Ninas Family Missional Life

July 16      Great news!! Or maybe it is great news.  Inspired by my friend Mallory Jeeter, I have setup a web page with Weebly .    Since we are no longer in Zambia, I will be posting to the new blog Sikutanta  while on furlough here in the US.  I will still provide notification on Facebook of new posts.  Please forgive my progress.

July 15th      First Monday back in CONUS (Continental United States).    Lynne is in Auburn with her mother and sister.  If you follow us on Facebook you know her dad had bypass surgery today.  It was going to be a triple by-pass, but turned out he only needed a double by-pass.  Keep him in your prayers. Offending Pecan Tree in the center.      I has rained every day since we came back to Georgia.  Stephen says is has rained every day since we left. There are 6 pecan trees on our 6 acre farm.  Pecan trees are a mixed blessing.  Our pecan trees stopped producing pecans about 6 years ago when they contracted tent caterpillars and leaf cutters.  At least they still produce shade . . . and broken branches.  Pecan tree limbs are fragile and break easily.  If a storm has any wind there will be broken branches all over our front yard.  When we return from Zambia a limb had fallen from the pecan tree in the center of our front yard.  Understand that if one pecan limb falls, ther

  July 12 (36,000 feet)           I am sitting in Seat 27F at 36,000 feet reflecting and thinking.  This is not my assigned seat.  I volunteered to move.  Let me back up and tell you how I am in the wrong seat.           We were walking down the cattle ramp to our plane behind a guy who is almost 7 feet tall.  Lynne and I settled into aisle seats on the same center row with an empty seat between us.  I heard two stewards discussing a couple who were not seated together but wanted to be together.  One was in an aisle seat (27F) and the other was in an emergency exit row seat.  The tall guy was sitting across from me in an aisle seat.  So I look at him and call, “Hey dude!  The stewards are discussing someone in an exit row set who wants to move.”  I then got the attention of one of the stewards and told her, “the tall dude would love to sit in an emergency exit row.”  She said that for that to happen there would have to be two seats open for her and her husband to sit together.  S

July 11      Sitting in the Yotel  at Heathrow typing this blog.  As usual with the bus, our trip from Choma to Lusaka was an adventure.  The journey actually went well until after we stopped at Mubuyu Farms to buy Munali Coffee.  Maybe it is something about the bus and climbing Munali hill.  You might remember when we first arrived in Zambia that the bus started having problems as we climbed Munali Hill and we stopped at Mubuyu Farms for lunch with the Lublinkhoff family.  Heading northest across Munali Hill we were first accosted by a  police check point, and had to pay a fine because our registration expired.      The police stop was dramatic for two reasons.  First, we were all out of Kwacha because we bought coffee, and Blu had to pay in US$.  Second, we were hoping to cruise through the checkpoint so we could get a picture of the sunset over the Kafue River (pronounced kah foo wee).  While Blu was begging for leniency and exchanging dollars for kwacha (the exchange rate was hig

Kalenga and Me at Bible Study Picture in front of the bus. July 9 th                Led  my last devotion at NDO this morning (at least for this visit).  Tossed and turned all night thinking about what my “parting words” should be.  In the end God provided the words I needed to say.  We all gathered in the ciikuta, sang a song, and I stood up to teach.  Blu and I asked that if those who thought they could earn salvation through good works to move to one side, and those who knew there is nothing you can do to earn salvation to remain seated.  All but 4 moved to the works side.   God laid on my heart to teach Ephesians 2:8-9.  Blu learned some new Tonga words, and God delivered a very good message through me.  It was nothing I did, it was all God.  I watched their eyes and posture as the truth sank into their hearts.  It is 3:20 a.m. as I type this.  If you will pray throughout your day for these men that the seed planted this morning will grow on fertile soil in their hearts,

Cabin photo of desk and refrigerator. Bed in the cabin. Kitchen Another sunset picture.  July 8 th                Malaria Monday!  Yes I took my malaria pill.   Only 4 more after this and I am done  It started out very cool this morning, upper 40’s, but as we always expect warmed up rapidly after the sun cleared the horizon.  So, now it is breezy and in the low 70’s.  I will certainly miss these moderate temperatures.  This is the second day without Martha’s milk.  I am starting to go into withdrawal tremors.  We can’t drink her milk till tomorrow, because Vet. Teddy gave her an antibiotic shot for mastitis just in case.  Makes me cry to think of Bud drinking all that milk by himself, but he’s a steer and can use the antibiotics.                I am continuing to disciple Albert Kalenga, our cook, musician, grandfather to the children and man of many talents.  I have been using a small faux leather ESV for teaching and discipling Kalenga.  I gave it to him today

Phillip, Larry and Glory at Church Larry, Noah and Lynne July 7, 2013                        Today was our last church service at NDO for this visit.   I did the Bible study and Blu had the sermon.  I did not teach in Tonga, except to say “pepe” which mean “no” once or twice.  Lynne took some photos with me and a few of the children    We are hoping Wes brings back the parts today to fix a couple of the vehicles.  Melody and Katie Hammond are scheduled to leave tomorrow for Livingstone.  They are going on short safari in Livingstone and going to Victoria Falls.  The van is now fixed so they and Darbi will be leaving early tomorrow morning for Livingston, about 3 hours away.    We will meet up with them Wednesday in Choma (one hour south of here) and head for Lusaka in the NDO bus.   We will meet them around 11 a.m. Monday with high hopes of reaching Lusaka before dark.   Two more days to enjoy Zambia, climb the tower and enjoy the sunset, and soak in the atmosphere of sub-S

My sweet Martha, healthy and back on the job. Sunrise through our huts back window. Lynne leading her Kid's Club group to nshima and cabbage. Darbi marches in the Infantry of the Lord's Army One of these things is not like the other.  One of these things just doesn't belong.  Can you guess which one? July 7 th                You will remember that Saturday mornings are safely guarded here at NDO.  Every Saturday morning most of the NDO folks sleeps a little later  . . .  well, most of the time.  Bud, Martha’s son, is an escape artist.  He is continually getting out of his pen and drinking all of his mother’s milk before we can collect it.  So last night he was placed in the fenced area near our hut with the goats, turkeys, donkey and duck.   That big ol’ baby mooed all night for his mother.  I went up early this morning to check on him and all of the animals but Bud were gathered in the shade near the goat milking stand.  They were taking a vote. 

July 5 th                I just finished last science class at NDO, since I will on my way home next Friday.  We talked conservation, re-use and recycle.  I gave them a tour  of NDO and showed them how we compost everything, including the animal “poop.”  They thought it was cool that we use manure to compost and fertilize.  Then they started telling everybody we saw, “We eat poop!”  You have to love their enthusiasm at least.                Martha stood up in the corral when Lynne went to check on her early this morning.  She was a little unsteady on her legs, but she had a rough afternoon yesterday.  She went down in the tall grass, and they unceremoniously lifted her with a tailgate lift and carried her across the compound to her corral.  She none the worse for the wear, but it was not her usual eat, sleep and poop afternoon.  When the kids and I went by the corral to talk about how cows work, Martha was walking around the corral, eating, pooping and talking to her son Bud. 

July 4 th                Happy Fourth of July!!  This day always brings to mind the time I spent it with my Dad in Stuart, Nebraska.  They had a parade and a rodeo.  I entered the greased-pig-catching contest.  There were fireworks and everybody dressed like cowboys.  I think it may be the best 4 th of July I have experienced so far in my life.  The Tidewells are holding a 4 th of July bash at their house.  All of the Americans at NDO are invited, and some American friends Choma are coming.  No fireworks in the bush, since it is too dry.  However, we may celebrate by killing the pack of wild dogs that have been harassing Martha (the milk cow) and keeping all of us at NDO awake at night!!  WoooHooo!!!                I was on deck for the devotion this morning.  My references were Isaiah 49:1 and Jeremiah 1:5-7.  My thesis was that God know us personally and calls us by name.  He does so because He seeks fellowship with us and a personal relationship with us such as He HAD in

July 3 rd (One week left at NDO)                 For those of you have been praying in response to our prayer request about staying longer thank you.  We will be returning to LaGrange as scheduled Friday July 12 late.   Just wanted to give you an update.                When we get home I will have to read back over my blog entries.  So much has occurred, we have been blessed so richly and been used by God to touch the lives of other people so deeply.  I know I shouldn’t start reflecting back over our time here until we are gone, but it will help me gain perspective as we move toward our departure from NDO next Wednesday.                I climbed the water tower tonight for the sunset (BIG SURPRISE!!!)  Melody and Katie were just coming down in a rush to dinner.  Apparently Darbi is not happy when you are late for dinner (just kidding Darbi!  Hope your bread turned out well.)  So as they are walking away down the road to Darbi’s house, Nala comes running under the water tower m

Melody, Katie and Allison on an oxcart ride. July 2, 2013                        Things are back to normal tomorrow after back-to-back Zambian holidays.   Not sure what passes for normal in the bush, but tomorrow should be pretty close to it. Melody and Katie from Texas spent their first full day at NDO.  They even had an oxen cart ride; the amusement here at NDO grows by the day.  Melody and Katie ended their day atop the water tank with Muka Sikutanta and Sikutanta watching the sunset.  How better to end the day in Zambia.                We have an urgent prayer request for the prayer warriors.  We have an opportunity to extend our stay here in Zambia.  Deb, the agriculturalist for NDO, has delayed her return from the US.  The NDO staff has invited us to stay on for a few more weeks or until Deb returns.  We are praying about it.  One scenario is for me to return on time and Lynne would stay.  This would give Stephen some relief on the animals and the garden.  Another would