Inward Renewal

Thanks to Steve Allen’s hard work on this video, you can now catch a clearer picture of how Ciyanjano is set to be used.  These kids had such a blast!  With a football field now complete and a playpark for youth campers to be installed in the near future, Ciyanjano is ramping-up for kids.  Children who come for camps will have an exciting atmosphere where teaching and games are conducted in a beautiful, peaceful, secure setting.  Start the video by clicking the pic below!

ZESCO (Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation) is introducing new power cuts this year.  That means that we’ll be camping in our kitchen a lot more.  We have an electric stove – but that may get a little dusty as we pull out our Coleman petrol camping stove.  We’ve been cooking on it once or twice a week for the past year but wouldn’t be surprised if that increases.

Andrea has all sorts of back-up plans and recipes that she can switch over to if there’s a sudden black out.  Now that she’s used to this kitchen reality, she can really function quite well and our family has an assortment of favorite ZESCO recipes.  Baking is a little tricky, but if we plan accordingly, the baking can get done earlier in the day.  The bread’s not hot but that’s okay.

Our vehicle is being repaired once again, so I found myself using public transport again.  I took a bus called the “Jesus Rhythm” for one leg of the journey and a taxi for the other.  For the taxi, my driver was a young man from John Laing compound by the name of Richard.  After negotiating a fare for the journey, Richard and i began talking about life.  Over the next 15 minutes he shared the difficulties of the life he was leading: about the troubles in his marriage and the concerns that he had for his kids.

With meager earnings from his taxi, he confessed that he was hungry most of the time and his wife and left him because he wasn’t a bread-winner.  After listening, I shared with him the hope of the Gospel and the fundamentals of what it means to be a child of God.  Before dropping me off he took my copy of the Gospel of John in Cibemba vernacular and committed to reading it by the end of the day.  I told him that I didn’t have the resources to fix the things in his life that were broken but I did commit to pray for him.  I have no idea whether I’ll ever see Richard again or if he read the Book of John but perhaps if we pray for him, God will transform his life.

Work is now finished with the four-seater pit latrine we’ve installed for Campground 1.  It’s a concrete block building with a finished exterior.   I figured AZ should try to make our own earthen stucco using concrete mix and red clay dirt found on the property.  Locally available resources are the way to go – as we try develop the campground to be appropriate in scale to it’s surroundings.  Thank you to those who donated funds to make this unit possible.  We’re slowly but steadily building the infrastructure needed to bring groups of kids and churches to the property.

The seasonal rains bring an influx of snails into our back yard.  Big and small, they move in packs.  They squeegie themselves up and over everything and dependably leave green poop trails wherever they go.  We don’t really like them that much because we like to walk in our back yard barefoot.  Ian and Ireen are out there all the time barefoot.

If we’re not careful, they get crushed easily under our feet.  We’re not sure what they’re made of, because they can cause a tingling sensation if their slime isn’t washed off.  So, I make my rounds to pick them up, chucking them as far as I can out of our yard.  But it’s inevitable that next downpour will bring yet another slug fest.  Our family calls them slugs, but actually they’re mollusks because of the hard shell that protects their body.

We didn’t know very much about these unusual creatures until we tried to find out more info.  What we found was that most people confuse slugs and snails – but that they aren’t in the same category because of their shell.  Andrea and I were washing off the patio after they had come and gone because of the slimy residue they left.  While we’re not amused by their slime-off, it actually serves an important purpose for them.  Slime allows the snail to move across any type of terrain without injuring its body.  They’re very touchy feely creatures too – sliming everything they get close to.  That’s because they aren’t able to see or hear.  They rely on their sense of touch to interact with each other and their sense of smell to find food.

Did you know that they come rank number two, behind insects, in terms of their sheer quantities on earth?  We discovered a little insight as to why they are present in such large quantities.  Get ready cause this is kind of sick and cool at the same time…. they’re hermaphrodites.  This means that they are neither male nor female.  They do mate, but they have the ability to produce both sperm and eggs.  When two snails are mating they will BOTH conceive and lay eggs. No wonder they are numerous!

The guava tree is loaded.  With the branches bending so low under the weight of all the fruit, Ireen doesn’t need to climb the tree to pick guavas.  Guava is fortified with vitamin C, so Ireen and I sat down for a late afternoon snack.  We had a lot of fun making faces at each other – and the guavas were so tasty!

Three times a month (on Saturdays) I have the privilege of hiring one of the hardest working gardners I’ve ever met.  Charles is one solid dude and can do the work of three men – no kidding.  I’ve never heard him tell me there’s a job he can’t accomplish.  With a hoe (“khasu” in the Cinyanja language) he can tear apart and put together any problem situation.  He weeds, slashes, plants, trims, digs, identifies native plants, traps animals, washes, paints, details autos, landscapes, negotiates deals and just about any other thing a person might need done.  I’ve never had need to keep him on task because he takes orders and disappears for the rest of the day – completely transforming whatever he touches.  If he worked for you, you’d be impressed.

With gardner help like his, Andrea and I enjoy are back yard all the more.  As a bonus for his hard work, I gave Charles a compressor from the engine of my old Toyota Hilux.  Two years ago, the engine blew up and so I saved any spare parts that were still good.  With a perfectly good spare like this one, Charles took it deep into the Lusaka markets to find a buyer.  It didn’t take long for him to get 300,000 ZMK (approx $66).  He was able to pay for his children’s education and then some… !  It just goes to show how ridiculous it is to throw things away here.  With a little time and working the right network of connections, everything has value.

Early in the mornings you can find me working out on our elliptical machine.  With me being a future candidate for hypertension my cardio workout is extremely important.  Both Andrea and I work on our fitness out of a conviction that God made us to be stewards of our own bodies.  Neglecting our souls and bodies is a recipe for disaster in the long run – which both of us can attest to.  I usually get 20 minutes of prayer time during my exercise routine too – and for someone who leans towards anxiety I find that positions me well to face the challenges of a new day.

Within one month of consistent use, I could really tell a difference in my cardio and respiratory fitness.  And the elliptical continues to kick our butt.  Something else I like is that there’s no jarring and pounding like road runners experience on their joints.  The machine can be run forwards or backwards which totally switches things up – something I really benefit from.  During the rainy season here in Zambia, Andrea and I found that we simply wouldn’t exercise because of the rain and mud.  With an indoor workout there are no excuses.  We highly recommend getting one – it’s been a great investment!

Periodically, I call meetings to discuss missions items that need attending to.  Tracy Singleton is the Deputy Director of the AZ field (left), Bestone Chileya is the Chairman of the Zambia Board of Trustees (middle) and I am the Director of the AZ field.  When the three of us get together we have a good time.  Bestone’s laugh is very contagious and he’s always one to try American food (you’d be surprised to know that many Zambians don’t even want to try American food because they’re so in love with their staple food, nshima).  Andrea prepared a fantastic dinner for the evening – roast beef, gourmet carrots, twice-baked potatoes and rice.

Bestone is a very principled person.  When he approaches an issue, he does so with wisdom.  Having a Zambia board that our missionaries can trust is very crucial.  The board consists of 8 members.  I’ve put together a powerpoint presentation for those who are interested in finding out more about the Action Zambia Board.  They give invaluable input into the future direction of the field as well as keep missionaries accountable.  I wouldn’t want our mission to be organized any other way.  After all, missionaries have been in Zambia for many years and it’s time for Zambians to lead and steer us in the right direction.

Generally, it’s always a good time  to say “thank you”.  But on the mission field some times are better than others.  Andrea and I try to thank our donors every-so-often but we’re rather unpredictable.  Usually, we hop to it when there happens to be someone going back to the States to send our letters.  This time around we composed 90 thank you’s which costs a little over $100 for us to buy cards and postage.  We really appreciate our donors – and we hope that they appreciate hearing from us.