Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Home Sweet Home
The Z team arrived home safe and healthy late Tuesday afternoon.
It was so luxurious to shower and eat in our owns homes and sleep in our own comfy beds.
Thank you all for your prayers and comments over the last 3 weeks. Stay tuned for more information on how you can view our photos.
It was so luxurious to shower and eat in our owns homes and sleep in our own comfy beds.
Thank you all for your prayers and comments over the last 3 weeks. Stay tuned for more information on how you can view our photos.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Photo Highlights
Suzanne and our lunch at the Mansa market
The team at Victoria Falls - we are dry here - before the drenching walk
The conference grounds beside the church where all the attendees slept, ate, washed, etc...
Anne and Bonnie learning to dance the Zambia way.
The Zambian Leadership team that were co-teachers at the conference.
The teaching team and the conference attendees.Saturday, July 12, 2008
God's Protection and Majesty
We have had some amazing adventures on this trip. The most recent was our journey here to Livingstone yesterday. We had 10 people crammed like sardines into a van made to seat 8 comfortably. We have actually gotten quite used to this arrangement and have even figured out the most optimal seats (and least optimal!). However, we were tested on the last 60 km of our journey.
The road was so full of pot holes that it looked like it had expereinced a recent meteor shower - leaving deep gouges in the road. It kind of felt like some kind of video game where we had to dodge potholes and oncoming traffic by driving on either side of the road or even on the dirt on the side of the road. Then as an added bonus we had to avoid aggressive bus drivers as well as their belching smoke. After an exhausting two hours of this terrain we arrived tired and sweaty in Livingstone. John Thomsen did an outstanding job of driving us under these conditions and was sorry that we had experienced any discomfort. We probably distracted him terribly with all our of conversations as well as our startled outbursts of "Oh!" every time we hit a big pothole. He has been such a gracious man to travel with 9 women across the country.
Today was a wonderful day of visting Victoria Falls, shopping and having an evening cruise along the Zambezi River.
We could hear the roar of the water crashing right from the entrance of Victoria Falls National Park. As we walked down the path the inspiring and powerful falls unfolded before us - stretching as far as they eye could see. Thanks to Paulette we all had rain ponchos that kept us dry and we walked along the path across the narrow bridge along the waterfalls. Any part that was not covered by the poncho was drenched as the mist from the falls surrounded us. It was a breathtaking and powerful expression of God's creation that we all appreciated.
However I did find it interesting that we spent about 45 minutes bathing in the glory of these majestic waterfalls and about 2 hours shopping at the craft market right outside the Falls. It was quite a time consuming process as each purchase not only had to be decided on but haggled for. We all learned to bargain quite well - although we think Taylor got the best deals by saying "But I only have $10" and looking very sweet. I (Amy) gave a pen to one of the sellers and he wanted to give me a gift in return - somehow this "gift" ended up being the purchase of an additional trinket that cost $7. Not sure how that happened.
We spent the twilight and sunset hours on a dinner cruise that motored along the Zambezi River. We saw crocodiles and many hippos and a glorious sunset. There was a simple barbecue dinner and we watched the sun go down and the lights begin to twinkle on shore. It was a wonderful ending to the day.
Tomorrow we head to South Africa by plane (which we are VERY grateful for). However John and Tove will be driving to South Africa so please keep them in your prayers as it is a hard 2 day journey.
The road was so full of pot holes that it looked like it had expereinced a recent meteor shower - leaving deep gouges in the road. It kind of felt like some kind of video game where we had to dodge potholes and oncoming traffic by driving on either side of the road or even on the dirt on the side of the road. Then as an added bonus we had to avoid aggressive bus drivers as well as their belching smoke. After an exhausting two hours of this terrain we arrived tired and sweaty in Livingstone. John Thomsen did an outstanding job of driving us under these conditions and was sorry that we had experienced any discomfort. We probably distracted him terribly with all our of conversations as well as our startled outbursts of "Oh!" every time we hit a big pothole. He has been such a gracious man to travel with 9 women across the country.
Today was a wonderful day of visting Victoria Falls, shopping and having an evening cruise along the Zambezi River.
We could hear the roar of the water crashing right from the entrance of Victoria Falls National Park. As we walked down the path the inspiring and powerful falls unfolded before us - stretching as far as they eye could see. Thanks to Paulette we all had rain ponchos that kept us dry and we walked along the path across the narrow bridge along the waterfalls. Any part that was not covered by the poncho was drenched as the mist from the falls surrounded us. It was a breathtaking and powerful expression of God's creation that we all appreciated.
However I did find it interesting that we spent about 45 minutes bathing in the glory of these majestic waterfalls and about 2 hours shopping at the craft market right outside the Falls. It was quite a time consuming process as each purchase not only had to be decided on but haggled for. We all learned to bargain quite well - although we think Taylor got the best deals by saying "But I only have $10" and looking very sweet. I (Amy) gave a pen to one of the sellers and he wanted to give me a gift in return - somehow this "gift" ended up being the purchase of an additional trinket that cost $7. Not sure how that happened.
We spent the twilight and sunset hours on a dinner cruise that motored along the Zambezi River. We saw crocodiles and many hippos and a glorious sunset. There was a simple barbecue dinner and we watched the sun go down and the lights begin to twinkle on shore. It was a wonderful ending to the day.
Tomorrow we head to South Africa by plane (which we are VERY grateful for). However John and Tove will be driving to South Africa so please keep them in your prayers as it is a hard 2 day journey.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Arrived in Livingstone!
After two days of 10 + hours of travel the Z team has arrived in Livingstone, Zambia for a little R & R. Despite the long tiring travel days, we have been blessed with safe travels with no breakdowns, clean bathrooms (very important!) and the fact that everyone is healthy.
We enjoyed a nice meal in town this evening and will visit Victoria Falls tomorrow. Check back tomorrow for another report (our Guest House has Internet access!)
We enjoyed a nice meal in town this evening and will visit Victoria Falls tomorrow. Check back tomorrow for another report (our Guest House has Internet access!)
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Farewell to Mansa
We have finished our "work" here in Mansa and will be heading back to Lusaka tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. We are all now in good health and full of joy at all we have experienced here. I am sorry that we cannot post any pictures (Paulette has taken thousands!) but the internet is very slow so it will not work here.
Yesterday there was a change in the closing program (change is the only thing that has been constant on this trip!). Instead of the panel we had a lively and rousing worship session - we have never heard worship quite like the way it is done here - and we heard John Thomsen preach a bit from the Word of God to all tha ladies. After that the TLC team and the Zambian Leadership team prayed and annointed with oil EVERY woman that was at the conference. It was a powerful experience to pray with so many women - many of them we have gotten to know over the last four days. They are so full of love and are so accepting of us.
As we were talking this morning at breakfast - we do not know exactly what God has accomplished through our participation in this conference. Did we teach them anytihng of value? Did we give them hope? Did we encourage and equip? Did we show God's love and speak His truth? Whatever the answers to these questions, we do know that we trust in His purpose for us here in Zambia even if He never reveals it to us. We are priviledged to have been a part of these women's lives for even a few days and they taught us so much about joy in the midst of suffering and worship and true humility and service to God. There were several teary eyes as we said goodbye to the women and the Zambian leadership team.
Yesterday after the conference we went to a nearby fishing village called Samfya which is lovated on a very large lake - and even had a white sand beach. It made us all think of home. Pastor Henry and John also took us to a market in Samfya which defies description - not exactly Costco.
Today we went to a rural home for lunch. First, however we had to stop at the market in Mansa to get the chickens for lunch. They were not found in the frozen foods section - but picked out kicking and squawking from several vendors. We put them in the back of the van inside several tires as we drove to the hut where we had our lunch. The chickens were then "prepared" for cooking with a sharp knife and lots of plucking - a process that I could not watch. Several hours later we were served fresh chicken and rabe and nshima for lunch. Several of us are considering becoming vegetarians now.... However we were all so appreciative of the hard work of the women of the house (and Esther) to work for hours to prepare this meal for us. They work so hard and NEVER complain. We enjoyed visiting with many of the local children as they fixed the lunch.
Thank you for all your prayers. We have all felt the support of them behind us as we have faced challenges and difficulties of various kinds - and as we have experienced an amazing joy at seeing what God is doing in Zambia!
Yesterday there was a change in the closing program (change is the only thing that has been constant on this trip!). Instead of the panel we had a lively and rousing worship session - we have never heard worship quite like the way it is done here - and we heard John Thomsen preach a bit from the Word of God to all tha ladies. After that the TLC team and the Zambian Leadership team prayed and annointed with oil EVERY woman that was at the conference. It was a powerful experience to pray with so many women - many of them we have gotten to know over the last four days. They are so full of love and are so accepting of us.
As we were talking this morning at breakfast - we do not know exactly what God has accomplished through our participation in this conference. Did we teach them anytihng of value? Did we give them hope? Did we encourage and equip? Did we show God's love and speak His truth? Whatever the answers to these questions, we do know that we trust in His purpose for us here in Zambia even if He never reveals it to us. We are priviledged to have been a part of these women's lives for even a few days and they taught us so much about joy in the midst of suffering and worship and true humility and service to God. There were several teary eyes as we said goodbye to the women and the Zambian leadership team.
Yesterday after the conference we went to a nearby fishing village called Samfya which is lovated on a very large lake - and even had a white sand beach. It made us all think of home. Pastor Henry and John also took us to a market in Samfya which defies description - not exactly Costco.
Today we went to a rural home for lunch. First, however we had to stop at the market in Mansa to get the chickens for lunch. They were not found in the frozen foods section - but picked out kicking and squawking from several vendors. We put them in the back of the van inside several tires as we drove to the hut where we had our lunch. The chickens were then "prepared" for cooking with a sharp knife and lots of plucking - a process that I could not watch. Several hours later we were served fresh chicken and rabe and nshima for lunch. Several of us are considering becoming vegetarians now.... However we were all so appreciative of the hard work of the women of the house (and Esther) to work for hours to prepare this meal for us. They work so hard and NEVER complain. We enjoyed visiting with many of the local children as they fixed the lunch.
Thank you for all your prayers. We have all felt the support of them behind us as we have faced challenges and difficulties of various kinds - and as we have experienced an amazing joy at seeing what God is doing in Zambia!
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