Visiting Eta
Etambuyu Imasiku is one of our national staff workers with Action Zambia. Eta (her name short hand) has been working with the CROSS Project ministry for close to 5 years now. She is known by everyone for her strong, resilient faith. Her poise and grace speak volumes about her character. Eta hasn’t been feeling well lately, like the vast majority of Lusaka. This is the flu season and everyone seems to catch nasty respiratory bugs and/or congestion. So after we ourselves recovered from the flu we went to her place in Kabwata to drop off a meal and visit.
Ian and Ireen were elated to pay her a visit. Ireen stood up (with a little bit of coercion from me) and demonstrated her catechism memorization for us. Eta lights up around children and perhaps they were better medicine for her than a hot meal.
CROSS graduation
When we first arrived in Zambia, we worked with the CROSS Project (Churches Ready to Overcome Silence and Stigma). It is a ministry that equips local church groups to compassionately reach out to those around (and within) who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Tim and I both really enjoyed this work, both encouraging from the Word of God and challenging traditional beliefs about this disease. When Tim took on the role of director and I became a stay-at-home mom with 2 small children, our involvement in the CROSS project became minimal.
It was a real treat to join the CROSS team this past week and participate in their graduation signifying their completion of a 5 month curriculum. Tim did a fantastic job of speaking to the graduates, passionately exhorting them to be a community who embraces those with HIV/AIDS. After his talk, each graduate received a certificate and a “badge” of a blue cross wrapped in the red HIV ribbon.
