Inward Renewal

I woke up at 4:30 Saturday morning to check the height of the water coming up our front steps.  To be honest, I thought the water would be receding.  Instead, I was alarmed to find that  the water had advanced during the night.  By 6:30 Andrea and I decided we weren’t going to wait any longer.  We had to move.  The stench from the open sewer was reason enough to empty our house but the thought of moving everything was so overwhelming.  We had nowhere to move to and the skies were threatening to unleash even more rain.  I called Luke and woke him up to inquire if he could organize the team to help us vacate the house.  Within an hour, the AZ team had a game plan and everyone started to make their way to our place on the outskirts of town.  Meanwhile I put on my gumboots (rubber boots) and started dismantling the house.  Because of the contaminated water, I had to put on and take off my boots every time I entered and exited.

The team were delayed due to the bad roads in Makeni.  Reports were that the traffic was backed up for kilometers due to vehicles being stuck in the several crater water-holes.  Eventually, the team made it to Makeni.  With help from the Roberts, Whitfields, Allens, Megan B., Charles M. and a crew of guys sent from our home fellowship group at LBC, Andrea and I were able to get the whole house dismantled and moved out by 4 pm.  For not having planned this move, we are simply amazed at the amount of help and support from all those around us.  We are so grateful to the Lord for this provision, though we are immensely tired and emotionally frazzled.  Ian is very distressed about the move and has fallen ill with a fever of some sort.  We’re just praying he has picked up something from the contamination.

Our stuff is spread out in three different locations, which will present a significant challenge to find things when we need it.  But it’s so much better than losing our posessions!  We were able to work out a deal with our landlady to move into a one-bedroom flat just down the lane for a few weeks until we know where we’re going.  Please pray that the Lord might provide a place for us to live… soon.  One thing that we feel great about is that the Lord has put us in a position where we’re completly dependent on him for provision.  Whatever the reason for God’s hand being worked out this way, we know that we will be built up.  In that sense, all this is a bit exciting.  It’s just like Him to do good to his children in such an unconventional way.  Also pray for Andrea, as she lost her grandmother two nights ago.  On top of being pregnant, having a sick son, moving out of a house and not knowing where to call home, she is also grieving.  All we can do is look to the Lord right now…

Over the last couple of weeks, many of Lusaka’s compounds (townships) have been swamped with water.  The situation has grown worse with unprecedented rain in the area.  Some are saying that Lusaka hasn’t had this much rain since late in the 70’s.  Hundreds of people have already been evacuated from their homes that are now submerged.

The area that we live in Lusaka is also experiencing flooding… and things are getting worse.  Within the several acre plot that we live, our rental home is the lowest and water has been rising at an alarming rate.  Just a week ago, things were looking swampy, but today water is covering our front patio and touching our front step.  This morning we awoke to the terrible stench of sewage.  Wading through the now green stagnant water around our house, I discovered that several houses (including ours) which share a central sewage are now backed up.  The ground is completely saturated and the septic tank soak away is no longer working.

We are now very concerned because raw sewage is bubbling up out of our septic line, not allowing us to take showers or flush the toilet.  The swamped water around our house has now been contaminated and there are concerns that there may soon be surface water contamination of our well.  Mosquitos are breeding by the thousands and industrial run-off from further up the road is now slowly making its way to our backyard.  A public health “official” visited our home this afternoon unbenownst to us, and apparently “condemned the premises as a disaster area”.  So far, the water hasn’t entered our home but if it does, we’ll have to empty our house of everything.  We’re not sure how high the water will come, but we do know that it is unsafe for us to keep our kids here under these conditions.  Cholera could become a problem, but the biggest concern is us tracking ecoli into the house, where Ian and Ireen play.

Please pray for us.  The situation is changing by the hour.  We are trusting that the Lord will accomplish something good from this situation, but meanwhile the smell and concern for health is unsettling.  Tomorrow we will be moving out of our home to a small one-bedroom flat down the lane.  We don’t know how much longer the waters will rise nor how long it will take for them to subside.  But according to onlookers, the area where we live is so saturated they say we could be in this for more than a month.

Tracy Singleton, who works with pastors in our leadership training program, had a birthday recently.  Ian and Ireen worked hard on home-made cards to deliver to him.  With their cards in hand they walked across the lane and knocked at his back door.  They were pretty dissapointed to find out that Tracy had left home to run some errands.  Andrea reassured them that they could try again later.

Tracy loves working outdoors on his garden and trimming trees, so we thought getting him a tree would be just the perfect B-day gift.  The little tree in the picture is a naartjie tree.  It produces a soft, loose-skinned South African citrus fruit. The naartjie name is Afrikaans but  is also known as a mandarin or tangerine fruit outside of South Africa.  Ian and Ireen couldn’t have been more proud about the arrangement.  Happy B-day Tracy!

or nartjie, is a soft loose-skinned South African citrus fruit. It is also known as a mandarin, satsuma or tangerine outside of South Africa.^{[citation needed]}

Look up naartjie in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

The name is Afrikaans and is originally from the Tamil word nartei meaning citrus.

The other evening I was preparing to make Jobetso Chicken – a great recipe from a South African friend of ours.  In the process, I learned an obvious lesson the hard way.  That was, never leave oil heating unattended.

I needed to borrow tomatoes and went to the Singletons to ask if they had any I could borrow.  As I was over there, I completely forgot that I was heating the oil and began talking with Karen.  Not too long after I was there, Ireen came running over and said, “Mama, you need to come home right away.  The oil is getting too hot.”  Never having experienced an oil fire before, I wasn’t too concerned but did head home.

When I got home I found my favorite pot sitting on our patio with flames billowing out of it.  It was spitting rain, and whenever one of those rain droplettes hit the fire…it created a sort of fire works display.  Inside the house Tim was busy positioning fans at the windows to try and direct the abundant smoke out of the house.  When he did come back outside he sat down and was visibly having trouble breathing.  I went inside to get his inhaler and came out gasping for breath and coughing because of the smoke.

Karen was kind enough to let me cook supper at her place.  When I got home with the supper we ate mostly in silence. Tim shared with me that he had smelled the oil getting hot and went in to check on the pot.  Instinctively he carefully removed the lid and stood back.  Praise the Lord he did, because flames exploded reaching the ceiling.  He threw the lid back on the pot and carefully carried it outside.  I apologized profusely for being careless and putting him in such danger.  All has been forgiven, but I will forever be more careful and attentive with cooking.

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!

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.

Since Ireen came home to live with us we have taken her to the orphanage where she came from on several occasions.  There was one auntie who had a special bond with Ireen, Auntie Katherine.  For one year, Auntie Katherine cared for Ireen, nursed her to health and helped her adjust to life without her biological mother.

It has been said that if a child bonds well to their caregivers she is less likely to have issues bonding to her adoptive parents.  It was apparent 3.5 years ago that Ireen had bonded to Katherine and for that we owe Katherine a debt of gratitude.  I shudder to think of what would have happened to Ireen had God not placed Katherine in her life to bridge the gap until we adopted her.

Pray for Katherine and she contemplates leaving her work with the orphanage.  Recently, there has been a lot of turn-around in the children placed in the orphanage.  On top of that, the children who were there from the beginning of the orphanage have all been adopted or family members have claimed them.  For Katherine it seems to be a fitting time for her to move on.  She will forever hold a special place in our hearts, however, as the Auntie who cared for Ireen before Mama could.

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.

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!