Christmas

For Christmas the missionaries who were left in Zimba traveled by bus to Lusaka to spend some time with a missionary we know up there. It was a nice time. We stayed at a couple's house. They were missionaries with Christian Blind Mission. The man was American and the wife was Norwegian. For Christmas Eve dinner there was nine people. 3 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Norwegian, 4 Dutch. One of those was born in Indonesia but now living in the Netherlands. Anyway, the talk around the table was unlike I had ever experienced. There were opinions on things from all different points of view. It was an interesting evening. To hear the different views of church, Christmas and whatever else came up was challenging and insightful. Oh yeah the food was fantastic. At 23 hours we went to Church at an Anglican Cathedral. So the service was quite Catholic, but it was neat to see Christmas celebrated in a different place. The service was long and we did not leave to about 01 hours.


Christmas Day was very restful. After sleeping in we just hung out all the rest of the day. We just enjoyed each other's company. We ate, played some games, went swimming in an outdoor pool, and took a nap. The guy whose house we were at wanted to play chess. I know how to move the pieces around so I played. He beat me very bad every time. I will definetly have to brush up on chess strategy. In the evening we went to an American doctor's house and had dessert with him and his family. He is here working for the US government on a malaria project. He was a very interesting guy to talk to. I learned a lot.

I was just struck by the sense of community that was there among all the different people. I have really been stretched to meet new people from all over the world. I was also struck by how there was no hidden agendas, no expectations. We could just be. It was a nice relaxing weekend and a Christmas unlike one I have ever had.

December Update

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Thank you for your continued support. I do appreciate it greatly.


This month I want to tell you about a very humbling and unexpected event that happened here a few days ago. The Wesleyan Mission here at Zimba had an old Toyota HiLux that had been replaced. So it was just sitting here not used. We had a missionary council meeting and the idea was brought up to give the vehicle to a rural health care clinic. We discussed the idea and it was decided upon.


The truck was prepared to be given to Siatchetema Rural Health Care Clinic. The truck was presented to them and they were so happy. They needed something to transport patients who are very ill to a larger hospital. They had been relying on a truck from a town 45 km away to come when they needed. Needless to say, this was less than ideal. Anyway, they were very happy to get the truck and so they organized a celebration ceremony for the arrival of the truck. Some very important people were there. The head chief of the whole Siatchetema area and a bunch of local village head men were there, the medical administrator, district superintendent, and a couple of representatives from the Zimba Mission. Me and Selinda another missionary from Zimba were picked to go. I had to drive the other missionary and the medical administrator. We got there and were promptly marched up front of the room along side the head chief, village head men, the district superintendent, and head of the clinic. We were treated like royalty. There was quite a program with singing and dancing. Each one gave a speech; some were longer than others, and Selinda gave a speech as well. We were told that they had been praying to God to meet this need and that we were the answer to their prayers. Their words and actions made us both feel very humbled and honored.


I don't think I have ever been told I was part of an answer to prayer. The head chief and the others talked about a plan on how to take care of the vehicle as well, with diesel and general maintenance. They were taking ownership, which is a good thing. The whole day was a wonderful experience.

This whole experience made me think of Acts 20:35 -
"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"


Thank you again for your support and have a wonderful holiday season

Praise!

Thank you for your prayers. This last week I needed them. A couple of days ago I was working with a man here at the mission trying to repair a lawnmower. We had to weld up the deck because where the motor bolted to the deck was broken. Anyway, the other man was grinding a piece of metal to get it to fit right and I was standing there when a piece of hot metal got into my eye. I started crying immediately. My eye was watering but the thing would not come out. So I came into the mission and asked the cook if she could see anything in there. She said, "Wow, yea." I tried to wash out my eye with water and I felt the piece of metal move a little but it still would not come out. I asked the cook if she could still see it and she said, " Yea and I think I can get it with my finger." As I stood there bracing my eye open she reach in with her finger and was able to get it out of my eye. It was about the size of the head of a pin. My eye was a little sore, but otherwise no problem. Praise God.
Then the following day we were welding on the same lawnmower and I was sitting on a stool right next to this car battery that was getting charged. I was next to this battery for probably three hours helping fit the pieces that needed to be welded. Then the man I was working with needed to grind a piece of metal. I got up and went outside the building after learning my lesson from the day before. All of a sudden the battery exploded, and sent acid and battery chunks all over where I just had been for the last three hours. Neither I nor the other man was hurt, but another close call. Praise God.
Oh yea we finally got the lawnmower working, which is another praise.

World AIDS Day

December 1 was World's AIDS Day. At the hospital there was a commemoration ceremony. This included a speech from Dr. Dan Jones, the CMO of the hospital, and one other special speaker. Also it included dancing and music. This day is one to continue to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and to let everyone know about the ARV treatments. It also helps to remove the stigma of the disease, and tries to lessen the prejudice towards ones with the disease. All the students from the local schools came and marched with an AIDS Day banner. The staff at the hospital and whoever else wanted to came and enjoyed the commemoration. HIV/AIDS is a huge problem here; 1 in 6 people have the disease. Here are some pictures.

People Gathering for the Ceremony -


The Traditional Dancers



Dr. Jones making his speech -

Zambian Church Service

I want to describe to you all a Zambian church service. We, as the missionaries here, go around to different Wesleyan Churches in the area. Partly we do this to spread our tithes and offerings around and partly because we want a change of pace and to get out of Zimba. But for the churches that we have encountered the format is basically the same. Some churches are bigger than others, some have better choirs than others, one even has electricity, but the Spirit of God is in each place.
Today I want to share with you about Calvary Wesleyan Church out in the bush. It is about 15 kms or so off the beaten trail. The path to drive on is very narrow and rough, but the little church is located on a little hill. It is made of mud bricks with a grass roof. The pews are trees that are cut and placed on a couple of bricks. The first two pews are concreted bricks. This church is really small, with mostly women and children. I don't know where all the men are.
Upon arriving, we are greeted warmly and ushered to the first two pews in the front. The end of Sunday School and the beginning of Church is not easily determined. There is a time of singing. This goes on for a long time then the pastor gets up and welcomes everyone and sings another song. Then there is a time of special music and telling what God has done. There usually is a couple of different groups that come up and share. It is a wonderful time. The people sing for all they are worth whether or not they are on key. It is refreshing. After that the secretary of the Church comes up and gives announcements. I hear that the offering the week before was only about K4000, which is less then a dollar. After that the choir comes up and sings a few songs. At Calvary the choir is not that big, but the people sing loud and that little building almost shakes. They usually sing three or four songs and then are seated. Following is a time of tithes and offerings and then a time of prayer. Again everyone prays out loud. So I do as well. Once that is concluded the pastor comes and gives his message. This time there is no interpreter so he just does it in Tonga. Listening is hard because of the language barrier, but you can hear his passion and it still speaks to the soul. He spoke on Romans 7. "I do what I don't want to do, and I don't do what I want to do." When he is finished we are all escorted out first and we line up and shake everyone's hand that is at Church. It is a lot of shaking hands, but it is good to do that. It is all about relationship here. Shortly after we jump in the truck after saying our goodbyes and are on our way back to Zimba after about three hours in Church.


Pictures of the Church -

Elephant Encounter

Today was a weird day. I started off working with the I-TEC team that is here. They are upgrading the electrical system. Today also a few of the team had to go to immigration in Livingstone. They had immigration problems to say the least; so I had to take the Head Administrator of the hospital to Livingstone to help figure out the situation. Also along with the administrator I had to be the ambulance driver. There were two patients that needed to go to Livingstone General Hospital. We got all loaded up and left about 12 hours. Driving on the road to Livingstone is always an adventure. As we got closer to Livingstone, we drove around one corner and there were two semi trucks coming directly at us in both lanes. The one had to go in the ditch and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid the accident. Then a few kilometers down the road, around another corner, an elephant walked out into the road. I slammed on the brakes and noticed three more on the right side of the road. Once the elephant on the road saw the truck it's ears went out and started charging the truck. The administrator was very excited and frightened. He kept telling me, "Back up, Back up." I kept backing up but the elephant kept coming towards the truck. I probably backed up a quarter of a mile or so, but eventually the elephant decided we were no threat and went to the other side. Once it was in the ditch we drove a little and then a huge elephant came across. He was BIG, but he did not bother us. After that we just drove by and headed to the hospital. I looked it the rear view mirror and even the sick patients were smiling. It made everybody's day. We got to the hospital, dropped off the patients and then headed to immigration to see if we could help the situation. To make a long story short we had to back the following day and meet a certain person to finalize the immigration problems. From day to day I never know what I'll be doing. It keeps life interesting.

Missions

You know, I am starting to see missions from the other side. The side of the people who are here before teams come and after they leave. I have observed that a lot of American groups come with the idea that they are going to come and save the world; fix everything in sight. Then they rush around for 10 days or so and are gone. The Zambians are not like that at all. It is all about the relationship. They don't care so much about how much gets done; they are more interested in who you are. They spend a lot of time talking not just being busy. Because of this people think that the Zambians are lazy. They just talk and nothing gets done. But I have observed that that is not the case necessarily. The Zambians I work with definitely are not up to American speed, but they do work hard on their own time and schedule. The man that was helping me with the bathroom project started work with about 07:30 and kept working until 18 or 19 hours., and he did a good job. The big difference difference between the two groups is what is they find is truly important. For the Americans that come it is what was accomplished. So they can go home and say we did this and this and this. For Zambians it is who we got to meet or got know, or who we talked to. So it has been interesting trying to bring these two sides together. How do you bring these polar opposites together?

Pictures of Bathroom Project - Work in Progress and Finished

Fixing a Flat Tire

I learned a little something a couple of weeks ago about fixing tires. One of the mission vehicles is a Toyota Prado. It is sort of like a SUV. The car had a flat tire. The tire was taken to Livingstone to get repaired. But by the time they got back to Zimba the tire was flat again. The next day we needed to use that vehicle so the tire needed to be fixed. I tried to pump it up and found a large bead leak. I thought how am I going to be able to break the bead of the tire and then clean it up and then try to pump it up again. One of the guys here at the mission said that in the market here in Zimba there is a shop that fixes tires. So we were going to bring it there. As we were rolling the tire through the market we ran into one of the drivers for the mission. We stopped to talk to him and he asked what was wrong. We told him a bead leak. He told us to just hammer the tire right where it is leaking and that will seal the leak. No breaking the bead no cleaning just a little hammering. I was skeptical, but we brought it back to the mission and as I pumped it up the other guy hit the tire where it was leaking. It worked! No more leak. By the way the spare is still holding air. I was very surprised; I learned something.

A Crazy Experience

I had the opportunity the other day to eat termites. When the rains come the termites come out and fly around. There are tons of them everywhere. We heard from some Zambians here that they are edible; just pull the wings off and pop them in your mouth. They can be eaten raw or fried. Some people catch a lot of them and fry them up and serve with a little salt. Anyway, one night we were eating supper and the termites were everywhere. The termites were bouncing off our heads, in the food, just all over the place. So as we ate we thought we should try them. One of us caught one and popped it in. Well once one of us tried them we all had to. So I caught one ripped the wings off and ate it. It only crunched a couple of times, and it did not taste too bad. It did not taste too strong. The next day I told one of the men I was working with on the bathroom project about eating termites raw. He said, “No, No.” They have to be fried and served with salt. To make a long story short. Now I am waiting for them to swarm again so I can catch a bunch and fry them up.

November Update

Dear Friends,

Muli Buti? (How are you?) Things in Zambia are going well.
Thank you for your continued financial and prayer support. I do appreciate it very much. I can not believe it; I have been here for almost four months now. Time flies.

Well the good news is that the bathroom project at the mission house is finally done. There are only a couple of small little things left to finish. We have water coming in and going out, and all the tiles are up on the wall. That is good news!

Now we have a group from the US at the mission. They are from I-TEC and Samaritans Purse. These guys are here for two weeks and are going to be working on the electrical system in the new operating theatre. They will be putting in a new sterilizer for cleaning the medical equipment and also an inverter for more constant power in the theatre. The power outages in Zimba are very frequent so this will help when the doctors are in the middle of surgery and the power goes out. It will be a very busy couple of weeks. I will be the liaison between the team and the Zambians. The team has a very ambitious agenda. Please pray that it goes well.

As you all well know, HIV/AIDS is a big problem in Africa . It hit very close to home a couple of weeks ago when I found out the man I work with directly in the maintenance department at the hospital has it. Here we had been working side by side everyday for about two and a half months and I did not know it. It made me think about a lot of things. For instance, how did he get it? Why did he get it? Am I going to catch it? How long is he going to live? Also with this new information how is my relationship with him going to change? Should it or shouldn't it?

Sincerely,

Jesse Van Horn

What's in a Name

I was talking to a man here at the mission the other day about names and there meaning. His surname is Mushabati, which means big sands or lots of sand. His first name is Million. He told me that when he was younger his parents did not name him because a number of his brothers and sisters died young and they thought he would as well. But he survived childhood and grew up a little and somewhere he heard the word Million and liked it; so he started calling himself Million. Only later when he got into school did he find out that 'Million' was a big number.
It just got me thinking about the importance of a name. Names in the US don't seem to hold such meaning as they do here; but here in Zimba most people are just known by one name. If one asks for someone rarely is their full name used. Is Edie, Dennis, Collins, Jesse there? Everyone just knows. I have met others with names like Gift, Difficult, Average, and Precocious.
I have a man helping with the concrete work on this bathroom project and his name is Leonard. One day it was about 9:30 before he came so I started asking if anyone had seen him. The person I asked knew who I was talking about and had seen him in the market. He was coming. There is power in a name.
Continuing this thought, it reminded me of Philippians 2:5-11 where God gave His Son, Jesus, the name that is above every name. The verses tell us that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord. At the name Jesus people are healed physically and spiritually. At His name, demons are cast out and strongholds broken down. Because of what Jesus did in here there is so much hope for the future; so much love. The importance of a name.

Relaxing on Saturday

October Update

Thank you for your continued support as I continue here in Zambia. SO far in October I have not really left the mission compound. My task has been to totally redo the bathroom here at the mission house. There has been only one shower here so when large teams come it takes them a long time to clean up, and it always seems to mess up dinner time. The doctors here wanted to change that so I have been trying to make two rooms out of one and put in an extra shower. So far me and a couple of others have been at it about two weeks. Many dirty, tiring days, but we are making progress. Just painting and putting the tiles up remain. The work has been going smoothly but you know how it goes once you start tearing stuff apart where do you stop? It has been the same here. The only bump in the road has been we can't find enough tiles for the project. The other missionaries here at the mission have been searching like crazy in Livingstone, Choma, and any where else they can think of. That part has been frustrating.
One story about food. We walked to a bush Church a couple of weeks ago. It is one of my favorite Churches here. Anyway after the service they wanted to feed us lunch. They were some other visitors as well, so they wanted to do something special. We could not refuse. To do that would be an insult to them. They served us nshima, rape, and beef, which was the intestines and the belly meat called tripe. The meat had huge blood vessels running through it and was very chewy, but otherwise not to bad. Always an adventure. Thanks again for your support.

Leonard - He is helping me with the concrete work -


Hole in the wall into one of the rooms -

Exploring Zambia

Victoria Falls

Roaming Animals

Other than working with the team that was here. I had to drive out in the bush and get a patient, who was still bleeding after giving birth to a baby. The bleeding just wouldn't stop so they asked me if I would go get her. She was at one of the Rural Health Clinics that are in the villages around Zimba about 25 kms away. So me and a couple of nursing students went. When we got there, they examined here and said we should take her back to the hospital. So we loaded her up with the baby and went to the hospital. Later on I found out that they helped her and she was better-- no more bleeding.

At the Zimba Mission Hospital, there is a lot of wildlife that come wondering through. On a regular basis we see herds of cows, goats, and even donkeys come through grazing on the grass at the hospital. The picture is of the cows at the hospital. I have not had my camera when the donkeys have been there. There are chickens also, but they are at the hospital all the time so I've gotten used to seeing them. The animals are all let to wander freely so that is why they end up at the hospital.

This week has been another busy one. The team from St. Louis left on Thursday. They worked hard and accomplished a lot. They accused me of trying to kill them, because of the project. They were just joking though. They finished putting the last trim boards on the last day they were here. We had only a couple of big interruptions. One was the roof over the veranda by the wards fell in. This one only took a day to fix. The other one surprised everyone. We took the old ceiling boards in the nurses' room down and we could not believe what we saw. There was a three foot cement and brick wall above the ceiling. It was not supported by anything. Why did it not fall down? The only thing I can think is by the grace of God. We had to brace it and then take it down piece by piece. It only slowed the group down a half of a day. Evidently there used to be a wall there; someone removed the wall and left the part above the ceiling. Why? I don't know. As a group we asked the same question. Otherwise the team did a great job. The nurses and maintenance guys are very happy that that is fixed.
Now that the St. Louis team is gone, the project is redoing the bathroom in the mission house. The last couple of days have been demolition days. Here are some pics.


The suspended wall -




The bathroom project -

Shopping

Shopping is one of my least favorite things to do. Back in the US when I would have to go shopping I would try to delay it as much as possible, I would dread it; I would try to figure out a way not to do it. Anyway, I say all that to say here in Zambia I am doing a lot of shopping and it is stretching me. Now that I can drive I have to travel to Livingstone quite a bit doing different things. When some of the people at the hospital and the mission find out that I am going to Livingstone I get their lists as well as what I was going for. And there is no such thing as a short trip to Livingstone either. It takes a good hour and a half to get there and then I usually have lists upon lists of business that needs to get done.

Shopping is not like in the US where Wal Mart is a one stop shop for everything under the sun. Here if you need fruit you go to one store, and if you need toilet paper you have to go way across town. Looking for hardware parts is also the same. There are three or four hardware stores and they all have to be visited to find all the material one needs. The other day I asked for a pretty common thing, I thought: some soft wire for tying things. The shop I went to did not have it; they were out. I had to go across town. The shops are different also. There are no aisles to wander down and look. As one walks in there is a counter that you reach and you have to ask if they have the parts. Then they disappear looking for it. Which usually takes a while. After looking sometimes they have it and some times they don't. For me it can be a draining experience.

Sometimes a couple of Zambians come with. Usually we drop them off and I go one way and they go the other. They do their personal business and I work on my lists. But at the end of the day trying to get everybody in the same spot at the some time to back to Zimba can be challenging. "Let me look for one more thing." "There is a little shop on that side." After waiting for what seems to be a very long time everybody gets in one spot and all get into the truck and head for Zimba.

Unforseen Delays

They have been doing a good job even though there has been some distractions and some unforeseen delays. Thursday part of the roof that is covering the veranda of the male and female wards fell in so the team helped us put it back together. This part of the roof was concrete and asbestos tile so it was heavy. The wood supporting the tiles was rotten and finally broke. We had ordered some wood quite a while ago and finally got it 3 days ago so it was perfect timing. So the crew lost a day on their project but helped out on another one.

Maternity Ward Ceiling

Part of my responsibility at Zimba Mission Hospital is when a construction team comes, I have to oversee them and have things organized so they have a project to do. My first work crew came last Sunday and have been here all week. There are 3 guys from a Wesleyan Church in St. Louis MO. They raised the money to redo the maternity ward ceiling and fix the roof.
So last Monday, me, one of the team members, and a driver went to Livingstone to buy the supplies needed for the project. Of course it took all day, but we got what they needed. The ceiling boards in the maternity ward were sagging really bad because of water damage and a lot of insect damage. They could have fallen pretty much at anytime when the crew started to rip them down not much was holding them up. So the project was to remove the old and fix the roof from leaking and then put up the new boards. The project is going pretty well and there is progress.

Tearing the old ceiling out of the maternity ward to get ready to redo it -

Pastor Steve

Vito painting the boards before they went up-


Mike and Elisha putting up a light fixture after the roof was fixed -


Maternity ward under construction -

Fixing the Water Tower

Here I am with Million and Alfred working on the water tower. We had to patch a hole in the bottom of the tank. It had a pretty good size crack, and was leaking a lot.

Ambulance Driver

Friday, I did my first ambulance run. All the other drivers were gone, and there was a toddler who came in and had something obstructing his airway. He was weasing pretty bad. The doctors made the decision to send him to Livingstone. I had to drive. Me, a nurse, and 5 family members plus the toddler all jump in the Hi Lux, a little Ranger size pickup, and headed to Livingstone. I did not drive very slow over that very bumpy road and I think the ones in the bed of the truck got an uncomfortable ride. We got the baby and the family to Livingstone General Hospital in about an one and a half hours. He was still breathing albeit struggling very much, and weasing a lot. We dropped them off and went back to Zimba. I don't know what the outcome was.

Chabbaboma

Last Thursday I drove a group to Chabbaboma, which is a little village about 4 hours away from Zimba through the mountains and over a very narrow, bumpy road. There is a little health clinic and once a month we go there to help. The village is pretty close to Lake Kairba. It is tradition to shop for fish every time we go this health clinic so some people from Zimba put their order in. Being I drove I had to go shop for fish. Another man went with me and we arrived at a little village by the lake. After doing some talking and asking we found fish. There was a young lady at the place we bought fish and she recognized the man I was with. They talked for a while and he told me later that she had been a patient at the clinic. She has HIV/AIDS, and had been really sick. She was doing better but she had a baby with her and while they were talking she was breast feeding her baby. If the baby did not have HIV from being born; the baby would surely have it through being fed. Which is worse? Letting the baby starve to death because she cannot afford formula or be fed from the mother and live his life with HIV/AIDS. This hit me as I saw it all unfold before me.


Lake Kairba and a fishing boat. They use it to fish for Capenta, little small minnows that they dry and eat whole. They are not too bad. A real strong fishy taste though



Buying fish, breem, at the little village next to Lake Kariba. They sell them by weight--kgs

How to be a Missionary?

I don't know how to be a missionary. I came over to Zambia to help them and I don't know where to start. The other day one of the workers at the hospital asked me to borrow a bunch of Kwacha in order to buy 2 oxen. I did not do it because then everyone would start asking me for money. But on the other hand with my support money, I could probably buy 10 or 15 oxen. What is the best to do? Then I felt guilty because I see him everyday at the hospital. What is a legitimate need I should invest in and what is not? Please give me wisdom Lord.
Last Wednesday I drove a group to Chundwe, a little village about 40 kms from here, since now I have my drivers license. While I waited for the meeting to finish, I had 2 brothers come up to me and ask me for a job. One told me his story. How he is just a peasant farmer and has only enough maze to feed his family till December. Then he just spends his time figuring out how to get food. He has three children, is 33 and said he just wants to get something, anything before he is 40 and his life expectancy is over. I do not have any job to give him. I have enough money to buy him maze for years, but how does one really fight the problem of poverty and change something.
Another man that came to me was drunk. He just wanted to talk. He told me that he wanted me to pray for him cause he does not want to drink anymore. I asked him if he was serious and after talking in circles for a while because he was not making too much sense; I prayed. Then after we were done praying he looked at me and told me I should give him my glasses, then my hat, and then my boots. I told him I could not do that. Then he said that he wanted to know Jesus and if I could tell him about Him. I asked him if he was drunk or if he was really serious. He said he was drunk, but that he really wanted me to tell him. So I told him about Jesus and how to become a believer. He did not pray but he told me thanks. After that he was quiet for a while, then he asked me for a job. “I want job.” He said. I told him I did not have any job to give. He just looked at me. Shortly after the meeting was done and I drove the group back to Zimba thinking that I don't have a clue at what I am doing. It's hard to know what to do because everyone has a story and a need.
Trying to make friends with Zambians is hard because it seems if you talk to them too long they will ask for something. Then I am back to if it is a legitimate need or not. I want to build relationships with them, but I can't give money to everyone. Where does God want me to invest; how does He want me to invest?

Driver's License Saga - Continued

Update on Drivers License:

On Tuesday the 9th of September I went for my test. It was scheduled for 14 hours. Me and Collins, one of the driver's at the hospital, got there early. At 1400 hours the gentleman who gives the test came. He was on time. There was 8 people testing. All in small cars except for me. I had a big, flatbed truck-- rated for about 8,000 pounds.

The others all went first; some did better than others. The driving test consists of going through cones that are set up in a T shape. Each person has to go forward than turn to the right then back up from where they came. After that they do the same to the left. The object is not to hit any cones. This day out of the ones testing 2 passed, me and another man. The thing is the cones were so close together it was a bigger challenge then what it sounds like. Being I had a bigger truck the gentleman giving the test adjusted the cones. But when he did that he made them plenty wide so I had no trouble doing the backing. In fact, a Zambian man told me after that he must like me because they were way to wide and that Mukuwa's never fail. I don't think that was meant for a compliment. Anyway I had to get my paperwork signed along with the other one that passed. The man who did the test told me that if I follow him down to the other office I could get everything processed and paid for and get my papers that said I can drive. So me and Collins waited; by this time it was getting late probably 16 or 16:30 hours. He was finally ready to go and we followed. When we arrived at the other office, he got out of the other car and immediately told me that it was to late I would have to come back.

So this last Thursday I got another opportunity to go to Livingstone and get everything taken care of. I came to the office where he told me to come back thinking I was at the right spot. I stood in live for 30 minutes until he walked by and saw and told me I was at the wrong office the paperwork I needed was across town. "Get it and come back." So I called the driver and asked if he could come get me and take me to get my papers. Upon arrival at the office across town. I promptly stood in line for another 30 minutes till I could see a man to help me. He gave me the paper and we were off to the other office again. I was back where I started and stood in line again. I got to the front of the line and saw the man again and he asked me where my provisional license was? No one ever mentioned that to me. I had brought it, but it was still in the truck with the driver somewhere in Livingstone. So I told him I did not have it with me. He said I needed it in order to get the paper that told me I could drive legally. The provisional license needed to be filed; I could not keep it. I begged him to please to just do what needed to be done in order to get the license paper, and I would bring the provisional license paper back as soon as I could. He finally agreed and put it in the system. I went to the cashier; paid a fee and told him I would be back with the other paper I forgot. He agreed and I got the paper that says I have a license. After that the first thing I did was to walk and find the truck and get the provisional license I forgot and then returned it to the man. He was happy and so was I. Now in about a month I will go back one more time to the RTSA office and pick up the plastic card driver's license and my driver's license saga will be over.


The truck I took my test in -

September Update

Muli Buti(how are you),

Thank you very much for your continued support. Your prayers and financial support are appreciated very much.

These first couple of months have been very busy as I am getting into the swing of what is happening at the hospital and what needs to be done. Some of the things that me and my coworkers in maintenance have completed since I have been here is getting the lights in the big theater & the lights in the TB ward operational, erecting a gate at the main entrance, hooking up a second bore hole albeit only temporary cause it still needs work when I can get parts, and repairing various plumbing leaks.

There are a couple of projects that have been started at Zimba Mission Hospital since I have been here: a new septic system for the female ward, a sidewalk to go from the wards to the outside patient toilets, and the building of another Zambian doctor's house. There has been progress on these, but also some challenges.

There are also a few projects that are in the works: the redoing of the bathroom at the Mission House, the fixing of the leaky roof over the maternity ward and the replacement of the ceiling there as well. There is a construction team coming toward the end of September who will be helping with that. There is a lot to keep track of and a lot going on at the Zimba Mission Hospital.

Also, Dr. Dan Jones and Mr. Shah, a hardware store owner in Livingstone, and I will be having a meeting within the next couple of weeks to discuss the building of a new out patient department building as well a new chapel.

Maintenance Pictures

The sewer system that they are building for the female ward. They do this all by hand. All the shoveling and building of the tank. The big tank is the septic tank, and the littler one is the soak away.
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the main electrical box for the hospital


A water inlet to a sink that was leaking. It was like that when I removed it. All kinked up and they used a plastic bag for thread tape

Am I ready to be poured out as an offering?

I have been reading, My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers as a devotional book. The last couple of days of reading really made an impression on me. The author asks, the question, “Am I ready to be poured out as an offering?” One quote I was reading said, “it is one thing to follow God's way of service if one is regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under others feet.” Fixing a leaky faucet or pipe, or replacing a light fixture is not glamorous. Does anyone even notice? One thing I have noticed not just in Zambia but back in the US as well is when things are working maintenance goes unnoticed, but when things are broken maintenance is front and center. Usually being questioned why stuff is not working. Am I willing to be behind the scenes wrestling between not being noticed and then being noticed because something has broken?

Another statement that hit me was, “Am I willing to give and be poured out until I am used up and exhausted- not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister?” I am really wrestling with that because here I am viewed as a rich, white guy who has everything. Let him come up with the money; let him work on it. Is there ever an end to service? Is there ever a point when one is too much a 'doormat'. When the contractors, in there contracts jack up the price only because I am a Makuwa (white man). Granted it is only a couple of hundred dollars, but here that is a lot of money. I don't know; I think how would Jesus react and act; and at this point I am not sure. I like serving, helping; and I try to show my love for the Zambians by doing these things, but will I ever be seen as anything other than a source of money? And then how does all that play into being poured out as an offering? Does God worry about getting taken advantage of for a couple of hundred more dollars like I do? God please give me wisdom.

The Driver's License Saga:

One thing that is needed badly at the hospital is another driver. They had three, but one went back to school so that leaves only two and they take turns being on call to drive people around at night. So the doctors, when I arrived, told me that I should work on getting my Zambian drivers license. This way I can help at the hospital driving if someone needs to be picked up or if a patient needs to be transferred, or to go and get maintenance supplies.

I did not realize fully the process it is to get a Zambian drivers license though. It is just one of those things that cannot be described; it has to be experienced.

In Livingstone, there are 2 RSTA (Road Safety and Transportation Agency) offices, and depending where one is in the process determines which office one goes to. The first step is to get a medical form, which includes a physical. I work with Dan and Joan Jones, the two doctors at the hospital, so that part was not hard after going to the right office to get that form. Dr. Joan filled it out and signed it; no problem. Here is where the saga starts. The next step was to go to the other office across town and show them my medical form and pick up an application for the license. So we went there the same day seeing if I could get the application. We arrived at 14:30 and no one was there, but people were lined up 20 deep outside the office door. A good 45 minutes later the office opened; I finally got to to talk to the gentleman and he said that they don't give out the applications they fill them in right at the office. Today he was really busy so I should come back tomorrow.

On our next trip to Livingstone about a week later I stopped back at that office and the gentleman that fills out the application was not there but another man gave me an application. The rules change depending on who you talk to. He said that the gentleman would be back tomorrow and I could get helped. The next day we were back in Livingstone again. This time I had my application filled out and I was ready for the theory part of the exam-- sign identification and memorize the 10 basic rules of driving. But the office was closed due to the one year anniversary of the President of Zambia's death. They were all at a memorial service, but the office was open in the afternoon. I don't know why they did not tell me that the day before. So we waited and came back in the afternoon and had to wait in line only to be told come back tomorrow. That day they were doing practicals-- the actual driving test. I went back to the vehicle and told Dr. Joan what the gentleman had said and she decided to go and talk to him. She went and told him we were from Zimba Mission Hospital and drivers are needed and that the road in between Zimba and Livingstone is really bad so please help us. Come to find out the gentleman had had a little surgery done at the hospital and had a good experience so he told her if we wait he might be able to help us. After all the driver's tests were done, which was about two and a half hours later he helped us. He filled out all the paper work and gave me the theory test, which I did fine on, but then he said that he needed a copy of my passport and work permit. No one told me that before and it was getting pretty late. He said that he would wait while I rushed over across the street to get photocopies made. So I hurried and this step in the process was finally done. Now I had to go back to the first office I was at and pay a little money and get my photo taken. On our next trip to Livingstone we stopped at the office and I stood in line to pay, get my picture taken, and right thumb scanned. That part did not take too long, probably an hour, but they said I had to wait another week before I could get scheduled to take the test. Don't ask me why. So we waited another week and on our next trip to Livingstone I stopped by the office to get scheduled for a driving test and he said I was at the wrong office. I needed to go to the other one across town to get scheduled, then come back and pay. So we drove across town and I waited in line again to get scheduled. This time it did not take too long-- 30 minutes. Then went back across town to pay and the gentleman took my money and said,”Good luck on your test.” My test is scheduled for Tuesday Sept. 9, 2009. I will let you know how I do.

A Typical Day at Zimba Mission Hospital

August 31st -


I rise at 7:00 am and then eat a little breakfast-- a couple pieces of bread with peanut butter and some juice- usually apricot. I have a little quiet time and then off to face the day. Staff devotions are at 8:00 am. I am on time but usually the lesson doesn't start until 8:15 or so. The later the time the more people show up. Then announcements which vary in length of time. The devotion is ended by someone saying, “If there are no announcements you may go and work.” As I leave the room I have to shake hands and say good morning to most of the people. It is just a must do. The morning hellos and meetings with each other are very important. The real conversation can't start till the greetings have been shared. Then off to maintenance where my work partner is usually close by talking. Mondays are busy. After opening maintenance, many people come-- some to borrow stuff, some to tell us what needs fixing, some just to talk, and the contractors to get supplies. It takes at least an hour sometimes 2 before Dennis and I can plan what we are doing for the day. Today we decided to go to the theatre (operating room) and fix lights. There is a fixture that has not worked since they built the room and another fixture is missing. With the ladder, screwdrivers, and an electrical tester in tow we head for the theatre. I have to crawl up in the crawl space above the ceiling to look for the wires. The crawl space was pretty small with lots of spider webs. The rafters are about 5 feet apart so it was a challenge to stay on them. I located the wires and they were not hooked up to anything. Whoever built the theatre forgot to hook the wires up. After looking around I found the place where they were supposed to hook to. It was another fixture. Once I found were the wires were supposed to go, it was not overly difficult to finish the job. It was a good thing me and Dennis did it in the morning because it was very hot. I was sweating like crazy. Lunch is here at 12:30 so by the time we finished there was only half an hour before break time. During this time Dennis was helping me learn Tonga. I am catching on to a few phrases. Break goes from 12:30-14:00 or so. Nobody comes back at 14 hours, but usually by 14:30 Dennis is back. Lunch was good: chili today. Edie, the cook, is very good a few American dishes. Dennis and I found out that the government placed another maintenance man here at Zimba. We met him later on. After lunch we worked on a pretty big leak behind the laundry building. By this time the sun is high and warm. Temperatures in the mid 90's in the shade, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and windy; typical dry season day. We fixed it by moving the flare rings back on the pipe a little so more pipe went into the fitting; and we tightened it good. It only drips once a minute or so. We considered it a victory and moved on. By this time we have to watch the contractors digging in the septic system for the female ward because there are existing water where they are diggin; and they are not gentle. Quitting time is 16:30 but right before we fixed the door handle into the female ward. The handles and lock assembly needed to be replaced. The locks are skeleton keys, which surprised me a lot. Dennis and I locked the building and we each gave each other goodbyes in Tonga.(tolla bonana alimwa) which means see you again. Back at the mission brings a shower and seeing how the others' day went, and dinner. After dinner is just sit around time. It includes reading, sudoku, visiting, and playing games. As I write this, a couple of fellow missionaries are going over Tonga flash cards. This was a very typical day for me.

August 23rd

Sunday Aug 23 I got to assist in my first minor surgery. Dr. Dan was called to the hospital to check on a couple of patients and while there a lady arrived with a crochet hook jambed right through her hand. She was crocheting in the back of a vehicle on it's way from Livingstone to Zimba and the vehicle hit a bump and she jambed the crochet through her hand. Dr Dan called me and asked if I had anything to cut a hook off with. I had a pair of pliers that can cut a lot; so I went down and helped him get the hook out of the lady's hand. She was pretty sore but happy.


Wiring in a new light fixture in the registration room

Working on the Well

I got my pride knocked down a little the other day. I was trying to weld a piece of galvanized pipe to some steel and I was burning through it and not able to get the two sides to stick together. I was having all kinds of problems. Then a guy from the hospital who is a yard man, came and said let me try and it took him about thirty seconds that the weld was done and it all stuck together. I am learning as well

Dennis and Jesse working on the well -

August 22nd

Today Wedon, the anesthetist at the hospital, got married. The wedding was held at one of the local churches and we went. Boy what a production. The whole community has been preparing for this day for weeks. All the employees at the hospital were excited; the ladies especially. The mission house was full of muffins and about three wedding cakes. The church was decorated with colored toilet paper and balloons. The service started at 9:00 am, but the bride and groom came about 11:00 am. In the meantime we just sat and waited, with a little dancing and singing mixed in. When the wedding party finally came, the church was packed to overflowing with people. As each group of the wedding party proceeded to the front of the church, they danced. It was a few steps forward, turn around and then a few steps back. The people in the crowd also were dancing and singing very loudly. The ceremony itself took over an hour. An interesting bit of info is that the bride never smiled because is leaving her family and is supposed to be sad. So there were not many smiles. The whole thing was a very awesome experience.


Edie - the wedding cake baker


Jesse and German medical students waiting for the service -


Young ones dancing before the Bride and Groom enter the church -



The Bride entering the church


The Groom entering the church -


Getting Hitched -