Let it Rain!

One problem at the hospital, I have been trying solve, has been the leaking roofs on the out patient department building and on the laundry building. In the rainy season the roofs leak terribly. The ceilings inside the buildings get soaked and fall down. Not a good situation. Medical supplies are kept in one of these buildings. When it rains these get very wet. Not a good situation either. When my family was here visiting, I showed the problem to my dad to see if he had any ideas for fixing this. After some discussion, my dad, my two maintenance coworkers and I came up with a plan. The fix was, adding a short piece of tin under the ridge cap to extend the tin sheeting. We also bent the upper end of the tin so that it turned up and would act as a barrier under the ridge cap to prevent the rainwater from pouring in. Up until now, the wind has blown the rainwater under the ridge cap and into the building. My coworker and I finally finished both buildings just last week. There has been one big rain, so far, to test the fix. After the rain was over I stuck my head up into the attic of the out patient building to see how much water was there. All was dry. I think the fix worked. That is great news. Now let the rains come.

November Update

Greetings from Zimba. Wow! Thanksgiving is here and Christmas is just around the corner. It is amazing how fast time flies. I hope this update finds you all well. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. Thanks you so much for your continued support. I do appreciate it very much.

November has been a month of projects started and answered prayers. There are several big projects in the works. These include putting up new water tanks at the hospital, the new out patient department building, and Zesco doing some electrical upgrades. I have been trying to get these moving the past several months; but nothing was happening. I would talk to the contractors; they would all say they would come and do the work but nothing would happen. I was growing very tired and a little frustrated by the responses I kept getting. Over these last months I have heard a lot of excuses and reasons why things could not begin.

We spend time in prayer each morning for the needs here and our concerns. So that is what we did. Instead of getting all worked up, some time ago we just committed these projects to prayer and let God take them. My efforts were going nowhere. Then in the beginning of November everything began to happen all at once. The guys putting the tanks up came and started; now the tower has been built. The guys who are building the out patient department building came and started laying bricks. Even Zesco, who I have been working with for about a year, has come and started digging the holes for the poles that are needed at the hospital.

There is still a lot of work to be done, but this month has shown significant progress. Thank you for praying as well.

I am just reminded of Philippians 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Thanks again for your support.

October Update

Greetings from Zambia. I hope this update finds you all well. October was a big month for me. I have made history here in Zimba. Selinda, another missionary here, and I were the first Mukuwas (whites) to be in the line up of a Zambian wedding in Zimba. They were some friends of ours. The husband works at the hospital and the wife goes to our church. They have been wanting to get married for a long time, and finally it happened. We were asked if we would dance in the wedding because we were friends, so we agreed. I don’t know what ever possessed me but I said yes. There were 8 of us in the procession. We all had to learn the dance steps. We practiced here at the mission for a couple of hours three times a week. At the beginning, I could not follow what everyone else was doing. I felt very awkward and everyone would laugh. But I finally got the hang of it just in time for the wedding. Praise God! Who said Wesleyans can’t dance. I never thought I would be doing that as a missionary. I was the best man. Selinda was the maid of honor. So I walked in with the groom and she walked in with the bride. The wedding took about 4 hours to complete. It was very hot and I was in a dark suit with a jacket on all afternoon. It was long, hot, and uncomfortable, but I would not have traded it for the world. It was neat to be let into their lives and take part in this event. We also danced as the bride and groom exited the church. While doing that, there were so many people crowding the aisles we could barely do our moves. We managed and the people here in Zimba are still talking about the wedding. They were so happy.

Otherwise, October brought the heat. Many days of 100+F; so I sweat a lot. Also my parents came to visit. It was really great to see them and spend some time with them. I am also happy they could come and see what I am doing here, my new friends, and where I stay.

Thanks again for your continued support. I do appreciate it very much.



P.S. Speaking of weddings, I am also getting married. Selinda and I are planning to be married late next spring.