February 21, 2009
I have started writing many an update, but time is never on my side and I seem to leave them all unfinished. Let me catch you up with a few things…..
When we arrived back in Zambia on December 10th, we were given the news that the other missionaries here overseeing everything else besides the Medical Ministries would be leaving Sons of Thunder. That occurred December 17th, a mere one week after our return. Well, no longer surprised by God for “His plans are not our plans”, we buckled down to once again resume the oversight of all the ministries here. The initial step meant moving back into the guest house, which we did December 18th. Next was end of the year financials and getting a handle on all the budgets, reviewing all areas with regard to operation, personnel and maintenance issues. Then of course there was Christmas and the children! There were no plans in the works, but God being our Provider and always there for us, a woman in town called on the phone. She had just completed making shoeboxes for the children in town and had thought of our children’s home….her question: “Would we like shoeboxes filled with goodies for all our children? She and her husband would love to make wrapped packages for all the kids if I would just give her a list of the names of all the children with their corresponding sex and age. I was thrilled!!! God, you are good! My answer of course was YES….she brought wrapped Christmas gifts for each child and Christmas morning every child got their own present! We had two Traveller volunteers that had been working in the children’s home all month. They wanted to spend their last day which was Christmas with the children handing out presents, playing games, singing songs and presenting the story of Jesus’ birth. Lena and Royce had bought extra goodies for a Christmas meal ….things like rice and beef and cake! It was a nice time. Our God provides more than we could possibly hope for right?....so the day after Christmas, the children were once again blessed by a lodge from right here in town. The owner and staff of David Livingstone Lodge arrived at the children’s home in vans with their chefs, repairmen, and cleaning staff all armed with the supplies of their trade. Not only did they come prepared to do work, but they came to celebrate as well!! They brought a small Christmas tree and decorated the large front room. They brought balloons and sweets….also bananas and drinks. “Father Christmas” as they called him came with a red suit and a pillowcase for a beard, sat the children one by one on his lap and gave them each a present….every child got a new t-shirt to wear! All of this was quite a surprise, but they also brought a camera crew and newspaper reporters!!! The Provincial Minister himself arrived and gave a speech!!! Sal and I, caught off guard, were also interviewed (in our scrub shirts of course)! The next day SoT Children’s Home was on the local news (and so were we)!!!!!
I wanted to write and tell you of the four legged creatures that terrorized our villages and ravaged our fields and gardens!!! I am serious…..we had literally hundreds of elephants on the farm!!! You see, Zimbabwe is in such a state right now facing starvation that even the military is suffering from hunger. So they started shooting elephants for food!! The elephants started running for their lives so to speak and the Zambezi River was crossable, so they have been migrating north into Zambia….well we are only 25km outside of Livingstone, surrounded by forest and have lots of food between orchards, gardens and maize fields!!! There were herds all over the farm…in different villages and even right here on the farm proper. Elephants disappear during the day and come out under the cover of night….Big BIG animals that can’t be seen right in front of you because they are black as night. One night when they were out in force, I went out on the front porch and literally heard them on both sides of the guest house….on the left of the house in the small orchard garden area and on the right on the other side of the driveway where the main gardens are!! You really feel helpless….what do you do to get rid of an elephant in your garden? Well ZAWA was called….ZAWA is the Zambian Agriculture and Wildlife Authority….they came out with firecrackers to help scare off the animals. They even stayed for 10 days on the farm answering sightings at night. When nothing was working, the number of elephants increasing and many fields and gardens destroyed, it was decided that an elephant would have to be killed. So, at first they sent out a novice with an AK 47…..one night a lone bull elephant was spotted in the garden by the house….after three shots and three full misses, the elephant charged chasing the ranger and Alexander into the dairy! So, next ZAWA sent two elephant hunters with high powered weaponry to the farm….and about three days later, word came that they had killed an elephant. People from the farm were called to come collect the meat. After the elephant had been killed, the herds started migrating further north….we heard news that our neighboring farms were now being troubled. Three people have been reported killed by the elephants since the bull elephant was killed here. We had a few weeks of peace until last week when more elephants were sighted….some at 2pm right here behind the tobacco barn on the soccer field. We also have chili pepper people working with our farmers to grow and use chilis around their gardens to keep the elephants away….seems the elephants don’t like spicy foods!!! Despite the discouragement of the elephants, the farming ministry here continues to move forward with new principles of farming being learned, new markets being developed and God speaking. It remains the heart of SoT…..
White uniforms and nurses caps all over the campus here……why, you ask? Well, because the Western School of Nursing has asked if we would be willing to allow their second year registered nursing students to do their rural health clinical experience here. So, for three weeks, we have 17 nursing students living and working on the farm between the clinic, children’s home and primary school. After this three week period, there will be another 18 students coming for the next three week period. God provides for all our needs….even helping hands! You see I guess I haven’t told you that December 24th after taking a break for Christmas with his family in Lusaka, Geoffrey finally received his graduation certificate and an accompanying government position at another rural health center outside of Kazungula District. So December 26th, he packed his belongings here and relocated. That same day we received a call from another Clinical Officer in town, retired and looking for work….so Mrs. Malamo has been with us on a trial basis also for the last three weeks!!!! We’re not sure yet if she is supposed to be our next C.O., but for now she is help. A new doctor from the UK is supposed to come visit in March for two weeks also helping out….so you see God does take care of His people.
I think I mentioned to you that God would not let me alone about “community,” so taking steps as He lights those stones, we now have a support system of health workers developing. I am organizing the program and teaching weekly lessons….Treatment supporters and Home Based Care volunteers are joining forces in our HIV Support Program to become Community Health Evangelists or CHEs. They have been going out every Friday to our ART locations either going to people’s homes or teaching through drama at the Rural Health Center site. The first message God gave us was the message of the lost sheep….you see we had files of people who never returned to the clinic after they found out their HIV status or after they started medicines. Our goal was to find the “lost” patients and minister to their needs just as Jesus went “to seek and save the lost.” The message deals with both the physical and spiritual needs of the people which is what CHE is all about….and coincidently is what Sons of Thunder is all about!!! This was the training God had me go to Swaziland for if you remember….now it seems to be the time to implement it….one step at a time….and I’m watching it multiply before my eyes.
The other main issue at the moment is a shortage of mealie meal (maize-based meal used to make nshima which is the staple food of Zambia). Long cues waiting for delivery trucks to arrive and rationing of meal have made it hard on the villagers here not to mention the children’s home and clinic which buy in bulk amounts. We are talking waiting in lines for 12 hours or sleeping at the mill the night before and then only able to get one 25 kg bag. Well, Sal went into the local Spar and negotiated with the owners/managers and was able to get a truckload of 50 bags sold to him. So now the villages are getting the meal from the guest house; Lena and Royce are getting their weekly bags for the children’s home without standing in cues or trying to find 6 other people to help them purchase the numbers they need and the inpatients in the clinic are being kept fed. It’s also been nice to divide in smaller portions for home visits and of course it’s here if someone from off the farm is in dire need….again feeding Africa physically and spiritually!!!
God never ceases to amaze me and I am humbled to be His child!!! He reminds me all the time here that He is our Provider….He is the one responsible for this vision….not only for the plan but the provision of all that we need to see it carried out. My job is to just say yes and step as He lights the stones. Be at peace my friends during this time of financial instability and always remember….there is one thing that never changes….one thing that never waivers. He is always there.
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