Summary of the Week

Hello all! It is currently Sunday afternoon here in Zambia. I know I missed writing the blog about Friday’s activities, but I have decided to write an overall summary of the week instead of trying to retroactively write about the specific activities we did Friday.

            After our long plane rides and spending a day in London, we arrived at the mission house on Tuesday afternoon. Dan and Joan Jones, who are both doctors, run the mission house and help at the hospital. During our three working days thus far, our medical people (Dr. Kari, Barb, Lori, Kari, Tehanne, and Lindsay) have been spending their time in the hospital doing various things. Dr. Kari and Barb have been doing surgeries with the Zambian staff, and Lori and Kari have observed some of them. Lori and Kari have mostly been working with the other nurses and have been learning how the Zambians treat certain conditions while lacking what we would consider the “proper supplies”. Tehanne and Lindsay have spent a couple days trying to organize the pharmacy and have been preparing for a dental clinic (Tehanne’s specialty) that starts tomorrow. They have all been experiencing some of the culture differences, like the way a woman needs her husband’s permission to have surgery.

            Jonathan, Larry, Bob, and I have been working on the hospital’s water supply. After discovering that the hospital and surrounding houses could triple their water supply by connecting the unused water tank, we began working on that. We have had a lot of success, but a lot of difficulties, too. We have been working very hard with some of the maintenance people from the hospital to find the connecting pipes and dig the trenches (with nothing but one shovel and two broken pick-axes) for the new pipes to go in. However, on Friday we discovered that the piping that we have does not fit any of the sizes that the Zambian stores make for the valves we need to attach. We have gone through a lot of hassle to try every size they have in this country, and none of them fit. This is quite a setback. By Friday evening we were a bit discouraged because it seemed that all the work and digging we have been doing might be useless if the valves can’t connect. We need prayers to find a way to make this work.

            Bob has also been spending time going through the hospital to pray with the patients. This has been very rewarding for him. Kari and Larry have also been working with Bob to start a type of prayer group for the Zambians on how to manage finances. As far as I understand, they have many videos and pamphlets of sessions to have on their computers. On Saturday, while the rest of us were on the Safari, they had a group from the local churches over to try to get this started. It is their hope that this will be something lasting for the locals that will remain while we are gone and help pull some of them out of the deep poverty that has plagued this country.

            I have spent much of my time at the local school. The assistant headmaster assigned me to work with the 9^th grade science teacher and for me to teach a class every day for 5 days. I began my teaching on Friday and it went very well. There have been awkward moments (they are unavoidable when there is a slight language barrier) when other teachers came to the classroom, as I was finishing because I am obviously a foreigner and they do not know why I am there. But the children seem to receive me well, and I have had fun by leaving much of the class time for Q&A on American and Zambian culture. One of the girls asked me if I had any brothers, and when I told her yes, she said, “Okay, good. Save one for me.” All the kids laughed and it was really funny. So Luke, if you’re reading this, I think I might have accidently set you up with an African girl from Zambia. 

            This morning everyone except Tehanne, Barb, and I went out to a “bush church”. In the Zambian lingo, “bush” basically means that it is somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. They took a trip to a newer church that is far from the cities with a pastor that Kari and Larry know. They said it was an amazing experience because they were the first white people to ever come visit their church or village. It was a powerful experience, but slightly awkward because the locals had them sit in cushioned seats (because they were the guests of honor) while the rest of the congregation sat on wooden logs or the floor. They said they also gave them food as thanks for coming. Tehanne, Barb, and I did not go because there was not enough room in the vehicle and we agreed to stay behind and get some extra rest instead. We went to the local church and it was still very nice. We also got to see what the Zambian church service is like; it just was not quite as far away or foreign to white people. It was very spontaneous and full of singing. Both services were about 3 hours long!

            That about sums up our activities so far. Please pray that this next week will be productive, and especially for a way to connect the water tank. We greatly appreciate your prayers! We hope everyone at home is doing well and we are praying for you, also. Looking forward to seeing our family and friends in a week! God bless!