Remembering Adam's birthday

February 23 marked what would have been Adam's 40th birthday.  I struggle to know how to handle the day.  But Micah was clear about how we should remember the day on which a great man was born; have a party.  And party we did with lots of food, swimming and soccer for the kids, and a chance to kick back for the adults.  In the end everyone had fun and I felt at peace that Micah, Holly and I had honored Adam's life.

Micah with his friends Leonard and Toby

Lukas, Craig, Bryan, Sally, and Diane, all part of the FMZ team that has been like family to me over here.

Holly and Maude, with Brian and Ross in the background

Gertrude, Peggy, and Esther from FMZ.  They have become an important part of our lives.  Peggy and Esther work at the GH and take care of us so well and love on my children every day.  Gertrude is mom to Leonard, Maude, and Brian who have become fun playmates for Micah and Holly.

John and Faith Solt, pilot and accountant for FMZ.  Micah and Holly love to go to their house once a week for "Movie Night."  They too, have been a great support to our family.

Fun at Munda Wanga

Today was a carefree, sun-drenched day spent with the kids and their friends at Zambia's "zoo," Munda Wanga.  Don't let the word "zoo" fool you.  It's basically a huge piece of property partitioned off with glorified chicken wire, to keep the animals from hunting the humans. The pictures aren't so great because I had to compete with the wire, which was advertised as electric...but the power goes out often, so who knows. 

Warthog.  Yeah, not pretty.

There was a smattering of all different kinds of African animals here--giraffe, warthog, ostrich, camels, goats, baboons, crocodiles, a cheetah, and of course the lions.  

The kids were fascinated by the owl.  This one had it's head turned completely around, so you are actually seeing it's back.  We were close enough that we could see the owl blink and noticed 2 sets of eyelids that opened and closed at different speeds. For some reason I didn't picture owls to be part of the African landscape. 

We stayed all day to get a chance to see the lions being fed.  It was a pretty big thrill for the kids to be so close to the lions and watch them gobble their prey.  It was hard for me to get pics because of the fence, but this picture show a lioness lapping water (just like a cat) only 2 feet away from us.

This lioness was as tall as Micah

Seeing the animals and walking through the botanical gardens was really satisfying, but the highlight of the day was seeing all 5 kids have so much fun together. 

Micah, Maude, Holly, Brian, and Leonard holding their locust pod sword atop the botanical garden bridge.

More from Lilayi

It's been a few weeks since I've had the opportunity to visit my widow-friends in Lilayi.  It was so good to be back and fellowship with these women and gain more insight into their lives. I was surprised to see the whole group this time.  Initially I thought I would only be meeting with 2 or 3 women to talk through business plans. But it turned out for the best.  Many of the women had similar ideas and plans of what they wanted to sell.  So by the end of the meeting I was able to convince them it would be better to work together in small teams and share transport cost/labor, etc.  In a culture that is based on community, it seems weird to me that they wouldn't have already organized themselves into small groups and be interested in working together.

I'm very thankful that Bishop Yamba is taking the lead on meeting with the women on a regular basis for prayer and encouragement.  Monday will start their first official prayer meeting.  These women are from all different religious backgrounds:  pentacostal, catholic, anglican, seventh-day adventist, or nothing at all.  As the group gets more comfortable being together and begins to open up some more, it is my hope to add in some bible teaching, praise and worship, and testimony time. It is my hope to see these women begin to love and support each other more as they come into a deeper relationship with Jesus.  There are so many more widows in the community who are asking to be included in the group, so I hope that in the future some of these women will reach out to other widows who need assistance.

God is teaching me so much through this little venture with Him.  For every one right thing I do, I know I am also doing 5 wrong things.  But God is gentle and is guiding me and teaching me how He wants me lead these women.

Internet is super-slow tonight, so I will include pics another time.

Hope

It was a rainy Wednesday, the kids were dropped off and happy to play at the Wilson's for the afternoon, and I was lost in my thoughts as my tires jarred over the pock-marked road to Lilaya. There is one road that leads to Lilaya. At the end of the road you can choose to go right, which leads to the Lilaya Lodge where the people with money go.  Or you can choose to go left, into the village of Lilaya, where the people with no money go.  I turn left. 

I don't know what I will experience today.  It's time to do some home visits and meet the women who will be receiving some small business loans.  I've never done this before, and didn't have any inkling I would be doing this while in Zambia.  I remind myself to be listening to the Holy Spirit constantly.  That is the only way I will be successful...did I mention I've never done this before!?

I meet Bishop Yamba and his wife Anna at the school they run for orphans and very needy children. We talk a bit under the tree and start off for the G. Compound.  After a 2-minute walk we come upon mud shanties, held together with what ever they can find.  We walk past mothers with their babies, children running all about, open toilets and garbage pits.  It's muddy from all the rain and it stinks.  I'm glad I wore my sturdy shoes. 

We come to the home of Mrs. Banda, a widow of 5 years.  Her mother is still alive and she cares for several of her young grandchildren.  We are warmly welcomed and invited in.  Mrs. Banda sits on the dirt floor while Bishop, Anna and I sit on a small couch covered with little woven cloths that come out only for guests.  A few years ago some kind person put a corrugated metal roof on here house.  Before that it was covered in plastic and it was perpetually wet and muddy inside her house during rainy season.

There is no electricity or windows so it takes a few moments for my eyes to adjust to my dark surroundings. I feel like I'm in a cave.

Onto business.  Mrs. Banda has tried to make a living by going to the market very early in the morning buying tomatoes, greens and cabbage for nshima relish.  She sells them in a small stand next to her house. Mrs. Banda has a solid clientele, but needs more variety in her inventory.

One of the ideas that God gave me earlier in the week was to give a little lesson in money management, His way.  I took 4 envelopes marked 1) God 2) Personal 3) Business 4) Loan.  I demonstrated with real Kwacha what do with the money once she started selling food in her shop and the reasoning behind it.  Bishop went over this a few times in Nyanga until she understood what we were saying.  In this culture, typically when someone gets any sum of money, it's spent almost immediately.  This system was a foreign concept, one that will need to be revisited and hopefully will take hold with time and practice.

After Mrs. Banda received her loan it was time to pray and thank God for our lives and ask God to give her success in the business.

It was such a small thing to give this woman some money to help her business along and help improve her living standard. But it doesn't end there.  This is the start of a relationship that will hopefully end with Mrs. Banda having a deeper interactive relationship with the God that created her. That may be a long way off, but it starts with HOPE.

...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he as given us.  Romans 5: 3-5

New Year's Game Drive

On New Year's Day, we were treated to a game drive with Bryan Wilson and his family on a private game farm outside of Lusaka. For the first 15 minutes the boys sat on top and proclaimed..."no girls allowed, Mom!"  

Carrie, Holly, Ross Wilson, Micah, Toby Wilson (on top), Diane and Charis Wilson (inside) 

But it was getting hard to see the animals and take pictures from inside the vehicle, so Holly and I ventured onto the roof-rack.  What you can't see is the gigantic hill in front of the truck that we had to drive up and down.  That was a new experience trying to balance myself and hold onto Holly at the same time.  The adventurous side of me was pretty stoked.  

Here was the prize, a healthy mature giraffe.  A giraffe in the wild bears very little resemblance to the ones back in the American zoo.  This once obviously had plenty of food and land to run around on.  I was so amazed at how muscular this particular giraffe was. 

Here is a an animal that I have never seen before--a sable.  The black sable to left side of the photo is the male and this is his little "tribe" of females and new babies.  There is a teenage male in the bunch who's hair is starting to turn black like his father's.  Notice how long the horns are on the sable.  I wonder what God's purpose was in such long horns.  

There were other animals, but either I was holding on too tightly to the rack to get a pic or they were too far away to post a decent picture.  It was such a blessing to be out in creation and take in all that God has made. Thanks Wilson's! 

Struck by Joy

It finally happened.  The joy that has been missing since the day Adam died has finally made a reappearance.  These are the women I have to thank for that: my Zambian sisters.

Anna, Pamela, Elizabeth, Agnes, Sandra, Mrs. Pirry

God has orchestrated an opportunity for me to partner with a Zambian church organization to provide long-term assistance for the widows of the Lilayi community. On Tuesday, I met 10 of the most needy widows in the community and talked with them for over an hour about their current situation and how they needed help.  After hearing their stories (some of which made me cry) it was apparent that they needed food for their families. These women have suffered much. 

Today I was able to bring them each a 25 KG bag of mealie meal, the staple food that will last up to a month for each family.  As the bags were unloaded they started singing and dancing, praising God for His provision for them.  Yes, it was God that provided this food for them, I simple was the conduit to make it happen.  And Joy was my reward. 

In the upcoming weeks I will have the opportunity to make some home visits and get a good understanding of the living conditions of these women and their children.  I also hope to record their stories and share them here on the blog.  

The women were very upfront from the beginning that they did not want perpetual hand-outs, but rather a way to make a living for their household.  Bishop Yamba, the founder of the the ministry will be organizing the women into groups according to different skills (ie. sewing, baking, gardening, etc.) and helping them come up with a business plan.  The plan is to give the women small loans to help them start up their businesses. As the women prosper at their business and start to pay back the loan, the money then will go directly into the Yanos school to provide tuition for the many                                                orphans and needy children that attend.  

This is all new to me and I am hanging on to God for guidance. As God has been faithful in providing for our family, I want to be faithful in helping these women provide for their families.  Please pray that Bishop Yamba and I would have God's wisdom in proceeding with this new ministry. 

Zambian food day

This afternoon I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner.  "Nshima, relish and mangos," they said.  Are they turning into Zambians!?  When we got back from town Micah and his friends climbed the mango tree in the back yard and picked some mangos for everyone.  Mangos right off the tree are a sweet, juicy mess.  It's kind of like biting into a Georgia peach at the peak of ripeness. Mmmmm, good!  

Here is dinner--nshima with tomato and chicken relish.  Nshima is made of ground corn maize and looks a little like cream of wheat when cooked.  You simply take some nshima in your hand, roll it into a ball and dip into the relish. Finger food at it's finest. (I think that's why the kids like it--no utensils needed!)