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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Chizunda Outreach

Today we took four college students for outreach. We dropped three of them at the Mabuyu church and then traveled on to Chizunda with one of the guys, plus Rodgers Namuswa and Ellie Hamby. The Chizunda congregation had 75 in attendance today. David posed with the crowd after the worship service.

Chishimba Falls

Another stop on our trip was Chishimba Falls outside the town of Kasama. We sat at the top of the falls and sang praises to the Creator. What other response would be appropriate when confronted with such beauty?

Muwela Cave Paintings

Last weekend we went with Mark and Michele Broadway to Kasama in northern Zambia and visited the rock art sites at Muwela.  According to The Magic of Zambia, "these paintings are considered by archaeologists to be among the most significant on the continent.  The paintings are thought to have been done by Stone Age hunter-gatherers . . . before 1000 AD. " 

Our guide told us that the paint was a mixture of animal blood, egg white, tree sap, and an ingredient the experts haven't yet identified.  Shown above is an ostrich and a bush pig.  

To find the paintings, our guides led us all over the rocky terrain, into caves, and through narrow rock openings. David is navigating one of the trickier passages.

Empty House

Yesterday we took Mark and Michele Broadway to the airport in Livingstone and came home to an empty house.  After over a month of company, it seems very strange to be just the two of us again. 

The only other American on campus now is Ellie Hamby.  The Merritts, Sheri Sears, and Meagan Hawley are all out on the Westreach Medical Mission this week.  Sadly, Don and Laura Oldenburg left on July 28 to return to the United States to live.  They deserve an individual blog entry later, but for now I’ll just say that we will miss them greatly. 

 Today is the last day of classes for the students.  They will all head home tomorrow for a four-week break.  The campus will be deserted and quiet.  It will take a few days to get used to less noise, less company, and less activity, but I know we will be too busy to be lonely.  These quiet days offer us time to get caught up on all the things that we left undone during the hectic days of June and July.  To everything there is a season.   

Kathi, George, and Jason

Sara has been bringing home kids from the orphanage to spend the afternoons with us.  Today we had Kathi, George, and Jason.  They kept us laughing with their antics.

Sara leaves tomorrow to return to the US.  The month she has been here flew by much too quickly.  Sigh.  I guess I'll never get used to the goodbyes.  

It's COLD

Here's the scene in our living room tonight (and for the past several nights).  We are all huddling around the fire to keep warm!  This has been the coldest winter we have experienced since we moved to Zambia.  David's impressive fire-building skills have been put to good use since this is the only way we have to heat the house!  Shown are David, Michele Broadway, Sara, and Mark Broadway.   

Medical Mission Report

I have been having a terrible time trying to post to the blog.  Last night and this morning I had no luck at all.  Maybe this time. . .

Darrell Conway is one of our ZMM team members and is the head of the spiritual counseling department where David and I work.  He sent out the report below and I thought it provided a good summary of the medical mission this year.  Here is what Darrell had to say:

No report for so long seems inappropriate; however, the circumstances of the Zambia Medical Mission severely limit our ability to communicate with the outside world.  We only have electricity at Namwianga Mission, and we always begin our days before sunrise and work in preparation for the village outreaches all during the day.  We travel by bus, truck, and 4x4 vehicles to the villages in the area where we set up a medical clinic and treat people for medical, dental, optical, and spiritual problems. With a team of more than 105 people we create quite a stir in the area where we are working!

Thousands come every day.  Many come for treatments and many more just come to see what all the excitement is about.  We have opportunities to preach to them all at various times of the day, and we invite them all to come over to an area we set aside to have small group Bible studies.  We sometimes study one on one and often with three to five in a group.  This is a very effective method.  Our presence and our free medical care help demonstrate our love for them and our desire to follow Jesus by “having compassion on all the people.”  This year there were 99 people who died to their old way of life and were united in Christ through baptism to walk in a new life!  All these people were identified by name and placed in contact with a church leader in the congregation nearest to their village.  Each new Christian was given a new Tonga Bible, and then hundreds more Bibles were distributed to all the Church of Christ congregations in the areas we visited this year.  It is truly amazing to see the eyes of those receiving Bibles as they fill with tears of joy and gratitude.

A great big THANK YOU to all who were so generous this year in giving funds to help purchase Bibles!  I truly wish all of you could be present to witness a Bible presentation.  My words are not adequate to describe the sense of overwhelming emotions these Zambians feel when they see a Bible and realize that it now is entrusted into their care and given for their use.  Many of them have said that the Bible is their most prized possession.  They value it above any other thing that they may have in this life. Giving out ‘Tonga Bibles should and must continue.  I really am convinced that this is one of the most important components of the entire Zambian Mission effort. All parts are important to be sure, but Bibles are surely an essential part of the spiritual efforts we put forth in Zambia.

This year was truly a great success.

16,532 people were ministered to in the name of Jesus

The message of salvation in Christ was taught and preached to all.

Ninety nine souls received the message and were baptized.

Wheelchair

Elia is shown in the new wheelchair she received at the Kanchindu medical mission clinic.  An organization in California donated 100 of these chairs for Zambia.  They are designed for rural areas--sturdy, easy to assemble with simple tools, and each comes complete with a pump.  Elia is a widow with two young children. She earns money for basic necessities by making flower crafts from candy wrappers.  Her new wheelchair gives her additional freedom and mobility.  

Update - July 19

"The program has changed."  That's a phrase we have heard many times since we moved to Zambia, and one that now has a familiar ring in our day to day activities.   It certainly is true of my "program" for this year's medical mission.  I finally started feeling human again on Friday, which meant I could have gone out with the team on Saturday for the next round of clinics.  But Sara got sick again.  She came home on Thursday night running fever and was totally miserable all day on Friday.  So I stayed home with her while the rest of the group left Saturday.  

It feels strange to be missing out on all the hectic activity of the medical mission, but Sara and I have enjoyed having some quiet time to be together.  We've watched movies, played games, and done lots and lots of talking.  Today (Sunday) she is feeling much better, so we went to church this morning here on the mission.  David called from Kanchindu this afternoon, and we decided he would drive home to spend the night tonight and then we'll all go back to Kanchindu for the last two days of the clinics.  That's the program for now.  We shall see . . .  

Saturday morning one of the young men staying with us woke up sick with a stomach virus.  He was pretty miserable, but he and Dr. Neese decided he would go on out with the group and hope for the best.  He rode in the back of our pickup on a mattress for the trip to Kanchindu.  

One of our other houseguests remarked about our "sick" atmosphere:  "Staying here is  like living in a petri dish!"  

Update - July 17

I ended up getting sick the night before we were to leave for the first set of clinics.  Dr. Neese told me to stay home, so that's what I did.  I spent four days in bed with fever and congestion.   By Thursday night when the rest of the team arrived back at Namwianga I was feeling better and was able to be up and around on Friday.  

David and others reported that the clinics went well.  There were 59 baptisms at Simalundu and Kapau.  

Sponsorship Reception

Friday was a "Free Day" here at Namwianga in between trips to the bush for the clinics.  Medicines and supplies have to be restocked and packed, and everyone needs a little time to rest up before another grueling four days.  

Several team members are sponsors for students at Namwianga, so Friday afternoon we hosted a reception so that sponsors could meet and get to know their sponsored students.   

Zambia Medical Mission Web Site

The team is heading out for Simalundu in a couple of hours.  You can follow the adventure at www.zambiamedicalmission.com.