Where Things Are Going

Hello Everyone!

It's been awhile and we have been back in the States for about 3 weeks now and there is a bit of a lull to catch up.

We will be in the US until early or mid February when we plan to head back to Zambia with CVM under a longer term commitment of 2-3 years at a time.  We sold our house in one day to the first person that saw it and are working on the details of selling out of the practice to a great veterinarian a few years behind me in the business.  The kids are enjoying a long break from homeschool while we are here and loving seeing their cousins and grandparents (and playing video games).  I have been working at Hillside a couple days a week and it has been fun catching up with clients and the staff.  Alicia has been mostly getting a million things done and spending as much time as she can with her mom and sister.

We plan to go back as soon as possible to continue the work we have started.  In March we plan to breed cattle again with a larger grant this time and do 400 cows in the area.  A classmate of mine and a friend from Canada are planning to come help with the dirty work and I am so thankful!  We also plan to help the newly formed cooperative with the purchase of a sprayer (large, mobile unit) for ticks on cattle that can be moved about the area for tick control.  This will be a huge help in controlling deadly tick diseases that threaten the livestock population there.  After breeding slows down we will get back to the rotating monthly education and devotions in the bush as our basic outreach ministry of the church.

In Mwandi we have been moved to another house on the river that is larger and can accomodate visitors more easily.  The house is owned by the Church of Scotland and must be used for ministry as well as a living place.  This was perfect for us as Alicia has been saying that she would love to have ministry opportunities she can do from home as that is so much easier with the kids.  When it was presented to us this way it was just...funny I guess?  God gave us exactly what we felt we needed and should have been praying for.  The things we don't trust Him with...  So Alicia will be helping out with a sewing club ministry, formula for HIV+ mothers of newborns, and gardening ministry from the house.  Amazing!

We are going to Seattle in January to meet with the CVM staff and hopefully get everything in order to become long term field staff there.  We would like to be part of this organization this way for accountability and support while we are in the filed.  They are great people and have helped to organize this last year with us as 'short term' participants so far.  Through you all and the organization of CVM, Mwandi Veterinary Project, and World Renew we were able to raise all of the support we needed to get through the year.  It came in in monthly support and one time gifts but in the end it all added up to just enough to see us and all the projects through the 9 months.  Thank you all!

This time going back we are expecting to stay longer term and CVM has wisely counseled us to get our monthly support in order before we go.  We need to organize regular monthly support from individuals who feel a desire to be part of this work.  We believe God has laid this work on our hearts and others in the Church and He is able to bring us together in it.  So, if you have been supporting us and plan to continue or if you have not but plan to this year coming up let us know so we can plan for the coming years.  Currently we still have our short term account you can give to (upper right of blog or cvmusa.org, short term, individuals and UCVSTM1768 is our account) or we will let everyone know once our long term account is approved and going.  You can also call CVM at 206-546-7574 to set up monthly support.

If it is your joy please let us know and know that we need you!  We would love to hear from you and are so encouraged by all the communication and interest in Mwandi we have received this year.  Look for another update coming soon as things hopefully continue to come together.  We would love to catch up with as many as we can this next month so drop us a line!

Ephesians 2:10

-paul

Rachel the professional international traveller.

Christmas fun with cousin Simon.

Coming Home

Very soon we will be coming back to the states for a brief stay to sort out some things before coming back to Mwandi to continue the work God has given us to do here.  When we came to Zambia it was for a 9 month commitment and to see if it confirmed that this was the way God was leading.  Figuring out where we are supposed to be and how we know it has always been a struggle for me in the moment  but when we step back and look at our lives things come more into focus and we can see where we have been and maybe some of where we are going.

Our time here started out rough with the bats and culture shock of coming into a new place and unfamiliar customs and there were a few nights we thought this would not last!  Over time though we quickly came to love the people here and feel at ease in the culture.  Sometimes it seems we even mesh better with life in Zambia than we did in the US!  We really feel our family is suited for this kind of work and life and that God has made us for a purpose such as this.  The kids still miss friends and we miss our families greatly of course and we are excited to be coming home for a couple months to see everyone!

We will be back on December 5th and staying until sometime mid-February.  While home we will be selling our house and my shares in the practice and getting things set up for a longer stay here in Mwandi.  We would love to catch up with as many of you as we can so let us know if you will be around and when we can get together!  We want to hear what we have missed this last year as much as share what we have been doing.  We will be going through IN, KY, TN, WI, and NC at least during our stay.

And THANK YOU to so many of you who have kept up relationships with us by e-mail, facebook, phonecalls, and cards!  The wonders of technology can make you feel close to your friends even from around the world!  Thank you also to so many who have prayed for us and given to support us and the work here- you are such a vital

Dog surgery in the village.

Rachel and her friends- Missionary kids from Bangladesh and Zambia

Our cat, 'Kaze'.  In english- our cat, 'cat'

part of what we are doing and I hope you feel the impact of that as much as we do.  Several people are planning trips to come help with the work next year and we look forward to another great year of working together with all of you to love our brothers and sisters in this world the way God desires.  It is for our joy and His glory.  Love you all!

-paul

Orphan Funeral

Today

A thirteen year old has passed away

HIV

TB

Thirteen

An orphan boy, no mom, no dad,

Today has made me very sad.

I did not know him, name or face
Only heard of life twice displaced
Secondly from earth erased.


Confused emotions torn,
At death no one is there to mourn
Who heard his cry when he was born,

They have both gone before.


Questions come of when we die-
Do we hear our Father cry?
Only if it is goodbye
And not welcome home forever

No more an orphan child.

Report On The Last 6 Months

I know numbers are not all important but they do give an idea of what is going on and recently I had to complete a report to renew a grant and I thought I should share.

We have artificially inseminated 170 cows in the district with a 58% pregnancy rate expecting about 100 calves this December/January. Our hope was a 50% rate. This was spread out among 57 families in the bush.

The new cooperative started by Dr Toby Hudson has grown to almost 100 members and is now bringing medicine and supplies to farmers in the bush in an ever-increasingly independent manner from outside help.

329 men and women have attended educational meetings in the bush on topics including artificial breeding, anthrax, blackleg, lumpy skin disease, and giving injections. This education is continuing in each of 10 areas monthly and attendance is growing.

@400 dogs have been vaccinated for rabies in an area where human rabies cases are not out of the ordinary.

45 dogs have been spayed or neutered on our dinner table to keep populations under control. A spayed or neutered dog is not multiplying and is a more loyal animal to the family that will keep other animals (unvaccinated dogs) away from the home and children.

Through individuals in the US we have been able to send or assist 4 individuals through educational programs in teaching, medicine and trade school. This has been a wonderful example of the Church helping brothers and sisters who are so less fortunate to be able to help themselves and become a blessing to others in their community and families.

We have started morning devotions on the farm with all the workers and it has progressed to being mostly Zambian led now and even continues on days when I am not around. I learn so much from these humble servants and praying with them about how to reach their community each morning.

The Church in the bush has been strengthened through the programs and we are discussing with UCZ about areas where new church plants are needed that we are working in. During each teaching or workshop we discuss that it is the love of Christ flowing through His people that brings us to each other.

Many relationships have been born and grow here. We have had hard conversations about adultery, alcoholism, dependance, faith, witchcraft, child abuse, and wonderful conversations about people growing in their faith, learning skills and trades, becoming educated, loving children, and leaving patterns of destruction. God has used these relationships to grow us, other missionaries, Zambians and Americans alike.

Thank you for your prayers, interest and support this year. We have not done any fundraising ourselves and yet all of our needs have been met here though our friends and family back home. The things that are happening here are a result of the whole Church following Christ. We feel we are where God wants us for now and we are planning on coming back after a short stay in the US this winter. Often it just feels like such a simple assignment of connecting people with each other or with information or ideas. Truly it is that God does all the work and we are just obedient to what small part He has for us to do. Such a joy to be doing this work. We miss you all in the States though and look forward to being with you soon!


Love,

Paul and Alicia

Ephesians 2:10

Teaching in a bush church

Alicia playing with kids during a rabies clinic

‘Here on Earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.'  

John 16:33

About a month ago, 2 girls and 3 boys from the Congo were rescued from being trafficked to buyers in Namibia. They were caught in Mwandi. A Zambian man who works for the mission hospital was on the bus with these children. He knew that something didn’t seem “right” with these 5 kids and their guardians. He called the local immigration officer and police, and they investigated the matter. These traffickers make a lot of money selling these children. They offered the immigration officer a $40,000 bribe for him to let them leave without reporting them, but he does not love money more than these children’s lives. The police arrested the traffickers and put them in jail. The children were sent to the only foster family in the western province, our missionary friends who took care of the previous 4 Congolese boys that I have mentioned before. I am so thankful that these children were saved from being trafficked. Our reverend spoke about this issue at church this morning. He said that Mwandi is a prime area for human traffickers because of the unregulated border of the Zambezi River that we share with Namibia. Traffickers can cross the river here easily without having to go through immigration - so, no legal documents are needed to cross. These traffickers come to Mwandi and take these children to Namibia because it is a country where there is a market for these children. Our reverend and many people here have said that kids are often sold in Namibia and South Africa for witchcraft rituals. A common practice used by witch doctors is to cut out the hearts of these children and use it for shark bait in order to receive demonic/mystical blessings. Other times, they are sold into slavery or for the sex trade. Evil does exist!

These kids are very different from the last group of Congo kids. They do not listen, they physically fight, steal, run away. They are a lot of work for the other missionary family who both have full time jobs. The missionary couple that is caring for them has done a great job with them in a really short amount of time. Their behavior is improving greatly everyday. They can even sit still and quietly on the front row at church for 3 or more hours at a time. I have volunteered to help watch these kids for a few hours each day. They have been difficult at times, however, I feel so blessed to get to be apart of their lives. I feel so blessed that God has saved these children from being trafficked and that I get to show them love. I hug and kiss each one each time that I see them. Since they only know French and Swahili, if I forget to hug and kiss them, they come to me and point to the top of their head for a kiss and motion for me to wrap my arms around them - even the 9 and 10 year old boys. Oh, this makes me feel so special!

Please pray for these children. Tomorrow, the International Organization for Migration (a UN organization) will be taking these children to Lusaka to be sent back to their home and to be cared for. It is a complicated matter, especially since they come from a volatile country and they may not even have parents looking for them. Pray that if they have parents looking for them, that they will find them, and if they do not, that they will be placed in a loving home. Also, praise God for the hospital worker doing God’s work and reporting their captors to the police.

Terrible evil does exist in our world. Sometimes I take my sin (my evil) way too lightly. Seeing this obvious evil, though, always makes me hate my sin, and reminds me of how desperately we all need a Savior. The good news is that we have hope in Christ. This hope is what moves us to care about others, to fight for justice, to love the helpless, to be the people that God wants us to be. Without it, we will get bogged down with the overwhelming needs in this world. With it, we can trust that God’s beautiful glory will be revealed and all things will be reconciled.

-Alicia

Samuel

Samuel is a young man in his early 20’s that we met when he was employed by the OVC to do some carpentry work in our house. He recently completed carpentry training at the OVC and is just getting started in the workplace trying to find “piecework” around the village as he gets himself established. When we moved here he would spend many hours at our house working and often eat dinner with us and play with the kids. Maybe sometimes he spent as much time playing with the kids as doing carpentry work! Anyway, Rachel loves him and he is possibly her favorite person in Mwandi. Other than carpentry Samuel spends his time playing football (soccer) for the Mwandi team and is very good. 

Recently Samuel came to see me and I knew something was up. People only call ahead and make appointments when there is a need so I was wondering what was up when I saw him coming down the road. I had loaned Samuel 700 kwacha (less than $100) for his sister’s education and he was working to make the money to pay me back. His almost embarrassed look when he arrived made me suspect the visit was about this. 

It was, kinda. There had been a fire and the house that Samuel and his two younger brothers lived in had burned to the ground. The embarrassed look I had picked up came form the fact that the money Samuel had been lost in the fire and so there would be a delay in paying me back. It is painful to watch someone struggle with the telling of bad news that you can tell they would really rather not be bearing. He had not come to ask for something except patience and forgiveness really.

Alicia has such a heart for these things. She had decided to give him a blanket, mattress, mosquito nets, and clothes while I was still thinking we would be short a blanket and mattress that night! My heart finds the right place, but not as quickly as hers. We also told him to not worry about paying back the loan of course.

We loaded up the things in the truck and I drove Samuel “home”. No one knew how the fire started, but the thatch roof and stick and mud walls caught during the night and there was nothing left. 

The next week Samuel came by again and asked me shyly if I could give him a loan to start a small business in town so he could raise the money again to help his sister go to school. After discussing we loaned him 600 kwacha ($80) to buy goods to sell in a stand he would make himself. We made a plan to pay back 200 kwacha a month for 3 months and that has been a couple weeks ago. His stand is up and running and seems to be doing well. HIs sister runs the shop while he is in Livingstone doing small carpentry jobs.

Anyway, I tell this story to let everyone know what is going on and also to let you know that those of you who have supported us here support Samuel and others like him that we know. It is a joy to be able to give material blessings like this and tell Samuel that we are only able to do so because of Christian brothers and sisters in the US who are in support of the work we are doing here. So Samuel is loved and knows this love comes from the Father through His Church. I want to share that joy with you as it is yours also!

1John 3:17-18 says ‘If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and truth.’

God brings people to us He wants to love through us. Let us all pray we will walk close enough to Him to recognize the opportunities He gives us to be His hands and feet!!

-paul

Outside the house

Inside the one room mud hut.

The only picture of Samuel I had!  Doing the ceiling work with Ethan when we first came here.  He was so patient and encouraged the kids to "help" him!

TIA

I really don’t like the phrase “This Is Africa”. TIA is something usually said by a westerner that always comes off sounding like a big brother and an excuse to not be patient or understanding of something that another culture just doesn’t think is as important as you do. That being said, maybe I am that westerner.

It was Saturday morning and I was headed to meet someone at “8 hours” to look at a sick cow. I try not to work on weekends to balance family life but often it just doesn’t work out that way. Isaac was with me and we were going to be back by lunchtime for sure I had told Alicia, “Probably just a couple hours, these guys are going to slaughter this cow and want me to do the necropsy (autopsy in animals).” Kelvin, the owner had told me we better get there early to meet the butcher who was meeting us there.

I arrived on time at 8 hours and waited for Kelvin. Isaac and I got some diesel from a local stand and watched the man pour it into the Landcruiser through a funnel made from a hose, plastic bottle and sock from the 20 liter jug. Kelvin calls and he is late but not bad, he arrives about 8:30. No problem.

We follow Kelvin to his house in the bush about a 20 minute drive in the opposite direction from where the cows are by the river. When we get to his home he explains the men are coming from Sesheke to butcher and are “just near”. After the usual greetings of the family and seeing the homestead we are asked if we like “village chicken” and I reply, “Yes, but we won’t be here that long so don’t go to the trouble of making anything.” A few minutes later Kelvin’s father comes in and gives us a live rooster to take home. I am assured he will be fine in the truck while we treat cows and so Isaac and I tie his legs together and place him in the back of the truck. I open all the windows and probably look like a PETA member to the Africans as I concern myself with dinner’s welfare.

We go back in and sit in the house. Isaac and I notice some skinny puppies and are bored so we go to the truck and get some wormer and dish it out. This earns us a huge bag of groundnuts (similar to peanuts). We put this next to the chicken who has now pooped in the back of the truck.

Breakfast is served about 10 hours. We eat bread and hot tea with Kelvin and his relatives who are in from Namibia visiting. Good conversation is had by all as I learn about their family history, etc, etc. Breakfast is over and the guys are “coming…almost here”. Conversation dies down. It is cool still but warming up and Isaac starts to play games on my phone. I fall asleep. I wake up and 30 minutes has passed and the relatives are snoring in the chairs around me. I tell Isaac to watch the battery on the phone but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem since we should be going soon. He has beat 20 levels of Candy Crush by now.

“Ok, let’s go Meesta Pol,” Kelvin says, “we will meet them at the river.” It is noon and I have just finished talking to a woman who has come for treatment of seizures from Kelvin’s father who is a traditional healer. Later today they will burn some herbs and put the ashes into wounds they will make on her body with a razor blade. She is very excited about the potential and I tried to prepare her for disappointment but I’m not a doctor. “Great, how far away are the cows?” “Very near, very near.”

Isaac, Kelvin, myself and two other men climb into the truck, the chicken has pooped again back there but seems ok, and head off into the bush. At least an hour later, after some driving in a beautiful flood plain by the Zambezi we arrive in a small fishing village of mud huts just on the water. Colorful birds flit around as we step out of the truck. “This is ridiculous…” I mutter to Isaac as I see no cows in sight. Still we are in good spirits. “Good thing we ate some bread because we have not brought any food and just 1 liter of water for the two of us.”

“Mom packed us that Fanta you got from those farmers yesterday.” Isaac replied. Awesome.

We walk to the waters edge as Kelvin points out the village, the river, everything. No cows. They are on the island, coming “just there” and Kelvin points to a tree line that is at least a mile away and across the river. We are in the sun, it’s hot and I ask Isaac if he wants to go back to the truck for that Fanta. He says he’s fine and my excuse is gone.

We sit in the shade of a sand dune and it is almost cold with the breeze. Isaac and I talk about how it really is a great day in spite of everything and we really are enjoying ourselves. After a good hour of father-son talk time Kelvin says they are near for the 4th time and we actually see movement across the river. The sick cow is being drug on a sled pulled by two oxen. As they reach the water 2 teenage boys head off from our side in boats no bigger than a canoe. “Watch this, Isaac, I think a story is about to happen.”

Rather uneventfully though the men unload the cow and place her in the water between the 2 small boats and float her across to the super steep bank on the other side. I went to get the truck to haul her up the bank but by the time I got there pure man (many men) power had pulled the down cow up the 20 or so feet (vertical mostly) to my amazement.

2 PM, now to wait for the men to slaughter, they are still coming. Yes, they had sold the sick cow and it is legal to do as long as she is slaughtered before she dies. I am there because they have lost 8 cows in 2 weeks like this and it is helpful to see the inside to make a diagnosis and save the rest. Not my recommendation to eat the cow, but how it was going down that day. Sorry to some reading, but that’s the story.

3 PM, 4 PM. The Fanta is gone, Isaac has started and almost finished a book and I have had another nap in the back of the truck using the groundnuts as a pillow and having to chase the rooster only once when he jumped out of the truck. The guys from Sesheke never came and so Kelvin has called some other guys from Mwandi who will be here any minute. True to their word they pull in as the sun is starting to set and begin to take care of the cow. I make a tentative diagnosis of Hemorrhagic Septicemia when we do the necropsy and advise vaccinating the herd and some other things as the sun is going down. That part took about 15 minutes. As Kelvin discusses the price of beef in Silozi I say we need to get back before dark and he agrees.

On the ride back Kelvin says, “I have delayed you Meesta Pol.”

Sorta, it’s now 6 pm. “No problem, it was fun.” and I mostly meant it. It was hard to not be seriously frustrated at moments but the only bad thing was unmet expectations and we had no other plans for Saturday, but that was the point. As I told Alicia later we could have left except all day everything was going to happen very soon. (I had texted her to keep her up to date). Home at 7 after stopping in Mwandi to give the rooster to homeless man we knew. I didn’t want to )and Ethan and Rachel would never let me) kill the bird.

Kelvin was super excited to get a diagnosis and obtained the needed medicines and made plans for us to go the next day to the island and vaccinate the herd.  I made an excuse not to go.

PS-All the cows got treated fine without me and all is well!

Cow Ambulance

Relaxing on the shore

Isaac taking it all in stride

“Mubita”

We had only been here about 3 months when my dad came to visit with Alicia’s mother and my sister. Dad is an infectious disease doctor in the US and has done a lot of work with HIV during his career and when the hospital staff heard he was coming to visit they asked him to do a presentation about HIV and participate in the clinics in Mwandi. I hung out with Dad that day as he did his presentation and then we went on to see HIV patients coming in for medication and general check ups.

As I sat in the back of the room watching Dad work I saw a man I knew from the mission come in. Mubita (not real name) does almost every odd job (well) around the OVC and is the kindest man you will ever meet. He seems to do anything for anyone and is a joy to be around. I knew he was “positive” but I didn’t know if he knew I knew (follow?) and so I went to make myself scarce as he headed towards the exam room. He caught my eye though and he came in to give me the friendly Losi handshake and tell me he had come to pick up his medicine. I told him I was with Dad seeing patients and introduced him and then he went on. I was glad he thought nothing of it, but then if you know Mubita I shouldn’t have been surprised.

A little while later I left Dad and headed home only to run into Mubita again outside the clinic. We always greeted each other but now he had a look of excitement about him and a new interest in me as he approached.

“It is great that your father has come to help us that are positive,” he said, “I have been positive for 15 years and in the beginning was very sick. The mission hospital was able to bring medicine and now I am very strong.” It seemed knowing that he was HIV positive was somehow a new connection that peeled back one layer as people get to know each other.

“Yeah, that is what Dad does in the US, working with HIV patients so he has come to teach and learn about HIV in Africa.” I responded.

At this a look of amazement came over his face. “People in America are suffering just like we are in Africa?”

I realized then that he thought HIV was only an African disease just like so many other things that plague this continent and that he assumed that America had a solution and no struggles with it.

“Yes, lots of people. They suffer just the same as you do here, all over the world.” It took Mubita a while to digest this but it seemed to make him feel better somehow. Often America is seen as the promised land by people here and it is a surprise that people would struggle in the same way that a Zambian could.

Two days later I passed him painting at the OVC. “I want to meet people in America who are infected and be friends,” he said, “I want to know about their experience and share with them.”

“I will connect you with someone if I can,” I said, knowing my pool there was limited. Since then I have been around Mubita almost daily and he has mentioned this more than once. I try to wrap my brain around why it is so good for him to know that Americans suffer some of the same hardships Zambians do. I think it makes us feel like we are all in this together. Fighting the same battles and caring for each other. It feels good to know that people came from across the world to help you in your struggle. It is supposed to feel good- this is a joy that we receive and give when we do the will of the Father.

Sometimes I am challenged with the idea that I could just send money and that coming here makes no difference and may not be the most efficient thing. Many times God reminds me that we measure things in measurable things and that he is concerned with people and their hearts. When we come or send people to places of great physical need it shows a level of concern and caring that brings glory to God. 

John 13:34-35 says “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” When we live this out as individuals and as the Church people get cared for and the love of Jesus is in us and flowing to others through us. We cannot fix every problem but just obey as we know how and let Him work on hearts around us in ways we were never wise enough to see.

-paul

Alicia playing with kids in the bush

Celebrating Ethan's birthday in Livingstone

Rachel doing dishes (that's our entire kitchen/water filter on the wall)

Woman bringing dog to rabies clinic in the bush!

Great Update on the Congolese Kids!

Tomorrow morning the parents of the Congolese boys that we had been asking you to pray for, will be released from the jail. The boys will meet with them and be taken to a refugee camp in Zambia (about 4 hours from us). There they will be transitioning into their new life together and will be helped with housing and all other needs that go along with this transition. They can take visits to see their foster family who live here in Mwandi by getting a UN pass. Also, they can be visited by others while they are in the camp. We would really like to take a trip at some point to see them. Their foster family will visit them often. They are allowed 5 years to stay at the refugee camp. This will give them time to find a place to relocate. Australia, Canada, and Sweden (because they have other family already there) are all possibilities for them.

Our kids will really, really miss them. Paul and I will, too, but we are so happy that they will be reunited with their parents.

Please pray for Oneal, Omeal, Omeddy, Omari, and their parents.

With love,

Alicia

Random Stuff

I think it has been awhile since we have posted anything.  Tonight I am writing not because I have any interesting story of mine or someone else’s to tell but because I am not in the shower and I can’t sleep.  I don’t know why I can’t sleep but I’m not in the shower because the water is out.  Alicia had hers before that happened and is asleep now.  I’m not and there’s no water.  This has happened before, once for a couple days- some guys dug a hole to bury some trash from the hospital in the wrong place and hit the water line.  That time I had forgone a shower the night before to find no water in the morning (36 hrs post shower).  The next day there was still no water and I was supposed to meet with the chief (60+ hours post shower).  I was getting fairly nasty by that time so I had to at least double up the deodorant and get in the shower with some water buckets from outside to wash my hair.  I pulled it off okay but then the meeting was cancelled so no worries anyway!
Anymore this is not so much a problem as I shaved my head awhile back and it is amazing.  You don’t look so greasy and your hair looks the same in the morning.  I have grown out my goatee and really just have not shaved at all in a month or so and kinda have what beard I can manage.  I look a lot different I think and maybe not really good.  But this is okay because I wear a hat most of the time and we only have one tiny mirror in our house which I never look in unless checking out a bug bite or sunburn I cannot see otherwise.  That sounds terrible, but really it is great!  No one here cares much what you look like and even if we dress funny one day people just think it is normal American stuff.  They don’t know we’re not cool Americans, just American.  The kids wear whatever, doesn’t have to match, and they fit right in.  Everything is accepted, kinda nice.  Even crew-cut-bad-facial-hair-smelly guys.
So, I hope the water is back soon because tomorrow we go to Livingstone to pick up my Dad, my Sister, and Alicia’s Mom.  I also pick up new parts for the bathroom sink (we actually have 2 sinks), the shower, and the toilet (we do not have 2 of these).  All three of which decided to have decently big issues a few days before they arrive and all 3 cannot be fixed from here but require parts from Livingstone.  Seriously, I can’t make that up.
We have finished up the AI program and bred about 175 cows or so.  Hoping for good conception rates in a couple months.  Been doing a few dog surgeries on the dining table here and there.  Seeing sick cattle in between and treating various random things in dogs, offering management ideas for pigs, etc.  Lost a wheel on our trailer we use to haul the head gate for the AI.  It came off in the bush thankfully, the bearing went out.  Made for a crazy day with the head gate in the back of the truck again and people on top.  After a week I finally was able to get out there with the parts to fix it (not easy to find especially with my mechanical knowledge of bearing repair).  Now I am working on finding some replacement wiring for the lights that was clipped out at some point as it sat out there.  Another errand for Livingstone.
The kids are super excited about seeing Alicia’s mom (sorry Dad and Megan).  They are sure she is going to buy them a coke every day in Mwandi and can’t wait to go out to eat with her in Livingstone.  More than one night they have stayed up talking about which places they will take her during our 2 nights there when they first arrive.  It will be big stuff tomorrow!  Rachel remains tougher than ever (to parent and in real life).  She is working on being kind and not getting in fights with other kids during church so she can get her knife back.  She lost whittling privileges for 2 weeks after hitting a kid who did something (?) at church.  Trying to get her to focus on the issue of loving people but she is focused on whittling again.  I think we are pretty good parents most of the time…?
All 3 kids are loving life really and enjoy doing so much here.  Isaac has a friend now, Moses, who hangs out with our family all the time and that has been really good for him.  Ethan gets along with everyone (even Rachel often!) and is always in such a good mood (except homeschool).  He loves shopping in the market and buying things for others.  I was having a bad day once and he came back with Alicia and had bought me a Coke to cheer me up.
Alicia is super excited to see her mom and we have been fixing up the house a little more these last couple days in preparation (hopefully this will make up for having no working utilities nor water possibly).  She loves Africa and hopes her Mom will like it too.
Hopefully this blog entry can make someone laugh, life is good and we are doing well here.  The things above are not complaints, just funny things about life here that we didn’t have to deal with before.  Each time Alicia and I laugh (most times I should say) and it seems to be okay anyway.  There is a sense of purpose about being and a joy in overcoming challenges and meeting the people they put in your life when they happen.  God can give us our purposes (Eph 2:10) wherever He chooses in this life but for some reason we have found it easier to see from here.  I don’t know how long until He calls us to another vantage point, but for now it is a good view.

-paul

James 1:22- Kids memory verse the last couple weeks.

Isaac helping out in the bush, drawing up injections.

Calves in the yard

Ethan playing at church

Mission Community- Austrailia, USA, Bangladesh at church

Dead puff adder in the road

The Least of These

In Africa we have a trash pit. Each night one of the kids has the chore of taking out the garbage and every few nights they have they joy of setting it on fire. It is about 4 feet by 4 feet by 6 feet deep in the back corner of our yard.

We have kids that come to play on the swing the boys and I made in front of our house. They come from the village and many of them are orphans or vulnerable children that are looking for entertainment on the swing or from the odd white people who built it. They are kids, sometimes sweet, sometimes mean, they play with things, things break, they are kids.

I am not a kid person, things break and I get frustrated. Kids do things they should not and I get irritated. I love, but it is so conditional that kids have a hard time living up to the conditions.

A few days ago the kids were in the trash pit. I yelled out, “Uh-uh! Get out of there!” They laughed and ran away from me to the swing in the front. I knew they were just playing around and I was frustrated as they caused the side of the pit to collapse, allowing dogs and other critters to get in and out. Thinking it was time to seriously limit kids access to us and our home I went out front.

One boy stuffed something in his pocket quickly, another under his shirt. They laughed.

“What do you have? Show me.” I said. If they thought they did something wrong we were going to correct it and I did not like them running from me.

“I won’t be mad,” I said, not totally honest.

After several minutes of denial I resorted to patting down the smallest boy, I had to let them know they could not come into our home and take what they liked or damage things that I had to fix. I pulled an apple core out of his pocket.

I asked the next boy what he had. “Nothing.” he said.

I tapped his shirt, “Show me, I won’t be mad,” with a new tone of sincerity now. He produce an empty open peanut butter jar he had been licking out.

“What are your names?” I asked.

I spent the next 10 minutes finding our their names, where their homes were, who had moms and who didn’t. Then I went and brought them a bag of dates and a package of Ramen noodles each. Then they asked my name.

Now when they see me today in the market they smile and call out, “Paul, Paul!” and they come back to our house to play. They have not asked for food again, but we will give them things as we can.

When I came in that day to relate the story to Alicia I could not tell it without tears. I struggle to find a big job for me to do for God. Lord do they need me here? Is poverty here? What can I do? I was punched with the reality that these kids will pick through my trash to get food.

I do not love as I should. I have my big cattle AI project to do, plans to make. No time for kids in the trash pit.

I can be so blind and so not what I want to be. God reminds me to focus on Him and what He brings each day. When I focus on Him and not my projects He shows me such simple ways to love the least of these in my own yard. They become to me the people they are to Him with their names and homes and stories. When I love I become a person to them and relationships form and that is the most beautiful thing of all.

I guess I tell this story because it was a big learning point for me and those are good to share. Maybe God has put something right in front of you but you are so busy with the big stuff that you just get annoyed. The ‘least of these’ Jesus talked about often get treated this way in our world.

Lord, give us your heart and eyes to see…Matthew 25:31-40

Oh how we need You!

"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."  John 10:11

Paul and I have come across so many needs!  Today, I found out more about my kids’ best friends, here - the Congolese refugees. Eighteen months ago, they and their parents were put in prison because they crossed into Zambia without passports.  They were fleeing their country out of desperation for safety.  The father was a driver for the opposition in the Congo.  They fled to the Rwandan border where the corrupt leaders found and captured them.  Their mother was 9 months pregnant.  They raped her and beat her.  Her baby in the womb did not survive.  The father was badly beaten.  The kids witnessed all of this.  The family fled to Zambia.  Once they crossed the border, they were put in prison because they did not have passports.  The children were put in prison along with the parents for 3 months. (The parents are STILL in prison. This is unjust!)  After the 3 months, the social services department called the missionaries about the 4 boys, and they began fostering the kids.  Not only did the kids have the emotional difficulties to deal with, they were also physically neglected.  Because of the terrible prison conditions, the kids had tapeworms, ring worm, and were not cared for properly.  The parents are scheduled to be out of prison in a month.  As of now, the Zambian government is wanting to send them back to the Congo, where the father will be executed.   The missionaries here are trying to go through the UN to keep this from happening and the magistrates in this country.

This morning after I heard about this, I went to my living room and got on my knees and prayed!   There is so much need in this world!  So much heartache and pain!  I prayed for this family with so much sadness and so much awareness of how much I need a Savior in this dark and desperate world!   Please pray for this family, that they will not be sent back to the Congo but to a safe environment. 

Also pray for this region with the upcoming dry season after the drought.  There is no maize crop and the people will be depending on food aid this year.  This is especially hard on HIV patients already struggling with poor health.  It is not for lack of effort, the people work so hard to sustain life here, but food does not grow without rain and whole maize fields stand withered and dry.  Pray that God's people will love and help each other and that more will be drawn to Him and drawn together in this time of need.  

Another need that has come up three times so far is the need for scholarships for education.  Many people here have a genuine desire to do for themselves and help their community but lack the funding for school fees.  One young woman dreams of becoming a teacher in Mwandi and two others of getting an education in agriculture and coming back to help Mwandi cattle farmers.  With better education, these families can improve their livelihood and help their community.  By our standards, their tuition costs are inexpensive - about $600 per year for a teaching degree.  We are going to get some advice on how to help people with university tuition.  This is a very big need here and could easily be met through either loans or scholarships.  We are interested in this because it seems it would build lasting changes here in the community.  Of course, let us know if you have any interest in being involved with this.  Please pray that we can help with these needs in the best way for them.

-Alicia and Paul

Life Going On

Sorry for not writing for a couple weeks! Things here are going well and we have been very busy. The cattle AI program is in full swing with trips nearly every other day into the bush to work cattle in places that have been difficult to reach at times with the rain. Home school is in a good routine and Alicia and the kids are starting to get more involved in the OVC. We have a wonderful couple from Canada in for a couple weeks to help with the AI project also that we have been spending time with. Life is slower here but only because it has to be- there is no shortage of the work or things to do!

Isaac has been staying up late to get his school done so he can go with me to the bush to work cows and has been so very helpful drawing up vaccines and being a runner for the team. “Isaac, Isaac!” the men call out and keep him busy. He wears his huge Bear Grylles knife and someone always needs to borrow it. I am so proud of him and he seems much happier now that he has been helping with the project. This morning as we headed out he and I saw a huge croc in the river by our house- the first we’ve seen in Mwandi, pretty awesome!

Ethan is always happy and has been perfecting his donut recipes with Mom. He and Alicia have made donuts a couple times that rival anything at Crispy Creme. The rest of us are in heaven- we all benefit from Ethan’s sweet tooth sometimes. He has been on a couple close to home farm calls with me and loves the work and animals.

Rachel is doing well too. She had a close encounter with a dog one morning and has been a little nervous around them since. There are dogs everywhere here and they are generally nice, but intimidating to a very short 5 year old. She is whittling now all the time with a small knife and has not cut herself yet. The things she does at 5 that we would have never let the older ones do…

I am starting to see a scratch beyond the surface of the culture and people here. I am seeing the needs around me and slowly beginning to think about how to be part of solutions. The drought is so bad that there will be people dying this year with the combination of malnutrition and HIV. Anything we can do to help the animals survive the people are extremely interested in and thankful. The men I have been able to work with have been great and getting to know them has been wonderful. As I get to know individuals I see more ministry opportunities open up talking about family and issues that affect them physically and spiritually.

The other day coming back from the bushes we picked up a lady who had been in labor for 2 days with her first child. As we drove for 2 hours in the potholes and river beds of the bush we often had to stop for her to vomit out the window. I felt so bad for her but the only thing we could do was drive on. We dropped her off with her mother at the hospital in Mwandi and I heard the next morning she had her baby and both were okay. I am thankful for daily simple opportunities like this to be a blessing to someone. When we have so much it is so easy to help in major ways. Ephesians 2:10!!

I think I will end there- look for an addition from Alicia soon!

-paul

Isaac at his vaccine station in Mugumwy

The family walking to church

Kids in Mugumwy in school?  I told them to do the pose, nothing cultural here.

-Cats update…I had a dream the cats lost and I was giving Cal a hug in the parking lot and he wouldn’t let go. I woke up at 4:30 am and turned on my phone and they had lost, weird huh? Can you really bleed blue? Glad we are here, it was depressing but easier to forget about. Sorry to all my cat fan friends in the states- I know it was harder for you, no one here reminds us about it.

Muzuhile cwani!

That means good morning in Silozi. We just had a language lesson from a young man at the OVC that we have coming over twice a week to teach us how to be Lozis. Alicia made him nshima tonight which is like grits in our country. It is corn meal that you boil and thicken up and the main staple food here. Since it was Elias’ favorite food we were taking a big chance and he did give us some pointers on how to improve it!

As I write the family is in bed and it is dripping rain outside as it has been on and off all day. The clouds and rain are so welcome here as it has been a drought year and the crops are failing in the region. Food shortages are predicted later in the year and it is expected that government assistance will be needed if there is to be anything to eat later on. It is a different feeling to stand outside in the rain and feel life coming from the sky for the people. We pray that it will continue- we have now had a little rain for a few days and the clouds and lower temperatures are great also!

The bad side of the rain it what it does to the roads. Even though we have not had much it fills up the potholes and makes for some dicey driving. Yesterday I took the Land Cruiser out on the first day of our AI project and got stuck only once, which was not too bad for the 2 hour one way bush drive through swampy roads and sandy patches of water. In the truck we had a head gate (huge metal thing) and 7 men in a car that should seat 5 without a head gate in it. This would be comical for the US, but is normal here. They even had me stop to pick up a passenger. When I got stuck the men filed out, surveyed the mud up around the axels and in less than one hour had cut trees and chopped them into 4 foot lengths, dug the tires out and I backed out in 4 wheel drive. I got a little Africa driving advice- “stay on the road no matter how deep or bad it looks, the bottom is hard.” I did and it worked, sometimes fishtailing for a couple hundred yards through a foot or 2 of water, but I didn’t get stuck again. Later however, I was driving across a grassy field with no road and 7 men in the car when we suddenly came upon a 6 foot deep 2 Land Cruiser size hole (difficult to see in the tall grass). When I stopped I had the front driver side tire in the hole. Like the classic movie scene where you don’t want to move to fast with your car hanging off a cliff. All the men got out except me- I couldn’t take my foot off the brake- and they grabbed the front of the vehicle as best they could while I slowly slid my seatbelt on and then quickly shifted into reverse. It went okay and there was a lot of praising God that no one was hurt, although when everyone piled out of the car I think their chances went way down and mine went up slightly as the weight shifted to the front…

The cattle work went well- we started 32 cows on the AI program and had a good talk with the men about the cattle and how good God is to bring us together in Africa. I am worried about our conception rates though as we had to use cows that were not in the best of shape. There just simply is not enough for them to eat and I think it will be difficult to get them bred.

Neutered a couple dogs on the kitchen table this morning and besides that have been treating things here and there but still mainly focused on the AI. I do have a farm call in the morning to go on, we’ll see how that goes!

Last week I had to go to Lusaka, a night bus ride of 10 hours, pick up some stuff for the AI program and then 10 hours back the next night. It was not really so fun and kinda crazy- another whole side of life in Africa with night bus rides and stations. While I was gone Alicia called saying our neighbors house was on fire. Turns out they were just burning their leaves and things but when she sent me a picture I could see her concern. Flames were everywhere and almost higher than the house. It looked totally out of control but it all turned out alright in the end and no property was lost. The kids were also a little under the weather and overall Alicia did not have a relaxing time while I was gone, To be fair I didn’t either on my trip, and it is a toss up who got the worse end of the deal. Let’s see what else I can complain about in this blog!!!

We continue to get to know more people here and do really love Mwandi. The kids are talking more about missing Indiana as the newness wears off. There have been some tiring home school days and some amounts of frustration by the teacher, but she is a good one. We have been letting the kids play in the morning when it is cooler and then starting school during the heat of the day when you can’t really do much outside.

The kids are building a treehouse of sorts in the front of the house. We have lightened up on our fear of snakes, I think that just happens with time (?). Now we just say as they run out to play in the morning, “Watch out for snakes!” and it has worked so far. Alicia built them a table from some left over blocks and wood and they have been having a great time hammering and building out there. The boys and I built a swing that all the neighbor kids love too. At one time I counted 21 kids playing out there, have not figured out how to control this yet. Everyone still loves lighting the trash in the trash pit- sounds terrible, but really it is kinda fun.

Today we were in the market and I lost Alicia and Rachel- turns out they stopped to tie Rachel’s shoe. As I looked for them and Ethan frustratedly tried to point them out he said, “Dad, really, you can’t see those two white people over there? We are never hard to find here.” He is right and you do feel it in such a homogenous culture. At times it would be nice to blend in more but no chance of that happening even with our increasing tans. “Makua” is what they call a white person and the young kids shout it out as you walk or drive by. It’s not derogatory but you get a little tired of it and Rachel will shout back, “Muzuhile cwani, makua!” sometimes a little agitated. They don’t know how to take her at that point but they usually stop.

Oh, basketball- we were awakened at 4:30 am here by some people marching down our street, another odd story, but point is Alicia turned on her phone to see that KY lost to Notre Dame, no wait- the game was still going on! So we watched the score tracker and caught the end! Non UK fans FYI- Ky won a nail biter to stay in the tournament. It has been fun to check in on the games.

Anyway, enough for now- we head to Livingstone Thursday to pick up a couple from Canada that will be helping at the hospital and with the AI. It will be nice to stay a couple nights there in air conditioning and a pool for the kids to swim! Hope all who are reading this are well and we do miss you so. Stay in touch please!!

Ephesians 2:10

-paul

Yes, yes I am.  (Pregnancy checking)

Education and devotion with farmers (Pastor Sikute)

Rachel's set up at night.

March Madness

A lot has happened in the last week or so.  Our house is coming along, the bats are gone, some minor carpentry is being finished up, and we are now working on minimizing the insect population inside our doors.  Ants are the big issue with wasps, a few roaches, lizards, and spiders make up the rest.  Weather is hot and we sweat a lot but the nights cool down.  We really are getting used to Africa though and realize these are minor things here that are just lived with.  There was a boomslang spotted by the house we were previously staying in last week but we have not come across any snakes personally.  We must admit we are cautious though each time we walk down some grassy edged pathways near the river- thoughts of mambas and crocs are always there and we have learned it is a legitimate thing to be mindful of!

Everyone is doing very well.  The kids are growing up so much and learning so much about the world and others in it.  Alicia’s God-given spirit of gentleness and satisfaction in every situation are blooming here and I know I am so blessed to be walking this road with her.  She just returned from the market this morning with 3 tomatoes, a small package of some local fruit, 2 bananas, a pair of sandals, and some bread.  All of them bought from as many people in the village that she stops to talk to and meet and love.  We will use the things but she buys them with the people in mind first.  She wears a dress or “shitanga” most of the time here for the culture, so pretty!  She has made amazing pizza and pancakes from local scratch and impressed people with her cookies.  She has duct taped, caulked, wood puttied, mothballed, and otherwise sealed this house a little more each day and this morning things are better than ever insect wise!  I did a couple cans of spray foam I bought in Livingstone- best stuff ever.  (Just FYI- we have had a tense moment or few with each other, reading this I realize it may have sounded ridiculously perfect.)

Rachel is super popular still around town- her and I went to the market one day and everywhere people shouted “Rrrrrachel, Rrrrrrachelll!”, rolling their r’s in that African English sound.  She plays up to it, and people love her.  I think sometimes it gets tiring for her- she says everyone knows her and she doesn’t know them.  Tough being the only little white girl, but don’t feel sorry for her.  She tried to cut her finger off in a fan at our house last week- 2 major slices and a bit worrisome for Alicia and I, but all healed now and she is proud of her scars.  Thank you neosporin.

Isaac is quietly reflecting on everything.  He has had a day or so where he misses his friends.  Rachel broke his iPod (kind of big deal here) and when we opened a surprise hammock for him it turned out to be just a cover, no hammock in the bag!  Big error to correct from here.  In spite of these let downs he is a content kid and has gone with me to check on the cows, milk this morning, plays with the neighboring kids and just generally has a mind blowing good attitude.  He went to a young mens Bible study with me last night and had a good time interacting with the guys.  His favorite chore is burning the trash in our 6 foot deep trash hole in the back yard- you can get quite a blaze going sometimes!

Ethan is doing great too.  He has taken to carpentry and has spent 2 full days now helping the young man working on our house.  He has done real work too and I am impressed with our 7 year old.  He says he wants to be a carpenter veterinarian who owns a bakery.  He has such a love for the kids and I have seen a courage in him growing- when Rachel cut her finger he was the first one to shut off the fan and help her get the bleeding under control.  Nothing seems to bother him except when we say no more sweets.  I am proud of them all.

I have spayed and neutered a couple dogs on our table on the porch- Alicia assisted!  All went well and I expect more patients soon.  I have treated a few cows on the farm and some wormy puppies but mostly am getting organized for the AI project starting in about a week.  I have travelled to all the areas and met with local farmers and started relationships there.  The needs are endless but I am just trying to stay focused on this one project for now.  After that I think some education in management and rabies clinics will be in the future.  I have met with a Zambian government vet here.  He is hopeful to learn some surgery skills from me- they do not do this in school here and I think we will work together well.  He does not have a vehicle or many supplies and I think we can benefit each other well.  

We just got a water filter put in our house the other day.  I bought it in Livingstone and installed it here once I had the time.  Prior to this I was spending 2-3 hours a day either going to get filtered water or Alicia boiling small amounts at a time on the stove.  It is hard to get much done in a day for progress when your first concern is water.  It made us see how difficult it is for people here to get ahead.  Once our filter was in we felt we had 2 more hours a day to put into other things.  This was a good lesson to learn- people may not have time to come to your excellent seminar on boiling milk if they have to walk far and have so much else to do just to survive.  Something to think on…

Shopping in Livingstone last week they played American music in the store.  Phil Collins came on, “Just another day in paradise…”  That was surreal listening to that song with my American background now living in Zambia.  I will never hear it the same again.  In the states we really do live in a physical paradise.  It makes me think we should not be afraid to love the way Jesus calls us to.  I have so much.  I don’t need to feel bad about that but neither do I need to cling to it like I do.  We are blessed as Christians to be a blessing to others.  

We have heard and seen a lot in a couple weeks.  Issues here of significant alcoholism, witchcraft and witch doctors, girls abused as they walk to school, 25% HIV rate in the orphans at the OVC, political strife in neighboring countries bringing refugees to be friends with our kids.  All the things we read and hear about as issues in Africa are here at our door.  There is so much need here spiritually and physically and yet we see God meeting our spiritual and physical needs here in ways we did not recognize in the states.  The country is beautiful, the people are warm and gentle, the work is good.  I see our life here and think we should not be happy, but we are and I can only suppose that is God’s gift to us… 

Will I ruin the deep moment if I say, “Go Cats!”  I just lost half of you, I know.  Thank God for light fun things like March Madness.  And thank you for the emails, prayers, support and encouragement.  We love and miss you all- especially you Memaw!

Ephesians 2:10

-paul

Mwandi main street shops

Zambezi River in the evening

Our Zambian soccer team

First surgery- dog getting tutored

Mwandi woman coming to market

Bats, Bats, Bats

Sorry for not being in contact with any of you for a while. Internet access is spotty at best. Plus, we are figuring out all the right gadgets to use to get internet. If we didn’t buy it in Livingstone, we are out of luck buying it here. We’re working out the kinks.

Our first few days in Mwandi were a little rough. The house that we were to stay in was supposed to be ready for us to live in, but when we arrived, we were told that bats had nested in the rafters of our house. A missionary that was helping us get the house ready, thought that we should use an all-natural approach to kill the bats. This involved putting hot peppers in the rafters to “smoke” them out. The man that we paid to do this assured us that this would get rid of the bats, and that we could safely move in the next day. This was supposed to be a lot quicker than the chemical bomb that would require us to be out of the house for a longer period of time. So, the day after the all-natural hot pepper method, we moved into our new house. As we went to bed that night, we heard a lot of bats flying around in one of the bedrooms. I mean A LOT of bats! So, we decided to shut all the bedroom doors and sleep in the middle room of the house where there had been no signs of bat droppings. As I went to sleep, I thanked God that the bats were not in the room that we were in and then fell asleep. Later in the night, I woke up to a noise by my ear. I hopped up and screamed! There was a bat crawling up my mosquito net by my head! After this, Paul got up and hunted the bat down! He killed it, and then killed 2 more! I have never loved a man so much in my life! I could not have done this. I was terrified! So from this point on, Paul and I positioned ourselves in combat mode with our headlamps on in defense against these bats to protect our 3 kids who slept peacefully the entire night while this was going on. When morning came, we were so happy. The bats started slowing down. They stopped flying around. We were not trapped anymore. Paul was worried that the bats that were in one of the bedrooms, had trashed all of our stuff. They were so noisy. It sounded like a bunch of raccoons rummaging through a garbage can. So, Paul decided to go into the bedroom and assess the damage and maybe kill a few bats. About 30 minutes later, Paul comes out and asks, “Do you know how many bats that I killed?” I guessed 20, he said, “No, 50! And guys, hurry up because we’re going to be late for church if you don’t get your shoes on.” None of our stuff was damaged, and we made it to church on time.

After we told this story to a few of the missionaries here, someone offered us a place to sleep until our bat problem got taken care of. We were so thankful!

We have been working on getting the house taken care of, and we have become quite comfortable around the bats. During the day, the bats are very slow. I killed 2 bats while organizing all my homeschool books. Believe me, it was ridiculously easy to kill them.

On another note, we have met a lot of inspiringly persevering people. A few houses down from us, some other missionaries from Scotland, Keith and Eda, have taken in 5 kids. One girl from Mwandi and 4 refugees from the Congo. (Their parents fled to Zambia because of the turmoil in the Congo, but were put in prison because they didn’t have the proper papers to enter the country). Our kids have fallen in love with these kids. They have played with them non-stop since we arrived in Mwandi - building sandcastles, swinging, sword fighting with sticks, and running through our sprinkler. Ellie is the oldest. She is 9. Her mother was going to abort her because she didn’t think that she could take care of her. Keith and Eda promised to help care for her when needed so that this mother would not abort her. Her mother decided not to abort her. She comes to visit Ellie often. I am absolutely crazy about Ellie. I want Isaac or Ethan to marry her someday! She is so kind and compassionate, and cares for Rachel and the younger kids in a very motherly way. She has a prosthetic leg but she runs, jumps, does cartwheels and flips, and kicks a soccer ball with either foot. You would never know that she had a prosthetic leg unless you were told. She is also missing her pointer finger on one of her hands. I don’t know the story behind this. Also, the Congolese boys are so adorable - Oneil, Omedy, Omerl, and Omari. They are so sweet and kind. All of the kids walk almost a mile to school each day without a guardian. They are also very tough and independent. I am so glad that my kids have them as friends.

Paul has worked on a few cows at the mission farm for the Orphan Center, met with the leaders of the newly formed cattle farmers cooperative to discuss organization and the upcoming artificial insemination program, and learned how to drive his new farm land cruiser on the wrong side of the road with stick shift on the wrong hand. (Isaac informed me that we drive on the correct side of the road because cars were invented in America. I agree).

Isaac has been great at leading games with kids in front of our yard. Four boys from the village come by everyday to play with Isaac. He has played four-square, football, and soccer with these boys. One day, I noticed one of the boys holding an empty peanut butter jar that he had dug out of the trash. He was reaching in and trying to get out any remaining peanut butter. I knew the people were really poor, here, but this woke me back up to the reality of their poverty. Then, I decided to bring them out some bananas to eat. All four boys madly took and ate the bananas that I gave them. I felt so sad that they have to worry about not getting enough food to eat. There is great need here.

Another day, while I took my kids to play with the 5 missionary’s foster kids at their house, a lady with her 11 month old came to get free formula from the missionaries through a program that they started. As far as I understand, if a mother has HIV, as long as she starts giving her baby formula instead of breast milk before the age of 6 months, the baby will not be infected with HIV from the mother. What a blessing this is to these children and their families! I have been told, that in Zambia, children are not treated with anti-retroviral drugs - only adults are. So, this formula program is vital for these children to grow up as adults.


Thank you for your prayers! We really appreciate you!






With love,


Alicia






Paul's quick add on-


Going to meet this week with cattlemen in 3 different areas to talk up the AI program, encourage participation in the co-op, and introduce myself.

Treated 3 cows with upper respiratory infections (successfully) on the farm!

Alicia is amazing with the house and kids, killing bats now, general difficulties she handles so smoothly. She was washing clothes in the shower today and made roasted peanuts- boiled, then baked. She loves the kids here so much (ours and not-ours).

Isaac is doing great- he is scared of nothing except the plane flight back and motion sickness. Bats, whatever...he is such a help today plugging holes in the house with cement and decorating his room.

Ethan is having a great time, "Dad, I think I really like Africa." is my favorite quote. He helped paint the inside of the house today and is looking for a dog.

Rachel is the leader of every kids group that forms and is loved by all the kids here so far. She loves bats, terrified of ants...?

-paul

The kids with some neighbors!