and onions perched on their heads surrounded the Land Rover, loudly touting their produce. David distracted them by asking them to pose for a photo while Minnie made her selections.

Meanwhile, back at Namwianga, I had been expecting them to return around 4:00. When 6:30 rolled around, I began to wonder what might have happened. Car trouble? Illness? Lost in the bush? I knew they had a cell phone, but I also knew there were pockets where cell phones would be out of range. Finally at 7:00 David called. They were still an hour away, he said, and could I feed about nine extra people when they got to Namwianga?

I put together a meal of leftovers from the refrigerator and freezer. I can’t cook nshima yet, so I made a pot of ramen noodles instead. They devoured the food, and then David asked the guys to sing one last song for me. They chose a favorite Tonga hymn, singing it the traditional way at first and ending with Acapella Vocal Band-style flourishes. I had chill bumps just listening, and couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to take them to LTC choral competition in Dallas some day!

This outreach was only one of many that went out from Namwianga last Sunday. Singing groups, teachers, and preachers fan out to strengthen village churches and spread the good news of Jesus in southern Zambia every week.

Mrs. Makupa

Kelly Hamby called me over to his veranda, saying, “Linda, I need your help.” Then he introduced me to Mrs. Makupa. The old woman sat hunched over in her chair. She briefly looked up at me with tired eyes and slowly thrust out her hand for me to shake. Then her eyes returned to her lap. As she sat in silence, Kelly told me her story.

Mrs. Makupa had met her husband when they were both students at Namwianga. Her husband eventually became an administrator at Namwianga Secondary School and was acting in that role when Kelly became headmaster in the 80’s. Kelly thought highly of him, and credits Mr. Makupa with helping him learn his job.

When Mr. Makupa became ill, Mrs. Makupa and her children left Namwianga and took him back to their home village. It was a decision that made their lives more difficult but offered him the opportunity to die with dignity. The ensuing years brought more and more heartache. Three of the Makupa’s five children have died, and two others are disabled. Mrs. Makupa, now in her eighties, is raising five grandchildren. Three of the grandchildren are preschoolers.

Kelly had made arrangements for Mrs. Makupa to receive a bag of maize each month to help her feed the family. However, the system for distribution did not always work. On the day I met her she had come to tell him that she had not received any grain for the months of June or July. Kelly wanted me to know Mrs. Makupa and her situation so that I could assist her during the months that he would be back in the U.S.

Kelly made some phone calls and located the two bags of grain that she was to receive. I got Harold, one of the young men who work on the mission, to go with me, and we agreed to take Mrs. Makupa and her grain to her home. While we were discussing the arrangements Mrs. Makupa sat in silence, her eyes down. As we explained what was going to happen, she looked up and spoke to Kelly. “My life has been hard,” she said quietly. “I am sorry that I have to come and ask you for help.” Kelly reassured her that she was not a burden. In reality, he reminded her, the Bible defines pure religion as taking care of widows and orphans.

Then, with great effort, Mrs. Makupa rose from her chair and shuffled her bare feet toward the edge of the veranda. On the steps she stopped and put on the tattered canvas shoes that she had left there. She labored to make the climb into the Land Rover, collapsing with relief into the back seat.

We turned off the main road and began following pasture roads. We kept going farther and farther as the roads became worse and worse. I began to wonder who had brought her to see Dr. Hamby. Harold asked her and found out that she had come by herself, on foot. She left her home at 9:00 that morning and had walked four hours to get to Namwianga.

Even our vehicle took almost 45 minutes to find her small farm. The brick and thatch hut had cardboard covering broken windows. Chickens raced around the yard as three of the grandchildren ran to greet us. We unloaded the sacks of maize and said our goodbyes.

I clocked the mileage on the return trip as I tried to picture Mrs. Makupa in her ragged shoes walking the trails to get to Namwianga. The distance was 5.9 miles.

Mrs. Makupa has haunted me. I remember her tired face, her hunched shoulders, her downcast eyes. I know there are many more like Mrs. Makupa in southern Africa—elderly women raising their grandchildren alone. The words of James 1:27 echo in the bush: Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress. . .

Sounds of Africa

The sounds we hear in Africa are very different from the sounds of Austin, Texas. I’ll share some with you.

• Roosters crowing. Every village, even the booming city of Livingstone, has strutting, crowing, roosters. Many of you mistakenly believe that roosters crow at dawn. I can assure you that many roosters are chronometrically challenged. They crow at all hours of the day and night. One night on the medical mission I heard a loud cock-a-doodle-do just as I climbed into my sleeping bag at 9:30. Hearing roosters crowing at 2:00 a.m. and listening to them for hours on end is known to make one hungry. After all, a wringed neck could produce delicious stew, dumplings, or fried drumsticks.
• Singing. Zambians, especially Tongas, are known for their singing ability. The women who work around the houses here sing as they work, so I hear them all day long. On the medical mission we were met at each village by a group of women and children who were singing to greet us. At one village we arrived well after dark, and the greeters had been waiting for hours. The singing during worship services is incredible. Zambians sing in deep, rich harmony and with enthusiasm. Even the young children sing in harmony, and no one has to teach them how to do it!
• Birds. Other than the cooing of doves, the birdsongs are different here. One sounds just like a cuckoo clock. Another has a song that resembles a squeaky metal hinge. Not surprisingly, the bird is named the “go away bird.” The name also refers to this bird’s tendency to warn other animals of danger.
• Dogs barking. If the roosters don’t keep us awake, the dogs will do their best. They gather in groups to howl mournfully at the moon. Other nights they must be using some sort of chain letter format to pass messages all over the mission in urgent and ceaseless barking. The dogs here appear to be a docile lot during the day, but at night we have heard some vicious fighting underneath our window.
• “Eeee.” That’s “yes” in Chitonga. It’s spoken with various inflections, sometimes rising in the middle or at the end.
• “Oho!” I love the way Zambians show surprise or delight with “oho!”
• Cell phones ringing. Yes, there are cell phones at Namwianga. There are almost no land lines, but cell phones are abundant.
• Laughter. Zambians love to laugh, and you can’t be around them without hearing plenty of laughter.

That's Life in Africa

The last blog was about a pleasant surprise. This one will fill you in on some of the not-so-pleasant surprises we’ve had.
• The American medical team arrived here on Thursday, July 7. That was also the day that AT&T decided to pull out of Zambia with no advance notice. Many members of the team had purchased AT&T phone cards so that they could call back home and let their families know they had arrived safely. They had to hope that their loved ones read the ZMM blog, because no phone calls went through!
• The very next day on Friday, July 8, we were scheduled to head out for Kanyanga and set up for the first clinic. That day the only gas station in Kalomo shut down its pumps to switch brands. We had to find creative ways to fill up all 14 of our vehicles so we could leave on schedule! The station opened back up the following week.
• The majority of the medical team left Africa on Wednesday, July 20. That was a blessing, because on Friday, July 22, South African Airways went on strike. A few remaining team members had tickets to leave on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. They had to reroute through Europe on other carriers or wait in a Johannesburg hotel for the strike to be settled.
• And finally, it was announced on Sunday that the only refinery in Zambia is shutting down its diesel production facility for repairs and that there will be no diesel available for as long as a month! Keep in mind that most vehicles here run on diesel. We rushed into town to fill up the Land Rover and gas cans. By Monday there was no more diesel available in Kalomo or Livingstone.

These all happened in a little over two weeks. Won’t it be interesting to find out what’s next?

Sunday Surprise in the Bush

Since we moved to Zambia a month ago, we have experienced many surprises. One of the best occurred yesterday.

We climbed into the Land Rover at 7:30 Sunday morning. Rodgers Namuswa, a member of Namwianga’s church development team, had invited us to join him on a visit to two fledgling congregations. He explained that these churches were started after last year’s medical mission clinic at Nazzibula. This news thrilled us, since we have been part of the spiritual team on the medical mission for several years. In fact, only a week earlier we had completed the 2005 clinic tour.

Rodgers wanted David to preach for the Sicikwalula group, and he had asked me to teach a class for the ladies. We stopped to pick up Mrs. Jope who would serve as my translator and two others who would also accompany us and translate.

After two hours of bumping along rugged bush roads, we arrived at Sicikwalulu. A few early arrivers greeted us warmly. Mrs. Jope and I watched as one of the women chased and caught a squawking chicken. “She’s preparing our lunch,” Mrs. Jope explained.

The church meets in an abandoned building that was once used as a government outpost to battle the tsetse fly. Two small rooms had been joined by knocking a large hole in the wall between them. Rough-hewn planks set on stones formed lines of benches in the larger room. Centered in the smaller room was the communion table—a large flat rock set up on smaller rocks—with benches lining the four walls.

Mrs. Jope and I were seated in the larger room with the other women and the children. The men sat around the communion table in the smaller room. People of all ages trickled in until both rooms were crammed with worshipers. Spirited singing echoed off the concrete walls, and I listened again in amazement at the beauty of Tonga voices lifted up to the Lord.

The communion service, led by the local church leader, was solemn. The time came for the collection. The leader reminded us that we all have something to give, and that it doesn’t have to be money. I dropped some Zambian kwacha into the chipped enamel bowl as it passed. A few minutes later I looked up to see the dish piled high with cobs of corn. Later on, the announcement was made that today’s offering totaled 25,000 kwacha (around $6.00) and 10 cobs of corn. Mrs. Jope explained later that the members will save up the corn until they have a bucket full. Then they will sell the bucket of corn and use it to buy wine for the communion.

David preached the morning sermon, explaining that we had come to Zambia with a story to tell—the story of Christ’s love for all. After the preaching, the leader introduced the dignitaries in attendance: two village chiefs and a district councilor. Each of them stood and thanked David and me for leaving our home in America to come to Zambia and work.

The service ended with the traditional shaking of hands. The first person out the door greeted and shook hands with the second person. The second person then stood next to the first as they greeted the third. The process continued, forming a long greeting line that allowed each person to shake hands with everyone else.

Now the ladies gathered outside on the ground for their class. As I looked around, I recognized some familiar faces. I racked my brain trying to think when I might have encountered these ladies before. Perhaps they had been at last week’s clinic? “I know that I’ve met some of you,” I confessed. “Were any of you at Singwamba for the medical mission?” The ladies smiled and replied, “No, we met you last year at Nazzibula clinic.”

I taught the class, and we enjoyed a delicious meal of fresh chicken and nshima prepared by the ladies. We bid them all goodbye and set off for Namwianga again. As we bumped along, Rodgers told me how this congregation came into being. “There were eight ladies who were baptized on the medical mission in July of 2004,” he explained. “In November we came back to this area and found them. We started meeting with them, and one woman’s husband was baptized and is now the leader.

Then I remembered—I had studied with some of these ladies in 2004. In particular I remembered two of them who had come at the end of the last clinic day. The clinics were closing down as the daylight faded. The two women walked up and asked to be baptized. I studied with them to make sure they understood the commitment they were making. They were determined, even though the day was bitterly cold and becoming colder as darkness fell. All the baptismal clothes that we had available were still wet, so the two women had to put on wet garments and then step into the freezing water of our portable baptistry. There were no dry towels for them when they came out of the water, but we managed to find some blankets to wrap them in. Several of us on the spiritual team gathered around them after they dressed again and prepared to leave. We gave them each a Bible and prayed, asking God to bless their new walk with him. We watched as they set off into the bush, never imagining that we would meet them again.

God has many surprises ahead for us. We look forward to more like this one.

We're Back!

Where to begin? Maybe I’ll just start at the end. We are back at Namwianga Mission picking up the pieces and getting settled after the medical mission. Today we moved out of the house we had been staying in since July 6 and moved back into the guest house. If you’re counting, that’s four moves in the last five months, with one more to go when our house is finished. The nice thing about this vagabond existence is that I’m finding out we really don’t need most of the stuff we’re lagging around.

The medical mission was an incredible experience. I haven’t processed it all myself just yet, so I’ll probably put more thoughts about specific incidents into later blog entries. For now, I’ll just summarize what David and I did. We had spent many days counting pills and making other preparations for the big team to arrive. On July 7th I started making shuttle runs into the town of Kalomo (4 miles away) to pick up the Zambian nurses who had come by bus. By the end of the afternoon I had made four trips into town to the bus stop. In the evening the huge group of Americans arrived. They had flown into Livingstone and then were brought by mission vehicles to Namwianga. The team now numbered over 220. The next day at noon we headed out into the bush for four nights of camping and three days of clinics.

Our first stop was at Kanyanga. The trip lasted six hours over some of the worst roads imaginable. Our maximum cruising speed was around 15 mph! We arrived after dark. The advance team had already set up our tents, so we were all getting settled in when one of our American team members, Johnny Robinson, collapsed in seizures. Our team of doctors and nurses went into action immediately and were able to get him stabilized for transport to Livingstone. David drove our Land Rover and Kelly Hamby took another vehicle for the trip. Johnny, his wife, a couple who are close friends, Dr. Jeff McKenzie, nurse Michelle Drew, and Zambian nurse Likando Likando set out for Livingstone at 10:30 that night. They made the same trip that had taken us six hours in just three! David said they went fast enough to just hit the top of the washboard roads. They made it to Livingstone in the wee hours of the morning and got Johnny settled into a clinic. He was flown in a special medical evacuation plane to Johannesburg, South Africa later that morning. As I write this on July 21, Johnny is still in Johannesburg awaiting surgery for a brain tumor. He and Cindy have been very pleased with the doctors and the care he has received.

Beginning the mission with such a tragic event was sobering. However, many good things happened that night. Johnny was cared for by Dr. McKenzie, an ER doctor who teaches emergency medicine at Vanderbilt University, and by Michelle Drew, a trauma room nurse from Baltimore. We had a pharmacy truck filled with more medicines than most hospitals in a developing nation. Nurse Likando is from Livingstone and was able to get Johnny into a clinic and under the care of a capable doctor there. But perhaps Johnny’s best help was the constant prayer support that went up on his behalf. As soon as we received word of Johnny’s collapse, the team members gathered in small and large groups to pray. The prayers continued all night long. Dr. McKenzie was quite honest in saying that Johnny’s initial prognosis was not good and that God’s hand pulled him through.

We began the clinic as scheduled the next day on Saturday, July 9. This was the first time the clinic had been held at Kanyanga, so we didn’t know what size of crowd to expect. There were throngs of people the entire day. In fact, at 3:00 in the afternoon many of the people were told to come back on the next day because we could not see everyone who was in line that day. The next day was also quite busy, but the staff did manage to see every patient who came for treatment.

David and I worked in the spiritual counseling area. David went out and preached to the crowds as they waited in line. I taught classes for young women. Both of us conducted individual studies with people who came to the spiritual counseling area for prayer and Bible study. This was my first year to do the young women’s class. My translator would go out into the crowds and collect a group of young, unmarried women and bring them to me. Then I taught a study on sexual purity using the Biblical stories of Joseph and David. The girls were always receptive and interested, and I learned a lot about the struggles they face in their culture. I’ll write more about that on another blog. I did about three or four of these classes each day. The rest of the time I was studying with women who came to our area.

This year David and I were determined to keep better track of how many people we studied with and how many of them were baptized. I managed to keep a pretty accurate tally for about a day and a half. Then I just gave up! We were swamped with people who wanted to study and pray. I would start out studying with one or two women, and then two or three more would come join them. Sometimes there would be a large group to start with, and then we would divide them up based on their needs. Keeping up with numbers just became impossible, although one of the Zambians did keep track of the baptisms that occurred. After seven days of clinics, we had 202 people who committed themselves to Christ in baptism. Again, more than all we can ask or imagine.

Sara worked in the pharmacy, as she had done last year. The alternative name for the pharmacy is Pills on Wheels, because we use one of our big yellow buses instead of a building! The prescription is turned in at the front of the bus and then passed down the aisle as workers put the prescribed medicines into a “blue bowl.” At the back of the bus, a Zambian nurse takes the medicines out of the blue bowl and hands them to the patients along with appropriate instructions. It seems to be a great system!

Hopefully you followed more of the mission’s activities on the ZMM2005 site. I’ll try to add more in the next few days and weeks.

After the mission we spent three days in Livingstone doing some sightseeing and relaxing. Then yesterday we had another heart-wrenching goodbye as Sara left to go back to Tulsa. We reassure ourselves that with e-mail and cell phones we will keep in touch, but just knowing that it will be a year before we see her is . . . well. . . very hard!

Work is progressing on our house at Namwianga. There are floors, walls, electricity,windows, and a little bit of plumbing. Ceilings are going in right now. We don’t really know when it will be finished, so we’re just being patient and looking forward to getting settled in some day!

Thanks for the many blog comments and e-mails we have received. Even though we can’t get to a computer often, we do enjoy getting all those messages. We’ve even gotten some snail mail. Today is my birthday, and remarkably I got three cards today. One had been mailed on July 30, one on July 5, and one on July 11!

Most of all, thank you for your prayers. We feel the hand of God at work in our activities and in our hearts.

Update on Our Activities

We apologize for not getting more entries onto the blog. One of our many adjustments to life in Africa has been technology withdrawal! We have to keep our laptop locked up in the closet of the Hamby’s house for security. Then to do anything online, we have to go to the Merritt’s orphanage about a mile away. We have to find a time when they are home, and we have to find a time when we’re not scheduled to be doing something else. It’s become quite a challenge!

Our daughter Sara, along with Mark and Michele Broadway from Brentwood Oaks, arrived last Thursday. We made the two-hour drive to Livingstone to pick them up. We managed to fit all their luggage (six large duffels plus carry-ons) in the back of the Land Rover and still had plenty of seating room in the front. We are thrilled to have them here with us. It was great to get caught up on all the news from home.

David and I moved out of the guest house and moved with Sara, the Broadways, and another family into a recently vacated house on campus. Although we are delighted with the companionship, the logistics of life have become more complicated. We’re at the far edge of the main campus and some distance away from the “command central” for the medical mission where we gather for our meals and various activities. We’re getting lots of exercise walking back and forth.

The campus at Namwianga was busy with the Zambian National Lectureship over the weekend. The lectureship draws people from all over Zambia for four days of lectures and classes. David was asked to give the opening prayer for Friday night’s program and also gave one of the keynote speeches on Monday.

We Americans celebrated the 4th of July with a wiener roast down by the river. We had to have the buns specially made because they are unavailable in Zambia! After hot dogs and s’mores we sang around the campfire. One of the missionaries even brought a few bottle rockets for some fireworks.

There are now over 30 Americans here preparing for the medical mission. Sara and I have spent the last few days in the pharmacy counting pills into dose packs. Today (Wednesday) David and I repaired seats on the big yellow bus and packed the baptismal garments that were sent over earlier. Other team members are busy organizing the tents, sleeping bags, and food for the mission. The rest of the team is due to arrive from the U.S. on Thursday, and that will bring our number to 134. On Friday we will head out to begin the medical mission. There will be 90 Zambians with us to serve as translators and co-workers. It’s quite daunting to consider the logistics of feeding and transporting 224 people into the bush without electricity, running water, or convenience stores!

This may be the last entry we can post before the medical mission. For the next few days or weeks, you can follow the medical mission at www.zmm2005.blogspot.com.

General News

We are having a hard time getting time and access on the internet. You can get some general updates on the work of the Zambia Medical Mission at www.zmm2005.blogspot.com. We'll try for more on this blog as soon as we can.

Arrival at Namwianga

Sorry this post is so long, but we have limited access to the internet. This will be all we can post for the next few days.

We have finally arrived in Zambia! We left the USA on Monday evening, June 20, after one of the most hectic days of our lives. All our planning and numerous to-do lists were not enough to avoid hundreds of last-minute details. Friends arrived to take us to the airport and helped us finish packing and disposing of the remnants that we left behind.

Our son John also went along to the airport. We managed to arrive in plenty of time to check in and then sit around to wait for our flight. Other friends also arrived and we were able to visit for awhile. Finally it was time to leave. We had dreaded this for many weeks, but were still unprepared for the wrenching feeling of leaving behind our children, our friends, and, in some ways, a part of ourselves. We were able to do it by knowing that we were moving ahead into a new adventure for the Lord.

The trip to Africa was eventful in all the right ways. On the flight to Johannesburg we were blessed to meet a couple that have been missionaries in Zambia for 30 years. They gave us helpful advice and encouragement, assuring us that we would find our work tremendously challenging and fulfilling.

We arrived in Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, late Wednesday evening. We were met at the airport by Robby Banda and Simeon Siachobe, representatives of George Benson Christian College, and by the mission superintendent, Kelly Hamby, and his wife, Ellie. We spent the night in Lusaka and then were busy all day on Thursday running errands. We had to get new tires put on the Land Rover (more later), get our work permits at the immigration office, and do some shopping. By the time we left Lusaka, it was almost dark and we faced a five-hour trip back to Namwianga.

Journey to Namwianga

One of the first pieces of advice we had received from former missionaries was “Don’t drive at night!” They warned us that the roads were often treacherous, that the trucks on the roads might have bad brakes and no lights, and that pedestrians were a constant hazard. Just to make things more exciting, David was driving the Land Rover for the first time AND driving on the wrong side of the road (Zambians drive on the left) AND shifting gears with his left hand. I was sitting behind him in the back seat and decided my role on this journey was to pray for angels to watch over us. We managed to make the trip safely, and even enjoyed many parts of it. Our Zambian friends, Robby and Simeon, sang with us for much of the trip. They also gave us valuable insight about our work and life in Zambia. It was midnight when we finally arrived back at Namwianga, exhausted but relieved and thankful for God’s traveling mercies.

The Land Rover

Our vehicle of choice is a dark green Land Rover Defender. Kelly Hamby found it and another one for sale in Lusaka some months ago. Kelly bought one and suggested we consider this one. David researched Land Rovers on the internet and decided to go for it. The Land Rover is a 1991 diesel that seats 12 and gets over 20 miles per gallon. The latter detail is important when diesel sells for over $4.00 per gallon! The body is in good shape, but has enough dents and scratches that we won’t have to worry about breaking it in. Land Rovers are noted for dependability, especially in the rough terrains and situations of Africa. Another plus is that the engine is relatively simple, and Kelly assures us that in any village we can find someone who knows how to repair a Land Rover. We’ve had to do some adjusting as we drive--the steering wheel and gearshift are on the right side instead of the left!

Our House

The house being built for us at Namwianga is far from finished. We were not particularly surprised at this and are glad to settle in at the guest house for now. On Friday we were able to meet with Andrew, the man in charge of building our house, and he was quite willing to make some minor modifications that we requested. It’s also nice that we’ll be here to make some decisions about finishing touches. If all goes as scheduled we hope to move in during the early part of August.



Closing Notes

We won’t be able to get our official internet service up and running until the house is finished. Until then we’ll have to go to another missionary’s house (a mile away) to read and send e-mails. We hope to keep posting at least weekly on our blog.

We are thankful for the many prayers you have offered up for us. Our transition here has been relatively simple and pleasant, and we are confident that God’s hand is at work in all that has happened.

Sunday Sacrifice

I'm sharing more from Ellie Hamby as she writes about the Christians at Namwianga. We are privileged to be able to go and work with these dedicated Christians!

It is so easy for us to go to worship each Sunday in the states. I wonder how many of us would be like the following people who live around our house at Namwianga:

1. Simeon Siachobe, his wife, and 5 children, left to walk 7 miles for church service at Kalomo Secondary School. Simeon's wife was one that helped start this new congregation. They also had 7 miles to walk back to their home.

2. Kadonsi, a teacher at Namwianga, left on his bike to preach at Goodhope Church. He had about a 15 mile round trip.

3. Andrew Sichimwa, who had spent the night guarding the medicine and supplies, left on his bike to attend church at Kasibi. He had about a 30 mile round trip.

I know there were others at the mission going out, but these were ones we saw leaving when we stepped out of our house that morning. It makes one wonder how many of us in the states would be that committed to attend church if we had to walk or even ride a bike for a long distance.

Today's the Day

We have dreamed of and prayed for this day for so long. It's hard to believe that today we leave to begin our new work in Africa!

Yesterday our congregation at Brentwood Oaks held a commissioning service for us. There were many scriptures, songs, and prayers dedicating us to the work in Zambia and committing our church family to support us. We were called to the front to affirm our commitment to this call. As we stood there, David whispered, "Just look out there." The many faces of those we have loved and served with for twenty years reminded us of how blessed we are to have these dear brothers and sisters to send us out, pray for us, and give us their support.

David was invited to make some remarks. He quoted John Piper's words: Endings are for thanksgiving; beginnings are for faith. As we end twenty wonderful years here in Austin, we give thanks for all God has done in our lives and in the life of Brentwood Oaks. As we begin our new adventure in the mission field, we step out in faith knowing He is with us every step of the way.

Then we were presented with a beautiful quilt! Each family had been invited to write a message on a quilt square. Our dear friend Suzie Berry then pieced the squares together. As if that weren't enough, she made ANOTHER quilt design on the other side featuring the BOCC logo in a log cabin design. The result is breathtaking. As my mother would have said, there is a little love in every stitch. Not only that, but Suzie assured me that she put the quilt together with constant prayers for us. What a blessing to have this lovely reminder of our church family and their love for us.

Last night there was a reception in the courtyard as a final farewell. We said our goodbyes and shared hundreds of hugs. We will treasure these sweet memories as we face the days ahead.

Today will be a hectic rush to finish packing and make our final preparations. Our plane leaves Austin at 6:25 this evening. We will spend the night in Atlanta before our 10:30 a.m. flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. We'll arrive there on Wednesday morning (after a 16-hour flight and a seven-hour time change), have a layover of several hours, and then fly on to Lusaka in Zambia, arriving at 8:10 Wednesday evening. We'll spend the night in Lusaka, pick up our visas and our Land Rover, and head for Namwianga on Thursday evening.

I want to thank those of you who have been constantly lifting us up in prayer. We feel the strength that only God provides, and we appreciate the way you have been bringing our needs before the Father.

Packing Up

We are now less than 48 hours away from leaving for Zambia! Our house is a mess, as we have duffel bags and suitcases everywhere. We have sorted through countless drawers, boxes, and piles of stuff. I describe myself as being on "decision overload." Everything around us has to be evaluated--do we take it, store it, give it away, or throw it away? It's exhausting after awhile!

Will David be next?

Kelly Hamby is Superintendent of Namwianga Mission. He and his wife, Ellie, are co-directors of the Zambia Medical Mission. Ellie shared this news of Kelly's latest adventure in Livingstone, about two hours away from Namwianga. Cell phone users, beware! Here's what Ellie wrote:

Zambia has passed a new law making it illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving. Kelly went to Livingstone today to take Sheri and Lois Sears to the airport for their flight to Cape Town. I called Kelly and he answered the phone. Unfortunately, he was driving right by a standing police when he answered. He was stopped and sent to the police station. He called me from the police station with his sad story, and being the considerate wife I am, I told him not to worry-- I would bring food to his jail cell tonight. He called me back about an hour later saying that since this was his first offense and since they knew Mr. Merritt and Namwianga, they decided they would let him go. He called me from a restaurant in Livingstone where he was celebrating his release by having a nice steak dinner! It would have been cheaper for him to have spent the night in jail!

Feeding the Crew

We will be going out with the medical mission in July. There will be 130 Americans and over 80 Zambians going out in the bush to set up clinics. We'll be camping in tents during this time. The cooking for this huge crew will be directed by Leonard Sichimwa. Ellie Hamby, one of the medical mission directors, sent out the following information on all the preparations and food that will be needed for this huge project. We thought you might find it interesting. Ellie writes:

1. I ordered 170 kg (374 lbs) of mince (ground beef in the USA). The cattle are being butchered now and the mince should be ready shortly.

2. I ordered 100 chickens and they are growing right now and should be ready to butcher in about a week.

3. I ordered 20 kg (44 lbs) of game meat (kudu, eland, and impala). A wildlife farm has these animals and they butcher and sell the meat.

4. I ordered 5000 bottles of water, 1500 small juice boxes, and 1500 small bags of assorted potato chips from the warehouses in Lusaka. A truck is going there today to bring them back to Namwianga.

5. I ordered 50 kg (110 lbs) of Gouda Cheese from a cheese factory in Lusaka. We have it now and it is in the freezer.

6. I ordered 50 kg (110 lbs) of sliced ham from a meat packing supplier in Lusaka and it will be ready to pick up when we go to Lusaka to pick up the Gregersens on the 22nd June.

7. The following vegetables are in the field growing right now: 50 heads of cabbage, 90 kgs (198 lbs) of carrots, 40 kgs (88 lbs) of onions, and 90 kgs (198 lbs) of tomatoes. I am counting on all the suppliers having the veggies ready when we need them.

8. I ordered several cases of apples, pears, and bananas. This fruit will all come by truck from South Africa.

9. The ladies at Namwianga will be making 6000 buns to be delivered to our house at different times and I have ordered from the local bakery supplier in Kalomo 200 loaves of bread.

10. Leonard Sichimwa is busy making cookies and cakes for all of you who have a sweet tooth.

11. Last, but not least, we will be buying 100 kgs (220 lbs) of mealie meal for all you "Nshima Lovers"!

You can see that it takes a lot to feed a group as big as ours!

The Farewell Tour

David and I have joked that we should have had T-shirts made for the Gregersen Farewell Tour. Last week we traveled through Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri saying goodbye to our family and friends there. This week we left on Sunday and went in different directions. I spent a few days at the beach with girlfriends while David and one of his good friends went to New Mexico. My group of eight women enjoyed our 12th annual trip to Port Aransas. We all raised our children together at Brentwood Oaks (25 children in all!) and share a deep bond of friendship. Since 1999 these dear women have planned the beach trip around my summer trips to Africa. This year will be my last trip for awhile, so last night they gathered around me and gave a tearful farewell blessing. I know the love and concern of these friends will be a strength to sustain me in the months and years ahead.

After touring some Native American historical sites, David was able to stop by Camp Blue Haven in Las Vegas, New Mexico. This place is near and dear to our family. Sara and John were campers there from the time they were 10, and we were Bible teachers for many years. David has enjoyed connecting with many of our old friends there.

The farewell tours are ending and the last minute rush to finish getting ready is on. We savor the sweet memories and look ahead for new adventures.

Details, Details!

We are drowning in a sea of last-minute details! We've changed our retirement funds, set up accounts for handling our working fund, canceled some accounts, opened up new ones, made sure our life insurance is good overseas, set up car insurance for our son, and on and on. The current hurdle is health insurance. We investigated insurance for missionaries months ago and located two plans. We had an insurance person look at both of them and make a recommendation. Then we had to wait, because you can't apply for international coverage until 30 days before you leave. So, we applied to our chosen company on May 21--and were denied. Seems that although we think we are very healthy, we have pre-existing conditions that this company didn't want to cover. On to plan B. We were accepted for this one, but no coverage for pre-existing conditions for two years, then a limited coverage per year. They also provided a long list of conditions for which there is no coverage for the first six months on the policy. We started looking for plan C. The C company has had our application for over a week. They want doctor's statements before they decide what they will and won't cover. Just in case, I'm looking for plan D. We can also Cobra our current policy if all else fails. It all seemed so simple a few months ago!

Friday night I had a long phone conversation with my roommate from college. She and her husband have been missionaries in Cameroun for 30 years. We commiserated about health insurance, leaving our kids behind, and other missionary issues. I also talked to her husband a few minutes. I mentioned to him that someone needs to write a book about how to get ready to go to the mission field. He laughingly replied that his wife forbids him to write such a book. She tells him that if he did, no one would ever want to go.

David found a wonderful saying years ago that keeps us calm and grounded in these days of dealing with details: Focus on the goal, not the price. We choose to think about the wonderful opportunities God has laid out before us in Zambia, not on the bothersome details of the next few days.

Using Your Head

Using Your Head
Posted by: dgregersen53.

We Americans are amazed at the way the Zambian women can carry things on their heads. They move with such grace and balance! Notice that this young lady in her school uniform is carrying a double load of water AND sticks. She has wrapped her chitenge (2-meter length of cloth) around her head as a base for the load. This is a common sight everywhere we go. Even very young girls seem to carry objects effortlessly. And in case you're wondering, I've tried it and I can't do it!
Linda

Namwianga Mission

As we have traveled this past week, I have come up with another round of frequently asked questions. Many haved asked us about Namwianga Mission.

Namwianga Mission sits on over 7,000 acres four miles from the city of Kalomo in the Southern Province of Zambia. The mission has a farm, a rural health center, a vocational center, two home-based orphan care facilities, a Church Development Center, and schools. The schools on the Namwianga site include a Basic (elementary) school, a Secondary school, and George Benson Christian College. The college trains secondary teachers in the areas of religious education, math, and English. This is where we will be teaching. Namwianga also has other schools under its oversight. These include one other high school, five elementary schools, and four junior high schools. Bible is taught in all of the schools, and students are trained to become church planters. Many leaders in the country of Zambia were educated at one of the Namwianga Mission schools.

Child's Play

Posted by: dgregersen53

Child's Play
Mancala is a game that involves counting rocks and placing them in hollowed out spaces on a gameboard. I have a wooden Mancala board I purchased in the States, so I was fascinated to see these students at Simpweze Christian School with their Mancala "board" in the sand. By the way, I passed our Mancala board on to our daughter. She uses it with her middle school math students and says they love to play. Kids are kids, wherever they live!

Containers

We are traveling this week. Today (Saturday) and Sunday we are visiting our daughter in Tulsa. Sunday afternoon we will head for Searcy to see David's parents. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday we're going to southwest Missouri to spend some time with my sister and with friends in Mt. Vernon and Monett.

We got word yesterday that the two containers on which we had sent our household goods and teaching supplies have now arrived at Namwianga Mission. This was a great relief to us, since one of the containers (think 40-feet long box car) had been "lost" somewhere on the continent of Africa for awhile. Our things were only a small part of the contents of these containers, as they were primarily filled with supplies for this summer's medical mission.

Several have asked just what we did send on ahead. We sent mattresses, kitchen stuff, linens, books and teaching supplies, a generator, and a few pieces of furniture--the kind that comes in a box and can be put together with a screwdriver and several hours of patience. The containers were loaded in January and February, so when we finally get to open them, I'm sure it will seem like Christmas!

Hard Times

Our date to depart for Africa is June 20. David completed his official duties as education minister on Tuesday, and I finished my job as a teacher at Brentwood Christian School last Friday. After twenty years of serving as the elementary department Bible school supervisor, I've turned that volunteer job over to someone else. Now we're in between our past roles and our future work, and we are finding that a hard place to be. It's hard to let go of ministries into which we have poured our lives for so long. It's hard to wait for the beginning of our new work.

I have claimed the words of Paul to help me through these times in between: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal (Philippians 3:13). Pray for us as we "press on" during these next few days.
Linda