Storm Damage

A storm with straight-line winds roared through Namwianga on Saturday. The roofs were torn off the secondary girls dorm and one of the secondary classroom buildings. Several trees were uprooted or blown over. Thankfully, no one was hurt. The strangest thing is that the electricity stayed on through the entire storm. On a typical day the first drops of rain and hint of wind cause a blackout!

One section of the secondary girls dorm lost a roof

Roofing sheets from the girls dorm ended up in a nearby tree.

A section of secondary classrooms also lost a roof.

A fallen tree missed the buses by a few feet.

Update - 7 November

I'm blogging from Texas. I flew in last week to have some medical tests done. I had surgery on Wednesday--two biopsies-- and got the pathology report yesterday showing no signs of malignancy.

In between numerous appointments with a variety of doctors, I have had a great visit with family and friends. I am very thankful that I was able to come back here for the tests. We looked into the possibility of going to South Africa, but the timing wouldn't work for both of us to go, and it turned out to be about the same cost for me to travel by myself to Austin. I have been blessed by the prayers and support of so many here, and it was a great relief to be seen and advised by the same doctors who treated me last year.

This is a quick trip; I'm headed back to Zambia on Tuesday. I've missed lots of excitement at Namwianga, so I'll blog some of that as I have time.

Mumena Trip - Zambikes

Our last stop on the Mumena trip was a visit to Zambikes in Lusaka. Dustin McBride, one of the founders of this unique development project, showed us around and explained the history. Dustin and his friend Vaughn came to Zambia for a summer mission trip in 2004 when they were in college. They went back to Azusa Pacific University and dreamed up a project for their international business class. Their idea was to provide sturdy bicycles that would stand up to the rigors of the African bush and to provide jobs for Zambians who would build the bikes.

Lots of prayer and hard work produced Zambikes in 2007. The bicycle parts are shipped to Zambia where local workers assemble the bikes. We met the enthusiastic employees who proudly showed us around their workshop and introduced us to their newest product, the Zambulance. The Zambulance is a lightweight two-wheeled cart that can be pulled by a bicycle and used as an ambulance in rural areas too remote for cars and trucks. Some of the Harding students tried it out both as “patients” and drivers,

I had planned just a quick, one-hour tour at Zambikes, but Zambian hospitality overwhelmed us once again. The Zambikes staff invited us to stay for lunch and shared their nshima, beans, and cabbage with us. We closed our time by singing to them and listening as they sang to us. We reluctantly said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to Namwianga, and the end of our wonderful trip.

Sheralee rode as the patient in the Zambulance.

Daniel joined the Zambikes crew and learned to put bike wheels together.

Lunch with the Zambikes staff 

HIZ Group at Mumena

The HIZ group posed in front of the yellow bus at Mumena. The bus was broken down at this point, so right after this photo was taken the students boarded a rented bus and went on to Chimfunshi. This bus was repaired a couple of days later and managed the return trip with no problems.

Mumena Trip - Communication Detail

In the last blog about going to the soccer field for cell phone service, I left out a piece of information. Innocent, the Chimfunshi manager who escorted us to the soccer field, told us that during the rainy season from December through April the soccer field is under water. Innocent paddles a canoe to the field when he needs to make a phone call.

Mumena Trip - Communication and Transportation

Transportation and communication are the constant challenges of life in Zambia. And on a trip with 30 people into an isolated and remote area of the country, those challenges become even more daunting.

During lunch at Mumena on Sunday, our driver Donald came to us saying that the bus would not start. He had been working on it for some time and knew he needed a mechanic. We consulted with Brian Davis and got some leads and phone numbers for diesel mechanics, and Donald made phone calls. At Mumena there was only one spot where our cell service would work. As Sondra Davis explained, “You have to go stand under that jacaranda tree over there.” So Donald did just that and tried to find a mechanic. No luck on this Sunday afternoon.

The next step was to rent a bus to get us three hours down the road to our next destination at Chimfunshi Wildlife Refuge on Monday morning. Donald made the arrangements, and the rented bus with its driver got us there in time for Monday lunch. Meanwhile Donald was in Solwezi trying to get a new starter for the bus and find someone to install it.

As soon as we arrived at Chimfunshi, I asked whether they had cell service. The answer was, “Well, yes and no.“ There was no service at the spot where we were staying (dorms at the education center), but there was service on the soccer field. Innocent, the director of the Chimfunshi program, invited us to jump in his pickup for the half-mile jaunt through the woods and past the workers’ compound. Sure enough, on the edge of the soccer field my cell phone came to life and we were connected with the world.

I called Godfrey Lemba at Namwianga and discussed Plan B—he and the head mechanic from the mission would drive the other big bus from Namwianga on Tuesday. They would drop the bus off at Chimfunshi and Donald would drive us on home. They would proceed on to Mumena and repair the broken down bus. But Mr. Lemba had a new complication—Zambia’s one refinery was shut down, and the news stations were reporting diesel outages around the country. He wasn’t sure they could get diesel for the trip, because the Kalomo station had none.

I told Innocent about the diesel issue. He knows people in towns up and down the main highway through Zambia, so he got on his cell phone and started making calls while I kept up conversations with Mr. Lemba about possible scenarios for getting enough diesel. Within a few minutes Innocent had called enough people to reassure us that at least for now there was diesel between Lusaka and Chimfunshi, and I had located enough diesel to get them to Lusaka.

Amazingly, the plan worked. Mr. Lemba and Buster, the mechanic, set off from Namwianga at 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Donald left from Chimfunshi at 7 a.m. and went by public bus into the nearest big city, Kitwe, and bought a starter for the bus. Mr. Lemba and Buster met him there late Tuesday afternoon and brought him on out to Chimfunshi. They arrived at 8:30 Tuesday night. Donald stayed with us while Mr. Lemba and Buster went on to Mumena. I tried to talk them into spending the night at Chimfunshi, but they were determined to get the job done as quickly as possible. Mr. Lemba’s words were: “We are men. We will do what we have to do!”

We left Chimfunshi on Wednesday morning in the working bus and continued our trip without interruption. Buster and Mr. Lemba had the other bus at Mumena working by 2:00 on Wednesday afternoon and started their homeward trip. They spent the night in Lusaka and actually made it back to the mission a few hours before we did on Thursday.

Transportation and communication—conquered once again.

Mumena Trip - Sunday at Konkwa

On Sunday our students divided into three groups and visited some of the churches that were planted in the last three years. David and I traveled with Don and Rita Boyd and several students to Konkwa, about 2 kilometers from Mumena. I had been reading about Konkwa in Don and Rita’s monthly newsletters, as they planted this church and continue to work closely with its members.

Konkwa is in the forest; the building is surrounded by tall trees. On this Sunday we sat outside and enjoyed the beauty around us. The Konkwa choir presented several songs, David preached, and Derek Molina led the Lord’s supper. Some of the students taught the children’s classes. It was a delightful morning and another experience to remember from our time at Mumena.

Rita Boyd with one of her little friends at Konkwa

The Konkwa choir

Jordynne Case and Niki Hitt teaching the Konkwa children's class.

David preaching at Konkwa

Mumena Trip - Meheba Refugee Camp

On Saturday we drove to the Meheba Refugee Camp to worship with the Congolese congregation. Meheba is the largest refugee camp in the world in terms of size and was once the largest in population as well. The chaos in the Congo during the 60s sent refugees streaming across the nearby border and prompted the area’s chief to offer the land to the United Nations for the establishment of the camp. Later, refugees from Angola arrived, and during the war-torn years of that conflict the population of Meheba swelled to over 150,000.

Organizers attempted to form stable communities for the refugees, settling them together with people from their own country and area who shared the same language and similar customs. The UN provided housing materials, land, and seed for each family with the expectation that the family would be self-sufficient within two years. Clinics and schools provided health and education services, and the Meheba camp became home to a generation of children who were born there or cannot remember their homeland.

The Road 68 congregation of Congolese refugees was formed because Namwianga sent Leonard Mujala to work with the people in the camp. Leonard has a gift for languages and was able to communicate and teach effectively, planting new churches at several locations, including Road 68.

We spent a spirited four hours with the Congolese, who welcomed us warmly and led us in enthusiastic singing and praise. Ross Cochran and Derek Molina preached, as well as one of the Congolese church leaders.

The congregation fed us a wonderful lunch of goat, chicken, and rice. We were humbled when Brian Davis told us about the sacrifices that were made for that meal. Brian and Sondra drove to Meheba the Saturday before we came to make the final arrangements, but found none of the members at their homes. They investigated and found that the church members were all out hoeing fields to earn money to buy a goat and chickens for our lunch.

This truly was a love feast.

Mumena

We spent three days with the missionary families at Mumena.  On Friday Brian Davis held some classes for us, explaining the theology and missiology behind the work they are doing.  The work at Mumena began only four years ago, and hearing about the initial efforts and struggles was very interesting.   Mumena was once a development project run by a Danish non-government organization.  After 15 years of unsuccessful attempts, the project was abandoned. The buildings stood empty for five years before the Hillcrest congregation in Abilene sent Brian and Sondra Davis, along with Sondra's parents Don and Rita Boyd, to start a new work there.  

Brian reported that their first task was to FIND the buildings in 12-foot tall grass.  Then renovations and repairs had to be done.  A team from Hillcrest spent the summer of 2006 camping out in tents as they worked on construction and other projects.  

Rick and Karen Love and their three children joined the Mumena team two years ago.  Rick and Karen are Harding grads (class of 2004), so they had an instant bond with the HIZ group.  We all enjoyed interacting with the Loves, Davises, Boyds, and Sullivans (a couple who had been at Mumena for a short-term work).   In fact, I gave out a survey after we returned and asked the students to rate their experiences on the trip.  The top-rated activity was "Interacting with the Mumena missionary families."  We were truly blessed by our time with them.  

On to Mumena

Our first day of travel ended at Fringilla Lodge, a gorgeous inn and working farm just north of Lusaka. The dinner buffet was delicious and our lodging very comfortable.


The next morning we had an early breakfast and were about to get on the road when the bus had a SECOND flat tire. The students had already cleared out of their rooms, so they patiently lounged on the lawn as our driver Donald, with help from Ross, changed the tire.


The tire delayed us an hour at Fringilla and another hour in the next town where we had to shop for a new inner tube.

We had hoped to get to Mumena and get settled before dark, but that was not to be. We pulled in about 7:00 in the inky black of the African bush at night. The missionary families had chili and cornbread waiting for us. We feasted and then settled into our quarters. The students stayed in unfurnished dorm rooms, using sleeping bags on the concrete floors, while we sponsors had beds in the missionaries' houses. (Will it surprise you to know that the students LIKED roughing it? Some listed this as one of the highlights of their trip. They're amazing!)

Our Mumena adventures had just begun.

Making Friends

These ladies run a store that opens onto the parking lot where we had our impromptu picnic in Mazabuka. They saw the Namwianga logo on our vehicle and were proud to point out their connection to our community, telling us that they were in the first class of students to graduate from Kalomo High School in 1970.

We were glad to meet them and glad to find out that they had soft drinks for sale. We cleaned out their inventory of cold drinks before we moved on.

Mumena Trip - Day One

We got off to an early start on our first travel day. The students arrived EARLY for breakfast, loaded their luggage, and were on the bus and ready to go five minutes before our scheduled departure time. I was gloating to David as we headed toward the Land Cruiser we were going to drive behind the bus. "Well, you haven't left yet," he reminded me.

Sure enough, just then the carpenter dropped by to pick up his payment for a new bed. We couldn't find the keys to the house and were searching for those when Ross called from the bus saying that a passport had been left behind in the safe. He was coming back to get it, so we were to wait for him. About forty-five minutes later we had gotten into our house, paid the carpenter, gotten the passport, and Ross was with us as we set off. We were still quite sure that we would catch up with the bus quickly.

An hour later we were cruising along when I remembered that we hadn't packed the 25 sleeping bags that would be needed for our stay at Mumena! We turned around and headed back as we made frantic phone calls to try to find someone who could pick up the bags and meet us halfway. Roy and Kathi Merritt were just about to leave for Choma when we caught them, and they graciously agreed to help us out. They got the bags and started north as we drove south. We met them and did a quick side-of-the-road transfer and were off again--now about two hours behind schedule!

We called Janice Bingham and Sara Kathryn on the bus and told them what had happened. Since we had the food for lunch with us, we advised them to stop in Monze and get everyone some snacks to tide them over until we caught up.

They had traveled about an hour after their snack stop when the bus had a flat tire. We managed to find them in Mazabuka a little past 1:00. We broke out the sandwiches and chips as the students found places to sit in a parking lot under the tree and had our lunch together.


Through it all, the students had great attitudes--no whining and complaining from this group! The tire was repaired and we traveled on as some of us wondered what would happen next . . .

Back from the Trip

We just got home a couple of hours ago after nine days on the road.  What an incredible group of college students!  They were wonderful travelers who made the trip a fantastic experience!  There will be many stories for blog fodder in days to come, but here are a few teasers:

I forgot the sleeping bags, so we had to turn around and go back for them the first morning.

The bus had two flat tires within the first 24 hours.

Our original bus developed a major problem on Sunday, so a Namwianga mechanic and the transportation director drove over 16 hours straight to bring us another bus for the return trip.  They then repaired the first bus and drove it back.

We all stayed remarkably healthy the entire trip.

We met some incredible American missionaries, sang with some great Zambian Christians,and  worshiped with some very enthusiastic Congolese refugees. 

We've been up close and personal with a vervet monkey, a 2-ton hippo, and a bunch of chimpanzees.   

Details and photos to come.  

HIZ Trip

We are making our last-minute preparations for the Harding trip. Here is our itinerary:

Wednesday, October 7 - leave at 7 a.m. and drive to Mapepe Bible College near Lusaka for a tour. Travel on that afternoon to Fringilla Guesthouse north of Lusaka for the night.

Thursday, October 8 - A LONG BUS RIDE from Fringilla to Mumena. We will be eating both breakfast and lunch on the bus with stops only when absolutely necessary. Our goal is to get to Mumena (near Solwezi) and get settled into the dorms before dark.

Friday, October 9 - At Mumena with Brian and Sondra Davis and their sons Bryson and Noah, Don and Rita Boyd, and Rick and Karen Love. Possible visit by Chief Mumena.

Saturday, October 10 - Visit to Maheba Refugee Camp and lunch with the congregation there.

Sunday, October 11 - Divide into small groups and visit newly planted churches in the Mumena area.

Monday, October 12 and Tuesday, October 13 - Drive to Chimfunshi Wildlife Refuge at Chingola for a two-day program of learning about chimpanzees and other animals.

Wednesday, October 14 - Drive to Fringilla

Thursday, October 15 - Visit Zambikes ministry in Lusaka; return to Namwianga.

Please pray for our safety and health on this long journey!

Jacarandas in Bloom

A highlight of October in Zambia is the marvelous beauty of the Jacaranda trees.  Their purple blossoms form towering arches over houses and roads, while the fallen petals create amethyst carpets on the dusty trails.  

The Jacaranda tree blooms at the end of the dry season.  Five months or so after the last rains of April, the Jacaranda broadcasts its vivid message of faith that new moisture will soon come.  

May God help us to have that same kind of faith:  a Jacaranda faith that grows and flowers in the dry seasons of trials and doubts, a faith that enables us to spread a vibrant message of hope even when showers of blessings are a distant memory.   

Hook 'em Horns!

Our daughter Sara brought these Texas Longhorn shirts for Jason and George.  The boys are proud to wear their "cow shirts" as they call them, and I couldn't resist getting a shot of all three of these Longhorn fans.  George can even make the "Hook 'em Horns" hand sign.

The boys have Aggie shirts that Sara brought for them, too, but don't expect David to be in that picture.

Packing Up

On Wednesday we are setting off on a trip to northern Zambia with the HIZ students.  We will visit Mapepe Bible College on the way and then spend three days at Mumena Outreach Center near Solwezi where our good friends Brian and Sondra Davis will be our hosts.   We are also scheduled for two days at Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage, and then we'll visit Zambikes ministry in Lusaka on our way back to Namwianga.  

This will be a nine-day trip, so there has been lots of planning and preparation to get ready.  This morning Harold (right) and I packed up the food we will need for the trip.  Harold and his father Leonard are the regular cooks for HIZ, and Harold is going on the trip to do the cooking for us at Mumena.    

The Ladies of Sichikwalula

The Sichikwalula congregation was planted in 2004. The six women shown with me here were baptized during Zambia Medical Mission in July of that year. Rodgers Namuswa followed up and helped them start meeting. Soon one of the husbands was converted, then others in the community. It's now an active congregation with elders and deacons. Read more about these surprising ladies in an earlier post.

Love That Goat!

The ladies of Sichikwalula prepared a delicious meal of nshima, chicken, and goat for us. We sat in small groups eating with our hands from communal bowls. Shown here with me are Katie, Erin, Niki, our translator Rachel, and Haleigh.

Sunday Outreach - September 27

We traveled to Sichikwalula on Sunday for an outreach. This was a special occasion for the congregation as they were ordaining their first elders (shown here with their wives during the ordination).

HIZ - Update

Sunday Rodgers Namuswa took us and the Harding University group on an outreach to Kauwe. The students got to experience a real bone-jarring Zambian bush road on the almost two-hour journey. HIZ student Daniel led the meditation at the Lord's Supper, and Logan preached. Both did excellent jobs and had the attention and enthusiastic interest of the congregation--evident by the "Um-hmms" and nods of the Zambians.


Some of the Harding students taught the Kauwe children's Bible class.


The entire HIZ group sang for the congregation after the service.


We exited the building and gathered in a circle for the traditional custom of shaking every member's hand.


The Kauwe congregation prepared nshima and chicken for our lunch. The guy in the middle is holding the chicken that will soon become dinner.

Weekend Outreaches

For some reason I cannot upload photos to the blog any more. I have spent hours sitting here trying to make it happen, but I am finally going to give up and just write the story!

This weekend we sent 47 students out to nine different villages for outreaches. They loaded up in the big yellow bus on Friday night, and then a small group was dropped off at each of the villages. The students spent the weekend visiting church and community members and holding Bible studies.

Sunday morning attendance at most of the congregations doubled. Many people were prayed for, and the students gained valuable experience in outreach activities.


Students loading their supplies for last weekend's outreach. They take the mattresses off their beds to sleep on.

Family News

We're excited to share our family news--we're going to be grandparents! Our son John and his wife Leah are expecting a baby in April.

Katherine

Two-year-old Katherine's life changed this week. She had crossed eyes until Tuesday when Meagan took her to Zimba Hospital. There an American opthalmologist on a volunteer mission fitted Katherine with glasses. Within two days her eyes were focusing almost normally.

Katherine had a rough start in life. She was brought to the Haven when she was a month old, weighing only two pounds and covered with syphilis patches. She is now a healthy and happy toddler with a bright future!

Berries!

Our strawberry patch is prolific this year! Last night the Extreme Team (Meagan, Kelsey, Betsy, Jana, and Courtney) came over and enjoyed strawberries with melted chocolate. Yum!

New Chicks

Petronella recently hatched a brood of 10 new chicks.

The advice we received about hens was to replace (euphemism for "stew") them when they were two years old. We don't know how old Petronella was when we got her, but we've now had her two and a half years. She's still going strong and still definitely rules the roost.

Look What's Hanging Around!

These fruit bats were hanging in a tree just down the road from our house. We hear them squeaking through the darkness at night, but this was the first time we'd seen them roosting. Those of you who know about the children's book will understand why my first thought was "Stellaluna!"

HIZ Update

The Harding In Zambia group has been here only a week, but they have packed many experiences into that week.

Their classes have started, and they are learning the Chitonga language and the history and customs of Zambia from GBCC lecturers.

Some HIZ students are working at the Namwianga Clinic and others are caring for babies and toddlers at the Haven orphanage.

Harding students attended chapel with the GBCC students this week and have begun making friends with GBCC students.

They attended a Wednesday night Bible study with the Wasawange congregation, and then David took them up to the meadow for some serious star gazing.

A stomach virus swept through the group on Wednesday and Thursday, but by Friday everyone was well again.

On Thursday they had their first traditional Zambian meal of nshima, chicken, cabbage, and soup. A few were brave enough to eat with their hands Zambian style.

Friday night we had singing and refreshments with the Extreme Team (see last week's blog) at their house.

Tonight the GBCC students are hosting an event to welcome the HIZ students.

Tomorrow we will attend church here at Namwianga in the morning. In the afternoon we are all invited to a wedding and reception for a GBCC administrator's daughter.

David and I feel truly blessed to spend time with these wonderful students!

The People at My Door - Choolwe

Choolwe was one of the first sponsored students I worked with when we arrived in 2005. He graduated from high school that year and then was a student of mine the following year in the business school. Choolwe was part of the group that recorded the Namwianga Sings! CD in 2006, and he went on several outreaches with us. He was always an impressive young man.

Now he is in his third year at Copperbelt University where he is studying electrical engineering. While he was home for a break, he came to see me. He described his current situation and the competitive nature of his program. There are nine students in his engineering class, and only four of those have earned their way--the others are placed there by their employers.

I asked Choolwe if he felt he was well prepared by his time at Namwianga. Without hesitation he answered yes, specifically pointing out how much the spiritual background he received at Namwianga has helped him face the temptations of college life.

It was a blessing to see how God is at work in this fine young man's life, and I know there are great things in store for him in the years ahead.

Sunday Brunch

These bovine beauties are feasting on our front yard flower bed! There were about 30 cattle tramping through our lawn on Sunday morning. After they moved on, we found they have a fond taste for floral treats but don't care much for ferns.

Update - 6 September

Last week was a whirlwind, and there were some happenings that didn't make the blog. Here are a few of them in very brief form.

Sunday the Allisons arrived for the marriage seminar and were here until Friday morning. They were busy with classes during the day, but we were able to enjoy visiting with them in the evenings.

Monday morning David left for Lusaka to take the Harding vehicle for repairs. I took Rodgers Namuswa into Kalomo to buy food for the marriage seminar. As I was putting groceries into the back of our vehicle, the liftgate on the camper shell fell on my head, and I ended up with a split upper lip. Krista, a new American doctor in Kalomo, used super glue (yes, plain old super glue from America) to pull it together. It held pretty well and should keep me from having much of a scar.

David took the bus home from Lusaka on Monday night, and then drove back to Lusaka on Wednesday with Roy Merritt. They met the Harding group at the Lusaka airport late Wednesday night and brought them back to Namwianga on Thursday.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had all kinds of workers at the Behnke/Estes (Bestes) house next door trying to have it ready by Thursday. Wednesday evening at 5:00 we got word that there had been a serious accident with fatalities on the road from Namwianga to Kalomo. A small truck carrying construction supplies had three riders in the back, plus the driver and two passengers in the cab. The driver was drunk and lost control as the vehicle crossed a bridge. The riders in the back were thrown out, and two of them were killed when the truck landed on top of them. One victim was Melvin, the 14-year-old son of Esther, a dear friend of ours and a co-worker on Zambia Medical Mission. Esther's young brother was thrown clear of the vehicle and survived, but had serious injuries and was taken to Kalomo Hospital. The driver and passengers in the cab were not seriously injured.

My neighbor and I went to visit Esther on Friday afternoon. The furniture in her small house had been taken outside in the yard, and there were mattresses on the floor. When we entered the front room, there were several other women sitting on mattresses with her, plus her her sister Georgina, who also works on the medical mission. We greeted everyone quietly and then just sat. It reminded me of the story of Job when his friends came to comfort him and sat in silence. Outside there were many other mourners sitting around quietly or tending to the cooking fires.

The funeral was Saturday afternoon with the burial at Namwianga's cemetery. As is the tradition in funerals here, various groups were called forward to place flowers on the grave. Esther's family is well-known in the community, so there were government officials as well as teachers and administrators from Melvin's school and the school where Esther had been a teacher. An especially touching moment was when Melvin's classmates in their school uniforms brought their flowers.

The Harding In Zambia group has kept very busy since their arrival on Thursday and has had a variety of experiences. The Namwianga community hosted a reception for them on Friday night, and the HIZ students impressed the crowd with their singing, especially when they effortlessly belted out "Wabota Munzi Waba Jesu." Saturday they attended Melvin's funeral service, learning how this culture mourns. This morning we took them to the Tumango congregation for worship, and they experienced a village church service. On Monday morning their classes begin, starting with Chitonga lessons at 6:30 a.m.

George Benson Christian College students have been on break for the past four weeks, but they are due back tomorrow and we will begin teaching our classes again on Tuesday. After last week's hectic pace, we are hoping things slow down a bit!

Marriage Seminar

After two days of trying, I was finally able to get this photo to post! Shown here are Fielden and Janet Allison and some of the couples who participated in last week's marriage seminar. They came by our house to say thank you to us for helping to organize the program and thank you to the Allisons for the great lessons.

Marriage Seminar

This week we Fielden and Janet Allison conducted a four-day marriage seminar here at Namwianga for seven Zambian couples from all over southern Zambia. Our hope is that the participant couples will strengthen their own families and also teach others in their home congregations what they have learned.

The Allisons stayed with us, and we had many delightful conversations with them. They have been missionaries in Africa for 37 years, so their stories and perspectives were interesting and enlightening.

HIZ Greeting

The Extreme Team (see previous blog) organized the neighborhood children, mission staff, and Haven toddlers to welcome the Harding in Zambia students on their arrival. The children are holding a sign that says "Mwapona Harding" (Welcome). We also sang several songs in Tonga--a traditional greeting activity in the villages.

Shown above are the Harding students during the welcoming activities.

The Extreme Team

Here is the team that pitched in and got the Bestes house ready on Thursday. Four of the young women are newcomers to Namwianga, having joined Meagan Hawley this summer. From left to right: Courtney Jenson, me, Betsy Watson, Kelsey Kelly, Jana Miller, and Meagan. They have already been a tremendous blessing to Namwianga Mission and to me. All are graduates of Oklahoma Christian University, and each one brings unique gifts and talents to the work here.

Courtney is working with the babies at the Haven, specifically in language development. Betsy is a nurse who tends to the health/medical/development needs of the Haven babies. Kelsey's interest is working with the high school girls at Namwianga Secondary. Jana's field is education, and she teaches elementary children in an enrichment program.

They devoted Thursday to helping me get the Bestes House ready. I was amazed at their energy, efficiency, and enthusiasm! I had a two-page list of jobs for them, and they had everything checked off in no time at all. They even had extra time after getting the house ready and had energy to sing and play games with the neighborhood children who came to greet the Harding students.

More Bestes House Photos

Here is the Bestes House kitchen at noon on Wednesday:

And here it is at 3:00 on Thursday.

Extreme Home Photos

The new house where ten of the Harding coeds will be living is called the Bestes House because the two people who are financing it are Dr. Behnke and Dr. Estes. This is the house that several of us worked this week getting ready for the HIZ students. The above photo shows what the living room looked like at noon on Wednesday.

And here is what it looked like at 3:00 on Thursday afternoon--just an hour before the students arrived!

HIZ Arrival

Just a quick post to report that the 2009 Harding In Zambia group arrived today.   We have spent the week getting ready for them--David drove the HIZ vehicle to Lusaka on Monday and left it for repairs.  He rode the bus home Monday afternoon and then rode back up on Wednesday.  The HIZ group flew into Lusaka late Wednesday night, so he was there along with Roy Merritt to meet them. They spent the night in Lusaka and drove to Namwianga today.

My major project this week was overseeing the finishing touches on a new house next door to us that will house 10 of the Harding girls.  After today I have a new appreciation for the crew on Extreme Home Makeover--there were a few times in the past couple of days when I really wondered if we were going to pull it off, but we did, and the house was ready a full hour before they arrived.

More details to come . . . 

On the Road in Namibia

We saw many of these signs as we drove through the Caprivi Strip in northeastern Nambia.  We only saw one elephant while we were driving, however, and it wasn't close to the roadway.  

Camping in Namibia

Tsumeb is a two-day drive from Namwianga, so we camped along the way. Nambwa, the campground where we stayed, is part of a conservation effort in the Bwabwata National Park. Nambwa is called a 4 x 4 campground, which means it is accessible only by 4-wheel drive vehicle. In fact, it was 45 minutes of 4-wheeling to get to it from the main road. Our site was right on the Kwando river, and we could hear the hippos and all kinds of other critters during the night.

We had just finished eating dinner and were enjoying the sounds of the river when we heard some crashing in the bushes around our secluded camp site. We couldn't see anything in the darkness, so we reassured ourselves that it was probably just a warthog. The noise stopped after a few minutes, so we walked up to the shower house. On the way back, we heard the bushes rustling again. David shone the flashlight into the woods and the beam caught the glint of an elephant's trunk through the leaves. We very quickly and quietly scooted for the tent where we could safely look through the mesh and watch the elephants feeding in the brush just 15 yards away from us!

The next morning we talked to a guy who was staying at the campsite next to ours. He too had seen the elephants, but he'd had an even more exciting encounter. He had gotten up at 3 a.m. to go to the restroom, and on his way back had seen two lions and four hyenas!

The director of the campground told us they had never had any problems with the animals harming the campers, but he did tell us not to walk outside the tent when the elephants were grazing. We were happy to comply.

Tsumeb Men's Leadership Class

David taught the men's leadership class at Tsumeb last Saturday.  As you can see from the photo, the setting was much different than the mud and thatch buildings we are accustomed to in rural Zambia.  And a whiteboard was a real luxury!  The Tsumeb congregation meets in the building used by the Tsumeb Bible Academy, a training institute for preachers and church leaders.   The participants for the class were students and teachers from the Academy as well as members of the local congregation.  

Tsumeb Class

These are the ladies of the Tsumeb congregation in Tsumeb, Namibia.  I conducted a teacher training workshop with them on Saturday and had a fantastic response.  These participants were enthusiastic, involved, and willing to participate in all the discussions.   Since they all understand and speak English, I didn't have to use a translator and we had more time to actually do the activities.  

Dena is the beautiful young woman standing next to me.  She is married to Michael, one of the teachers at Tsumeb Bible Academy.  Michael is the guardian for 12 family members who are refugees from Angola, so when Dena married Michael, she also became "mom" to Michael's relatives, including the two teenage girls next to her in this picture.  

Jonathan's Bicycle

Jonathan Kanagoiwa works in the spiritual counseling area during the medical mission every summer. He has a bright smile and a spirit of kindness about him.

One of the Americans who came on this year's medical mission grew fond of Jonathan and decided to get him a bike. We had the privilege of telling Jonathan this news and presenting him with the new Zambike.

I wish I could describe the amazement and gratitude on Jonathan's face when he first saw his new bike. No child on Christmas morning could be more thrilled. He said, "I don't have the words to say to thank you. The bike I have now I bought in 1973."

There is an annual gospel meeting at Dengeza, 50 kilometers from Jonathan's home, this weekend. Jonathan continued, "I have been walking to the meeting at Dengeza, but now I will ride."

How's That?

There are mysteries in life, some profound, some trivial.  This is about the latter.  Our internet went off Thursday evening.  One minute I could send an e-mail, a few minutes later I couldn't.  On Friday David got on Ellie Hamby's system and sent a notice to Coppernet that we had no service.   All weekend we suffered technology withdrawal--couldn't Skype with our kids, couldn't communicate with friends, couldn't post to the blog.  We did use Ellie's system briefly on Saturday, but she left for Lusaka on Sunday, and that was that.  At 11:00 this morning the system suddenly began working again.  And at 6:00 this evening we got an e-mail from Coppernet's customer service rep explaining that our system had been shut off because we hadn't paid our bill.   He didn't say why they had generously decided to turn it back on, but I'm guessing they checked their records and found that not only had we paid our bill, we had paid it 11 days EARLY!  We have to drive 40 miles to Choma to make the payment, so we did it when we were passing through on our way to a medical mission clinic. 

I scanned and e-mailed the receipt for August service dated July 20.   The rep hasn't replied yet.  

But we have internet again!

Update - August 15, 2009

Coppernet, our internet provider has been out since Thursday, so we are going through technology withdrawal! Right now I'm connecting at Ellie Hamby's house using her system to get caught up on e-mails and blogs. If you don't hear back from us when you send an e-mail, you'll know it's because our system is still not working.

Today we traveled to Kabanga to do a leadership/teacher training seminar. It was one of our largest ever, with over 90 participants from 10 different congregations. The women were enthusiastic, chiming in with lots of Amens! as I taught.

Kabanga used to be one of our least favorite places to visit because the 70 km dirt road to get there was so bone-jarring and terrible. A few months ago, however, the road was completely redone, and now the ride is not bad at all except for the dust.

The students have gone home except for a few who stayed to take some special prep classes for the graduation exams. The campus is strangely quiet. We are still staying busy getting ready for Harding In Zambia's arrival on September 3. Ellie Hamby and I have been going through the guesthouses making sure that the rooms have the right furniture, linens, fans, lamps, and extension cords. We've also been working on the menus and making shopping lists. This year David and I will be planning and leading a week-long trip with the HIZ students to northwestern Zambia, so we have been making reservations and arranging the details for that trip as well.

Tuesday we are leaving for a week-long trip to Namibia to visit our fellow missionaries John and Martie D'Alton. We will be doing a leadership/teacher training seminar for their congregation and also visiting Etosha Game Park. I'll try to post again before we leave if we get our internet connection working.

Don't Invite the Baboon Next Time

I'm sharing a great missionary story from Brian and Sondra Davis who work at Mumena Mission in Northwestern Province. Enjoy!

Each year we try to provide a “mountain top” spiritual experience for our Christian university summer interns. This year we held our final worship together on the banks of the Zambezi River overlooking Victoria Falls. We sang, prayed, and were sharing our spiritual insights from the summer’s program when I realized that there was another face in the crowd. A large male baboon had decided to join us and was sitting directly behind Jordan, one of our interns from Abilene Christian University. We all froze. The baboon, perhaps sensing that our devotions needed a nudge to continue, decided to come forward. He seemed particularly interested in the sack that Sondra was holding containing the emblems of the Lord’s Supper. I whispered to Sondra, “…drop the bag…” As the baboon began a disorderly digestion of the Memorial Meal, the church at Corinth came to mind…

“Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.”
1 Corinthians 11:17 KJV

Fleeing persecution, we huddled in a corner of our hotel in order to observe the Lord’s Supper later that night. Relating this story to David Gregerson, missionary in Southern Zambia, he counseled, “Closed Communion should be seriously considered in certain cases.”

Suffice it to say, due to dignity issues, it is highly inadvisable to try and retrieve unleavened bread from a full-grown male baboon.
Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson


Pictured: Jordan Hanson, intern from A.C.U., falling from our spiritual high.

For more information about Mumena, visit our website at www.mumenamissions.org.
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