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.