How I survived our move to Mpika....

Life has been nothing if not hectic these past few weeks. We spent about 3 months in the flat in Kabulonga (in Lusaka) while Sydney finished up some work/engagements there at Lusaka Baptist Church and we awaited his ordination service. We finally had moved everything, including pets, into that flat- although it remained in boxes waiting for our move to Mpika. We had to reschedule the ordination service due to scheduling conflicts with the Reformed Family Conference, which is hosted by Lusaka Baptist Church, and therefore had to move out of the flat since it was overdue going back to it's owners.

This posed quite a dilemma in terms of our belongings and our pets. The church put us up at Dream Valley Lodge- which was just a hotel room, so naturally none of our stuff could come with us, but they graciously cleared one of the rooms at the church for us to store our stuff. The door to that room had no lock so Sydney and the guys had to remove the handles from one door upstairs and replace the other handles so our things would be secure. IT all just fit with inches to spare! The dogs were brought back to Kabanana to be “babysat” by Faith Baptist Church (Curtis & Fanny's church) and we snuck the cat into the room at the lodge with us (shhh!). Since we were told at pretty short notice- we had food in the fridge and freezer but we were able to “donate” it to the kitchen at the lodge, much of which was then served back to us. It was quite an interesting time having absolutely no idea when we were moving and having to be ready to leave at either a moments notice, or a week or two! Thinking we'd only be in the lodge one night- maybe two- I under packed considerably and so I ended up hand washing clothes in the bathroom sink and hanging them for us to re-wear for about 4 days. We were there from a Thursday, and on Saturday we were told we should have been in Mpika on Friday but there was a mix up in communication. By then it was too late to leave so we decided to go on Monday morning.

We started off early Monday, but then ended up delaying for a while at the church doing last minute arrangements for our accommodation and arrangements for our belongings to follow on a truck behind us later in the day. From there we left for Kabanana to pick up the dogs, and of course spent time saying our goodbyes which delayed us even more- and THEN as soon as we exited Kabanana on to the main road, we got a flat tire. Not just flat but flat flat. By God's grace we were RIGHT next to a fuel station- with a sign that said “tire repair”- but as these things go, there was no one to fix it. Sydney started off down the road in search of a repair man and I gave water to the dogs and tried to calm the panicking cat. Finally it was fixed, not without the price tripling from what he had told Sydney when he saw him WITHOUT his white wife-- and him claiming he needed a new shirt cause his got dirty while he was working- but in the end it was fixed. The ride itself was relatively un-eventful except needing multiple stops for the dogs to do the necessary. At one of the fuel stations a man seeing us with the dogs (completely ignoring Sydney) started telling me that he trains dog's and will work for me and train them and went ON and ON... finally we ignored him long enough for him to go away and the gas attendants called Sydney over. Apparently they were “placing bets” if we worked together or I was their “sister in law” (a polite way of asking if I'm his wife) They were shocked and interested to hear that I was his wife.

Toward the end of the drive we had a “near miss”. The drives on these roads are notoriously dangerous due to trucks carrying goods from Tanzania etc., which drive recklessly. We were behind a line of about 4 of them and suddenly we saw a giant rock right in the middle of the road. There was nothing we could do but hit it dead on- to swerve either way would've meant an accident. The car started put-ting and we pulled over to find the tire had a huge sort of... lump. We were literally in the middle of bushland and there was nothing we could do but pray and keep driving. We made it safely by about 9:30... which I wasn't to happy about cause the last few hours were in the dark and driving in the dark is even MORE dangerous for numerous reasons. When it got dark we actually stopped to find a hotel in Serenje, but it wasn't worth the money and with the animals in the car we had to just pull through.

We were met in Mpika by a member of the church who brought us to our accommodation that was supposed to be for 3 months. We panicked because it was another hotel room. Just one room, with two beds and a questionable toilet. We knew right away we couldn't stay there for 3 months (first of all, there was no where for two dogs and a cat to stay, second of all when we brought in the backpack and laptop bag, there was no room for anything else- barely even for us to walk ergo no room for our belongings which were (we thought) en route, also there was no kitchen which meant buying out food 3 meals a day for 90 days which we definitely couldn’t afford, and the room itself, which just had a thatched straw roof was sort of falling down on us.) We couldn't deal with it then because we were WAY too tired, and in God's providence our belongings were delayed due to problems with the truck and were due the next day- so we slept.

The next morning we met with someone for the church and arranged to just move into the house we stayed in the last time we visited. It was the same one I had adamantly put my foot down against on the last trip ( I think I wrote about it in a previous post) because it has power issues, NO running water whatsoever, it's right in the middle of the compound/town and there are people walking through the yard all day going to and from town, the front door had no handle, there were cockroaches etc..., but comparatively it was looking like a penthouse. It was a bit nerve wracking because a contract had already been drawn up and a check written so they had to handle the matter delicately. They were gracious, however, and only made us pay for the two nights we stayed there. I was humbled, to say the least, and learned never to complain because it doesn't always get you a step up, sometimes you go a few steps down!

We got there but the previous pastor's belongings were all still there, as he hadn't moved out his things yet. Our truck was on it's way, so a woman who works for him and another member of the church who lived with him came and started packing and cleaning. The truck arrived two days later than expected but everything was in tact. Unfortunately, a few things were left behind because there was no room on the truck for them but we were told they'd be sent later. We emptied the house of some of the pastor's things and then filled the lounge with all of our stuff. The boy who lived here with the former pastor had one room full of his stuff, and the stuff the pastor wasn't taking was moved to the other room which left us with a bedroom and lounge. We couldn't live 3 months with boxes filling the lounge so we went to the room with the pastor's belongings, sorted and re-arranged them to make space, then moved the boys stuff to the other side of the same room, (and some into the kitchen) so we could move our stuff out of the lounge and into the now empty room. Needless to say we were cramped- and still wearing the same clothes over and over- now on day 7 or 8! Our first order of business was to get some furniture because all we had was a bed. The next day- we went into town and got a kitchen table and chairs and some sofas, as well as groceries.

The boy came and got all but one of his boxes which he needs us to keep til December, and the Pastor came last week and got the rest of his stuff except a broken motorcycle and a bike and a few boxes that belong to the church, but there's no room at the church for them. That freed up some space in that room so we pushed the motorcycle and bike in the corner and went about moving the boxes, AGAIN, from the middle room to that room so that Sydney could have an “office”. Unfortunately, the desk and chair and bookshelf are some of the things that didn’t fit on the truck from Lusaka, so he used some of our boxes full of stuff and improvised a desk and chair. I think he was tired of me sweeping under his feet and moving 27 books for their “spots” while he tried to work in the lounge!

I would be lying if I said I am finding life easy at the moment. There is no running water, so twice a week a lady from the church comes and draws buckets of water for us. Which means washing dishes with a pitcher, doing laundry in a small bucket, every time you use the toilet you have to move water from a giant bucket with a smaller bucket into the cistern to flush. This house is extremely old and there are cracks and the floors are very uneven which makes the furniture and chairs and stove and fridge all sit at an awkward angle. We have to heat up buckets of water on the stove or with an electric heater and then use a bucket and cup to bathe- so a simple bath takes 4x as long. The roofing sheets are quite insecure so when the wind blows ( and it BLOWS gail force daily here because we're in a valley)- it sounds and looks like they will blow off any second. So far, so good. The cockroaches are a major problem- we can not get rid of them but they literally are on EVERYTHING- you have to wipe them off the toilet seat before you sit and rinse everything before you eat off of it ( which is a problem with no water!! ) When you turn on the stove about 7,000 of them come from nowhere to escape the heat. I have been fortunate to not have many cockroach problems in all my former homes in Lusaka (not to say I didn’t have them, but they were manageable with spray), so this has been a challenge. A few days ago the ants came- in thousands- and since there are no cupboards or counters in the kitchen and everything has to just be... out... they have penetrated into every box and bag and I am at a LOSS for how to keep our food safe. The cat is doing a little damage control, eating lizards and the giant cockroaches but she is scared of ants (go figure), and I can only imagine the reason we have no rats is because of her presence. We also just discovered that the sink hole for the sewage seems to be right at capacity, and getting fuller every day which is emanating an interesting smell.

The house that the previous pastor is building is where we will be shifting to, and it isn't near done yet. We had been told that by August it would be habitable, but that changed to November which is now December. It won't be done when we move in- no ceilings or finished floors- but he's promised us running water (for two hours a day- which is all you get here in Mpika, no matter where you live!) and power- and security bars on the windows and doors. Because of that move, and because of the fact there is nowhere to actually unpack our boxes, we are still dressing out of suitcases and eating/living out of boxes for the next few months. When we move- I am praying there will be counters and cabinets in the kitchen to unpack into- but I am sure it will be a challenge as builders will continue working as we live there- which means we will continue to move things from room to room.

It's a challenging time of life for us but thankfully we are still in the “honeymoon phase” which means we are looking at this more as an adventure than a challenge. Some days are better than others- some days I feel like if I see one more giant Madagascar hissing cockroach on my curtain or if I open a another bag of sugar crawling with ants I may scream.

Certain things in the neighborhood are a challenge. Like I said, we are right in the middle of where everyone walks directly through the yard to go here and there so it's like we are on public display- which has it's downsides and upsides. Two days ago I was lying on the couch with my legs hanging over the side checking emails and behind me I heard someone sit on the other sofa. Assuming it was Sydney, I glanced over and saw.... some strange guy. I BOLTED upright and was like... um hi? He simply asked if the pastor was around. He needed $2 to go and pick up his cellphone from the repair shop and figured we were the best people to help him out. He just strolled into the house, walked through the kitchen and hallway into the room where I was laying and plopped down on the couch. WHAT!? There were about 500 other knocks on the door that day. I was warned about this- but it's always different to hear about what happens in the village at the pastors house, and a whole different story to experience it.

The next door neighbor, (who can speak fluent English but speaks to me only in Bemba, and every time I tell her I can't understand her she laughs and says, “you have to learn”, then speaks in Bemba, and I tell her I haven't learned in the past two minutes and STILL don't understand her so she laughs again (It get's old. Fast), brought over some spinach cooked with peanuts, a traditional dish here I have eaten numerous times having lived here over 3 years and traveled here twice before that- but when she gave it to me she said “since you don't know how to cook any traditional food I made this for you to taste”. Another woman was with her and looked at the clothes on the clothesline and said “you are washing? You know how to wash?” When I said yes they both giggled. Now, on another day this might have just blown over but it came on a day where one thing was piling on top of another and I was at a breaking point! I wanted to cry- I felt like saying... “for crying out loud I cook Zambian food all the time for my husband- if fact we eat Zambian MUCH more than American... and laundry? I have two hands and a brain of course I can do laundry. I am not an alien stepping foot on earth for the first time! am I ever going to be accepted here or will I always just be “the white lady”!?!?! After that rant in my head and a good cry to a slightly baffled Sydney, I realized they DON'T know how long I've lived here. They've never had a white neighbor before. I am sure she was trying to be nice and welcome me into the neighbor hood and I was strangling her in my head!

I am learning a lot about my own attitude here. Lusaka was very different than the states, yes. We had power and water “glitches”. But we also had shopping malls, supermarkets, walmart (which is Game here) movie theaters, concerts, sports games at the stadium, restaurants (including KFC and Subway), spas, massage parlors, Mexican food, Indian food, Chinese food- really ANYTHING I could need. Maybe not the same brand (although every week there seemed to be something new in the store from the US or UK). I kept thinking it was gonna be so fun to live like the 1920's using water in buckets and burning candles. It's fun for maybe a week. Maybe.

But then I see the church, and I am getting to know and love the people, and there are visitors who have come to our doorstep ready to ride to church two weeks in a row. Last week we drove 2 hours to Kasama to shop at a real grocery store, because the shops are small and sparse in Mpika- and I was delighted! We hit them when they just got a shipment from Lusaka so the store was fully stocked! We filled two carts full- and got food and supplies to last through October (we don't want to have to spend the fuel to drive out there more than once a month). It's a very different life here.

Saturday- we missed prayer meeting because the woman who gets us water took long and we couldn't leave the doors unlocked. We got there after it ended but literacy class was just starting. I decided to stay and observe how it runs, and Sydney went out with the tracts we folded that morning and invitation cards. I started to get excited seeing how much potential and need there was in the literacy class. I am told it used to be booming but there are now only 10 kids. The teacher had no materials, the kids used backward chairs as desks and had only notebooks. I saw the need and potential and started to get so excited. Just then I glanced out the window and watched Sydney. He was walking up and down the street near the church all by himself talking to people and handing out tracts, explaining what the church is about, laughing, learning their names and where they live. I realized THAT is why we are here. Yea, our water is in a bucket- but we have water. Yea, our power shuts off without warning- but we have power. Yea, the house is perpetually dirty and dusty and there are bugs- but we have a house. What we came he for wasn't water or electricity. It was for the people he was shaking hands with as they walked by. It was for the kids who came to learn English so they can provide for their families when they grow up.

It's not easy to get the “American”... or even “Lusakan” out of me- who wants her pots on a shelf, her clothes in a drawer, tiles on her floor, paint on her walls and her kitchen tap to do something when she turns it. Sometimes I am caught in an attitude of feeling I deserve that which I don't. I have learned a lot about humility. I am perfecting the art of repentance. I am STILL struggling with patience. BUT I have a man beside me who is making life easier. Who is constantly making sure I get rest and who gently redirects me when I lose my cool, but still tries to fix the problem. He makes sure the buckets are full, he replaced the handle on the door, he sprays the bugs diligently, he moves boxes in a way that kitchen supplies are accessible, he bought me 4 bars of chocolate when we were in Kasama.... He quietly goes behind my bad attitude and sweeps up the messes I complain about.

I can see Gods plan and purpose in the steps I have taken. From America to Lusaka- then Lusaka to here. Easing me into it instead of throwing me in head first. If I had moved here straight from the US I may have drowned but he kept my “floaties” on for a while til I truly learned to swim. Sometimes I get a little water up my nose, but I never sink.

Sydney is full swing into the work here- nose in books one day- grazing the town for new friends and people to invite the next. He had one deacons meeting to discuss the future of the church- but they only got through about ¼ of what they needed to so they're meeting again today. On Saturday, he's holding a meeting and re-instating all the ministries- (ladies, men, youth, home fellowship mtgs etc) which have not been functioning for quite some time. We've been visiting the visitors (or attempting) and the sick in the church. We also in the coming weeks will start sourcing for funds to finish the church building- we have the money for roofing sheets, some of which which was generously donated by a church in Lusaka but we need the timber to make the base. Rainy season will be here in a matter of weeks and we need a roof!

On Friday, I've asked all the ladies to come meet with me. There hasn’t been a functioning ladies ministry in what looks to be over a year, but there are two chairwomen who are meant to be talked to on Saturday to restart it. I just want to get to know the women on a personal level- one of the benefits of being a small church at the moment- and start a book study. I have about 4 ladies devotional books for now- and I want us to start pushing through them so as we get to know each other we also encourage and help each other grow. This will be my first time leading something like this- and ironically I am the youngest “lady” and the only one without children so there are some challenges. I am thinking back to Pr. Kalifungwa's sermon to Sydney at his ordination. “Let no one despise you because of your youth”. I know that wasn't directed at me but I think the principle applies. God made me Sydney's wife, and he sent us to Mpika. I feel quite inadequate but His grace is sufficient.

I hope this isn't read as complaining. As I always have done on my previous blog- I will write things bluntly. I think it helps people know how to pray and what we are doing here. It's not easy sometimes. Sometimes its encouraging. I guess that's the same as anyone's life- this is just our particular story.

Trip to Mpika

This weekend Sydney and I traveled to Mpika. He spent a month there before the wedding, but I had never been so LBC sent us there to have a time for Sydney to minister on Sunday and also for me to get to know the place and the people a bit.

Driving there was something of a nightmare. We passed through NINE police “checkpoints”. We had to argue at a few, but two of them stopped us and actually charged us with (my favorite phrase) unpardonable offenses. The first place asked us if we had triangles and a fire extinguisher. (For my American readers, they are small triangle shaped reflectors you have in your car so if you have a problem on the road people can see from far off.) I told him I had triangles but he said by law I was required to have a fire extinguisher- which I have never heard of before. I argued and he said it was a 'new law' which I didn’t know. I started to get upset because they were very obviously being corrupt and making up charges (he spent 5 minutes going around the car first looking for anything wrong and was upset when there was nothing- that's when he now went to the fire extinguisher). I asked for a ticket that we could contest at the station or court and they said “we don't give tickets anymore cause no one pays them” I was at the point of almost getting into a serious fight because that was just ludicrous, so I asked Sydney to deal with them and I went and sat in the car.

While in there, Sydney tried to reason with them and mentioned the fact that I was his wife, and the female officer said “Hmm, you have moneeyyyyyy”. From that point, we were told we were being impounded (car and license taken away) if we didn't pay a fee. Sydney realized you can't argue with a fool so we paid the $36 fee.

We continued on, showing the triangles at the next stop etc.... no one else ever mentioned a fire extinguisher being necessary. When we got to another road block, they again asked for the triangles and then said ours were plastic and we needed metal ones- another $36 dollar fee. We argued for quite some time but to no avail. They didn't even take my license or anything and let me sit with the car running so I was ready to just drive away, but Sydney had 20 dollars in his pocket and told them that’s all we had to give them so the officer told him to go and look for the rest from others who were pulled over (we were in the middle of nowhere). He told him to give us a ticket and we got the same story. So he finally accepted the 100 kwacha (20 bucks) and then wrote a receipt that said we didn’t pay, but had been warned to buy triangles because ours were “insufficient”. So he enjoyed a night our with our 20 dollars obviously it went in his pocket.

We finally arrived in Mpika and were so nicely informed that actually the law just says triangles and doesn’t specify whether metal or plastic, and fire extinguishers are required for public transportation not passenger vehicles. It's so encouraging to know that some of the biggest criminals in Zambia are the police. They are most dangerous because of the “power” they have. They steal in broad daylight.

When we got there, I was beyond exhausted. We had a tough night of sleep the night before and got up at 4am to travel and since Sydney is not driving right now, I did all the driving. I was mentally FINISHED! We chatted for a while with one of the church members who is taking care of the pastors home while he is away, and then I had to lay down. We slept about 2 hours when a knock came at the door and the deacons from the church came and paid us a visit. I wasn’t much company because I developed a very intense migraine headache that was making me feel sick, but we did visit with them for a while and it was nice for me to get to know them.

Because of the headache I was experiencing, I had to sleep early, around 8 or so. I woke up in the morning feeling much more refreshed and ready for the day, although the house also took some getting used to. (this part if for my American readers and family, who are more interested in hearing about this stuff and may have never seen/experienced it before if they haven't traveled here.) There was no running water, but the same church member who was at the house when we got there collected water in buckets- and it was MORE than enough to see us through the weekend, which I was very grateful for. It was just a learning experience to deal with how to bath, use the toilet, wash the dishes etc. It's always awkward when you are in a new home but I can assure you- running water makes all the difference. The stove also wasn't working when we got there, but an electrician came and fixed two of the burners. They were either on full blast, or off- so that was also a trial by error (much error) and Sydney ate a few burnt things with a happy heart- even telling me he likes cabbage better when it's a bit dark. Bless his heart. I had to warm up water for bathing, but like I said there were only two working burners on the stove and in the mornings, the power is dim so it took about 30 minutes to heat one small pot of water for a bath.

The house is quite old and a few things are on their last legs, and of course in the first hour I somehow locked myself in the toilet room and Sydney had to rescue me....

The security also was something for me personally to get used to. There was no light bulbs in the security light outside or in the kitchen, so we had to move some around from other rooms we weren’t using and buy one for the kitchen, although the socket for the one in the main part of the room was broken so the light was over in the corner and it wasn’t easy cooking in the night, because the light just barely reached the stove area. Also, the front door had no security bars, and was broken on the bottom and a broken handle (there is actually no handle on the inside of the door) so the only thing keeping it shut was a small metal rod on the inside. Otherwise, there was a piece of wood and a sheet blocking the hole in the bottom. There is no outer wall fence and the house is quite central with people walking by right through the yard. Coming from Lusaka, where you have a cement fence with an electric fence on top, metal bars on the windows and doors and dogs..... needless to say I was out of my comfort zone.

It was interesting that when the deacons came they assured us there is no crime in Mpika, and then went on to tell us one of the deacons homes was broken into TWICE in two weeks and another church member also had thieves.... but I later heard the whole story (after losing sleep over every bump in the night) that it was some neighbor kids who broke in and charged their cellphones with the wall chargers and stole cartoon dvd's!

I also had to get used to the wind in mpika, it literally felt like the house would lift off the ground and fly away and I worried for the roofing sheets!

All in all though, we were perfectly fine and well taken care of especially in terms of water from the church there. This house was meant to be our temporal home for some months while we wait for something more permanent- but it looks like we will be looking for an alternative home. I can deal with a lot of things- and I have lived quite contented with water and power issues, but for some reason, I think with the exhaustion on top of all of it- I struggled and panicked a bit in that house. Pray that I will learn to be contented anywhere God places me. I have made it very clear that I will follow Sydney wherever he goes, but he is also very sensitive to my feelings and needs and I don't want to negatively affect his ministry by my negative attitude.

Mpika, the town itself, we explored on Saturday. It is by no means Lusaka- there are shops, not stores. It is small and the town is not big enough for street signs or traffic lights or anything, but it is developing. That being said, I love the place! It is clean and uncongested, it's quiet and people were so friendly even in the market place- where in Lusaka I am called names and yelled at or even grabbed in the inner markets, here I was obviously something “new” but it was a friendly curiosity. We did not see a single other white person there. I really enjoyed the town itself. Buying things will be very different, we'll go to the butcher for meat, and the baker for bread, and the market for vegetables- not Shop rite for everything like I do here, but I have no problem with that. We saw the plot for the church parsonage, which has yet to be built, obviously, and it's quite beautiful. We also drove to see the house the pastor is building which will also be beautiful when it is finished. We will potentially live there when it's done since the parsonage is on the back burner to the church being built.

The church building is in progress, the outer walls are there but no floors or roof. We hope to put the roof on first thing so that we can move to the main sanctuary and start a vernacular service in the old sanctuary so that we facilitate more of the peoples needs there, and more from the community will feel welcome.

The church plot itself is spacious and we have future plans for a school/orphan work there as well as a pastoral training school, since the northern part of Zambia is lacking in Reformed Baptist Churches (ours is the only one).

On Sunday Sydney preached twice and we attended the adult Bible class where they are studying systematic theology. There were about 13 including us in attendance there, mostly young men, which was quite encouraging. I had a chance to get to know the ladies in between services a bit, and after church Sydney and I drove one of the young boys home so we could visit his mom, who is one of the members of the church and has been quite ill. She was very encouraging to me somehow. She and her home reminded me of one of the families I’ve worked with in kabanana, in fact I felt like we were transported back there. She is very frail and told us she has trouble eating anything but porridge, which showed. However, she spends her time working for an organization to aid those suffering from HIV and AIDS, and underprivileged women and children. She asked me if I'd like to come with her when we get back and I am really looking forward to that. She was a blessing to me. Sydney gave her the outlines of the sermon since she couldn't attend, and we prayed with her.

Sunday night the power went out and it was pitch dark in the neighborhood so we locked up and watched a movie on the laptop while we waited for it to return. We slept early, knowing we were driving again Monday morning. In the morning we packed up and went to visit the home of a church member and his family who weren't at church the day before. Sydney gave them the message, in short form, and an assignment to do some reading/studying. We then went to the deacon's home to pick up his nephew, who needed a ride back to Lusaka to see his parents and family who he hasn't seen in two years. We spent a while with them but then hit the road.

While in Mpika, we purchased metal triangles and a fire extinguisher so that we wouldn't be harassed again, but of course not a SINGLE roadblock officer hassled us, they all waved us through. Sydney was actually irritated but I told him that’s how it goes! Now that we have them, they'll never ask for them again!

We were almost in an accident on the way back. Just after a roadblock, where they are supposed to check the fitness of these trucks and their cargo, we were following a very huge truck over packed with bags of mealie (cornmeal) and Sydney pointed at the tires and said, “have you seen the tires, they are not moving right” I also noted they looked like they were being pushed down by the weight of the mealie. No sooner had we said that when THREE tires blew, one right after the other. I had to slam on the brakes because dust and shredded rubber was flying all over the place, and the tires were blowing off FAST. He actually KEPT driving for another kilometer with all that stuff flying on us and in oncoming traffic before pulling over. It was incredible and improbable that every piece of rubber shrapnel missed us- we were quite close behind him.

Otherwise we had no incidents and were able to drop the boy off with his family and got home safe and sound. However, I was feeling extremely exhausted and achy, I thought from driving, but woke up numerous times with a bad stomach ache and I’ve been suffering from a stomach bug even into this morning, thus me lying in bed with time to write this! I am hoping it was just the travel and it will pass soon. We were both chewed up petty bad the first night by mosquitoes before we were able to purchase any spray- so pray we aren’t struck with malaria in the coming week also!

On Thursday, Sydney will give a report on Mpika and what we plan, by God's grace, to implement there. Sunday he is preaching again at Emmanuel Baptist church in Chelston. Next week we hope to go and visit his family on the copperbelt for a day or two, his mother hasn't been well. After that, there will be a setting aside service to set us apart for the work in mpika on September 1 and then the family conference. Sydney's brother, Bright, will be coming to stay with us here for the week so that he can also attend the conference.

Please also pray for fanny, she is having complications with her pregnancy. She is due in two weeks but the baby is breech. She has been told to have a c-section but the facility where she will have to do it is not ideal in any way- and care there can be questionable at best. She also just received word that her mother is not well, and that stress can't be helping at all. Please keep her family in your prayers.

Thank you for your prayers for travel mercies and for us as we visited mpika. We are looking forward to ministry there, and ideas for ministry and opportunities are flowing even as I type!

Dancing and Sailing....

We have decided to start a new blog for both me and Sydney since my adventures in Zambia as a single woman are now over. This blog will now chronicle our new life as a family as it grows and most especially our new life together and ministry here.

If you want to go back and read about my work here before with the orphan work under LION of Zambia, or read how we met and many of my personal adventures in Zambia since 2010, please check out the previous blog: kat-ndazyoka.blogspot.com .

People always ask about blog names- why did you chose them and where did it come from? We chose “Sailing in the storm” because it is a line from the song we danced to at our wedding “Dancing in the Minefields” by Andrew Peterson. We feel it accurately describes us, and what we will face in our life and ministry together. It is not always easy here. Life in missions is often full of 'minefields' and 'storms'- but together and with the grace of God ever guiding us... we can dance and sail with joy that surpasses human understanding.

When I left off on the other blog I was explaining how we are in Lusaka temporarily and what our future plans hold. I can now be a little more specific since we have our set schedule and our feet on the ground a little more.

We will be staying in Lusaka doing something of an abbreviated internship here at Lusaka Baptist Church for the rest of this month, August. There are two main reasons for this time in Lusaka. One- that we get settled in our marriage and have time as a newly wed couple to get our bearings in Zambia before diving headfirst into the work. The second purpose is for us to get to know the church in Lusaka better, to interact with the church family here before we are sent out by them and for Sydney (and me, at a much more minor extent) to have opportunity to serve and minister while we are here.

Thus far, Sydney has taken up responsibilities preaching twice at Lusaka Baptist Church as well as Emmanuel Baptist Church (a church plant from LBC in Chelston, Lusaka). He has also ministered at two youth group meetings and (so far) preached at one Bible study meeting. Over the next few weeks we have quite a bit planned. Sydney will preach this Thursday at Bible study. On Friday, we will leave for Mpika (an 8-10 hour drive) so that I can see the place (I've never been there!!), we can interact with the people, potentially look for temporal housing and Sydney will preach both services on Sunday. Sydney will give a report at Lusaka Baptist toward the end of the month on our projected plans for the work in Mpika. We are also being interviewed on Tuesdays at the various cell/home fellowship meetings of LBC. We also may have opportunity to serve at the upcoming youth conference at the end of the month. There will be a “setting aside” service to set us apart for the work in Mpika on the 25^th of this month. The last week of the month is the Reformed Baptist Family Conference and following that we will head north!!

It has been challenging feeling “here” but not settled, living from boxes and suitcases- but we know that the time is quickly coming when we will be able to settle more fully and establish ourselves fully there in Mpika. I am REALLY looking forward to that!

In other news, I wanted to give a quick update about Sydney's health. I have been rejoicing over my results from my biopsies- my body seems to be ridding itself of the precancerous cells found last year. Now the tables have turned and the focus is on Sydney.

While in the US, Sydney had a routine physical exam with a full blood workup. The results were a bit unfavorable, most especially to do with his liver readings/function and with the advise and help of Pr. Dunn's wife- we were able to see a gastrointestinal specialist the very day we were flying out. This was the second time Sydney's blood tests showed abnormalities in liver function (last time was in 2008) so we took it seriously. The specialist also felt that they were not looking good as well and gave us a LONG list of suggested tests and follow up exams. He kindly informed us also that it was going to cost us a small fortune.... being that we were leaving that afternoon we couldn't do any of it anyway.

We brought the recommendations and results to a doctor here from Kabwata Baptist Church who works at the University Teaching Hospital. ( If you followed my other blog- you will know that I have a special loathing for that place for multiple reasons. God, however, through MUCH prayer- gave us (read: me) grace and we spent about 3 days back and forth getting things done.) Many American readers will find it interesting considering what we pay in the US (and that small fortune the previous doctor spoke about) that it cost $2 for each lab work done, and $2 for a liver ultrasound. Our total hospital bill was $4.

Sydney had another blood test for hepatitis, a complete urinalysis and an abdominal ultrasound to look for liver/kidney damage.

The GOOD news is, the urinalysis results were fine and normal and he does not have hepatitis or any visible liver damage. The bad news is that while during the ultrasound, the technician found free floating fluid in Sydney's abdomen. We took the results back and the doctor said all things are great except the fluid- which is almost always a sign of liver damage. So we are essentially back to square one. He has given us orders for two more thorough and specific blood tests (the names of which I couldn't begin to pronounce) which can only be done at another lab somewhere else in Lusaka. We have yet to make that appointment but will do it before we leave for the Muchinga Province, where Mpika is found.

Please keep us in prayer as we seek God's wisdom and guidance especially concerning our health. It can be one of the easiest things for Satan to attack but we know that God is powerful and counts the hairs on our head. Nothing will happen to either of us that God did not call for so we have peace in that knowledge.

We had one minor issue here that was quite frustrating and irritating for me. As most people know, we sold almost everything when we moved so we are now starting the process of building back up again. The church family here has kindly furnished this temporal home for us but we will be moving to our own place soon and had to start getting a few things from here before we move. There was a stove provided for the time being here as well as a freezer, but no fridge and on the stove only two burners worked and the oven was not functioning- so since we needed these anyway we decided to purchase them now so they can be used during our stay here.

The fridge is fine, but the stove was/still is something of a nightmare. We chose what we wanted, paid and then I drove home and left Sydney to ride with the delivery truck. They brought the items from the warehouse and Sydney asked them to open the boxes- which they weren’t happy about. The first fridge had some damage so he sent it back and they brought a new one. The stove was scratched and damaged but he said it was the only black one left. Sydney called and we decided to just go for white. The white one was also a mess (missing a knob and a broken pin). So he settled for the one on display which just had a small scratch on the side (we thought).

They delivered them and when we hooked up the stove we noticed the whole thing was leaning to the side. On further investigation, we saw that a bolt was missing. We got a one year warranty so we drove back into town (and I HATE town) and the guy sent his technicians to the house.

He came and didn’t have the right part so the NEXT day, he came and fixed the screw. When we checked it again it was still crooked so Sydney unscrewed them both and lifted the hob to find the entire left side- the metal is completely bent down a good two inches. We have been calling back since Saturday and *surprise!* none of the phone numbers work.

We've realized we've been “had” and rather than wasting fuel, time and energy trying to chase these people down... we've decided to try and take it into our own hands and fix it. Which- praise God, SYDNEY DID! I held the hob up and he managed to use pliers, a screwdriver and a washcloth in a way only a man can- and the thing is now level and looking like new. Some paint is scratched off because of the way the metals were rubbing but it's a small price to have a working stove that we worked together to fix and set up- it was a labor of love. :) It can be really frustrating to know we paid full price for something and something less than top quality... and I know some people are thinking “you have a warranty, why not just go get a new one”. I can assure you there are 1,000 reasons why it is so much easier not to. Some of these things are unexplainable unless you come and live the experience with us!!

A side note- I had to laugh at a recent youth meeting we went to, a younger girl asked me if I was still working with the orphans. When I told her no, she said “Oh- then what do you DO during the day?” I gave a simple answer- “I am a pastors wife, so during the day- I take care of him!” But my oh my the things going through my mind! Laundry- by hand, takes hours. Cleaning the dust that's flying around (and even sweeping outside because it's concrete, not grass), Shopping, in Lusaka traffic (my nightmare) and long cues at the stores (AND when you have to hop from one store to another because the meat at one store is bad but they have the cheaper canned goods, and the bread at the other store is fresher but they have no vegetables.... etc), budgeting and recording our spending, pressing Sydney's clothes, Cooking three meals a day, washing dishes from those 3 meals cooked a day, visiting families or hosting visitors, cell group meeting on Tuesday, Bible study on Thursdays, youth group on Saturdays, church on Sundays, Family devotions followed by marriage devotions/book study with Sydney and somewhere in there I do devotionals and personal Bible/book studies in preparation for hosting ladies group meetings in Mpika and on top of all that we are having the car serviced, fixing stoves, chasing stove salesman, visiting the Chirwa's in Kabanana (only twice so far unfortunately), visiting Sydney's brother and keeping up with family issues here, trying to keep up with emails and messages from the US and organizing/ repacking/unpacking/sorting boxes and belongings. So yea, I just take care of Sydney :)

Either way, that's our relatively “scattered” and simple update for now. I hope to be more regular on this blog now that we are a BIT more settled! Above all else I can say this, we have felt so much love and support from God shown especially through LBC but many others this past month. We feel incredibly blessed and we have been talking and amazed by how God just keeps providing and providing whenever needs arise. We feel secure that we are walking in the right direction, and we can feel HIS hand guiding us along the way. We are very, very happy. 

"'Cause the only way to find your life
Is to lay your own life down
And I believe it's an easy price
For the life that we have found."  -'Dancing in the Minefields' -Andrew Peterson