Well, Sunday after posting that blog, all of us Student Missionaries got invited to take a boat down the Kafue river with this bunch of people that are here for the one day church that was put up yesterday. Anywho, there were some big guys in the Adventist world there. Dick Deurkson, who is the host for Maranatha Mission Stories, was there... shook his hand... that's right. Haha. Also the man who invented the one day church was there, didn't meet him though. And they brought their wives along too. They were nice ladies. So, the whole ride the men had their cameras out (you know, the kind with the mile long lenses), the women all sat in a corner and talked, and the student missionaries played Rook and Thump Thump (except me, I wanted to enjoy the scenery). It was a nice boat ride. We saw some locals fishing, one guy was transporting tomatoes in his little dug out, there were hippos, eagles, parrots, lots of other birds I can't remember the names of etc...
Monday morning Liz and I left for town at 5 hours. We dropped her at the airport at 6:30, then the driver (his name is Oliver, he's a local) went to get supper. I got dropped at immigration at 9:28 where I stood in line with a bunch of people until 9:30 waiting for the doors to be opened. I checked the book to see if my name was in it and low and behold it was! Meaning: Megan has her study permit. So, I got in the line waiting to see the guy that gives those out. The whole process took about an hour, standing in line, getting the permit, sigining papers, getting stamped, etc. Then I went back out and called oliver to let him know I was ready, then waited 1/2 hr for him to pick me up.
So, then Oliver dropped me at Manda Hall. This is the little bunch of stores we shop at for food, books, they have a subway etc... Anywho, he told me he had a few errands to run and he'd come pick me up at 14 hours. (He dropped me at 11 hours) So, I'm not a big shopper and wasn't too thrilled at the 3 hours I had to shop but figured I might as well become well acquainted with the book stores, after that I visited game (kind of like a miniature walmart, minus the food), got me some subway, checked out the Pep, went back to the book stores comparing prices this time, got my groceries at shopright, back to the book store (bought a book on birds), then sat at a table outside at about 14 hrs and waited... and waited... and waited... He didnt come until 16:30. That's 5 and a half hours. Good thing I had a book with me... Great Controversy, nice long read. I also pestered my dad by way of text messaging.
So it was an interesting day. I did meet a really nice Australian couple while sitting and waiting. They are volunteering in the Lusaka area at a place that teaches widows tailoring so that they can make a living for themselves. I liked them. And of course, Australians have great accents. Anywho, Oliver came and picked me up and we made about five more stops before leaving town. We passed a bunch of drunks going through Kafue. One was just lying around on the ground... goofy people. So by the time I got back to Riverside it had been 14 and a half hours since we left. Craziness.
Today I just studied the lessons for giving Bible studies and the powerpoints for Health Talks. Tomorrow we head back out to Lushomo, then Thursday we start off to the crusade. Should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it. I miss trapsing through the bush to visit people.
I went for a hike up on the ridge here at Riverside today. I saw a water monitor according to Alan. Or, as I like to call it: The mother of all lizards. If I had been thinking I would have gone all Steve Irwing and tackled it... all 12 inches of it. It was pretty cool.
Anywho... later peoples... pray for the crusade. From what I understand there are a lot of people in that area so yeah... pray they'll be reached.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Flexibility
One thing you have to learn here is flexibility. The schedule is tentative and constantly changing. My permit didn't come in last week. So, I found out that if it didn't come in by April 3 I would have to be issued this special peice of paper by immigration that says I have permission to stay in the country longer. So, I headed back out to the bush expecting to come in and get that paper later this week. Fortunately it came in on Friday. Huzzah! Now, I just have to go get it tomorrow. Anywho, we were supposed to head out to the crusade today. But, since their are these four Americans coming on the 2nd of April, Ernest said it would work better to just wait for them and then go out. So yeah, the schedule is always changing.
Alex, one of the Student Missionaries here at Riverside, will becoming out to the crusade with me. So that will be fun. I think she'll probably be helping me with the health talks a bit too (not sure about that one though). I do know she will be going visiting with me in the mornings. I'm excited to have some company.
Well, Wednesday I headed back out to the bush with the bush clinic. That was good because it gave me a chance to learn some more about how things work with that. Darby went over all vaccines with me, explained how she usually packs up the container for the clinic - what poisons... errr. drugs she takes, etc. I weighed babies and recorded their information, gave some shots (I got to stab Liz! Tetanus shot.), made some babies cry, etc. It was good. I'm really not looking forward to coming back in from the bush, I like it out there. But, going on the clinics will be nice once I get the hang of it.
It was cute, when we pulledup to the Lushomo clinic, Mezinga (Ernest's granddaughter) saw me in the window of the vehicle and and went Mega! So, I called out Nana and waved (everyone calls her nana - it means baby). So, when I got out she came over and found me and held her little arms up to be picked up (so cute!). She's freinds with me now. When I first arrived she was terrified of Liz and I. She would hide behind mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/chile and start crying every time she saw us. So now everytime she sees me she calls out Mega! And I reply with Nana! We have fun going back and forth.... and she is ticklish. Cute little thing.
We spent Thursday cleaning up the buildings we've been painting a bit, sanding and varnishing shelves, and organizing books in the old office and moving them into the new office. Its going to be a nice office. Friday we hung out, did laundry, worked on the office a bit more, made pancakes (amazyingly enough you can do that in the bush). Liz was supposed to ride into town on Friday since she flys out on monday, but since I was going to have to find my way in to get my permit (they were going to drop me at the blacktop Monday morning and I was going to hitch in) we decided to just hitch in on Sunday instead. But, we wound up coming in on Saturday because the Nzalas (the fam we are staying with) have a funeral that they have to attend today, so they came in yesterday, dropped us at Riverside, and went on to Lusaka. See... flexibility...
Friday evening when the family came back from town they had a big speaker and a couple of microphones with them that have to go out to the crusade. They spent a lot of time working on setting them up and playing with them. It was cute, they are so proud of that thing. It pretty much made their month. Chile was testing the microphone out, he has quite the singing voice (the kind that belongs in the shower). Anywho, Mezinga (little 2-3 yr old girl) was terrified of that thing! She was balling her eyes out. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and Chile put the mic up to her mouth.... it was funny... So, I wound up taking her into the kitchen with me while I cooked some beans for suppoer, and holding her for a while to try to calm her down.
So, they used the mic for church the saturday too. Everyone that went up front wanted to use it. It was so cute, when Demus lead out in the song service he had this big grin on his face and a bit of an extra sparkle in his eyes as he held the mic. Its funny how something so simple that you see all the time in the states is such a big deal here. It was a long church service. The preacher was a guest preacher... and he really had a lot to say. the woman sitting next to me kept looking at my watch, the woman behind me fell asleep and had her head resting in the center of my back, the girl on my other side dozed off on my arm, and Mezinga was in my lap and got squirmy and cranky about the time church usually lets out and had to be passed off to mom. So, the sermon ended at about 12:45ish. Then we had communion. So, church didn't let out until maybe 14 hrs.
Communion was interesting. Liz didn't stick around for it, so I had trouble finding someone to practice with because I don't exactly speak the language and I didn't know how things worked, where to go... Then I sat down in the wrong spot in church. You see, normally women sit on the left and men on the right. But... apparently for communion those who are not baptized sit on the left and those who are baptized sit on the right, women in front and men in back. So it was ammuzing. It was like all the women of Lushomo banding together to help this poor ignorant white girl figure out where she is supposed to be.
Well, that's all folks. I need to go study health talks and whatnot for the crusade.
Alex, one of the Student Missionaries here at Riverside, will becoming out to the crusade with me. So that will be fun. I think she'll probably be helping me with the health talks a bit too (not sure about that one though). I do know she will be going visiting with me in the mornings. I'm excited to have some company.
Well, Wednesday I headed back out to the bush with the bush clinic. That was good because it gave me a chance to learn some more about how things work with that. Darby went over all vaccines with me, explained how she usually packs up the container for the clinic - what poisons... errr. drugs she takes, etc. I weighed babies and recorded their information, gave some shots (I got to stab Liz! Tetanus shot.), made some babies cry, etc. It was good. I'm really not looking forward to coming back in from the bush, I like it out there. But, going on the clinics will be nice once I get the hang of it.
It was cute, when we pulledup to the Lushomo clinic, Mezinga (Ernest's granddaughter) saw me in the window of the vehicle and and went Mega! So, I called out Nana and waved (everyone calls her nana - it means baby). So, when I got out she came over and found me and held her little arms up to be picked up (so cute!). She's freinds with me now. When I first arrived she was terrified of Liz and I. She would hide behind mom/dad/grandma/grandpa/chile and start crying every time she saw us. So now everytime she sees me she calls out Mega! And I reply with Nana! We have fun going back and forth.... and she is ticklish. Cute little thing.
We spent Thursday cleaning up the buildings we've been painting a bit, sanding and varnishing shelves, and organizing books in the old office and moving them into the new office. Its going to be a nice office. Friday we hung out, did laundry, worked on the office a bit more, made pancakes (amazyingly enough you can do that in the bush). Liz was supposed to ride into town on Friday since she flys out on monday, but since I was going to have to find my way in to get my permit (they were going to drop me at the blacktop Monday morning and I was going to hitch in) we decided to just hitch in on Sunday instead. But, we wound up coming in on Saturday because the Nzalas (the fam we are staying with) have a funeral that they have to attend today, so they came in yesterday, dropped us at Riverside, and went on to Lusaka. See... flexibility...
Friday evening when the family came back from town they had a big speaker and a couple of microphones with them that have to go out to the crusade. They spent a lot of time working on setting them up and playing with them. It was cute, they are so proud of that thing. It pretty much made their month. Chile was testing the microphone out, he has quite the singing voice (the kind that belongs in the shower). Anywho, Mezinga (little 2-3 yr old girl) was terrified of that thing! She was balling her eyes out. She was screaming at the top of her lungs and Chile put the mic up to her mouth.... it was funny... So, I wound up taking her into the kitchen with me while I cooked some beans for suppoer, and holding her for a while to try to calm her down.
So, they used the mic for church the saturday too. Everyone that went up front wanted to use it. It was so cute, when Demus lead out in the song service he had this big grin on his face and a bit of an extra sparkle in his eyes as he held the mic. Its funny how something so simple that you see all the time in the states is such a big deal here. It was a long church service. The preacher was a guest preacher... and he really had a lot to say. the woman sitting next to me kept looking at my watch, the woman behind me fell asleep and had her head resting in the center of my back, the girl on my other side dozed off on my arm, and Mezinga was in my lap and got squirmy and cranky about the time church usually lets out and had to be passed off to mom. So, the sermon ended at about 12:45ish. Then we had communion. So, church didn't let out until maybe 14 hrs.
Communion was interesting. Liz didn't stick around for it, so I had trouble finding someone to practice with because I don't exactly speak the language and I didn't know how things worked, where to go... Then I sat down in the wrong spot in church. You see, normally women sit on the left and men on the right. But... apparently for communion those who are not baptized sit on the left and those who are baptized sit on the right, women in front and men in back. So it was ammuzing. It was like all the women of Lushomo banding together to help this poor ignorant white girl figure out where she is supposed to be.
Well, that's all folks. I need to go study health talks and whatnot for the crusade.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
The latest from Lushomo
There are a few things about the trip to Zimbabwe that I forgot to write about last time (actually, I'm sure there are more than a few but hey...).
When I was at the border, about to go into Zimbabwe, I got proposed to! Some random guy was sitting there and asked me if I liked Zambia. I said yes, and he then asked if I'd like to stay in Zambia and genrously offered to marry me so that I could stay. How thoughtful of him! I'm sure it was my citizenship he was thinking of too... Anywho, I never even caught the guys name, much to my mom's dismay.
Then, while at the orphanage in Zimbabwe I picked up a little todler named Mary-Belle. She sat in my arms just staring at my hair. So, I pulled a little bit out from behind my ear for her to see. Her face lit up! She started running her little fingers through it and her big brown eyes just danced. It was the cutest thing.
Anywho, I haven't been out visiting since I got back from Zim because our translator has been busy over at the place where the crusade will be setting things up there. Also, there were some meetings held at Lushomo for a long weekend. Liz and I got asked to teach some classes. So, we taught on Health Evangelism. Basically talking about the importance of Medical Missionaries and how you can use that to reach people, then going into the basics like water, cleanliness, diet, some hydrotherapy, etc.
We were scheduled to talk at 10:30 last Friday morning. So, we were happy to be able to sleep in a bit, then make our lesson plans that morning. So I got up at 7:45, went out to wash my face and get a drink and whatnot. Then, when I came back into the house I met a frantic Liz who told me that Godfrey had just come and asked if we could speak at 8:00 instread of 10:30. It was exactly 8:00 when he came to the door! Ai ai ai! So, we grabbed our stuff and ran down to the classroom.... Stress! Kinda scary... so the rest of the weekend we were constantly on the lookout for Godrey to come ask us last minute (and overly prepared, just in case...)
Pathfinder Sabbath was a couple weeks ago and we had about 70 kids in our Sabbath School class because of it! It was kinda crazy. I started handing out stickers as a reward when kids answered questions correctly and nearly lost my life. Seriously, I almost died. These kids love stickers. It was cute though.
Last Sabbath we had some baptisms in the afternoon. 21 baptisms to be exact. Abishy and his wife Eunice were among them. They are a couple we had been giving Bible studies to. If we had been able to go out more often, Godfrey says we would have had more baptized but whatever... its not about numbers anyhow. So yeah, it was cute. Here, when you are baptized you fold your hands on your chest. So, she folder her hands on her chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and they were dunked together. It was sweet. Also, Chile, the youngest son of the family we live with, was baptized. So was Sarah, the wife of their oldest son and Rita, a local girl that sometimes helps out at the house. It was a good day. Abishy had mentioned he would like to have an English Bible because the Tonga translation can be a bit rough at times. So, I was able to give him an old Bible of my mom's. He was super excited about that one.
Other than all of that, we've mostly just been painting, hanging out with Chile, studying, and baking. There are some great places to swim out in Lushomo. One of them is at the base of the waterfall, and you can actually climb up part of the waterfall and sit on the ledge with the water crashing down on your shoulders. Good times. I've been experimenting with baking. I really want to get my hands on a good whole wheat bread recipe. In the meantime, I've been experimenting with cookies, coffee cake, made a loaf of banana bread... pretty successful attempts actually. We've also made pancakes a couple of times. The ingredients are a tad different from those in America but hey, they are wonderful.
I've also found myself to be Ernest and Christine's secretary. They have had a lot of reports they have needed typed up to send of to the higher powers, and for the board meeting that Ernest is here for tomorrow. It's funny, they are in awe of how fast I can type. Liz and I had to explain how in America computers are used for everything, and they start you early etc... Its been interesting.
Liz leaves a week from monday for Kenya, and a week from Sunday I head out to the crusade. I have to do home visits and give health talks in the evenings at the crusade. I may also get roped into helping with the kids corner, although I really don't think I'm the person for that job. Anywho, good news... there are four americans coming April 2nd. They will be helping with the crusade, then taking over at Lushomo. This makes me happy. I hated to start visiting then stop because Riverside needed me. So, this works out great. And, they have been through an Evangelistic training school. Meaning: they know what they are doing. So, this works out perfectly!
Anywho, I'm just in for a few days. Hopefully my Student Permit has come in, we'll be checking on that Monday or Tuesday. If it doesn't come by the middle of next month I'll have to leave the country, so hopefully it is here.
One last thought that occurred to me as I sat in church today. Metal roofs are wonderful, they really are... especially if you get a good quality one like the ones my dad sells (yup, just let me know if you want to get in touch with him... ) They last forever, they hold up better than shingles, no leaking... I'm sure if I were my dad I could go on and on. But, if you are using it on a church in Zambia where there is a rainy season that lasts for several months consisting of many a torrential downpour, and the church doesn't have a sound system, please insulate it so the congregation can hear the speaker... There you go, my thought for the day.
Well, I may write more later before heading back to the bush, who knows. But TTFN, Ta ta for now! :)
When I was at the border, about to go into Zimbabwe, I got proposed to! Some random guy was sitting there and asked me if I liked Zambia. I said yes, and he then asked if I'd like to stay in Zambia and genrously offered to marry me so that I could stay. How thoughtful of him! I'm sure it was my citizenship he was thinking of too... Anywho, I never even caught the guys name, much to my mom's dismay.
Then, while at the orphanage in Zimbabwe I picked up a little todler named Mary-Belle. She sat in my arms just staring at my hair. So, I pulled a little bit out from behind my ear for her to see. Her face lit up! She started running her little fingers through it and her big brown eyes just danced. It was the cutest thing.
Anywho, I haven't been out visiting since I got back from Zim because our translator has been busy over at the place where the crusade will be setting things up there. Also, there were some meetings held at Lushomo for a long weekend. Liz and I got asked to teach some classes. So, we taught on Health Evangelism. Basically talking about the importance of Medical Missionaries and how you can use that to reach people, then going into the basics like water, cleanliness, diet, some hydrotherapy, etc.
We were scheduled to talk at 10:30 last Friday morning. So, we were happy to be able to sleep in a bit, then make our lesson plans that morning. So I got up at 7:45, went out to wash my face and get a drink and whatnot. Then, when I came back into the house I met a frantic Liz who told me that Godfrey had just come and asked if we could speak at 8:00 instread of 10:30. It was exactly 8:00 when he came to the door! Ai ai ai! So, we grabbed our stuff and ran down to the classroom.... Stress! Kinda scary... so the rest of the weekend we were constantly on the lookout for Godrey to come ask us last minute (and overly prepared, just in case...)
Pathfinder Sabbath was a couple weeks ago and we had about 70 kids in our Sabbath School class because of it! It was kinda crazy. I started handing out stickers as a reward when kids answered questions correctly and nearly lost my life. Seriously, I almost died. These kids love stickers. It was cute though.
Last Sabbath we had some baptisms in the afternoon. 21 baptisms to be exact. Abishy and his wife Eunice were among them. They are a couple we had been giving Bible studies to. If we had been able to go out more often, Godfrey says we would have had more baptized but whatever... its not about numbers anyhow. So yeah, it was cute. Here, when you are baptized you fold your hands on your chest. So, she folder her hands on her chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and they were dunked together. It was sweet. Also, Chile, the youngest son of the family we live with, was baptized. So was Sarah, the wife of their oldest son and Rita, a local girl that sometimes helps out at the house. It was a good day. Abishy had mentioned he would like to have an English Bible because the Tonga translation can be a bit rough at times. So, I was able to give him an old Bible of my mom's. He was super excited about that one.
Other than all of that, we've mostly just been painting, hanging out with Chile, studying, and baking. There are some great places to swim out in Lushomo. One of them is at the base of the waterfall, and you can actually climb up part of the waterfall and sit on the ledge with the water crashing down on your shoulders. Good times. I've been experimenting with baking. I really want to get my hands on a good whole wheat bread recipe. In the meantime, I've been experimenting with cookies, coffee cake, made a loaf of banana bread... pretty successful attempts actually. We've also made pancakes a couple of times. The ingredients are a tad different from those in America but hey, they are wonderful.
I've also found myself to be Ernest and Christine's secretary. They have had a lot of reports they have needed typed up to send of to the higher powers, and for the board meeting that Ernest is here for tomorrow. It's funny, they are in awe of how fast I can type. Liz and I had to explain how in America computers are used for everything, and they start you early etc... Its been interesting.
Liz leaves a week from monday for Kenya, and a week from Sunday I head out to the crusade. I have to do home visits and give health talks in the evenings at the crusade. I may also get roped into helping with the kids corner, although I really don't think I'm the person for that job. Anywho, good news... there are four americans coming April 2nd. They will be helping with the crusade, then taking over at Lushomo. This makes me happy. I hated to start visiting then stop because Riverside needed me. So, this works out great. And, they have been through an Evangelistic training school. Meaning: they know what they are doing. So, this works out perfectly!
Anywho, I'm just in for a few days. Hopefully my Student Permit has come in, we'll be checking on that Monday or Tuesday. If it doesn't come by the middle of next month I'll have to leave the country, so hopefully it is here.
One last thought that occurred to me as I sat in church today. Metal roofs are wonderful, they really are... especially if you get a good quality one like the ones my dad sells (yup, just let me know if you want to get in touch with him... ) They last forever, they hold up better than shingles, no leaking... I'm sure if I were my dad I could go on and on. But, if you are using it on a church in Zambia where there is a rainy season that lasts for several months consisting of many a torrential downpour, and the church doesn't have a sound system, please insulate it so the congregation can hear the speaker... There you go, my thought for the day.
Well, I may write more later before heading back to the bush, who knows. But TTFN, Ta ta for now! :)
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