Pure, Undadulterated Joy

After the day I had yesterday, and the week I had last week (don't even ask....),  I need to take a moment to reflect on the reason God has us here in this community and look at some of the simple joys in life.

In August we had a team from Texas come out to do a bunch of different projects over one week. The men helped Tom with various building and construction projects. The two women who came with the team held a Vacation Bible School program for 3 days. 

Each day two groups of 50 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old would come to hear Bible stories, sing songs, play games and do crafts. In the middle of each session we planned to have the kids play in the playground.

The first day the kids were escorted to the playground they stood in a line just staring at the playground. They were somewhat familiar with the trampoline, but had no idea what to do with the rest of it. Schools here don't usually have playgrounds for the school children. 

I had to lead the kids around to each of the playthings and show them how to play. I took two of the kids over to the see-saw and as soon as the girl lifted up into the air she flipped right off. She'd never been on one before and didn't know she was supposed to hold on.

Finally, I led a couple of the girls to the playhouse which has a simple slide, made from 3 barrels, coming off of it. I encouraged them to sit down and slide through it. The absolute surprise and delight on the first girls face made my day. 

She looked up and politely asked if she could go again. After I told her yes, she gave me a huge grin, dashed off and climbed up the ladder to get ready to slide again. 

The slide became one of the favorite parts of the playground.

How many kids do you know who can find such joy in simple, playground equipment. Sure makes one count one's blessings, doesn't it?

Sundays in My City--Village Church

Tom's student is really happy--they just get serious around cameras.

 Last Sunday Tom was invited to preach at the church of one of his Bible students. He has gone there three times before but I had never accompanied him so this time the church members insisted that I come as well.

The church was tiny and yet they managed to fit 150 people in there. The ladies that are walking up the aisle are actually dancing in as they sing Praise songs. 

The church was so full that children were gathered around the pulpit as well. They stared at me the entire service. 

There was a whole lotta shakin' goin' on!

After the women sang, the youth group stood up to sing. They filled the tiny floor space to capacity. Song time is accompanied by lively dancing. My seat was right next to the floor area and was quite low sitting which meant that I had an interesting vantage point for all the hip-shaking and grooving. I was never so thankful for my camera which allowed me to 'escape' to higher ground. I stood in the corner to take pictures.

The drummer was really feeling the music

Since it was Sunday morning and church day, most people had bathed so there wasn't the regular pungent smell of unwashed bodies that you might find on a bus or in a crowded shop, but that many people in a small room made for pretty stale air.

Tom has been slowly taking this congregation through the basics of the Bible. This past Sunday he was explaining what sin was. The last time he preached he found out that there is no Bemba word for sin. The only word they have is the same word for mistake. The trouble with this is that if one thinks that sin is the same as a simple mistake it really takes away the seriousness of intentional wrong doing. We have encountered this and so have been working to teach the difference between say, accidentally knocking your friends plate of food of the table or stealing food from their house. Mistakes can be taken care of with an apology but sins carry consequences.

The faces on these children will always make me happy!

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You Know You're In Africa When.....

Wednesday night there was a big rain and we were inundated with flying bugs. It was nearly impossible to do a normal evening activity like eat dinner or watch TV because bugs kept landing on us and crawling all over and getting tangled in our hair. Yuck!

While we were watching a program on TV, our volunteer got a phone call from the night nanny saying there was a snake down in the corridor. Tom and Timmy ran to get it carrying the snake handlers with them. A short time later they came back with the snake. It was a stilleto! A very poisonous and sneaky snake. There is no anti-venom for this snake and to make it worse, it can bite backward as well as forward. That is how it earned a spot on my 'Things That Have Bit Tom' list on the sidebar last year. Tom was holding it the 'right' way and the snake's fang pointed backward and pierced Tom's finger. Thankfully, it was a dry (no venom) bite.

This time, Tom was very careful in handling it and secured it inside a jar for scientific purposes.

Later that night he told me how he had scared some neighborhood children who were hanging out on our front porch collecting bugs. They were talking loudly and waking the babies up and didn't move along even when asked nicely by our staff. So, Tom crept up to the door, threw it open and yelled loudly. The kids screeched, screamed and ran in all directions leaving their shoes behind in their haste. Tom scooped up the shoes and hid them in the house to teach the kids a lesson.

That night it seemed like the entire village was surrounding our property. Because our security lights are bright and along the fence line it is the perfect place to find bugs. All night long people were laughing, chattering and shouting as they gathered the bounty that lay on the ground. See, these bugs are flying termites. They come out after a big rain, swarm around in the evening and then lose their wings and spend the next two days or so crawling around on the ground. 

No amount of shouting would make them (the people) go away. I even turned off the lights to see if they'd get discouraged and go home. No such luck. I was up most of that night with Sara and our poor dog was going crazy wanting to get out and chase everyone. 

What a night!

When I opened the door in the morning to admit the staff, they were so excited and eager to collect the bugs that lay all over the ground. I had to insist that they still do their regular jobs and that the kids could do the bug collecting as a game and then the termites could be divided fairly among all the staff members.

Later that day they fried up the termites for lunch. Wanna see?

 I really don't think you could pay me to eat those. Well, I guess it would depend on how much....

I hope this picture hasn't taken away your appetite. I know many of you have a fridge full of leftovers from your Thanksgiving feast. If seeing these bugs has caused you to never want to eat again, feel free to box up the food you have left and send it to the starving missionaries children in Africa.

We're eating our Thanksgiving dinner in about 3 hours. Can't wait!

Exactly One Year Ago: Fab Friday Foto

 

Our 'Overcoming' Muscles are Being Strengthened

We have had a challenging few days-- we have been struggling with a serious situation. It was made more difficult by the fact that Tom and I had popped down to Lusaka for two days of business which means four days away from home with travel figured in.


First a little background: For the last couple months Tom has been working on improving things at the lagoon where we have our boat. His idea is to put up a little log cabin for overnight guests and tourists to rent. It will be very rustic and quaint but peaceful and authentic.


This week we finally got all the wood and carpenters out to the site to start working. Then, Thursday, our gardener (and all around worker) called to say that the sub-chief had said we had to pack everything up and the workers needed to leave because if they didn't, the villagers were going to kill them. 


This was very very scary for us because the lagoon is only twenty minutes from our house. We had no idea what the real situation was and if the threatened violence would spill over to our house and orphanage. Thankfully we had a friend who lives nearby who came over and spent the night to look after everything since we were over 600 miles away. 


The next morning we made about a hundred phone calls (no exaggeration) and found out even more details. Apparently, about a week or two ago, the fish in the lagoon began dying and nine people died over a four day period. 
Living in rural Africa means that we live among and work with people for whom superstitions, traditions and witchcraft are a regular part of life. When a situation happens and people don't understand or have the answers for it, blame is put onto any target. We've seen this firsthand before when Tom documented a village 'witchhunt'. 
Now, because the deaths of people and fish could not be explained, Tom has been blamed because of his relationship with the local sub-chief.


The situation is fairly calm now. Some of our many, many phone calls were made to various contacts and friends and eventually government officials. We requested help in investigating the deaths--surely there is a reasonable explanation and perhaps a reason for concern--some type of poison added to the lagoon is a logical guess. We have also asked that the government assist us in mediating the situation since the local culture can be difficult to navigate.


We still really need prayer for the situation to calm completely and that we can reopen the lines of communication with local leaders.
Today, for church, we read from Revelation about being overcomers. We will conquer and we will overcome by the Grace of God. We're in it to Win! Thanks for praying and helping us finish this race.