Choma, Bathing in the Bush, and Zambian Sunsets

Blog June 11-WOW!  What a day!  I led the devotion this morning, finishing my series on the question, “Why was Jesus born, and why did he come into this world?”  If you want to probe that question, let me direct you to the book of John chapters 17-19.  There is one answer to that question in each chapter.  Stephen’s favorite is in chapter 18 when Jesus is with Pilate.  It is awesome to begin each day in worship with the NDO staff and study Scripture on which to build your day.  We worship and learn Biblical truth entomwe (together-probably misspelled the Tonga word).

            After devotion, Lynne, Wes, and I departed for Choma the nearest thing to civilization within an hour of NDO.  You never leave NDO going to Choma or Lusaka without a list (and kwacha) from folks who need stuff.  So Lynne had a shopping list, as did Wes, and a few other lists with us.  We drove on a washboard dirt road for about 4 km and then it was a paved road all the way to Choma.  We saw a dead jackal on the road, a monkey on the side of the road (alive and eating), and a lot of people walking, riding bikes, and driving cattle (down the middle of the two-lane paved road).  Choma was interesting, to say the least.  They had 4 hardware stores, 2 stationery stores, and three kitchenware stores all side-by-side. There is an open-air market, but everybody sells the same thing.  Lynne bought material for 3 skirts (3  X  2.25 yards) for 44 Kwacha ($8.30).  We had lunch at the Choma museum.  I had goat stew, and Lynne had a chicken wrap.  If you saw a status for us today on Facebook, it was from the iSpot on the campus of the Choma Museum.  Internet was cheap at 5 Kwacha per 30 minutes of unlimited data (the exchange rate is 5.33 Kwacha per $1 US).

            I have to tell you the goat stew was actually grilled goat, with cole slaw and crispy chips.  The chips are fried potatoes.  You have to request them crispy because the Zambians like them limp and not crispy.  The cole slaw was great, but not sweet or vinegary (is that a word?).  I knew that Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods would be proud of me for trying the grilled goat.  As I sat at the table eating I could see the Zambian woman who grilled it.  She had a mean look on her face and seemed to be passionate about the meat she was grilling.  That woman probably even kills her own goats before dressing them and grilling them.  She had that kind of look on her face.  After dinner, it was back on the road to NDO.

            After serenading the NDO cook and praise leader, Kulanga, I headed for the new water tower.  There is an old wooden water tower down near the missionary residences that is as old and water-logged as a Navy Chief.  Nobody is taking bets on when it might vacate its position above the ground and surrender to gravity.   Darbi Tidwell tells me there have been lots of volunteers who have climbed the A-frame ladder to the top, shimmied around the water tanks, and taken sunset pictures.  It was time for me to make history.  You see, before I climbed the Green Monster with my trusty Nikon today, NOBODY had taken sunset pictures from its top.  So there I was at 5:30 pm tonight, with the cool breeze off the savanna in my hair, and a firm grip on the freshly painted railing.    The sunset was spectacular!!! I have included a sample picture below.    It was an awesome experience!!!  I sang a chorus of Our God is an Awesome God while snapping the sunset, and gazing off across the Namibian savanna.  Red beans and rice with bangers and broccoli for dinner tonight!  The day couldn’t have gone better.

            Side note:  While at Wonder Bread we met a friend of Wes’s name Dalphious.  He works for the tribal Chief of our area and the Zambian government.  He has an interesting background.  He was an orphan, living on the streets when he was young.  A German visitor to Zambian met him, got him into school, and eventually through college.  We had an interesting discussion about the opportunity gap here in Zambia.  His point was not that the gap exists, but that it is so large it makes it nearly impossible for ordinary Zambian citizens to cross.  He praised the work being done at New Day to educate the children, give them a Christian world view and prepare them to be successful as Zambian citizens.

             This is Lynne, I talked to Joyce (one of the house mothers at NDO) she said she would teach me how to make baskets. I hope we can find the time. Larry and I have been trying to learn Tonga.  We are SLOWLY getting it.  We can greet others both strangers and friends (it is done differently) and have learned some nouns.  We still cannot get many verbs or put things together much but it will come. We installed a light in the chicken house and got 3 more eggs on the first day.  I hope that number will go up in a few days.  We really weren’t getting quite enough eggs for the children when I arrived. Noah and I are working on the garden some more and got an area cleared for cabbage.  We will begin amending the soil today and hope to plant soon. I cannot say that I miss the States yet.  I am really enjoying life here though it is very different. Blu and Darbi have gone to Lusaka to pick up the next summer worker who will be staying here.  She is a college student who is spending a large portion of her summer here. I look forward to meeting her.

            Larry is back in stereo!!!  A funny thing happened yesterday; at least I thought it dripped of humor.   Christen, the teacher who is here to assess the children on reading and math, was at the goat pen near our hut with a Mishek.  Lynne said she was going to join them, so grabbed my camera to take some pictures of Mishek with the goats and donkeys (or turkeys).  When I got to the goat pen they walked up to see if the NDO shop (sells maize and dry goods) was open.  I saw some wildflowers in the brush and squatted to take some photos.  Soon Christen and Mishek came by me, followed by Lynne.  Lynne asked in a very serious voice, “what are you doing?”  I explained that I was photographing some flowers.  She said, “We need to get back to the hut now!!”  She was pretty emphatic that the hut needed us.   One last picture and I followed Lynne to the cabin.  It seems an older woman was naked in the bushes near where I was taking pictures bathing from a water container.  Lynne said she had called out when we got near, but you know our Tonga is not very good.  I am not sure what a Tonga “call out” sounds like.  I laughed and told Lynne, “you never know what you are going to find around the corner in Zambia.

            Lynne and I have eaten in the NDO kitchen a couple of times so far.  We had Nshima, cabbage, and meatballs the last time.  You will remember that Nshima is a staple of the diet here.  It reminded Lynne and me of thickened grits.  The Tongans grab a ball of Nshima and work it in their hands until it is soft and sticky.  They then use the stickiness of the Nshima to pick up other food.  We both thought the Nshima would be good with salt and butter.  A serving of Nshima for the children would be about the size of a grapefruit.  Lynne says it is because it is so low in nutritional value you need a lot to get any nutrition.  They eat it for breakfast also.  Unlike grits, they don’t mix anything with it, they use it as a utensil.

            So I lead the devotion again this morning!  Wes had not come down to the compound yet, and Blu is in (or on his way) to Lusaka.  We finished singing Degume Mwami (Touch Me Lord) and Kulanga looked at me.  I said, “You want me to do the devotion?”  He said something that really blessed me and touched my heart.  Kulanga said, “We love you!”  I thank you, Lord, for bringing me to Mapanza to be used by you to touch the heart of the Tongan staff.  I am teaching in Kavanga village tomorrow on God’s covenant with Abram and Abrahams's faithfulness (Genesis 12-15).  I covet and appreciate your prayers.

            Thank Karsyn, Hilda, and the Mission Possible Sunday School class for your notes of encouragement.  Love you, guys!!  Your encouragement has made you a part of our work here.

June 12   I tried to send the blog and photos this morning but MTN was very slow.  Our internet is through a cellular tower.  MTN is owned by the largest telecommunications company in China, Huawei (pronounced Wah Way).  If you follow business news you might recognize this name.  Only 3 companies in the world manufacture and install 4G LTE cellular networks.  One of the companies is in Germany, one is in Switzerland ( I think) and the other is Huawei in China.  The Chinese communist government has a 50% stake in Huawei, although the company denies it.  Ever wonder why Sprint is the only company that offers unlimited data?  It is the only card they have to play because most of the network is not 4G LTE but upgraded to 3G.  They had contracted with Huawei to upgrade their network and expand it with 4G LTE capability.  However, Homeland Security and the FTC stepped in and killed the deal.  They were concerned about a large portion of US infrastructure being controlled by a company that owes its allegiance not to the customer but to their government.  They were also concerned that Huawei, in the past, had used their access to networks they were upgrading to bug and monitor those networks.  So you could say that Sprint does not have 4G LTE and offer unlimited data because of National Security.  Our internet here is just slightly faster than dial-up on the best days.  It is slower than dial-up (which is hard to believe unless you remember we are in the middle of nowhere)  on most days.  We are just glad we are blessed with internet access at all.

            It is WEDNESDAY!  Do you know what that means?  They always kill a few rabbits on Wednesday for supper.  As I type this Lynne, Martha, and Noah are killing, skinning, and cleaning the rabbits.  We have quite a few bunnies so the population will continue to grow.  As my friend Blu says, “The rabbits are multiplying like . . . rabbits!”  That is a good thing.  Wes bought a second turkey hen Monday when he went into Choma.  When I went up to take photos for the kids with the animal (ref. the bush bathing incident on June 11) the Tom turkey was strutting around and putting on a show for the new hen.  Hopefully, in the next few days, she will be sitting on some eggs.  There is a debate bubbling in the compound as to what the exact gestation period is for turkey eggs.  The general consensus is 28 days.  If you know any different, let us know.  We are hoping they hatch before we leave in mid-July.  BTW  NDO=New Day Orphanage.