Well, the visit with the surgeon went well. He basically just asked if there was any pain, then prescribed an ointment and told me to clean it twice a day and apply the ointment then walked out. Very breif that man. So, apparently things are healing well. Its neat, because when I change the dressings I can see where the tissues are reforming... you know, whatch things grow back together. Tis nice.
In other news, I shadowed Darby in the clinic today since I'll be filling in for her as much as someone who isn't a nurse can do once she leaves Tuesday. Basically I will be counting out pills and running errands and sitting around waiting for a patient to come in. Its not a very busy place. Good thing is, the nurses that work there are very willing to teach you and let you sit in on things they do. So there is definite potential for some learning. Also, they'll let me help deliver babies. So, it should be interesting anyway, even though I'd much prefer the bush. Also, I'll be a big part of the bush clinics we do three times a week. So that should be nice.
The guys here left this afternoon to go do a building project out at Lushomo... I considered stowing away on one of the vehicles. Mark even told me which one would be easiest to hide in but... didn't happen. So, they are supposed to say hi to Lushomo for me. Alan and Paulene are taking the SMs camping this weekend, I can't go though because of my leg. So, I've decided to treat myself to haystacks Friday night (and by haystacks I mean dorritos, beans, and tomatoes... those are the only toppings I can come by, but its still a treat!), and maybe cookies. Should be good.
Last night was "family night" up at Alan and Paulene's. Twas nice. We ate a mean carob cake with some banana ice cream, fri chik (yes, real fri chik... don't see that every day in africa), and popcorn. Then we played Thump thump. It was fun, nice to hang out with 'the fam.'
Not much else to talk about... I do a lot of sitting with my leg propped up these days... no exciting stories there. So, I ttfn... ta ta for now!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
crusade, demons, and hospitilization
Well, it has definetly been an interesting month. A little over three weeks ago Ernest, Chile, the new students from life (Alex, Raymond, Becca, and Camalin), Alex (yes there are two, this ones a girl, the other is a guy), and myself headed out to Changa, deep in the bush of Siavanga district. Chaanga is set a good 3-4 hours away from a paved road, so needless to say there was some off-roading involved to get there. We actually got stuck 3 times. And when I say stuck, I mean it is a miracle we got out! We had to cross a lot of really large mud puddles, so when we got stuck, it was burried up to the bottom of the truck in water. One time I was afraid the truck would tip. So, we all took a mud bath trying to push the truck. Fortunately, mud is great fly repellant (and there were a ton of flies).
So, we finally arrived at about 8 Friday night. We were greated by a huge group of kids who were standing by the road, they came running after us yelling “Mugua! Mugua!” That’s their word for white people. So, I climbed out of the truck bed and was met by a huge crowd of people who simply wanted to shake my hand and greet me. “Kwasia buti” To which you reply kabotu kwasia buti!
So we set up camp and spent the next two weeks visiting people during the day, inviting them to come to the meetings and holding bible studies with them. We also had a number of people go through VOP lessons (when you’ve completed them you get a free Bible - one guy completed all 26 in one day. He was serious!) Then, at night I would usually give the health talk, then Ernest gave the message for the evening. We had a pretty good attendance. Maybe at least 500 each night, but I’m not good at guessing numbers.
It was good times. We met a lot of interesting people, saw a lot of interesting things. I got to meet the chief. He gave us a chicken. A very pretty chicken at that, she was grey and specked. I also met and talked with the chief head man (biggest guy under the chief.) Someone else was the spokesperson when we met the chief, but I was the one talking meeting the chief headman (Ai!) I basically went into my typical spiel presenting God as a loving, personal creator who wants to be your friend. Then, my translator started in on Sabbath and baptism. It was a good visit. We also met a couple of apostolic priests. My translator argued with them for about 2 hrs. Craziness. But, they invited him to come back and chat again so hey, you never know where this may go. We may have 2 more church members soon.
Witchcraft was a big thing in that area. We saw a lot of demon possession. Sometimes at night we would hear the elders praying and casting demons out of people. Then, the second Sabbath we were there, Ernest preached and gave an appeal. Three of the women who responded to the appeal fell to the ground and started writhing and making strange grunting noises. They just picked them up, carried them inside the church building, and started praying for them while the service continued. Then one of the women came running out, arms flailing, running quite funny with the elders following close behind. She ran out into the middle of a field, fell, and they gathered around and were shouting at the demons to get out, and praying. The other two women took their turns doing the same thing. Now, I have to bragg about my translator. He’s this tiny little thing, maybe 5 ft, 26 years old, and he was always the first to the person who is possessed, then he stands over them, pointing away from the person and yelling the loudest at the demon to get out. Good job Emmanual, good job. We also had about 6 women who had to be carried out of the water at the baptisms because they had demons in them and collapsed when dunked under water.
I believe we had over 75 baptisms though. God definitely blessed. There were a number of people who were not baptized but who were still thinking and studying when we left. So, the numbers may grow yet.
Also, the last Friday that I was at Chaanga I woke up with a very red, swollen, left knee. Painful too. As the day went on it grew more and more painful, gave me a fever, made my stomach upset, at one point I even had trouble breathing. So, I applied charcoal poultices, and took a lot of charcoal by mouth. It was worse Saturday, but I managed to make it to the church service and baptisms before collapsing under a blanket in my tent. Sunday morning we got up early and left. You notice how horrible and bumpy a road is a lot more when your knee throbs with each jolt. Just an observation I made. I would have liked to have gone straight to the clinic then, but it wasn’t possible because we had to pick up Ernest’s daughter at the blacktop and take her with us to Lushomo and whatnot. So, Monday morning I finally got to Riverside, so I was able to see the clinic. By this point, my leg was huge! We are talking more than double its normal size.
The nurses here took one look at my leg and said I needed to go to the Dr in Lusaka for better antibiotics and arranged for transport for me the next day. So, Tuesday morning I went to the clinc and had an appt. with a Dr. Lynen who took one look at me and said I needed to be admitted to the hospital. Long story short, I spent the morning and afternoon in the treatment room on a drip waiting for everything to get worked out so far as finances go and was admitted around 16 hours under the diagnosis of infected knee with abscess and cellulitis. Translation: not good. It could have easily gone septic - and killed me, or resulted in osteomyelitis, or I could have wound up with arthritis for the rest of my life. Fun. So, the surgeon came to look at me and told me he was going to operate in two hours. He’s Russian, very short with words, and not the most cheerful/friendly person I’ve met but he’s a good surgeon so I make no complaints.
All that was easy, hobbling around with an infected knee (walking the long ways to the hole in the ground we call a toilet in the bush - then trying to figure out how to squat on one knee), getting admitted, the IV, news about surgery, etc… Now came the hard part. Calling the parents. Needles to say I met with some unhappy responses. Given the circumstances, they handled it pretty well. Actually, I had talked to them the day before and told them my knee was infected and I had to go for meds, so mom just said “I knew it! I knew your knee was worse than you were telling me!” Yes mom, you were right. Congrats.
Anywho, the surgery went well, the incisions looked pretty nasty. They are good sized cuts. He left it open so that they could drain some more if they needed to. He actually put drains in to keep it open and make sure any pus left in could get out (these were interesting drains, they didn’t have tubes small enough for my incisions, so he cut the fingers off of a latex glove and put those in). Weird. It was very interesting looking. Quite creative. The first few days of wound cleaning were not fun. Since the incisions are so big, the person cleaning would just shove the syringe down in there and blast the wound with saline, then again with iodine. Can you say ouch? Then when the surgeon cleaned it…. *shudders* He was… thorough… yeah…. Thorough. It was funny though, because I didn’t realize the two wounds were connected until he squirted the stuff in one wound, and it came shooting out the other. That was funny. I laughed. He also gave me a big squirt of hydrogen peroxide. Lots of bubbles came pouring out both sides. At first I didn’t realize what he had put, so I thought it was pus and was slightly concerned…. It was funny though. Alex was there Wed night (she freaked out more than my family and myself put together when she heard I was all alone in a hospital going into surgery etc… so she came to visit the next morning and got to stay the night). Anywho, Alex found it all quite amusing. I’m not a big crier, so naturally I didn’t cry when they messed with the wound, even though it hurt like nothing else. So, Alex was there laughing at me saying “Just cry already!” Thanks buddy. The nurse said the same thing… But there weren’t even tears in my eyes to be cried people… what’s your problem? Fortunately the only time I’ve had a lot of pain has been during wound cleaning time. So… I was able to refuse all painkillers with the exception of the night of the surgery. I was so groggy I didn’t even know what they were injecting me with. I just knew it was time for a shot and I was supposed to hold still. Okay.
So, I spent five days in the hospital. Good times. I was so happy to leave though! I’m too independent for all of that sitting around with nurses doing everything for you nonsense. My first night back here the Director and his wife wanted me to stay at their house (she’s a nurse). I’m doing quite well though, so I got to come back to my regular Riverside home today since it isn’t necessary for someone to watch me every second. I just have to take my drugs morning and evening and clean the wounds once a day and rebandage them. The wounds are gaping, so you’ve gotta watch it, but they are very clean. The surgeon wants to see me again on Tuesday. Not sure why. Maybe he just misses me. He probably wants me to be his American granddaughter… yeah that’s it he misses me.
Other than that the only other news is that I have been moved to Riverside now. Permanantly. Bummer. I really like it out in the bush, I would have liked to get to help out with the other two crusades they will hold. Also, I miss my Zambian family. Especially Chile. He’s like my cousin or something. We’d just sit up late at night talking at the crusade since the message was in Tonga and I couldn’t understand, and it was his dad talking so he’d heard the same sermons before. We had some good times. The student missionaries here will be leaving next week. So, then I will be working in the clinic here.
One of the girls here told me she wrote back home about my leg and so her whole town was praying for me. Haha. I guess a lot of people have been praying. I know it has been healing quickly. Even the doctors at the hospital were surprised at how quickly the swelling went down. And the gaping wounds are healing nicely. Its cool to watch how the tissues are reforming already. I think God and my guardian angel have definitely been working over time here lately.
Well, I think I’ve made this blog long enough. That’s all
So, we finally arrived at about 8 Friday night. We were greated by a huge group of kids who were standing by the road, they came running after us yelling “Mugua! Mugua!” That’s their word for white people. So, I climbed out of the truck bed and was met by a huge crowd of people who simply wanted to shake my hand and greet me. “Kwasia buti” To which you reply kabotu kwasia buti!
So we set up camp and spent the next two weeks visiting people during the day, inviting them to come to the meetings and holding bible studies with them. We also had a number of people go through VOP lessons (when you’ve completed them you get a free Bible - one guy completed all 26 in one day. He was serious!) Then, at night I would usually give the health talk, then Ernest gave the message for the evening. We had a pretty good attendance. Maybe at least 500 each night, but I’m not good at guessing numbers.
It was good times. We met a lot of interesting people, saw a lot of interesting things. I got to meet the chief. He gave us a chicken. A very pretty chicken at that, she was grey and specked. I also met and talked with the chief head man (biggest guy under the chief.) Someone else was the spokesperson when we met the chief, but I was the one talking meeting the chief headman (Ai!) I basically went into my typical spiel presenting God as a loving, personal creator who wants to be your friend. Then, my translator started in on Sabbath and baptism. It was a good visit. We also met a couple of apostolic priests. My translator argued with them for about 2 hrs. Craziness. But, they invited him to come back and chat again so hey, you never know where this may go. We may have 2 more church members soon.
Witchcraft was a big thing in that area. We saw a lot of demon possession. Sometimes at night we would hear the elders praying and casting demons out of people. Then, the second Sabbath we were there, Ernest preached and gave an appeal. Three of the women who responded to the appeal fell to the ground and started writhing and making strange grunting noises. They just picked them up, carried them inside the church building, and started praying for them while the service continued. Then one of the women came running out, arms flailing, running quite funny with the elders following close behind. She ran out into the middle of a field, fell, and they gathered around and were shouting at the demons to get out, and praying. The other two women took their turns doing the same thing. Now, I have to bragg about my translator. He’s this tiny little thing, maybe 5 ft, 26 years old, and he was always the first to the person who is possessed, then he stands over them, pointing away from the person and yelling the loudest at the demon to get out. Good job Emmanual, good job. We also had about 6 women who had to be carried out of the water at the baptisms because they had demons in them and collapsed when dunked under water.
I believe we had over 75 baptisms though. God definitely blessed. There were a number of people who were not baptized but who were still thinking and studying when we left. So, the numbers may grow yet.
Also, the last Friday that I was at Chaanga I woke up with a very red, swollen, left knee. Painful too. As the day went on it grew more and more painful, gave me a fever, made my stomach upset, at one point I even had trouble breathing. So, I applied charcoal poultices, and took a lot of charcoal by mouth. It was worse Saturday, but I managed to make it to the church service and baptisms before collapsing under a blanket in my tent. Sunday morning we got up early and left. You notice how horrible and bumpy a road is a lot more when your knee throbs with each jolt. Just an observation I made. I would have liked to have gone straight to the clinic then, but it wasn’t possible because we had to pick up Ernest’s daughter at the blacktop and take her with us to Lushomo and whatnot. So, Monday morning I finally got to Riverside, so I was able to see the clinic. By this point, my leg was huge! We are talking more than double its normal size.
The nurses here took one look at my leg and said I needed to go to the Dr in Lusaka for better antibiotics and arranged for transport for me the next day. So, Tuesday morning I went to the clinc and had an appt. with a Dr. Lynen who took one look at me and said I needed to be admitted to the hospital. Long story short, I spent the morning and afternoon in the treatment room on a drip waiting for everything to get worked out so far as finances go and was admitted around 16 hours under the diagnosis of infected knee with abscess and cellulitis. Translation: not good. It could have easily gone septic - and killed me, or resulted in osteomyelitis, or I could have wound up with arthritis for the rest of my life. Fun. So, the surgeon came to look at me and told me he was going to operate in two hours. He’s Russian, very short with words, and not the most cheerful/friendly person I’ve met but he’s a good surgeon so I make no complaints.
All that was easy, hobbling around with an infected knee (walking the long ways to the hole in the ground we call a toilet in the bush - then trying to figure out how to squat on one knee), getting admitted, the IV, news about surgery, etc… Now came the hard part. Calling the parents. Needles to say I met with some unhappy responses. Given the circumstances, they handled it pretty well. Actually, I had talked to them the day before and told them my knee was infected and I had to go for meds, so mom just said “I knew it! I knew your knee was worse than you were telling me!” Yes mom, you were right. Congrats.
Anywho, the surgery went well, the incisions looked pretty nasty. They are good sized cuts. He left it open so that they could drain some more if they needed to. He actually put drains in to keep it open and make sure any pus left in could get out (these were interesting drains, they didn’t have tubes small enough for my incisions, so he cut the fingers off of a latex glove and put those in). Weird. It was very interesting looking. Quite creative. The first few days of wound cleaning were not fun. Since the incisions are so big, the person cleaning would just shove the syringe down in there and blast the wound with saline, then again with iodine. Can you say ouch? Then when the surgeon cleaned it…. *shudders* He was… thorough… yeah…. Thorough. It was funny though, because I didn’t realize the two wounds were connected until he squirted the stuff in one wound, and it came shooting out the other. That was funny. I laughed. He also gave me a big squirt of hydrogen peroxide. Lots of bubbles came pouring out both sides. At first I didn’t realize what he had put, so I thought it was pus and was slightly concerned…. It was funny though. Alex was there Wed night (she freaked out more than my family and myself put together when she heard I was all alone in a hospital going into surgery etc… so she came to visit the next morning and got to stay the night). Anywho, Alex found it all quite amusing. I’m not a big crier, so naturally I didn’t cry when they messed with the wound, even though it hurt like nothing else. So, Alex was there laughing at me saying “Just cry already!” Thanks buddy. The nurse said the same thing… But there weren’t even tears in my eyes to be cried people… what’s your problem? Fortunately the only time I’ve had a lot of pain has been during wound cleaning time. So… I was able to refuse all painkillers with the exception of the night of the surgery. I was so groggy I didn’t even know what they were injecting me with. I just knew it was time for a shot and I was supposed to hold still. Okay.
So, I spent five days in the hospital. Good times. I was so happy to leave though! I’m too independent for all of that sitting around with nurses doing everything for you nonsense. My first night back here the Director and his wife wanted me to stay at their house (she’s a nurse). I’m doing quite well though, so I got to come back to my regular Riverside home today since it isn’t necessary for someone to watch me every second. I just have to take my drugs morning and evening and clean the wounds once a day and rebandage them. The wounds are gaping, so you’ve gotta watch it, but they are very clean. The surgeon wants to see me again on Tuesday. Not sure why. Maybe he just misses me. He probably wants me to be his American granddaughter… yeah that’s it he misses me.
Other than that the only other news is that I have been moved to Riverside now. Permanantly. Bummer. I really like it out in the bush, I would have liked to get to help out with the other two crusades they will hold. Also, I miss my Zambian family. Especially Chile. He’s like my cousin or something. We’d just sit up late at night talking at the crusade since the message was in Tonga and I couldn’t understand, and it was his dad talking so he’d heard the same sermons before. We had some good times. The student missionaries here will be leaving next week. So, then I will be working in the clinic here.
One of the girls here told me she wrote back home about my leg and so her whole town was praying for me. Haha. I guess a lot of people have been praying. I know it has been healing quickly. Even the doctors at the hospital were surprised at how quickly the swelling went down. And the gaping wounds are healing nicely. Its cool to watch how the tissues are reforming already. I think God and my guardian angel have definitely been working over time here lately.
Well, I think I’ve made this blog long enough. That’s all
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Speaking of Flexibility
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.
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.
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! :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Zimbabwe
So, we made the trip over to Zimbabwe. It went well. It was a long trip. About 9 hours from Lusaka to Harare. The bus wasn't in the best shape, and it took the hills really really slowly. But we got there so it's all good. When we arrived at the orphanage we went straight to our rooms in the dorms. That was quite the experience. There was a large room with a bunch of bunk beds in it, a large bathroom with a row of toilets but no doors on the stalls, and showers without curtains. I figured out really fast what times the girls were up and in the dorm and what times the dorm is empty.
The girls are really nice though. Very freindly. They are a lot more touchy too... Here in Zambia there isn't a lot of touching and hugging going on, just polite hand shakes and gestures. But in Zim they hug. That was nice.
While we were there the girls painted several rooms in the little boys dorm and the guys put up gables (? I think that's what they did...). We also got to transplant some tomoatoes and the trees. The orphanage had the church program Saturday. Lots of singing. Really good singing. They also did a skit on Job. It was really nice.
Learned how to play Dutch Blitz one night. We all sat down as a family (yeah, we've formed an SM family) one evening. It was fun, looking forward to playing that again.
Anywho... Zimbabwe is a lot more developed than Zambia. The buildings are like the buildings you would see in a city in America and things are a lot cleaner. Economically things are very unstable. The country has pretty much collapsed and inflation is insane. About 300 50,000,000,000 dollar notes equals approximately 50 cents. They've changed the currency a bit. They are using the U.S. dollar now. Its not so bad as the news makes it look. At least not all over. In the more rural areas things are still quite bad from what I hear, but Harare for example (which is a big city) is doing better now.
The last night that we were there they had a little farewell thing for Luke (he's a volunteer there, he actually was a student missionary here at Riverside a few years ago and he came back with us). It was sweet. Lots of singing, a skit, and many thank you's and tears.
The ride back was... interesting. We arrived at the bus station at 5:30 AM to make sure we were able to get tickets because these buses fill up fast. We were the first ones there. The bus didn't depart until about 8:30, although it was scheduled to leave at 8:00. Then, we had to pull over several times because it was having some mechanical issues. We finally pulled off at the scheduled pit stop and they informed us that another bus was coming from Harare to take us through. We all knew that by the time that bus got to us, picked us up, then got to the border, the border would be closed. So, we took turns standing out by the road trying to flag down a ride. Several people stopped, just going to the wrong places. We finally got someone going to the right plae just as our replacement bus showed up.
Then, once we got loaded in and on our way again, some men who had been drinking decided they had to pee... more precious time, then we got a bit overheated and had to pull off, then we got held up because a truck spilled tires all over the road... We began to get the idea that maybe weren't supposed to cross the border that night. We finally pulled up to the border at exactly 6:00 PM, which happens to be the exact time it closes. Apparently, no exceptions are made. So, we hiked back to a hotel that's near the border and spent the night there.
This morning at the border we found ourselves racing two other buses full of people. When we pulled in the people literally ran off the buses pushing, trying to get through customs first. It was funny. Everyone was pushing and shoving and stressing and our group was playing the name game. Hah. There are lots of baboons at the border. Some of them very big. While we were standing in the long line snaking its way out of the building and down the ramp, they provided us with some entertainment.
One of the baboons got a hold of someone's coke and had the bottle in its mouth and was running as fast as those legs and arms allow. Then it dropped the bottle and the bottle started to spray everywhere. It jumped back, then started lapping at the coke puddle on the ground and tried to pick it up again, dropped it, and it started to roll, still spraying. So the baboon followed after close when the spray was squirting away from him and jumping back whenever it pointed his direction. Finally, he just started following several feet behind and licking up the coke off of the black top. It was so comical! If we hadn't been at the border I would have taken pictures... but they aren't especially fond of cameras at the border.
Then, as we were filing out of the building after going through customs, we saw this baboon sitting on the cement wall we had to pass to get back to the bus. It was holding a huge chunk of bread and its cheaks were absolutely stuffwed with bread. There is no way that boy could have sqeezed any more bread in his mouth. We laughed and wondered who the genious was who gave him the bread. Then we got back to the bus and someone asked Luke if he had any apples or oranges. He said yes and asked if she would like some. She said no, but that the baboons had gotten into them. Sure enough, the basket that our bread, apples, and oranges had been in was sitting on the seat in the bus, next to an open window. So, our hairy little freind just reached in and helped himself. All but one of the apples had a huge bite taken out of it and nothing was left of the bread but the plastic bag it came in. Those crazy baboons.
The rest of the trip went over without a problem. So now we are back at Riverside. I guess we will be heading out to Mukuyu Friday to visit Hein and Melissa, provide some help/encouragement since they are having so many problems out where they are. Then Liz and I will either get dropped at the entrance to the long road to Lushomo Saturday on the way back, or come back to Riverside and wait for the Lushomo vehicle to make another trip into town.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I saw some elephants yesterday on the Zim side of the border gathering at some water. Very cool.
Speaking of cool, apparently we have snow at my house back home... 9 inches! Figures... I've been waiting for a good snow and it comes as soon as I leave. Oh well... I'm in Africa. So take that... hehe.
The girls are really nice though. Very freindly. They are a lot more touchy too... Here in Zambia there isn't a lot of touching and hugging going on, just polite hand shakes and gestures. But in Zim they hug. That was nice.
While we were there the girls painted several rooms in the little boys dorm and the guys put up gables (? I think that's what they did...). We also got to transplant some tomoatoes and the trees. The orphanage had the church program Saturday. Lots of singing. Really good singing. They also did a skit on Job. It was really nice.
Learned how to play Dutch Blitz one night. We all sat down as a family (yeah, we've formed an SM family) one evening. It was fun, looking forward to playing that again.
Anywho... Zimbabwe is a lot more developed than Zambia. The buildings are like the buildings you would see in a city in America and things are a lot cleaner. Economically things are very unstable. The country has pretty much collapsed and inflation is insane. About 300 50,000,000,000 dollar notes equals approximately 50 cents. They've changed the currency a bit. They are using the U.S. dollar now. Its not so bad as the news makes it look. At least not all over. In the more rural areas things are still quite bad from what I hear, but Harare for example (which is a big city) is doing better now.
The last night that we were there they had a little farewell thing for Luke (he's a volunteer there, he actually was a student missionary here at Riverside a few years ago and he came back with us). It was sweet. Lots of singing, a skit, and many thank you's and tears.
The ride back was... interesting. We arrived at the bus station at 5:30 AM to make sure we were able to get tickets because these buses fill up fast. We were the first ones there. The bus didn't depart until about 8:30, although it was scheduled to leave at 8:00. Then, we had to pull over several times because it was having some mechanical issues. We finally pulled off at the scheduled pit stop and they informed us that another bus was coming from Harare to take us through. We all knew that by the time that bus got to us, picked us up, then got to the border, the border would be closed. So, we took turns standing out by the road trying to flag down a ride. Several people stopped, just going to the wrong places. We finally got someone going to the right plae just as our replacement bus showed up.
Then, once we got loaded in and on our way again, some men who had been drinking decided they had to pee... more precious time, then we got a bit overheated and had to pull off, then we got held up because a truck spilled tires all over the road... We began to get the idea that maybe weren't supposed to cross the border that night. We finally pulled up to the border at exactly 6:00 PM, which happens to be the exact time it closes. Apparently, no exceptions are made. So, we hiked back to a hotel that's near the border and spent the night there.
This morning at the border we found ourselves racing two other buses full of people. When we pulled in the people literally ran off the buses pushing, trying to get through customs first. It was funny. Everyone was pushing and shoving and stressing and our group was playing the name game. Hah. There are lots of baboons at the border. Some of them very big. While we were standing in the long line snaking its way out of the building and down the ramp, they provided us with some entertainment.
One of the baboons got a hold of someone's coke and had the bottle in its mouth and was running as fast as those legs and arms allow. Then it dropped the bottle and the bottle started to spray everywhere. It jumped back, then started lapping at the coke puddle on the ground and tried to pick it up again, dropped it, and it started to roll, still spraying. So the baboon followed after close when the spray was squirting away from him and jumping back whenever it pointed his direction. Finally, he just started following several feet behind and licking up the coke off of the black top. It was so comical! If we hadn't been at the border I would have taken pictures... but they aren't especially fond of cameras at the border.
Then, as we were filing out of the building after going through customs, we saw this baboon sitting on the cement wall we had to pass to get back to the bus. It was holding a huge chunk of bread and its cheaks were absolutely stuffwed with bread. There is no way that boy could have sqeezed any more bread in his mouth. We laughed and wondered who the genious was who gave him the bread. Then we got back to the bus and someone asked Luke if he had any apples or oranges. He said yes and asked if she would like some. She said no, but that the baboons had gotten into them. Sure enough, the basket that our bread, apples, and oranges had been in was sitting on the seat in the bus, next to an open window. So, our hairy little freind just reached in and helped himself. All but one of the apples had a huge bite taken out of it and nothing was left of the bread but the plastic bag it came in. Those crazy baboons.
The rest of the trip went over without a problem. So now we are back at Riverside. I guess we will be heading out to Mukuyu Friday to visit Hein and Melissa, provide some help/encouragement since they are having so many problems out where they are. Then Liz and I will either get dropped at the entrance to the long road to Lushomo Saturday on the way back, or come back to Riverside and wait for the Lushomo vehicle to make another trip into town.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I saw some elephants yesterday on the Zim side of the border gathering at some water. Very cool.
Speaking of cool, apparently we have snow at my house back home... 9 inches! Figures... I've been waiting for a good snow and it comes as soon as I leave. Oh well... I'm in Africa. So take that... hehe.
So, things have been going pretty well. We've started holding meetings with the workers ate Lusyomo during lunch time now and then. Basically, we do a Bible study, then sometimes go into some health related topics. That's going pretty well. The state of the dead is a huge topic for them. They believe that if a man's wife dies, her spirit stays there with him, and he has to go through this ceremonial cleansing that basically involves him sleeping with another woman. So, it's been a hot topic. We've had two meetings on it and things still aren't as clear as we'd like.
We also had a meeting this week on the other side of the mountain where the people we've been visiting live. Apparently, some of the people we haven't been visiting have been complaining because we haven't spent any time with them. We've just been singling out those who our Bible worker feels need the visits the most. They are the people who are interested in learning more about God but are not in the church. So, we decided to start having meetings over there as well. Bible study, then some health related things as well. The water source over there is really bad this time of year, and there are a lot of people who are sick. With the same symptoms. So, we've been addressing the whole topic of boiling your water, drinking lots of it, and how to use and make charcoal.
We've got a lady named Esther who we've been visiting. She has been sick for about five years now. She's pretty well convinced she isn't going to live much longer. Godfrey (our bibleworker/translator) has really been urging her to get serious about Bible study and prayer... she has like six kids and is super skiny. So yeah, if you could add her to your prayer lists that would be great.
The lady who had the bad infection after giving birth to a stillborn child is doing much better now. She has regained most of her strength. Unfortunately, her husband went and married another woman and she hasn't seen him since. We're not sure if that means they are still married or not... he could just have two wives now. Anywho, she had been having trouble feeding her kids, especially as she was recovering. So, we gave her some mealie meal (ground up maize used for making porridge and nshima), and beans. She has two of the most adorable little girls you will ever meet. Big smiles. We also spend some time sharing encouraging Bible verses and gave her a Tonga Bible. Godfrey said that was a good move because she's an active church member and will put it to good use. She really liked John 16:33. It's a great feeling to watch someone's eyes light up like that.
It's been great to go visiting. When you approach a hut, the people just bring these tiny little stools out to you, you sit down and start sharing. People are very happy to see you coming, whether they listen to all you say or not is another matter entirely, but hey... they're nice. We have a couple of people that are very serious students now though. We have given out 6 Bibles and have requests for 3 more. After we finished visiting this man named Boyd today, he hurried off into his feild and came back with a big grin on his face and his arms full of corn. I'm just waiting for someone to offer me a chicken.
So yeah, I'm just kind of rambling here... one day I'll learn how to write a nice blog for you all.. Haha... Tomorrow morning all of us student missionaries are heading to Lusaka, from there we'll catch a bus down to Harare, Zimbabwe. We are taking a long weekend to help out at an orphanage/school/clinic that a former student missionary is currently working at. So, that should go well. It sounds like we will just be doing a lot of maintenance down there.
I just found out that Hein and Melissa (the couple that runs the project down in Mukuyu, where we held a dental clinic) are having a lot of trouble. They are having some land disputes with the local cheifs. One of the cheifs had given them land for the mission they are running (actually I think they gave it to his brother, but his brother died and left it to him). Now, this dishonest cheif is claiming he didn't and is saying he traded it with this other cheif, or something to that affect. So, they are all fighting and they camfe for Hein and beat him up and took him off somewhere. He's back now, but I guess they ruffed him up pretty good. Also, they broke into the house and stole everything of value and have started poisoning their animals now. So, Hein and Melissa are trying to raise money to hire a laywer so that they can scrape their lives back together. They've got a good work started there with an orphanage that is about to open this year and everything. So, if you are interested in helping them with some funds to keep this mission project going, you can send a check to OCI (Outpost Centers International) Just make a note that the money is for Hein and Melissa's project in Mukuyu, Zambia. You can get the mailing address at www.outpostcenters.org
Anywho, I think I'm done rambling on for now. :) Later.
We also had a meeting this week on the other side of the mountain where the people we've been visiting live. Apparently, some of the people we haven't been visiting have been complaining because we haven't spent any time with them. We've just been singling out those who our Bible worker feels need the visits the most. They are the people who are interested in learning more about God but are not in the church. So, we decided to start having meetings over there as well. Bible study, then some health related things as well. The water source over there is really bad this time of year, and there are a lot of people who are sick. With the same symptoms. So, we've been addressing the whole topic of boiling your water, drinking lots of it, and how to use and make charcoal.
We've got a lady named Esther who we've been visiting. She has been sick for about five years now. She's pretty well convinced she isn't going to live much longer. Godfrey (our bibleworker/translator) has really been urging her to get serious about Bible study and prayer... she has like six kids and is super skiny. So yeah, if you could add her to your prayer lists that would be great.
The lady who had the bad infection after giving birth to a stillborn child is doing much better now. She has regained most of her strength. Unfortunately, her husband went and married another woman and she hasn't seen him since. We're not sure if that means they are still married or not... he could just have two wives now. Anywho, she had been having trouble feeding her kids, especially as she was recovering. So, we gave her some mealie meal (ground up maize used for making porridge and nshima), and beans. She has two of the most adorable little girls you will ever meet. Big smiles. We also spend some time sharing encouraging Bible verses and gave her a Tonga Bible. Godfrey said that was a good move because she's an active church member and will put it to good use. She really liked John 16:33. It's a great feeling to watch someone's eyes light up like that.
It's been great to go visiting. When you approach a hut, the people just bring these tiny little stools out to you, you sit down and start sharing. People are very happy to see you coming, whether they listen to all you say or not is another matter entirely, but hey... they're nice. We have a couple of people that are very serious students now though. We have given out 6 Bibles and have requests for 3 more. After we finished visiting this man named Boyd today, he hurried off into his feild and came back with a big grin on his face and his arms full of corn. I'm just waiting for someone to offer me a chicken.
So yeah, I'm just kind of rambling here... one day I'll learn how to write a nice blog for you all.. Haha... Tomorrow morning all of us student missionaries are heading to Lusaka, from there we'll catch a bus down to Harare, Zimbabwe. We are taking a long weekend to help out at an orphanage/school/clinic that a former student missionary is currently working at. So, that should go well. It sounds like we will just be doing a lot of maintenance down there.
I just found out that Hein and Melissa (the couple that runs the project down in Mukuyu, where we held a dental clinic) are having a lot of trouble. They are having some land disputes with the local cheifs. One of the cheifs had given them land for the mission they are running (actually I think they gave it to his brother, but his brother died and left it to him). Now, this dishonest cheif is claiming he didn't and is saying he traded it with this other cheif, or something to that affect. So, they are all fighting and they camfe for Hein and beat him up and took him off somewhere. He's back now, but I guess they ruffed him up pretty good. Also, they broke into the house and stole everything of value and have started poisoning their animals now. So, Hein and Melissa are trying to raise money to hire a laywer so that they can scrape their lives back together. They've got a good work started there with an orphanage that is about to open this year and everything. So, if you are interested in helping them with some funds to keep this mission project going, you can send a check to OCI (Outpost Centers International) Just make a note that the money is for Hein and Melissa's project in Mukuyu, Zambia. You can get the mailing address at www.outpostcenters.org
Anywho, I think I'm done rambling on for now. :) Later.
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