Charming Baby
Last night at this time I was falling asleep while trying to memorize the Zambia Highway Code or the 10 rules of the road. My driver’s license expired and one of the steps to getting it renewed is to take an oral exam during which you recite the 10 rules. This morning I was prepared. Read more
A Zambian Baby Shower
This is an entry I wrote a while back but never posted:
Before leaving for South Africa, my team-mates gave me a “baby shower”; my states-side friends gave me an “online shower”, the church in South Africa threw a “stork party” and now my baby has been properly welcomed by my Zambian friends. In Zambia it is customary to bring gifts for the baby only after he or she is born. Read more
Stuck in Lusaka
We had a full house over the past three days. Thousands of bicyclists, overlanders, motorcyclist, hitch-hikers and tourists aspire to this feat every year, with their starting point in Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt. Both arrived with many stories to tell about their adventures, but are sure to make plenty while they journey through Zambia. Read more
Do You See Anything Unusual?
Lot’s of things still seem different about Lusaka, even though we’ve lived here for close to 5 years. Andrea and I got a kick watching a “work crew” do their thing as we sat at the gas station refuelling our vehicle. The scene before us just seemed really comical… Are we just crazy, or are there unusual things about the sight? We found about 5 things amusing. What about you?
Mouse for Dinner
While at the chalet worksite one of our workers (Richard) was quick enough to catch a mouse that had burrowed a hole next to the foundation’s footings. With lightning speed he pounced upon the rodent and raised it into the air proudly. 
Many Zambians consider field mice a food delicacy and are quite willing to dig for them in the fields, but they also clearly despise house rats and make a clear destinction between them and the field mouse.. After the mouse is killed it is then cooked by boiling water and then stirred in to mealie meal (corn meal) into it until it gets thick. If you were to eat at Richard’s home the same evening, chances are … as a guest, you would be served this prized delicacy.
Michael W. Smith Concert
Last weekend was one we won’t forget for some time to come. I constantly have my ears open for new and exciting family outings here in Lusaka. So, when a teammate called and said that Michael W. Smith was going to be in town I jumped at the chance to purchase tickets for our family. Although he’s not our favorite Christian artist, the opportunity to go to a concert is rarely afforded us. We have such fond memories of concerts in the States from the Artist Series at Wheaton to the Mountain Opry in Chattanooga, not to mention bluegrass festivals, Riverbend, and Night Fall. In fact one Sunday morning worship at New City Fellowship would do our souls and ears good!
The concert was to take place from 2pm to 8pm last Sunday. Since things rarely start on time, we weren’t worried about arriving too early but did arrive around 2pm. There were already hundreds of fans lined up outside the stadium. We had eaten a large breakfast so for lunch I just packed a soft cooler full of drinks, crackers & peanut butter, snacks, and fruit. We took our place in line perhaps 200 yards away from the entrance. There was no shade from the hot sun, no barrier between us and the busy road just feet from us and no clean spot to sit.
Our place in line
Trying to hide from the sun
At 2:40 they began the sound check…at least that’s what it sounded like from our spot in line (which had not changed since 2:00). By this time I was tired of keeping the kids in line – literally – and carrying the cooler. I was also worried about sunburn since I hadn’t thought to bring sunscreen. Somewhere around this time new lines began to form at other entrances…so those just arriving were ahead of us in line. At 3:00 we decided we’d give it another 45min before we left.
People race to form new lines
At 3:30 a gentleman behind us in line received a call from someone on “the inside”. They hadn’t finished setting the stage up. We still hadn’t eaten, Ian needed a diaper change and we were in the same spot in line we had been in for an hour and a half. We decided to leave around 4:00. Our tickets were burning holes in our pockets.
We went to a Korean restaurant and had a leisurely meal. The children played outside in the grass as we enjoyed our food. The Korean Paparazzi fresh from S. Korea came pouring out of the kitchen with digital cameras and cell phones all wanting a picture of the little muzungu, Ian. We finished our meal and then I called a teammate who was at the concert around 5:45. She was in the stadium and they had just announced that MWS was on his way. Tim and I decided to give it another try.
We arrived at the stadium a little after 6pm and sure enough, there was MWS and band performing on stage. The crowd was excited and seemed to have forgotten their long wait in line to get into this concert. Midway through the concert someone decided to let the crowd advance toward the stage. Unfortunately, our friends and their children were at what used to be the front. As the mob advanced, a couple of their children were caught underfoot. That family left as their children were very upset! Just after 7pm MWS started wrapping things up. Not wanting to get stuck in traffic, we opted to leave before he performed his concluding songs.
As we drove home, we couldn’t help feeling severely disappointed and exhausted. To top things off, as we were driving along, a line of 4 unmarked vehicles with their hazards flashing drove by pointing guns at us. The last vehicle (a flatbed truck) ran us off the road without the slightest provocation. When we did get home, Ireen was crying and Ian was repeating…”guns scare me, Papa”. We gathered in the living room and thanked God for protecting us.
Let it never be said that we didn’t try to participate and do fun things with our family. I just hope this doesn’t make us too cynical.
Animism & Kasupe Outreach
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Lots of progress was made throughout the week on the building project. In between work, we fit in various orientation sessions about life and ministry with Action Zambia. One such session was devoted to the reality of animism and witchraft in Zambia. Even though many locals might be open to elements of Christianity, many still look to ancestral spirits and even witchcraft for help in solving life’s problems. Kalolo Mulenga briefed them about this reality before they helped a local church conduct outreach in some of the rural parts around Ciyanjano. Below are a few pictures from that time of outreach. The Mt. Morris team split up with local church members leading the way and visited village settlements where they: shared about the person and work of Jesus Christ, handed out hygeine kits, and extended a personal invitation to each family to come to church to hear a special Gospel presentation message. Twelve to fifteen homes were visited before sundown and the team is prayerfully expecting many to come church on Sunday to hear Pastor Bruce preach. Jailos and Boniface (members of the church) were ecstatic at the response the team received.
Hiking in Kasupe
We took the Mt. Morris team on a hike in the Kasupe area (near Ciyanjano ministry center). The plan was to hike to a nearby village in Kabwe rural, but we didn’t get very far because locals stopped us from approaching an area with a streambed. The area was experiencing a cholera outbreak and the local clinic had been turned into a cholera treatment centre. It was an up-close reminder that cholera is ever-present here and definitely a killer. You can read up on the current situation HERE. We took a quick detour through the local farming community instead…
Problem Solving
When the city council came through and tore out the entrance to our community’s entrance, it created a crisis of sorts. There’s a government clinic within the premises and large numbers of people come in and out of the gate all day long. Vehicles come in and out for the agricultural programs as well as the residents who live on site. The first thing the community needed to do was to construct a bridge. That solution was pretty easy to come by in theory, but in planning and site construction it turned out to be quite complicated.
Rather than have one engineer overseeing construction of the bridge, there were five to six! I watched events unfold as everyone became an overseer and only one person was working. Not that all Zambians function like this, but it’s not uncommon to see road construction crews of 12 plus men all standing around watching one man work. The same principle was at work here. Because of the plethora of opinions on how the bridge should best be built, we ended up with no cohesive strategy for the bridge. Major things were overlooked regarding the integrity of the structure for vehicles, but that didn’t really matter as much because this way everyone contributed.
I’ve included the picture to the left to demonstrate why our driveway was torn up in the first place. The driveway that we did have passed over two large drainpipes. Of course, there was nothing wrong with the drainpipes other than that they were clogged with dirt. Rather than working to unclog the drains, the city council decided to take corrective action by tearing the whole thing out. Again this illustrated a different approach to problem solving. Here, little emphasis is placed on preventative maintenance. When a little problem became a big problem, then the solution was to entirely replace. Considering the inconvenience to all and the total net expenditure, this has ended up being a very costly venture indeed.