Inward Renewal

There’s been a lot of flooding in our area over the last few weeks because there is nowhere for water to drain to.  So water has submerged dirt roads and flooded residential areas.  The community in our area has gotten fed up – so the Lusaka City Council has finally sent “help” .  The plan?  To create drainage ditches on either side of the road using a ditch digger.   The hope was that this would allow drainage for flooded plots.

The city coucil never warned residents of their action, they just started digging trenches that are now a couple miles long.  Residences with entrances off the main road are now cut off.  The council has yet to put drainage pipes or temp vehicle bridges for every entrance.  The trench is 3-4 ft deep and wide enough that children can’t jump across.

Our driveway was torn up at 17:00, just before people started to arrive home from work.   Luckily, I came home early today and passed through the front entrance.  An hour later, the council came through without notice and created an impassable flowing river.  So, we’re trapped in until a bridge is made.

Our neighbors, the Singletons weren’t so fortunate.  They returned home too late and were trapped outside.  We’ll see how long it takes for the council to put things back together again.  Meanwhile, we’re getting used to the idea that our vehicle won’t be of much use to us.

I’ve been commenting how the land in Lusaka has just about reached its saturation point.  Portions of the road are under water in our neighborhood which means that the roads are taking a beating.  The tarmac that is laid down is very thin and underneath it is dirt.  When the ground beneath gets soft then potholes begin to emerge.  A few road logistics companies are based down our road which means that the heavy traffic is ruining the road.  Everyday tractors and trailers are parked along the roadside waiting to be unloaded.  The tractors pull off the roadway into mud holes that fill up with water as they wait.  It’s amazing what some of the overland truckers try to pull off with their big rigs.  Some make u-turns in the middle of the road if they dare.  I snapped this pic with my phone the other day as I was travelling into town.  This truck driver got stuck in the mud as he was trying to turn around… which caused a snarl in traffic for hours as anyone and everyone tried to hook chains to his rig to pull him out.  Have I shared that the rains cause a slight inconvenience around here?

Last week a pastor in our mission’s pastors training classes passed through what most American’s would consider a tragedy.  His wife gave birth to a baby boy via an emergency C-section operation.  During the operation doctors and nurses told him to go home and wait for the outcome.  They told him that the procedure was 50/50 survival for wife and child.

The next morning he returned to the hospital and found wonderful news waiting.  His wife and child were okay… His boy was born with birth defects but the prognosis for future procedures seemed good.  A week passed and all seemed well…  He and his wife were exhausted from taking care of a newborn and recovering from the invasive surgery.  Friday night they went to sleep and in the morning they found the baby struggling to breath.

They rushed to the government hospital but their son died on the way.  The doctors pronounced the child BID (Brought In Dead).  What started out as just another morning turned into a visit to the police, mortuary and hasty funeral service.  In Zambia, children who are days / weeks old are not given the typical funeral.  The pastor and his wife had not yet given the boy a name so the government documents indicated “son of…”  Within hours, the death had been processed by the authorities and burial plot was given to the family in crisis.  By 13 hrs. that afternoon, everything was finalized.  The pastor and his wife returned to their home, stunned and exhausted.

I visited them the following day and sat with them in their home, me being mostly quiet.  Lots of family members were packed into every room of the small house.  Mothers, sisters, nieces, uncles sat on the floor and we all sat in silence.  Communication was evident, soul to soul, spirit to spirit.  Being surrounded by community like that would have been uncomfortable to me if I were the one loosing a child.  I would probably want to be left alone.  Not so in Zambia, the community shows profound solidarity and draws close to the grieving.

Looking around the room I saw the faces… and wondered how the happenings of the day before could possibly be true.  The pastor was warm and appreciative of me passing through his place.  He shared with me his deep conviction of the “supremacy of Christ” even in the midst of loss.  He shared how he felt the tangible comfort of his Savior.  As he talked I glanced over at his front door… A paper had been posted there at eye-level – no doubt put there deliberately.  I’ll never forget what it read:

“Happiness depends on happennings, joy depends on Jesus.”

Already, the pastor had begun his fight for joy… in the midst of everything he had decided to soldier on.

I got this picture off the internet but it’s the closest looking to the lizards that reside under our rocks and in our flower beds.  They enjoy climbing up our screen door and catching flies or mosquitos.  When we first moved into our house it was infested with lizards.  It wasn’t uncommon to sit in on one of our love seats and soon find a lizard peering over your shoulder.  My response was to scream, Tim’s was to kill the things.  He’s broken two of my brooms killing lizards in our house.  Well, we’ve finally gotten a handle on the lizards because Tim “lizard-proofed” our front door.

Last week I was out on our front patio (can’t remember what I was doing) but when I came back in, a lizard followed me.  When I saw it, I screamed – it’s just automatic.  The lizard was having difficulty with our newly polished stone floor.  It slipped and slid down the hallway, then back toward me.  My house helper, Grace, thought something terrible was happening and when she saw it was only a lizard she giggled a bit.  Then she and Tim escorted the lizard outside.

When all was well with the world again: the lizards were outside and I was safely inside. Grace told me that it is a Bemba belief that if a lizard follows you, you are pregnant.  Well, I am indeed pregnant, so perhaps there is some validity to this myth.

Last week our team celebrated Valentine’s Day by doing a progressive dinner.  We started at 4pm (or, around there) with appetizers at our home.  I’ve been craving big soft pretzels so…my very talented and creative sister gave me a recipe for homemade pretzels.  The only thing I can claim in the way of creativity is that I shaped them into hearts – astounding I know, especially on Valentine’s Day.  Anyway, I also made mini twice baked potatoes.  The power did go off a couple times while I was preparing, but thanks to the active prayer life of my neighbor it didn’t last long either time.  When you look through the pics, note Steve Allen.  He simply cracked us up as he enjoyed the pretzels…he said it had been almost 14years since he had a big soft pretzel…I think he ate about 5.

We then headed to the Singletons for soup.  Corn chowder and Pumpkin were both on the menu and both fabulous soups.  We enjoyed playing “battle of the sexes” and I’m pretty sure the women won.  After our soup we headed into town for salads.  Sorry, for some reason we didn’t get any pics of the salads.  Kerri fixed a delightful fresh green salad and a pasta salad.  Both scrumptious.  We had fun playing an impromtu game of “humdingers”.  Of course, all love songs.

Then it was off to the Allen’s and Megan’s for the main course.  Megan grilled incredible stakes for all of us and Stephanie accompanied with garlic green beans and potatoe wedges.  We topped it all off with dessert at the Whitfields.  We had german chocolate cake, caramel brownies and banana pudding.  It was a feast for sure!

Three Zambian families are living on site at our Ciyanjano Ministry Centre.  The families help maintain a presence there as well as do regular maintenance and help with our development initiatives.  Jailos (right) is our “go-to-man” and has an impeccable reputation.  He’s honest, humble and a hard-worker.  He functions as the spokesman for Ciyanjano to the community right now – and people seem to really respect him.  Because the development work that is happening out there wouldn’t have materialized without them, I’ve posted a recent picture of Boniface, Richard and Jailos holding their “slashers”.  Slashers are swung back and forth to cut grass.  In this picture, they just finished clearing an overgrown grassy area where we hope to install a playground for kids if we can find donors.  Oh, here’s a side note…Zambians don’t call them “playgrounds”, they call them “playparks”. We would appreciate prayer that God would continue to provide the funding that’s needed to pays for their labor costs.  It is hard for me to conceive of the ministry centre operating without them.  Their attitudes and resilience are always a big encouragement to me.

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you–but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.”
(Mat 23:1-3)

As I read Matthew chapter twenty-three for devotions I was profoundly moved.  This statement is the  forerunner to the eight “Woes” that Jesus pronounces in the passage.  Jesus’ wrath had been kindled against the scribes and the Pharisees and rightly so, since they were not practicing what they were preaching.

I almost started reading the passage, eyes glazed over with condemnation of the Pharisees.  But, as I kept reading the chapter I was personally drawn in, with myself in the position of the Pharisees.  Within moments, it was so clear that their indightment was mine too.  Jesus’ description of them is a description of me.

For anyone of us who are directly presenting the Gospel, this is an especially difficult teaching to receive at the hands of our Savior. We are sinful and guilty in many of the areas that the Pharisees were.  How many times have we preached the Word that we were not living?  I sure have, and I was crushed by the following verses:

(Mat 23:23)  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.  (Mat 23:24)  You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

Here, Jesus makes an accurate assessment of me.

(Mat 23:25)  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.  (Mat 23:26)  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

And again, Jesus describes me.

(Mat 23:27)  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.  (Mat 23:28)  So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Jesus looks at me and sees me as I am.

What becomes apparent is that a child of the King must be weighed by the very Word that he wants to preach to others.  Yes, the Gospel is a wonderful message to proclaim but it also exposes the hypocracy of the message bearer.  Unless I intend to become irrelevant, I must apply the Word to my own life and when I am found to be lacking, I must humbly seek the mercy of Christ.

The truth is that I continue in my hipocracy, pretending as though I have a good grasp on God. Yet, this pretension must have a profound effect on unbelievers. Perhaps my walk with Christ is turning people off to the kingdom of heaven?  The following verses make me wonder…

“But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.
(Mat 23:13)

It makes me tremble to think about what a pastor goes through Sunday by Sunday.  His hearers must surely weigh him against the very word that he preaches.  What a humbling prospect, to have to stand up before a congregation and be the mouth piece of a holy God and so publicly fall short!

Well I am not a pastor.  I’m a missionary… constantly on display as well… in a land where I am the guest.  Am I real or am I fake?  Am I full of empty words or do I exhibit a transformed life in Christ?  That’s what locals are trying to assess about me and it’s got me thinking.

Am I becoming a whitewashed tomb that outwardly appears together but is inwardly full of all sorts of uncleanness?  How many times have I rejected God’s will for me because I couldn’t stomach the person proclaiming the truth?  Well, in spite of my admission it’s really amazing that Jesus exhorts the crowds to be doers of the teaching even when those proclaiming it were hypocrits.

By the time I reached vs. 32, I stood condemned and hungering for deliverance.  Then I read this…..

Mat 23:33-37
(33)  You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
(34)  Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
(35)  so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
(36)  Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
(37)  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!

Verse 34 started out promising enough as it showcased the faithfulness of God to intervene and save sinners who are drowning in their own quagmire. But rather than becoming recipients of grace, the Pharisees condemned those who were bearing the message of salvation.  They rejected the means of grace that God provided.  How many times have I done the exact same thing?

This passage simply cut me in two.  It revealed how desperately wicked I am and how passionately God must love sinners like me.  That God would want to dwell with me, a person who is ugly both on the inside and outside makes Him a wonderful Savior indeed.  The Gospel message is a message that I must accept in my own heart.  It’s a message that is at times bitter but always infinitely sweet.

Ireen kept exclaiming, “this is the best day ever!”  Perhaps that’s because it was the first day we had sunshine in about a week – we were all beginning to get cabin fever.  Saturday morning the kids got on their bikes and started tearing down the lane.  It wasn’t long before Ian found “his spot” – a lovely little mud hole.  He stayed in this spot for well over 30 min driving in and out of it, dragging his poor scooter around and around.  Even though I had just put new clothes on him and had just washed and dried the shoes he was wearing, I couldn’t bear to pull him away from his joyful bliss.  At one point he accidentally fell into the mud on his bottom giving us all a good laugh.

When he got tired he desperately wanted us to push him.  Tim humored him for a while and then came up with the idea of tying a rope to the bike and pulling him up and down the lane.  Every time Ian passed his mud hole, he steered straight into it – no matter which side of the lane he was on.  It was a good time for all of us and yes, I was able to get all the mud out of his shorts, pullover, socks and shoes.

Lusaka is well into its rainy season now.  The heavy rains, which were supposed to come in late December have now arrived.  They are becoming more predictable now, with daily rains coming at around 14:00 hrs.  The ground has pretty much reached its saturation point and that means that driving gets a lot more interesting.

Most of our missionaries have 4WD because getting in and out of the townships means passing through deep water holes.  Seriously, some of the low spots in the road fill with water threaten to swallow up even the most equipped vehicles.

I took some pictures last week as I drove around.  Notice in the first picture how high the water is coming on the tailpipes of sedans.  This photo was taken on Great East Rd. which is one of Lusaka’s busiest rds.  It’s not unusual to see motorists submerge their exhaust systems completely.

I had to speak at a church in Kanyama, and boy was that journey interesting.  The road into Kanyama felt more like a roller coaster or mud rally than a main road.  Even at Ciyanjano, the creek is roaring.  The bridge is now impassible because the creek has cut out around one side of the bridge.

So far, Lusaka’s townships aren’t experiencing any cholera outbreaks but with the ground reaching saturation point, pit latrines will start filling up and boreholes might be threatened with surface water contamination.  Life here is a delicate balance.  Transportation for locals is fraught with delays, mud and getting drenched.  Most people can’t wait for this time of the year to be over.

But the rains also sustain life here.  The majority of Zambia drains into the mighty Zambezi and Kafue Rivers which course their way throughout the land bringing much need water and fertility.  They are now very full.  The life cycle of many plants and animals here depend on the extremes of knowing plenty and feeling want.

I pass by this sign every single day on my way to the office.  I’m amazed by the names given to churches in the compounds.  This church’s name is called Grace Achiever’s Church – which is of course a contradiction in terms according to Ephesians.  At the very least, each morning I’m reminded of Ephesians 2:8-9.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. “

Do I view divine grace and favor as God’s initiative?  Am I working towards my own righteousness?  Can I receive the grace and love of God for me as a free gift?  Hmm… I wonder if that sign is there for me?