Inward Renewal

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?

This Christmas we celebrated with my Aunt and Uncle in Lilongwe, Malawi.  My parents (Stan and Donna Armes) and our family took the 10hr drive there last Monday.  It was a beautiful and uneventful drive there.  We’ve never driven due east from Lusaka and we really enjoyed the mountains and crossing the Luangwa river.  While there we were able to relax, take plenty of naps, eat plenty of food, play games and simply enjoy the company of family.

I’ll share an anecdotal African Christmas story with you that my Uncle David shared with us.  You know the song, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”.  You and I (and most likely any other American) will know that a “White Christmas” is referring to snow on the ground, covering the trees etc.  However, to someone who has never seen or heard of snow…the connotation can be quite different.  One such man after hearing this song concluded that a “White Christmas” was when many “white people” get together to celebrate Christmas.

It was a joy to spend time with my Aunt and Uncle who both grew up in Africa and have spent 23 years in missions in Africa (Rwanda, Mozambique, Malawi).  We just gobbled up our time with them and their many stories of God’s provision.

While on holiday we took a short boat ride down the Kafue river to where in joins the mighty Zambezi River.  On our way we had to slow down for a pontoon that was ferrying a semi to the other side.  Cost is 40,000 ZMK for one vehicle.

The last time we took a ferry was crossing over from Botswana into Zambia.  It felt safe enough at the time.  But as we passed this particular pontoon with a fully loaded semi aboard, the ferry looked like it was leaning.  Capsizing at this spot wouldn’t be cool.  Our navigator was telling us stories about the many crocks and hippos that patrol these waters.

Every so often as you’re driving down one of the main streets in Lusaka traffic slows and as you’re looking for the reason, you see people marching down the middle of the road with a banner out front announcing what it is they’re raising money for.  The idea is that you slow down and throw some money into their buckets…a little like firemen do in the States, except their in the middle of the road.

Today as we were headed into town for an inter-church social, we came upon one of these parades.  The cause – raising money for a pre-school.  To our shock, the people walking down the middle of Independence Ave were the pre-schoolers!!  Ireen, my daugher, is 5 – the same age as many of the children walking in between the lanes of traffic.  It horrified me to think of her risking her life in traffic to raise money for her education.