Match Made

I heard some great news this week!

This is Namatama Hamusankwa. (Try saying that three times fast!) She graduated from George Benson Christian College in December of 2010. Namatama trained to teach secondary math. She's smart, articulate, and a very dedicated Christian.
This is Brian Siakuba. He graduated in 2008. Brian trained to be a secondary math teacher. He's smart, articulate, and a very dedicated Christian.

The good news is that Brian and Namatama just got married! It's the first marriage of two of our sponsored students, and I couldn't be happier!

Brian and Namatama will make a great team! Brian moved to northern Zambia after graduation and is working with a church and supporting himself as a teacher. Namatama has now joined him. I know they'll be a blessing to the church, school, and community.

Sigh. I love a happy ending.

Look Who's Going to School!

These adorable scholars from the Eric's House orphanage just started going to preschool last week. Jason is the tall one in the back, and George is peeking out from the back as well. The others are Benja, Luke, Bright, and Shane. George and Jason are five years old, and the other guys are in the three and four-year-old range.

When I was at Namwianga in October, I could tell that Jason is very ready for school. He is fascinated with letters and words, and he couldn't get enough of writing and "reading" words. George could care less about that stuff, but he'll love the socialization!

I'm so happy for these little guys to have this opportunity. I'll bet their teacher will have some interesting stories to tell!

Mumena Mission Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

In Him,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

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

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

The Dung Beetle

Here is a fascinating article on the dung beetle, a common critter in the area of Africa where we lived. It's amazing how God's creation works!

Flexibility!

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

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

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Inquiring minds want to know these things.

1. What happened to your house in Zambia?

Brentwood Oaks built the house for us in 2005 knowing that when we were finished with it, the house would go back to the Mission. When we left, we recommended that the house be divided into a duplex and used as housing for teachers--a desperate need right now. The administration agreed and eight months later, the house is ready for new occupants. Parts of the verandas on both the front and back were enclosed to create additional rooms. Two small bedrooms were added onto the original living/kitchen/dining area. With one existing bedroom and bathroom, that side is now ready for a family to move in.

Our master bedroom became a new living area and kitchen on the other side of the house. The huge guest bedroom was extended onto the front veranda and then divided into three smaller bedrooms and a hallway. That side will now house three single male teachers.

I hope the new occupants love that house as much as I did. It will always be my favorite.

2. Who took your place(s) at Namwianga?

I guess we'd like to think no one could take our places, but that's not the case. Mr. Muwele took my ed psych classes (sniff, sniff), and Mr. Phiri took my English classes. Rod Calder is teaching David's Bible classes.

Rajiv Siamweela, a GBCC sponsored student when we left, now serves as assistant coordinator for the sponsorship program. He's very smart, computer-savvy, and ministry-oriented--the perfect guy for the job. Rajiv finished his college work in December and is now teaching math at the secondary school. He deserves his own blog post, and I'll try to do that soon.

3. What do you miss the most?

That's a tough question. I miss the gracious Zambian people and their warm, accepting ways. I miss the breath-taking sunsets and sunrises. I miss Sundays in the bush, sitting on logs in a thatched-roof mud brick building and singing Tonga songs. I miss George and Jason and their antics. Right now as I sit looking out my window and seeing the snow-covered landscape, I miss warm weather! I miss wearing Tevas and flip flops every day. I miss our American co-workers who blessed us so richly. And I miss the adventure of never knowing what crazy, dangerous, or hilarious circumstance was going to pop up that day. I miss Peace Corps volunteers who loved my cooking. I miss the simplicity of life without all the things we Americans think we need. Which of these I miss the most changes from day to day.

4. What do you NOT miss?

Grading term papers. Unrelenting requests for my time, my money, my advice, my possessions. I am thrilled that I can be a part of my grandson's life and see my children often, so I don't miss that loneliness and heartache of being too far away to share their lives. I don't miss the scariness of illness when medical care is unavailable. And I don't miss cobras, mambas, or puff adders. Or scorpions. Or wall spiders.

To be continued . . .

House Hunting

I'm posting random stories that didn't make it onto the blog when they were fresh and new--mainly because it was so hard to post with our slow internet. In fact, the last few months we were in Zambia, I couldn't post any photos on the Blogspot site. I e-mailed my posts to Michele Broadway and she posted them from Austin. It was a hassle.

But I digress. Our daughter Sara was visiting us and took pictures of us shopping for chicken roosts. We saw these interesting chicken houses/coops for sale on the roadside between Mazabuka and Lusaka, so we stopped and got out to look for new digs for the hens.

There were large apartment-style roosts.

And long row houses.

But we finally settled on the duplex shown here. Sadly, our hens didn't like it very much, and it fell apart after a couple of weeks. Oh well. At least the coop had some temporary style.

Proof

Here is the visual proof that my grandson has the most gorgeous blue eyes ever.

The Gregersen Family Photo - Christmas, 2010

Lately I have concentrated my posts on Namwianga news. But I took a look at my loyal blog followers and realized many of you are our friends and would like to know what's happening in our family. So that, plus the fact that I am ridiculously crazy about the people in the photo above, prompts me to give you a look at the Gregersens and tell you about our recent life events.

Son John and wife Leah are shown on the left with baby Jacob. John is handsome, thoughtful, and has the second most gorgeous set of blue eyes in the world. He's also very sweet to his mama, in case you're wondering. Besides being a great son to me, loving husband to Leah, and devoted dad to Jacob, John works for Border States Electric in Austin. He's also loyal fan of the UT Longhorns.

Leah, my absolute favorite daughter-in-love, may just be the best mother ever. I'm sure having a degree in family and consumer science and a masters in early childhood helps, but she also has an innate ability to relax and enjoy her baby while she efficiently manages a household and a challenging job. Leah works in a school district near Austin. She teaches parenting classes at two high schools and also goes to the homes of the young moms after they've had their babies to keep them up with their courses.

Baby Jacob has the most gorgeous blue eyes in the world, and of course he got those from his dad. He is now nine months old and practically perfect in every way. He is happy almost all the time and can melt my heart just about anytime with his adorable smile. His recent accomplishments include crawling, clapping with delight, and playing peek-a-boo with his grandfather.

David Anderson became the newest addition to our family when he married our daughter in June. He is my favorite son-in-love, thanks to his great personality, good looks, and how sweet he is to me. He also adores my daughter, so that gives him a few points too. David works for Suddenlink internet and is a devoted Aggies fan. We try to forgive him for the latter and seldom miss an opportunity to say "Hook 'em Horns."

David and our daughter Sara now live in College Station. Sara works as a technology specialist for the Bryan ISD. That means she helps teachers use Smartboards in their classes and assists them with all things computer-related. I'm counting on some one-on-one help from her when I go back to teaching. She's also taking online graduate courses through A & M. As if that's not enough, she works with the college women at the A & M Church of Christ. You go, girl.

My David, or First David, or Bwana--whatever we choose to call him--keeps busy as minister for the Mt. Vernon Church of Christ. He loves small town life as much as I do and looks forward to things like the Monday morning breakfast with the not-so-young guys at the Courthouse Cafe. He drives a Silverado pickup and hunts deer when he gets a chance.

Right now I'm unemployed and loving it, although I'm going to be applying for jobs for next year and hopefully will be substitute teaching this spring. I'm still coordinating the student sponsorship program at Namwianga via e-mail and Skype. I also teach a women's Bible study here and work with a Monday night girls' class. All of that plus re-adjusting to life in America has kept me occupied and pretty much out of trouble.

I loved being with my family at Christmas time. Leah and John hosted all of us at their house in Manor, just outside Austin. It was the first time David and I had been with our kids at Christmas since 2006, so it was extra special for us. And having a baby there to enjoy--well, it doesn't get much better than that.

Now that we have fast internet, I promise to post and respond to blog comments--something I had trouble doing in Zambia. So I'd love to hear from blog readers about what you would like to see on the blog and what you enjoy reading.

Remembering Christmas 2009

One fun part of our Christmas in 2009 didn't make it onto the blog, so in the spirit of Auld Lang Syne, here it is. We had a marvelous group of twenty-somethings at our house for an early Christmas dinner/party and gift exchange. The rule was that the gift had to be bought in Kalomo for less than $5.00. We had some great ones--note the lovely neon pink mirror with rhinestone trim that Meagan is holding. That was a hot item, along with Courtney's styling plastic apron and Jana's Winnie the Pooh bag. These young adults were so fun to be around--and fun to cook for!

Their current status: Betsy and Thomas (between David and me) got married in August. Mary (far left) spent last semester in Vienna with Oklahoma Christian University. Jana and Meagan (behind me) are living and working in Oklahoma City. Courtney (far right) married Meagan's brother Ben in June and is now teaching in OKC.

Update on Meagan Hawley: Meagan went back to Namwianga for Christmas this year. I can't wait to hear her stories!

Auld Lang Syne

Ah, New Year's Day is a good time to reflect on times past. I found these photos of Christmas in 2008 that brought back some good memories, so I thought I'd share them with you.
Richard and Sue Krogsgaard are from Canada. They spent several months in Zambia during 2008 and 2009. They have wonderful servant hearts and lots of energy for helping others. We loved working with them and watching them at work.

Dr. Jerry Templer and his wife Claudia are from Columbia, Missouri. Claudia grew up at Namwianga, the daughter of early missionaries J. C. and Joyce Shewmaker. She and Jerry lived in Zambia for several months in 2008 and spent Christmas with us. They were delightful guests and became dear friends. Claudia taught me some great card games. We now live just a few hours away from them and are hoping to renew our friendship on this side of the ocean.

Our Christmas dinner in 2008 was at the home of Rod and Sue Calder on Seven Fountains Farm. There were 50 or so of us--a delightful mix of Zambians, Canadians, Americans, and South Africans.

Fighting Malnutrition in Zambia

The article below is from the Imagine Zambia web site. I was especially interested because we had planted some of these moringa trees in our yard at Namwianga. One of our Zambian friends told us that an aid organization (NOT Imagine Zambia) brought moringa trees to his community several years ago and gave them away to the villagers to plant. However, no one bothered to tell the people how to use the trees for water purification or nutrition! Yet another example of aid improperly implemented and therefore ineffective.

Special Project: Moringa Trees for Zambia

Helping Zambia Fight Malnutrition!

Planting Moringa trees across Zambia

Imagine Zambia hopes to plant 20,000 trees for Ngabwe and 20,000 for Ministry of Education of Zambia (with 5 trees for every school at about 4,000 schools across Zambia.) We will plant a variety of trees including Moringa and fruit trees at locations across Zambia so that communities and students will learn about nutrition.

Moringa, which can be made into a powder, tea, or oil, provides significant quantities of potassium, calcium, protein, iron, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Moringa truly is the miracle plant: by using the dried seeds you can even purify drinking water overnight and kill 90-95% of bacteria in the water.

Across Zambia, we can also use these trees to provide nutrition for orphans, vulnerable children, expectant and breastfeeding mothers, and other people in the community who need immune boosters and access to clean drinking water.

These nurseries will also provide local farmers with seedlings for their own needs and propagation of diverse species of trees, herbs, and vegetables. They will be able to process the seeds and leaves and seedlings and sell them all over Zambia.

The nurseries will also restore vegetation in areas that have previously been cleared. This will increase overall production of food in the area, increasing food security. This will also exemplify good agricultural practices like composting and companion planting.

Graduation Ceremonies

This is another excerpt from the 2010 Term 3 Sponsorship Update. This report was written by Rajiv Siamweela, the assistant sponsorship coordinator.

Graduation ceremonies for George Benson Christian College and for Namwianga Christian Secondary School were held on two different days of the year, but each of them was a unique and great day. The ceremonies were a source of motivation to the sponsored students who are still in school/college and the graduates themselves.

NCSS Sponsored Graduates

GBCC Graduates

At each graduation ceremony, awards were given to outstanding students. During this time the auditorium was saturated with applause as the names of the sponsored students were everywhere in the air. As in years past, sponsored students received many of the top honors for scholarship and leadership.

College Award Winners

The following sponsored students won awards: Royd Kalonga – The spirit of the school; Abishine Mainza – Best student in academics; Japhet Ndaliiba – Best student in Bible studies; Rodwell Moono – Sportsman of the year

Secondary School Award Winners

These sponsored pupils scooped the secondary awards (shown below left to right): Cheelo Sikumbali – Leader of the year; Clifford Kabanda– Most responsible leader of the year; Viola Siangandu – Sportswoman of the year; Hassam Siamunomba – Third place in academics; Kenny Kasipa – The spirit of the school award.

All this success is made possible by the sponsors. In an interview with Kenny Kasipa about how he felt when his name was called, he said, “I cannot say anything without recognizing the good hand behind this success. It is a dream come true made possible not by me, but by my sponsor who really cares.”

Graduates Minister in Mporokoso District

This is an excerpt from the 2010 Term 3 Sponsorship Update. This report was written by Rajiv Siamweela, the assistant sponsorship coordinator.

Each year men of high integrity are sent out from the sponsorship program into the field as soon as they finish their courses. Two of these former students are Japhet Ndaliiba and Royd Kalonga who completed their studies at George Benson Christian College of Education in 2009. They were placed in the Mporokoso district in Northern Province—at different schools, but close to each other.

As is always the case, Japhet and Royd were sent out specifically to preach the word of God, and this they began to do as soon as they arrived in their new communities. Unfortunately, in the area where they were to serve, the local people had never heard of the Church of Christ. This status gave them a hard starting point.

At the earliest stages of their ministry the local people regarded them as Satanists who were there to cause confusion in the existing denominations. Sometimes they were threatened with beatings if they did not stop their preaching ministry. In one of his statements, Japhet said, “We have been termed as Satanists, and threatened to be beaten, but we will not cease.” With the power of the Almighty, they were able to stand firm and speak the truth even when they were initially rejected.

Now the church exists and is growing in the communities where Japhet and Royd teach. This achievement would have never been possible without the sponsorship program.

Japhet and Royd are only two of many former students who are spreading the gospel in remote areas of Zambia. At least 200 churches have been planted by GBCC graduates in the last 20 years, and many more congregations have been strengthened by the good influence of self-supporting leaders trained at Namwianga.

Japhet Ndaliiba

Royd Kalonga

Students Helping Others

Jean Kadonga is a GBCC student who is leading other youths as they reach out to help others. Jean writes about her efforts:

The Tumango Church of Christ youths felt they had a task in God’s work and had to do it as God wants them. The youths agreed to form a club which was given a name Tumango Church of Christ Youths Alliance.

The goal of the Alliance is to motivate people to establish an eternal relationship with God and to help youths to possess an intense desire to get outside their comfort zone and go to uncomfortable places to help the vulnerable, aged, widows and orphans. The Alliance is also there to strengthen, encourage, and build the youths spiritually and develop their talents and gifts so that they can find God’s plan in their lives.

Every Saturday from 14:00 to 16:00 hours all the youths gather and divide themselves into groups of five to eight. They go to help the people by washing dishes, fetching water, collecting firewood, sweeping, and helping with gardening. They also encourage people spiritually by talking to them about God, His works, and His mighty power.

At the end of every month, the youths buy things like cooking oil, washing and bathing soap, mealie meal, and foodstuffs to give to the needy ones. The orphans who are at school are given pencils, pens, and paper.

The youths in the Alliance do all these things because they have allowed God to work in them. Since the Alliance started in January of 2010, many people who had stopped worshipping have come back to the church. This is because of what they have seen us doing.

The vision of the Alliance is to reach outside our zone to other places like hospitals and prisons and to have an influence that will go on even to the next generation.

Jean is sponsored at GBCC and is training to become a math teacher. Many other students like Jean are making a difference in communities all over Zambia.

Lauren's Baby

If you're a long-term blog reader, you may remember Lauren, the young woman who lived and worked with us at Namwianga in 2006-2007. We grew to love her like our own daughter and had many great times with her.

Lauren moved to Dallas a couple of years ago and married Travis DeSisso in November of 2009. Last month Lauren had a very premature baby boy who was born at just 25 weeks. Kynian is in the neonatal ICU and will be for many more weeks to come as he struggles with a myriad of complications. Lauren and Travis would love your prayer support. You can read Lauren's blog by clicking here.

Ophan Co-op

This story from Roy Merritt brought tears to my eyes. I hope it touches your heart as well.

Roy Merritt and his wife Kathi oversee four orphanages at Namwianga Mission. Roy writes:

Have you ever heard of an “Orphan Co-op”?

Neither have we. Till now, anyway.

Orphans in Zambia are often an unwanted burden, so relatives and peers mock them and tease them.

Kanyameza Church of Christ took an interest in local kids whose parents are dead. To give them a pleasant, accepting time, they decided to gather them a couple times a week for group activities.

They would sing together, have Bible study. Sometimes they could even share gifts of food or clothes. They selected Cecelia Siafwiyo, in the red dress, as their chairman. (Cecelia is the housemother for Haven 1, the infant orphanage at Namwianga.)

The group declared December 4 as “Orphan Day”, so Cecelia invited them to Namwianga for a party.

Forty two kids came—and soon put our playground to the test.

This sixteen year old girl, Chrisensia, is raising her twin brothers Charles and Andrew. One of the dozens of child-led households in our community.

We ate lunch together.

After lunch the kids sang, recited poems and quoted memory verses.

This is one little girl’s poem

“AIDS AIDS

It killed my mother,

It killed my father,

I am an orphan.

No-one is left to love me.”

Then we shared out gifts – toys and clothes YOU have sent over here!

This little fellow got a grip on his “stuff” and wouldn’t let go!

May we never forget "the least of these" and the compassionate people like Cecelia and the Merritts who minister to them.

Guest Blog - Tires and Toilet Tissue

From Brian Davis, missionary at Mumena in Zambia's Northwestern Province:

Man seldom seems to be content with God’s ways. We seem to think that we can “improve” on divine will. As we are traveling south this month to encourage the church plants with whom we used to work in South Africa, I experienced a poignant reminder of this trend yesterday. I noticed that two of my tires kept losing air around their rims. After wrestling with this for 2000 kilometers, we finally had some time in Namibia to stop and have a tire shop look at the problem. As the men removed the tires from the rims, they kept pulling long strips of something from the inside of the tire. I couldn’t imagine what it was. I finally asked, and the workers replied, “It’s toilet tissue.” Dumbfounded, they explained to me, “Your tire shop must have used wet toilet paper to get the tire to seal. Shops with poor air pressure will use this technique.” Becoming annoyed, I asked, “Why?!” To which they responded, “Because it fixes their problem of not having the proper tools to do the job, but it leaves the driver with a slow leak in his rims that - as soon as the paper dries - can become a very big leak!”

In our relationship to God, I wonder how many “good ideas” we try to use (in our own understanding) that may result in a complete “blow-out” down the road: confusing gender equality with God created differences, confusing entertaining worship with spiritual worship, confusing efficiency with God ordained leadership pattern, confusing “what most people are doing” with what God wants done…

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 NIV

It’s worth considering,

Brian, Sondra, Noah, & Bryson

Pictured above: Can’t afford to have a flat with this many people wanting to go to worship! (picture by Ellis Smith, one of our campaigners in 2010)

For more information of our mission, visit our website at www.mumenamissions.org.

To contact our overseeing congregation, visit www.hillcrestonline.com.

Not Exactly the Holiday Inn

We found some very unusual signs in Zambia, and this was one of my favorites: the City Hope Butchery and Guesthouse.

Western Province

Andrew and Shadreck Sibwaalu recently took a trip over all of Zambia to visit GBCC graduates who are planting churches. They were also finding places for new grads to teach starting in January. This installment tells about their time in Western Province.

Crossing the river was a challenge--no engine, no pilot, no oars. They used a people-powered pontoon. The cable stretches right across the river. People who want to cross have to walk or drive on, then haul on the rope till they reach the other side.

The deep sand created challenges again and again. This time the tires were so deep that it took two hours to dig the truck out. The guy in the glowing red shirt is a GBCC missionary, Bright Hamuyayi (one of my former students--and his name is very accurate!). His head teacher (the school principal) wants more people like him.

We have never had a church in Senanga, so Shadreck and Andrew spent some time there praying for a contact to help them. This lady noticed the Namwianga sign on the truck door, and invited them to start a congregation using her. She grew up at Kabanga Mission.

Later in Senanga market, a young man smiled as he walked towards the vehicle. He is a son to Ba Kabisa, a strong church member who used to live at Mutala ranch—a property right next to Namwianga Mission.

The boy is at Senanga high school doing his grade 12. He told Shadreck that he knew people who really want open a church of Christ. They met and talked at a guest house that afternoon. Chances look good for a new congregation in this town.

One of the new churches meets in this building. Lozi people are famous for being good thatchers. We have thatched buildings on the mission that were roofed by Lozi men more than 20 years ago—and they still don’t leak. The youngster in the pink shirt thatched this one

Pearson Choonga is another of my former students. He now is teaching at Lukulu. The school gave him one of their better houses. The headmaster says he wants five more missionaries like Pearson!

Pearson’s kids have learned to play soccer in that Western sand.