Inward Renewal

About twice a month, Andrea and Ireen catch the pancake bug.  When Ireen catches it, she follows Andrea’s every move.  She helps Andrea by stirring the batter and “supervising” the entire process from her perch on top of the step-ladder.  Ian catches the bug too – but he’s more interested in doing what Ireen gets to do.  Inevitably he buts in.  If Ireen let’s him get to the top rung of the step-ladder… he’s all smiles.

The Action Zambia missionary team opted to do a pig roast Hawaiian style for Thanksgiving.  That’s right, turkey got nixed in favor of Luke and Brent’s pork plans.  The results were absolutely fantastic!  We wish you were here to taste it.  True to style, Luke or Brent decided to throw a few parts into the serving pot.  Guess who got the surprise?  None other than Karen Singleton.  The picture above captures the look on her face.  She pulled out a hairy “protrusion”.  Most onlookers were shocked to see her holding up a hog’s tail.  But, Karen wasn’t so sure that it was the tail!  She thought it might be “something else”.  Hmmm… I guess we’ll never know.  Anyways, this got a lot of laughs from around the table.  Karen was so kind as to try to feed it to her husband Tracy (picture below).

I’ve been reading the book A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World by Paul E. Miller.  It may prove to be one of the most significant books I’ve read perhaps because of the battle I fight with prayerlessness.  Miller describes my heart at so many points it’s uncanny.  Not only that, but he’s helping me peel back layers of dysfunction.  Yesterday I read his chapter on “Bending Your Heart to Your Father”.  Here’s an excerpt that spoke to my soul:

The connection between anxiety and continuous praying goes back to Eden, where Adam and Eve were in unbroken fellowship with God and continuous prayer was normal.  When they sought independence from God, they stopped walking with God in the cool of the day and their prayer link was broken.

What does an unused prayer link look like? Anxiety.  Instead of connecting with God, our spirits fly around like severed power lines, destroying everything they touch.  Anxiety wants to be God but lacks God’s wisdom, power, or knowledge.  A godlike stance without godlike character and ability is pure tension.  Because anxiety is self on its own, it tries to get control.  It is unable to relax in the face of chaos.  Once one problem is solved, the next in line steps up.  The new one looms so large, we forget the last deliverance.

Oddly enough, it took God to show us how not to be godlike.  Jesus was the first person who didn’t seek independence.  He wanted to be in continuous contact with his heavenly Father.  In fact, he humbled himself to death on the cross, becoming anxious so we could be free from anxiety.  Now the Spirit brings the humility of Jesus into our hearts.  No longer do we have to be little gods, controlling everything.  Instead, we cling to our Father in the face of chaos by continuously praying.  Because we know we don’t have control, we cry out for grace.  Instead of flailing around, our praying spirits can bless everything we touch.

David captured the connections between a humble heart and a quiet heart in Psalm 131.

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.  But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child on its mother; like a weaned child is my soul on me. (verses 1-2)

We become anxious when we take a godlike stance, occupying ourselves with things too great for us.  We return to sanity by becoming like little children, resting on our mothers.

What I like most about this book is its saturation with honesty.  Miller helps me to honest about the states of disorientation I can feel in my relationship with God my Father.  He’s willing to acknowledge the state of my heart that’s disquieted and restless without remaining there too long.  By taking stock of God’s Word my heart will be re-orientated.  Miller makes one last comment about this passage:

One of the unique things about continuous prayer is that it is its own answer to prayer.  As you pray Psalm 131, your heart becomes quiet.  You rest, not because there is magic in the words but because your eyes are no longer raised to high.

On Sunday mornings Ireen says, “Are we going to go to the tent church today?”  That’s how she describes it before adding,  “Papa, I like building churches more.”  We do attend a church fellowship that meets under a big tent.  Andrea and I have been attending Lusaka Baptist Church now for about three years and last year they undertook a construction project for a new building.   Until that project is complete, we’ll continue to meet under the “tent of meeting”.

If we are not late to arrive at church, we are able to find seating inside.  But when the tent fills up they roll up the sides and late-comers sit outside.  For us with white skin, the sun rays are absolutely brutal – even during the rainy season.  So at least it’s good motivation for us to arrive a little bit early and find seating inside.  Ireen leaves for her Sunday school class half-way through the church service – which she really likes.  Ian sits in the pew on Andrea or my lap looking at books, munching on snacks, sucking on his pacifier, or drink his “joosh” (juice).  Inevitably he gets irritated by the confinement, prompting us to take him outside.  Here’s a picture of a typical Sunday morning service:

If you read our last post on the plant propagation efforts we’ve made for Ciyanjano,  you may be wondering where we got 1,800 new sisal (agave sisalana) starts.  Well, actually these starts were vegetatively propagated.

The sisal plant has a unique design for its survival. After about 5 years a mature sisal plant will send up a pole (shoot) which flowers. The pole grows extremely fast (10-12 cm per day) and very tall (5-6 meters).  As this pole reaches its maximum height is sends out branches that flower.  Eventually on this one plant, as many as 2,000 bulbils can grow on these flowering stems.  Bulbils are small baby plantlets that are miniature versions of its parent. It’s astonishing how the plant “mothers” thousands of its own new plants at the same time.  When the formation of the bulbils are complete, they have reached a point of maturity where they fall the full 5-6 meter distance down to the ground.  The mother plant then dies.

By sending a pole up so high, the sisal plant has a better chance of the small plantlets falling further away from the base of the plant. For me, the sisal plant illustrates how imaginative and creative God is and how blind I am to the wonders of His creation. Unless I make it a point to observe and investigate, I’ll never “see”. I never would have paid any interest in the life cycle of the plant if I wasn’t interested in propagating the plant myself.

Although sisal originally came from Mexico, the sisal plant is now grown commercially all over the world to make twine.  In 1893 sisal bulbils were imported and introduced to British East Africa, where countries like Tanzania and Kenya produced it in large quantities. Since then, sisal has been propagated all over sub-Saharan Africa.  Brazil, China and Tanzania are now the world’s biggest producers.

I try to spend as much time in my backyard as possible.  I absolutely love listening to the birds, smelling the fresh air and dreaming up new landscape designs.  It’s really a haven of rest for our whole family, not to mention a healthy outlet for me to get mind off of mission things once in a while.  A few weeks ago, I decided to try my hand at propagating trees and shrubs.  I decided to first concentrate on sisal, bougainvillea, mulberry and an ornamental tree common to these parts.  My end goal is to propagate these in mass quantities and then transplant them at our retreat center/ campground called Ciyanjano.  I’ve been pricing bougainvillea plants at the local greenhouses, and they’re costing approx $7.50 per plant.  Instead of the mission buying plants like these for shrubbery I figure I’ll propagate them myself and save.  Right now I have 1,800 sisal plants growing in a long flower bed in the back yard.  The pictures I’ve taken are the result of 4 weeks of growth.  I’d really like to propagate fruit trees to later transplant at the campground.  My next door neighbor James knows how to graft and promises one day to show me the special techniques needed to make that successful.  I’ll probably start with a lemon tree since they have a reputation for establishing themselves quickly.  I can’t get enough of this… it’s so much fun!

When it’s overcast and raining, Ian and Ireen get into their book moods.  This morning, Andrea and I walked into the living room and found Ireen “narrating” the book Are You My Mother? to Ian in her own words.  When Ireen tells the story her own way – it usually gets increasingly loud and expressive, further captivating Ian’s attention.  He absolutely adores her (most of the time) and rests his chin on her shoulder as she tells the story.  Andrea and I are getting tired of pointing out the dog…but Ian is intent on adding his contribution…”woh-woh-woh”.  He is such an intense little guy when concentrating on the story line, completely immersed.  We took a few pictures of the two-some before our Sunday morning breakfast.

The international community here in  Lusaka hosts a monthly Braai (cookout).  Many families enjoy the once a month outing as a way to solidify relationships with other non-profit personnel and simply to have fun.  It was our first time to go to the international braai in two years and this month Mark and Tracy Murray were hosting it at their place in Chelston.  Steve Allen announced that there were plans to have a volleyball match and that Action Zambia should be represented.

The day ended up being a little dreary with light drizzle.  Nevertheless our whole family had a good time – and we did get to play some volleyball.  Ireen jumped on the trampoline and Ian played with the Brio train collection that was set up.  Andrea dressed Ian up to protect him from the sun because he still doesn’t have a lot of hair on his head We got a kick out of this picture where Ian sports his outfit for the braai.

When the rains come to Lusaka, one should expect everything in life to take a little bit longer.  On the one hand, rains are such a blessing to a parched land that hasn’t received one drop for the better part of six months.  But on the other hand many Zambians dread the rainy season – because of the mud, homes leaking and getting flooded, not to mention all the standing water in the streets that can easily swallow up your car.  It’s the time of year that delays are expected and commonplace.

So, when I left for work this morning I thought I was prepared for whatever inconveniences Zambia might bring.  I badly needed an oil change, so as I passed by Zambia’s premier auto store – AutoWorld.  I pulled in to the 6 bay mega-auto-parts dealership before 8:30 and talked to customer service.  They told me that an oil change would take 30 minutes.  AutoWorld has a nice lounge area for customers so I thought I would sit and read for a bit.

Well, I waited…..and waited……and waited. When I went to check on oil change progress after one hour had passed, I found my diesel Toyota Prado with the oil drained, the fuel filter off, and the oil filter off.  “We have a problem boss”, said the customer rep, “our oil filters are out of stock.”  I was then told to catch some “rest” up in the lounge and that they would come get me after they located one.  The plan was to have the parts guy bring the correct filter from another AutoWorld downtown.  It was supposed to take 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, as hour 2 passed, I started growing restless.  Finally, at 11:30 the oil filter was delivered.  It took them all of  15 minutes to finish the job.  But then came the bill….560,000 ZMK ($125).  The oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and oil came to $100 and the labor was $25.  Needless to say, I left AutoWorld at noon in a foul mood.  There’s nothing like African customer service… it’s something I’ll never get used to.

This morning I traveled out to Ciyanjano, Action Zambia’s campground, retreat center and income generation property.  It’s about a 30 minute drive for me, but I love getting outside of urban Lusaka.  I took a couple of pastors with me early to show them the leadership retreat center facilities.  As we were peering inside each chalet we opened up the door of one chalet, only to find a massive snake slithering across the concrete floor.  We quickly exited the chalet and slammed the door shut.  Jailos Sakala was with us and reopened the door carefully and stealthily crept around until venturing into the bathroom.  Looking up into the rafters he found the snake curled up.  He quickly called for backup and several more of our Zambian workers came running with hoes and slashers.  After a quick consultation, the workers decided that this snake was very dangerous and would have to be killed using a catapult (slingshot).  Within ten minutes, the snake had been hit in the head and dragged down from its perch.  A few slashes and it was dead.  The workers believed quite strongly that it was a green mamba.  At the time I believed them.  Any green snake surpassing a meter was surely a mamba I thought.  But after further investigation, I am certain this was a male Boomslang snake.  Boomslangs are found around these parts of Southern Africa.  They primarily live in trees and shrubs in savanna areas.  Green mambas have a more slender head than a Boomslang and have front fangs.  Boomslang are often mis-identified as green mambas.  Unlike mambas they have rear fangs, enormous eyes and short stubby heads.  What’s really interesting is that they can open their mouths 170 degrees.  Males like this one, are bright green, sometimes with black-edged scales.  We were extremely cautious handling the snake as it is “potently haemotoxic, causing severe bleeding internally and from the mucous surfaces.  May result in fatal haemorhage if untreated.”  Source: A Complete Guide to the Snakes of Southern Africa by Johan Marais    Check out the following pictures: