Night in the Bush

Last weekend I spent a night in the bush at a friend's house. He had invited me to stay at his house with his family. I enjoyed it very much. He has a solar panel that powers a battery so we listened to music and watched the kids dance for a while. They all love to dance and sing. I also helped him get the bricks we made earlier this summer ready to be burned. We piled firewood in the ovens. It was big work because it takes a lot of wood to fill those ovens.
That same weekend the local church was dedicating their new church building so as it was getting dark we walked to the church to see how preparations were going. The church is on a little hill and it was a beautiful view to watch the sun set. The ladies were all busy cooking that night in order to be ready for all the people the next day. Also the church was decorated beautifully.
His house is a little three- roomed house. It has a no lights, no running water, no plumbing, yet it was very comfortable. If one has to use the toilet, just wander off in the bush a little ways and take care of business. I stayed in the room with the plow, pig feed, and the mealie meal, but the bed itself was very nice and I slept nicely. I was served nshima, bread, eggs with tomatoes, and beef intestines. It was all pretty good; yet a little chewy.
Sunday morning we all woke up around 6 am. It was a little cool so we all sat around the fire that had been started by his wife, to try to warm up. We just sat and talked, played with the kids, and I even got to help feed the baby some “baby food.”
It was a great experience and I think I will try it again some time. One thing that really surprised me was the number of visitors that came by the house. They all would be invited in and treated very kindly. Even at 6 in the morning visitors were there and treated very warmly. It is different than what I am used to, and I enjoyed every second of it.

September Update

September 6th was the 50th anniversary of the Zimba Mission Hospital . Boy do Zambians know how to throw a party. The party was held on the vacant land that is across from the hospital. There was a huge tent and enough chairs to seat several hundred people. With every official function in Zambia , the important people have to be invited. The bosses, the chiefs, the headmen of different villages, the administration of the hospital, some old retired missionaries, and the Church leaders were all in attendance. There was even a member of the Zambian parliament present.

My job was just helping try to get everything ready. That morning I was helping blow up balloons till I almost hyperventilated. I helped drive the lorie to pick up some benches that had been borrowed, and also helped set up a generator when the power went off. It was a busy day.

The program started around 12 pm, but really it was supposed to start at 9 am. Very typical for how important things happen around here. They had some traditional instruments as entertainment, some plays or short skits to break up the speeches and lots of speeches. Everyone who was anyone gave a speech. At the end of the time, food was served. We ate mutton, beef, and nshima. It was very tasty food. I even got a chance to help cook the nshima. For a big crowd like that; it is cooked in half a 55-gallon drum. So as it thickens it gets very heavy and the ladies ask the men for help. So my Zambian friend and I stirred. It was hard; a lot like work. It reminded me of canoeing down the Namekagon River when facing a head wind. I was very sweaty after that.

All in all the celebration was a big success. We just pray that the hospital continues, makes improvements, and is around for another 50 years helping people in this area.

We are almost finished working on the mortuary and the bore hole building. The ferrying of sand and bricks continues for the out patient building. All is in place for Zesco, the power company, to come and do some upgrades. The contractor working on the water system is coming soon to put up new water tanks at the hospital. So things are happening and are very busy.

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

Green Mamba Dance

Have you ever had a green mamba try to go up your pants leg? A couple of days ago I had a close encounter with two green mamba snakes. We were doing some routine maintenance on a little portable generator the hospital has. It is stored in a little three-sided room with a gate for a door. So from time to time we have to sweep out all the leaves and things that get blown in there. We pulled the generator out and I started to wipe all the dust and cobwebs off while my coworker was sweeping out the leaves. After finishing he told me to start the generator to make sure it would start. I bent down, turned it on, closed the choke and pulled. It fired right up. But before I could open the choke my coworker was jumping up and down and pointing towards my feet. I looked down and saw a 2 foot green mamba headed between my legs. It had come out of the generator. I started jumping and moving fast trying to get away. I was dancing like I had never danced before. As soon as I got out of the way, my coworker started hitting it with a broom and I got a couple of rocks and finished it off. But that was not the end. Shortly after, another one about the same size came out of the generator as well. We were both ready for that one and quickly killed it. After it was all over and the generator was put back, we laughed pretty hard. All in a days work. Thanks for praying.

Marathon

I know I wrote a long time ago and said I was running a marathon and I would keep you posted. Sorry, I have not updated since. I trained for about 10 weeks total. I started in April but was interrupted by a month of language school and about 2 weeks because I was sick and did not run. Otherwise, I ran 6 days a week between 5 and 6 miles with longer runs on the weekends. It was a lot of work and a hurting body, but I enjoyed it. The race was August 29 in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe. I was nervous. Could I finish? YES I DID! I ran it in 4 hours and 39 minutes. For my first marathon, I thought it was great. I did not stop during the race and I ran the whole thing. It was good. I could even walk the next day. I was happy. By the way Victoria Falls is a beautiful sight as the sun is rising over it.

August Update

Muli Buyumu sunnu. (You are strong today.) I hope this update finds you all well. Thank you for your continued support. It is greatly appreciated. To know that people are praying for me and for the hospital is a comforting thought.
Have you ever been overwhelmed? Have you ever had that feeling there is so much to do and you don't know how to do it all? I am sure we have all felt that way at one point or another. This month has been that way for me. There is just so much to try and get done, and there are a lot of obstacles in the way. For example, we are trying to extend the mortuary to allow the new fridge to fit nicely. A church gave a very generous donation in order to buy a new updated fridge. We need bricks. Where do we get them? How do we transport them? We need sand to mix with the cement? Where do we find that? Who will do the work? When will they be able to start? Well you get the idea.
That is just one project. Right now we have at least 4 other projects all screaming for attention, besides the usual everyday things that are breaking.
There are a lot of improvements that are happening at the hospital. It is exciting. It is a lot of work. Everything is just harder than back home. Getting the sand is one example. The nearest place to get the sand is about 3 kilometers away. After negotiating with the headman for 2 hours, he agreed to let us get the sand and not charge the hospital. Otherwise it would have been K100,000 per load. Very expensive! Upon arriving to get the sand, I realized this was not going to be easy. I drove the truck alongside of a 4-foot hole in the ground; that is where the sand is being dug. But to get the sand in the truck is all work; we shovel. The hole is about 4 feet deep and the truck bed is about 3 feet above the ground. So that means we have to shovel and throw the sand higher than 7 feet or so up into the truck. Needless to say it was difficult; backbreaking. We managed though by taking turns and resting. It took a couple of hours to shovel a truck full. The good news is that we only need 20 more loads.
My prayer is that the work will be done well and finished; also that God would be glorified in the midst of all this chaos.
Thanks again for your continued support.

July Update

Summer is in full swing back in the US, with warm weather, summer vacations, and picnics. In Zambia, it is just the opposite. We are going through our winter. The weather is real windy, and cool compared to what it has been throughout the rest of the year. The lows have been in the 40's with 42 F the lowest I have seen. It is surprising that it gets that cold here. I never knew until I lived here. With winter, comes the sick season as well. Most everyone I know around Zimba is coughing, has a cold, or has missed work because of being sick including me.
In early July, we had a team from Hyde Wesleyan Church in Pennsylvania come and do some work at the hospital. They worked painting and putting up a fence. With their hard work the hospital is dressed up a lot. We thank them for being willing and able to come and serve.
Otherwise, at the hospital, the projects continue. The new OPD building project is progressing with the foundation and cement slab almost finished. The next step for the water project is in the planning stages and will soon begin. I am also talking with Zesco, the power company here, to come and so some work at the hospital. It is a long process to get them to come, but we have started the process. They will be putting in a couple of new lines so that I-TEC, the electrical group from the US, can come back and finish with the electrical upgrades at the hospital.
Please continuing praying for these projects; that God would knock down the barriers and that things would happen in His timing.
July also marks the end of my first year Zambia. Wow does time fly! It seems just like yesterday I arrived. There have been some struggles, good days, and bad ones; but I think that the hospital is a little better than before I came. My continued prayer is that God would use me in whatever way He needs to fulfill His will here in Zimba.
Thank you very much for your continuing support. I do appreciate it greatly. God Bless.

Making Bricks

I got the opportunity to help the assistant pastor of our Church make bricks yesterday. He is hoping to build a house so he can rent it out and make some Kwachas. Boy it was a lot of work; I am a little sore, but I would not have missed it for anything. To see how the family related with one another and with me; to work side by side with him was worth all the soreness. The process of making bricks includes wetting the soil and then stomping on it to get a good mix, putting the mud in the molds and then carrying the molds to a place so the sun shines on them to dry them. It is very labor intensive and dirty to say the least. We made almost 1000 bricks. The whole family helped by carrying water and sand for the molds, and cooking breakfast and lunch.
At breakfast, the assistant pastor and I sat and were served nshima mixed with sour milk. It was two huge helpings. As we ate, his wife and kids just sat in another spot and waited. They were not eating anything; we could not finish our portions so the rest was given to all the other family members. Here the men get first choice and everyone else gets the rest. It is definitely different than in the US where the women and children are first.
The children are just typical kids; they want to be where the action is. They kept coming up to me and rubbing my arm and laughing. They helped a little; played a little; sang and danced a little; and also cried a little. Over all it was a good day, really neat.