Today is Thursday. Earlier in the week, Ann agreed to conduct the devotional this morning at chapel. She had been in a mild panic as to the topic and scripture she should discuss. Each of us offered encouragement and suggestions, but she faithfully continued to pray and wait for God’s leading as to what she should share. She arose about 4 this morning to make her notes, confident that she had received the direction she’d been waiting for. She thinks she isn’t a public speaker. She thinks she too easily breaks into tears and chokes up. She did great. Her topic was on obedience. The outcome was a wonderful testimony on the importance of emptying ourselves of our selves and waiting on the Lord to fill us for his purpose. She was congratulated by nearly everyone, was greatly relieved, and looked forward to a nap.
After chapel, the construction team finished hooking up the float based automatic shut off for the water tanks. We tested it and it worked (hooray). This was a much bigger job than several of had expected it to be.
Once that was accomplished, we fixed a couple of other things at the towers, especially adding a piece of flashing to deflect dripping water away from the metal tower frame and platform, as well as the wooden support beams we had added. Once we are gone, some of the local workers will cover the wood supports with a pitch like substance to protect the wood from both water and termites.
Later in the afternoon, Bud (and Larry) installed two new light fixtures in the sterilization room next to the old operating room. Then they joined Mark and Glen who were busy fabricating metal countertops for Janet (missionary) in her kitchen. She has been a great help to us. Making the countertops and attaching them seemed like a very small task for us to do to return a favor to her.
Dr. Kari had invited Anna to have dinner with us. Anna is a former nurse at the hospital who had to retire a year ago. Dr. Kari and Barb got to know her on the team’s first trip to Zimba and they’ve employed her as a translator on each of the last two trips which we did this trip as well. She is a very strong, active Christian. At dinner, she described some of the activities she and women from several churches in Zimba are engaged in to relieve the plight of women and orphans in the community. Also, when asked how she had acquired such strength to deal with the challenges she faces, she unloaded an amazing life story that would make an inspiring motion picture, although many would probably not believe it to be true. It’s a story of death, wrongful accusations of murder, of ostracism, ridicule, contempt, theft of children and property, of depression, of resilience, of perseverance, struggle, of reconciliation, of reunions, salvation, and recovery. We were able to capture most of the conversation and story-telling on video. If it turned out well, it should make for incredible viewing.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Day 10
The x-ray was posted to allow one of Dr. Kari's colleagues in Battle Creek to give her a second opinion.
We’ve had a day or so of poor/no internet service so we weren’t able to load the last two blog entries as promptly as we would have liked. The days are relatively full of work-related activity, even if it’s only walking back and forth to the mission house, the tool and storage shed, the worksite, etc., trying to locate individuals, tools, materials, water, and other necessaries. The evenings are occupied by dinner, cleanup and devotions, so getting quiet time to write the blog is somewhat sporadic.
Today is Wednesday. We recovered from the party and resumed work on our projects. The medical team performed several more surgeries today. One was a fairly complicated hysterectomy made more challenging because of fibroids. Diane was invited to observe the surgery. Glen recalls that when they were first married, Diane once passed out when he cut himself and it began to bleed. Nevertheless, Diane worked up the courage (since her son Kyle had observed a surgery two years ago on the mission trip to Zimba) to scrub, gown and watch the procedure. To Glen’s amazement, there was no fainting. Diane found it fascinating and has a much different appreciation for the work of surgeons, and the rest of the surgical team. A mission trip changes people in unexpected ways.
With the additional wire picked up in Livingstone yesterday, the construction team was able to finish running wire and conduit from the junction box to the water tanks and up the side of the tower and tank to where the float switch mechanism will be installed. We went back and glued all the conduit couplings, sealing the wires in a waterproof casing. The remaining problem was getting to the top of the tanks to install the control mechanism and insert the float into the tank. The extension ladder we have is 26 feet long, the top of the tanks is about 30. We had been expecting to be able to drive the hospital’s lorrie (a truck with a flat cargo bed) as a platform or stage. We would drive the lorrie across the lawn, park it beside the tanks, and then stand the ladder on the truck’s bed. While we were still laying the last of the conduit, the hospital sent the lorrie to a distant city to pick up construction supplies for the 5-in-1 building. It wouldn’t return until late afternoon. We took our lunch break to consider the options.
After lunch, Glen laid down to rest (as several of us do occasionally), dozed off, and awoke with a wholly formed plan how to get the ladders to reach the top of the tanks. We would build stilts for the ladder.
We constructed the stilts out of 8’ 2x6 boards, secured the lower 4 feet of the ladder inside the top 4 feet of the boards, leaving an additional 4 feet of the boards for the ladder to stand on once raised. The ladder was nailed into the board structure. Then we added crosspieces, and rungs for the lower 4 feet. When we raised it up, it was both solid and more than long enough to reach the top of the tanks.
The rest of the afternoon for some of the construction team was spent watching Glen work on attaching the float switch mechanism and holding the ladder to make sure Glen didn’t descend faster than he would find comfortable. He was not finished when the afternoon ended but it can be accomplished tomorrow.
The medical team invited two of the Zambian clinical officers they’ve gotten to know to join us for dinner. As usual, the meal was great, the conversation lively and the humor dry. We enjoyed talking with our guests and learning more about the medical system as it relates to the hospital.
After dinner, as has been the case for several evenings, Purity came by to visit. She is the 14 year old young lady Diana S. and Ann had befriended during our last trip in October. She is a delightful girl with a terrific smile and personality. She is active at school and on the worship team at church. She especially loves Christian music and dancing and it takes little encouragement to get her to dance for a crowd.
We’ve had a day or so of poor/no internet service so we weren’t able to load the last two blog entries as promptly as we would have liked. The days are relatively full of work-related activity, even if it’s only walking back and forth to the mission house, the tool and storage shed, the worksite, etc., trying to locate individuals, tools, materials, water, and other necessaries. The evenings are occupied by dinner, cleanup and devotions, so getting quiet time to write the blog is somewhat sporadic. Today is Wednesday. We recovered from the party and resumed work on our projects. The medical team performed several more surgeries today. One was a fairly complicated hysterectomy made more challenging because of fibroids. Diane was invited to observe the surgery. Glen recalls that when they were first married, Diane once passed out when he cut himself and it began to bleed. Nevertheless, Diane worked up the courage (since her son Kyle had observed a surgery two years ago on the mission trip to Zimba) to scrub, gown and watch the procedure. To Glen’s amazement, there was no fainting. Diane found it fascinating and has a much different appreciation for the work of surgeons, and the rest of the surgical team. A mission trip changes people in unexpected ways.
With the additional wire picked up in Livingstone yesterday, the construction team was able to finish running wire and conduit from the junction box to the water tanks and up the side of the tower and tank to where the float switch mechanism will be installed. We went back and glued all the conduit couplings, sealing the wires in a waterproof casing. The remaining problem was getting to the top of the tanks to install the control mechanism and insert the float into the tank. The extension ladder we have is 26 feet long, the top of the tanks is about 30. We had been expecting to be able to drive the hospital’s lorrie (a truck with a flat cargo bed) as a platform or stage. We would drive the lorrie across the lawn, park it beside the tanks, and then stand the ladder on the truck’s bed. While we were still laying the last of the conduit, the hospital sent the lorrie to a distant city to pick up construction supplies for the 5-in-1 building. It wouldn’t return until late afternoon. We took our lunch break to consider the options.
After lunch, Glen laid down to rest (as several of us do occasionally), dozed off, and awoke with a wholly formed plan how to get the ladders to reach the top of the tanks. We would build stilts for the ladder.
We constructed the stilts out of 8’ 2x6 boards, secured the lower 4 feet of the ladder inside the top 4 feet of the boards, leaving an additional 4 feet of the boards for the ladder to stand on once raised. The ladder was nailed into the board structure. Then we added crosspieces, and rungs for the lower 4 feet. When we raised it up, it was both solid and more than long enough to reach the top of the tanks.
The rest of the afternoon for some of the construction team was spent watching Glen work on attaching the float switch mechanism and holding the ladder to make sure Glen didn’t descend faster than he would find comfortable. He was not finished when the afternoon ended but it can be accomplished tomorrow.
The medical team invited two of the Zambian clinical officers they’ve gotten to know to join us for dinner. As usual, the meal was great, the conversation lively and the humor dry. We enjoyed talking with our guests and learning more about the medical system as it relates to the hospital.
After dinner, as has been the case for several evenings, Purity came by to visit. She is the 14 year old young lady Diana S. and Ann had befriended during our last trip in October. She is a delightful girl with a terrific smile and personality. She is active at school and on the worship team at church. She especially loves Christian music and dancing and it takes little encouragement to get her to dance for a crowd.
Day 9
Going from the mission house to the hospital for morning chapel, we were relieved to find that the water towers were still standing. The repair seemed to be working.
After chapel, Diane went with Janet to the Sons of Thunder orphanage near Livingstone. The facility provides a home and care for 52 children under the age of five who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Those of us who have been to Zimba the two previous trips have visited the facility which is located on what had been a farm. It has a really nice guest house, a building they use for a school, a building with a couple of large dormitory style bedrooms for the kids, and a developing clinic. The facility has hundreds or thousands of acres of land and there are several small clusters of family-like compounds around the grounds that are supposed to raise crops for themselves and surplus to sell in the market to support the facility. There is a fair amount of teaching necessary to change the agricultural practices to make them efficient, productive, and self-sustaining. Diane stayed there most of the day while Janet ran a couple of errands picking up supplies in Livingstone.
The two young men we hired to dig the trench for the conduit from the well house to the water tower finish the trench in the early morning. While Bud and Glen worked on the plan for running the wire, Mark and Larry bolted the metal support bracket we had made for the window air conditioner in the new O.R. When that was finished, Bud, Mark and Glen began stringing out the five wires so they could be pulled through the conduit. After puttying in a wooden sheet to seal off the opening above the air conditioner and the bottom of the window frame, Larry joined the others to pull the five wires through each successive 13’ piece of conduit. Since the wire wasn’t long enough to span the full length needed, we had to construct a junction box about two-thirds the way from the wellhouse to the tanks. By then we figured out two things: we didn’t have any cement with which to glue the couplings joining the conduit (and the building inspector had stopped by to insist on the gluing), and we needed more wire.
The medical team had four surgeries scheduled but only three showed up. All three went quite smoothly with nothing unusual arising. Consequently, Dr. Kari and anesthetist Barb felt able to chat more casually with the two local members of the surgical team, David and Siabowa.
Because they ran out of material, the construction team concluded the work day around 4. The medical team finished up for the day around 5. The surprise was planned for 6. It gave us all a chance to get cleaned up and ready for the surprise.
July 2 was Glen and Diane’s 25th anniversary. Glen had planned that on that day, he would be responsible for the devotional. Unlike most days, he wanted to conduct the devotional before dinner. He had asked all but Diane to be co-conspirators in his surprise for Diane. As a part of the conclusion of the devotional he had chosen (1 Corinthians 13 – the chapter on love), he wanted to get down on one knee and propose to marry all over again. Inviting the other women to be co-conspirators meant that Glen immediately lost control of the event. The plans grew in intricacy and scope. It was decided that since Barbara is a licensed pastor, the re-marriage ceremony should proceed immediately after the proposal (assuming Diane would say yes). Then, of course, the wedding dinner and reception should follow. Some of this Glen was privy to and some of it came as a surprise to him as well.
Diane returned from Sons of Thunder as planned. The devotional began as planned. As Glen turned, dropped to one knee, and proposed again, Diane gushed her consent – and the party was on.
Diane was whisked away to put on the fancy white silk top the women had borrowed from one of the women on the hospital staff and a veil. She was handed a bouquet of poinsettias cut from the plants in the yard. Then she was escorted by Bud up the makeshift aisle (sidewalk) in the front of the mission house to where Glen was standing, and Barb was positioned to conduct the service. It was a wonderful re-marriage service with culturally appropriate hooting and yipees.
After giving away the re-bride, Bud became the official photographer, Larry the videographer, and Dr. Kari the pianist. Ann had baked a special apple pie for the occasion and Joan and Edy had prepared a special dinner with grilled chicken, potato salad, grilled sausages, other treats and of course the anniversary cake in addition to the pie. The chilly evening air caused us to move the dinner indoors rather than on the picnic table as planned, but the floral arrangements of poinsettias and bougainvilla (sorry, I butchered the spelling on that) cut from bushes in the yard followed the gathering indoors as well.
It was a really nice evening and service of re-commitment. Diane and Glen were both pleased with their surprises – and Glen was greatly relieved that she said yes again.
After chapel, Diane went with Janet to the Sons of Thunder orphanage near Livingstone. The facility provides a home and care for 52 children under the age of five who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Those of us who have been to Zimba the two previous trips have visited the facility which is located on what had been a farm. It has a really nice guest house, a building they use for a school, a building with a couple of large dormitory style bedrooms for the kids, and a developing clinic. The facility has hundreds or thousands of acres of land and there are several small clusters of family-like compounds around the grounds that are supposed to raise crops for themselves and surplus to sell in the market to support the facility. There is a fair amount of teaching necessary to change the agricultural practices to make them efficient, productive, and self-sustaining. Diane stayed there most of the day while Janet ran a couple of errands picking up supplies in Livingstone.
The two young men we hired to dig the trench for the conduit from the well house to the water tower finish the trench in the early morning. While Bud and Glen worked on the plan for running the wire, Mark and Larry bolted the metal support bracket we had made for the window air conditioner in the new O.R. When that was finished, Bud, Mark and Glen began stringing out the five wires so they could be pulled through the conduit. After puttying in a wooden sheet to seal off the opening above the air conditioner and the bottom of the window frame, Larry joined the others to pull the five wires through each successive 13’ piece of conduit. Since the wire wasn’t long enough to span the full length needed, we had to construct a junction box about two-thirds the way from the wellhouse to the tanks. By then we figured out two things: we didn’t have any cement with which to glue the couplings joining the conduit (and the building inspector had stopped by to insist on the gluing), and we needed more wire.
The medical team had four surgeries scheduled but only three showed up. All three went quite smoothly with nothing unusual arising. Consequently, Dr. Kari and anesthetist Barb felt able to chat more casually with the two local members of the surgical team, David and Siabowa.
Because they ran out of material, the construction team concluded the work day around 4. The medical team finished up for the day around 5. The surprise was planned for 6. It gave us all a chance to get cleaned up and ready for the surprise.
July 2 was Glen and Diane’s 25th anniversary. Glen had planned that on that day, he would be responsible for the devotional. Unlike most days, he wanted to conduct the devotional before dinner. He had asked all but Diane to be co-conspirators in his surprise for Diane. As a part of the conclusion of the devotional he had chosen (1 Corinthians 13 – the chapter on love), he wanted to get down on one knee and propose to marry all over again. Inviting the other women to be co-conspirators meant that Glen immediately lost control of the event. The plans grew in intricacy and scope. It was decided that since Barbara is a licensed pastor, the re-marriage ceremony should proceed immediately after the proposal (assuming Diane would say yes). Then, of course, the wedding dinner and reception should follow. Some of this Glen was privy to and some of it came as a surprise to him as well.
Diane returned from Sons of Thunder as planned. The devotional began as planned. As Glen turned, dropped to one knee, and proposed again, Diane gushed her consent – and the party was on.
Diane was whisked away to put on the fancy white silk top the women had borrowed from one of the women on the hospital staff and a veil. She was handed a bouquet of poinsettias cut from the plants in the yard. Then she was escorted by Bud up the makeshift aisle (sidewalk) in the front of the mission house to where Glen was standing, and Barb was positioned to conduct the service. It was a wonderful re-marriage service with culturally appropriate hooting and yipees.
After giving away the re-bride, Bud became the official photographer, Larry the videographer, and Dr. Kari the pianist. Ann had baked a special apple pie for the occasion and Joan and Edy had prepared a special dinner with grilled chicken, potato salad, grilled sausages, other treats and of course the anniversary cake in addition to the pie. The chilly evening air caused us to move the dinner indoors rather than on the picnic table as planned, but the floral arrangements of poinsettias and bougainvilla (sorry, I butchered the spelling on that) cut from bushes in the yard followed the gathering indoors as well.
It was a really nice evening and service of re-commitment. Diane and Glen were both pleased with their surprises – and Glen was greatly relieved that she said yes again.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Day 8
It’s Monday. Morning report at the end of chapel service brought news that the premie baby died over the weekend. The news came especially hard for nurse Ann who had spent quite a bit of time caring for the baby last week, trying to get nourishment into it, and trying to get it to nurse. In the end, the challenge was too great. It was another reminder how fragile life is -- how much we depend on the grace of God for our very existence.
Today, the construction team planned to repair the sagging water tower platform. We had built a beam from four 2 x 6’s to span the metal cross-members of the tower below the sag in the platform, another beam to be positioned directly under the sag, two more that would serve as support posts between the ends of the other two beams, and another shorter post for the center. The center post was to be positioned midway along the lower beam and jacked up against the upper support beam to jack the sag out of the platform, raising it enough to position the posts at the ends of the beams.
Glen had figured out the plan for the repair, but the whole team worked together to get the improvised support structure in place. The hard part was finding a jack to raise the center post. Raising the center post to take the sag out of the platform required also lifting the water tank resting on top of the platform. Bud wanted a hydraulic jack for this purpose but we had difficulty locating one. When we finally found a source, the person in possession of the jack wanted a $100 to borrow the jack. We all agreed that was way too much for the roughly one hour we thought it would take. We said no deal. Then we had to come up with another solution.
After rummaging through several vehicles at the mission house, Glen and Bud found two automobile jacks we thought were worth trying. In fact, they worked great. By early afternoon, we had the platform sag repaired at least temporarily. We (Glen and Bud) also managed to improve the seal on the water line leading into the water tank, greatly reducing the leak that had corroded the metal platform leading to the sag in the first place.
If the sag and leak had not been repaired, it seemed highly likely that the sag would worsen and eventually lead to the collapse of the tower and the primary water tank supplying water to the whole hospital. It wasn’t a very glamorous task but it was absolutely critical.
While we worked on the water tanks, we had two younger men dig a trench about a foot deep and 3-4 inches wide from the well pump house to the water tanks. The trench would be used to lay conduit in which to run electrical lines from the pump start mechanism from a float based switch we will insert in the water tanks. This will turn on the pump when the water in the tank gets too low and automatically shut off the pump when the tanks are full. There is no such automatic switch in place currently and the tanks occasionally get drained of all their water before someone notices (enabling back pressure induced contamination of the water in the water lines to the hospital) or the tanks get overfilled, spilling gallons and gallons of good water onto the ground where it is wasted. We had decided to hire the two young men to dig the trench, which would be about 300 feet long. It was a very difficult task but they did a great job and managed to finish about two-thirds of the trench by the end of the day. They’ll finish the rest tomorrow.
In mid-afternoon the construction team had a chance to watch several of the local workers try to chase a green mamba out of a bush. Green mambas are the even deadlier cousin of the black mamba which are known as a “two step” snake, two steps representing the number of steps you are likely to be able to run before the venom of a bite would kill you. We’re told that is an exaggeration, but the locals were being very cautious as they tried to scare it out where they could kill it. When it did come out, we were totally amazed at how quickly it moved. It was very fast and ultimately escaped. We were quite impressed – and much more cautious wherever we walk.
The medical team had a fairly calm day, at least until late evening. Since there weren’t any surgeries scheduled, anesthetist Barb and Dr. Kari got a chance to see patients on the wards. Ann gradually recovered from the news of the premie’s death and then worked on the wards with the other nurses. Diane helped out on the wards and then helped Janet (missionary from Tennessee overseeing the construction of the new nurses’ quarters) for the rest of the afternoon.
In the early evening, three representatives from World Hope, the Wesleyan affiliated mission organization, stopped by as planned to talk with us about their activities in Zimba. We were especially interested in the efforts to relieve the plight of orphans. They spent about an hour with us describing their various programs: some economic development, some legal aid, some home based care, some literacy, some community health, etc. They also described how individuals or churches can arrange sponsorships or support efforts for individuals, trusts within a community, or the overall World Hope program generally. They suggested we visit the headquarters of World Hope: Zambia up in Choma. Glen and Dr. Kari may do that on Friday.
Late in the evening after the team had gone to bed, several missionaries from South Africa arrived at the gate to the mission compound looking for a doctor. They had been traveling toward Livingstone from Tezi Tezi in the distant north. About 3 kilometers from Zimba, they hit a man walking a bicycle who had had too much to drink and was in the middle of the road. They hadn’t seen him at all. Away from the street lights, the night is very dark. Almost no one wears light colored clothing, and we never see anyone other than us using a flashlight or reflectors. The driver said he’d been briefly unable to see because of the bright headlights of a passing truck.
Dr. Kari and anesthetist Barb (accompanied by Larry) went down to the hospital to see the patient. They gave him an IV and stabilized him then decided it would be best to transfer him to Livingstone. He was moving all his limbs, was breathing OK and his pulse and blood pressure were good. He had several bad cuts on his face, some bleeding from elsewhere on his head, and was mumbling in a way that neither Dr. Kari nor the Tonga speaking nurse could interpret. Not being able to tell if the mumbling was the result of the head trauma or the drunkenness, they decided he would be better served in Livingstone. So they arranged to have him transferred and transported to Livingstone along with a young boy who had been brought in earlier in the day with an increasingly bad infection that wasn’t responding to treatment.
The South African mission team of about 16 in four vehicles had been traveling and camping for about two weeks taking the Jesus film to show in remote villages in the bush. The night before last while they were setting up in one village, a man who was walking to the village to see the movie was attacked by an elephant within eyesight (about 100 meters) of the mission team. The elephant trampled the man, breaking his leg and then goring him under his arm with a tusk. The mission team had spent much of the previous night at the hospital with that man, then they had the car-bicyclist accident to deal with. They had a tough couple of days – not nearly as bad as the two victims’, but a tough couple of days nonetheless.
When Dr. Kari and Barb finished with the accident victim, a nurse let them know that a laboring woman wasn’t progressing and that a C-section was probably needed. They stayed at the hospital to do the C-section, returning to the mission house around 3 AM.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Day 7
Today is Sunday, a day of church activities. Dr. Kari checked on her patients and returned in time for breakfast. Afterwards, we walked together to the Nakowa Wesleyan Church about a half mile or so from the mission house.
The church service started at 10 and ended about 1:30. As we arrived, Sunday School classes were still in session, several meeting on the lawn around the church. At 10, everyone filed into the church to find seats. The little church made of concrete covered brick with bare rafters and metal roof is smaller than the mission house but they manage to pack 200-300 adults and children in for the service. There is lots of very loud, animated, spirited singing. Some singing is in English and some in Tonga. The announcements, the testimonies, the preaching is all done in both. The translators are amazing, translating on the fly and managing to capture the cadence, emphasis and emotion of the speaker as well as the words. The preaching part of the service itself lasted about two hours.
At the conclusion of the service, all file out and form a receiving line to shake hands and greet one another. Today the minister indicated that he wanted all the men to remain seated for a special meeting. They want to start a men’s ministry at the church. They’d heard that this is being done quite commonly at churches in the U.S. and they thought it would be good for their church in Zimba also. Larry, Mark and Glen stayed after as well. We let them know that we are all involved in a men’s ministry at First Wes and would be pleased to describe the purpose, structure, routine and impact of that ministry on each of us, the other men we know, and on the church. They said they would welcome our comments and suggestions. As the meeting began, it became clear that they saw the men’s group as a way to fund-raise for the building of the new larger church they’ve started. They are looking for commitments from the men to mold or pay for 10,000 bricks to build the new church. There was a tepid response from those attending. Then they asked us to share our experience. Larry provided the overview of Monday Night Men with its primary focus on building godly men, who then become better husbands, fathers, workers, and witnesses. He described the small group study approach used to better understand God’s teaching, to share each other’s struggles and successes, and to encourage each other and hold each other accountable. Collectively, we also described the men’s ministry’s involvement in service projects. We each talked about the impact involvement in Monday Night Men has had on us personally. They seemed very appreciative of our comments and took notes for further discussion.
The whole team gathered for a wonderful Sunday dinner. Everyone pitched in to clean up after the meal and then some studied, others rested, and others chatted.
A 4 pm, the mission house is the host site of a vespers services. So just before 4, people began to arrive. Altogether, about 60 people packed into the mission house for teaching and discussion. Perhaps 90% of those attending were under 18 years of age. The pastor (Pastor Sichongwe) led the discussion. Those attending were much more engaged and participative than we’ve seen in most other settings. It was an interesting discussion about talents, spiritual gifts, working hard, and using the gifts God has given each of us.
After vespers concluded, Dr. Kari and Larry chatted briefly with Pastor Sichongwe about his vision for addressing the problems of orphans and about the challenges of building the larger church. It was another interesting, helpful discussion. It generated several ideas for us as to how we might help this community and this church. It also generated a couple of ideas for Pastor Schongwe for which he seemed thankful.
To conclude the day, we shared a wonderful lemon meringue pie Ann and Diane made together from fresh squeezed lemons. Baking the pie may not be a spiritual gift, but it was definitely a developed talent – and thoroughly appreciated.
The church service started at 10 and ended about 1:30. As we arrived, Sunday School classes were still in session, several meeting on the lawn around the church. At 10, everyone filed into the church to find seats. The little church made of concrete covered brick with bare rafters and metal roof is smaller than the mission house but they manage to pack 200-300 adults and children in for the service. There is lots of very loud, animated, spirited singing. Some singing is in English and some in Tonga. The announcements, the testimonies, the preaching is all done in both. The translators are amazing, translating on the fly and managing to capture the cadence, emphasis and emotion of the speaker as well as the words. The preaching part of the service itself lasted about two hours.
At the conclusion of the service, all file out and form a receiving line to shake hands and greet one another. Today the minister indicated that he wanted all the men to remain seated for a special meeting. They want to start a men’s ministry at the church. They’d heard that this is being done quite commonly at churches in the U.S. and they thought it would be good for their church in Zimba also. Larry, Mark and Glen stayed after as well. We let them know that we are all involved in a men’s ministry at First Wes and would be pleased to describe the purpose, structure, routine and impact of that ministry on each of us, the other men we know, and on the church. They said they would welcome our comments and suggestions. As the meeting began, it became clear that they saw the men’s group as a way to fund-raise for the building of the new larger church they’ve started. They are looking for commitments from the men to mold or pay for 10,000 bricks to build the new church. There was a tepid response from those attending. Then they asked us to share our experience. Larry provided the overview of Monday Night Men with its primary focus on building godly men, who then become better husbands, fathers, workers, and witnesses. He described the small group study approach used to better understand God’s teaching, to share each other’s struggles and successes, and to encourage each other and hold each other accountable. Collectively, we also described the men’s ministry’s involvement in service projects. We each talked about the impact involvement in Monday Night Men has had on us personally. They seemed very appreciative of our comments and took notes for further discussion.
The whole team gathered for a wonderful Sunday dinner. Everyone pitched in to clean up after the meal and then some studied, others rested, and others chatted.
A 4 pm, the mission house is the host site of a vespers services. So just before 4, people began to arrive. Altogether, about 60 people packed into the mission house for teaching and discussion. Perhaps 90% of those attending were under 18 years of age. The pastor (Pastor Sichongwe) led the discussion. Those attending were much more engaged and participative than we’ve seen in most other settings. It was an interesting discussion about talents, spiritual gifts, working hard, and using the gifts God has given each of us.
After vespers concluded, Dr. Kari and Larry chatted briefly with Pastor Sichongwe about his vision for addressing the problems of orphans and about the challenges of building the larger church. It was another interesting, helpful discussion. It generated several ideas for us as to how we might help this community and this church. It also generated a couple of ideas for Pastor Schongwe for which he seemed thankful.
To conclude the day, we shared a wonderful lemon meringue pie Ann and Diane made together from fresh squeezed lemons. Baking the pie may not be a spiritual gift, but it was definitely a developed talent – and thoroughly appreciated.
Day 6
Today is Saturday. The schedule called for recreation instead of work. There were two items on the agenda, visit Victoria Falls and go for a horseback ride in an area near the falls where we might see African wildlife. Both events are near Livingstone. Getting there involved the long ride over and around the pothole marred highway from Zimba to Livingstone. Since there are eight of us, it takes two vehicles and two drivers – a total of ten. The company offering the horseback rides could handle only five riders at a time so we divided up into two groups. One went to Victoria Falls while the other went for the two hour horseback ride. After lunch, we switched.
The rides were pleasant (a little tough on some parts of our anatomy) and both groups saw giraffes, impala, and monkeys. One group saw zebra and a sleeping hippo as well.
There was an unusually large rainfall during the rainy season (November-February) this year so there was a lot of water in the Zambezi River coming over the falls. We walked along the path on the ridge in front of the falls. So much water was coming over the falls producing updrafts and spray that it would be like walking in a downpour of a rainstorm in one stretch of the path and be virtually dry in another. It would be impossible to walk the path without becoming completely soaked if not for a poncho. The mist was so heavy in many places that you actually couldn’t see the falls. This mist rises hundreds of feet in the air above the falls and we could see it in the distance when we were still about five miles on the other side of Livingstone.
Later in the afternoon, the two groups met in Livingstone to have dinner together at an outdoor restaurant serving traditional African meals. It was a very pleasant, relaxing day.
On the way home over the same bad road, away from the lights of Livingstone and Zimba, you could look at an unfamiliar sky (southern hemisphere) in which the milky way is so prominent as to appear almost like clouds while hundreds of brighter, closer stars jump out at you against a black backdrop. Pretty awesome.
The rides were pleasant (a little tough on some parts of our anatomy) and both groups saw giraffes, impala, and monkeys. One group saw zebra and a sleeping hippo as well.
There was an unusually large rainfall during the rainy season (November-February) this year so there was a lot of water in the Zambezi River coming over the falls. We walked along the path on the ridge in front of the falls. So much water was coming over the falls producing updrafts and spray that it would be like walking in a downpour of a rainstorm in one stretch of the path and be virtually dry in another. It would be impossible to walk the path without becoming completely soaked if not for a poncho. The mist was so heavy in many places that you actually couldn’t see the falls. This mist rises hundreds of feet in the air above the falls and we could see it in the distance when we were still about five miles on the other side of Livingstone.
Later in the afternoon, the two groups met in Livingstone to have dinner together at an outdoor restaurant serving traditional African meals. It was a very pleasant, relaxing day.
On the way home over the same bad road, away from the lights of Livingstone and Zimba, you could look at an unfamiliar sky (southern hemisphere) in which the milky way is so prominent as to appear almost like clouds while hundreds of brighter, closer stars jump out at you against a black backdrop. Pretty awesome.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 5
This was the day to take down the wall. After chapel, the construction team hurried to the operating theater to begin sealing off the doors with plastic and duct tape (the universal tool) to keep the dust out of the surgical areas. That done, the four of us worked together to chip out the large window frame covering the entire width of the 8’ area. We managed to get it out safely without breaking any of the glass panes. Then we began cracking the concrete veneer covering the double rows of bricks that formed the five foot high wall. Once we got it started and some of brick and mortar removed, Bud and Glen went off to examine the water storage tanks to see if they could devise a repair to the water tower’s sagging platform. It is sagging under the weight of the nearly 1,700 gallons of water in the tank (roughly 6.75 tons) and weakened metal bracing of the platform as a result of persistent leaking water from a valve on the tank. Meanwhile, Mark and Larry, using hammers, chisels and a sledge, broke down the brick and concrete wall. Bud and Glen returned triumphantly with a repair solution mapped out for the water tower just in time to help cart away the rubble from the wall. We managed to get the wall out just in time for lunch.
The seal on the doors provided a sufficiently good dust barrier that Dr. Kari, anesthetist Barb and the local members of the surgical team were able to perform surgeries in the adjacent operating room after all. The noise from the hammering seemed not to be the problem we expected either.
In the afternoon, the surgical team did one or two more surgeries. These went quite smoothly.
Again, Ann spent much of the day providing patient care with the other nurses. A particular focus was the care and feeding of the very tiny premature baby. The baby has not been feeding well and the mom has been somewhat frustrated. This morning, Ann was able to get a good quantity of formula into the baby and to get the baby to nurse some at the mom’s breast. Ann clearly appeared to feel relieved, thankful, and successful when she reported this to the rest of the team.
Diane worked alongside the other nurses again this morning, helping change/make beds, deliver orders to pharmacy, and other helpful tasks. In the afternoon, she accompanied Joan on yet another trip to Livingstone to pick up supplies and to take volunteer medical workers at the nearby eye clinic to the airport.
In the afternoon, the construction team built the wood structures we will use to jackup and provide structural support to the sagging water tower platform. We can’t finish the job until we are able to borrow a hydraulic jack which should be available Monday. We also made plans and checked supplies for the installation of a float-based automatic on/off switch to the water pump that fills the water storage tanks. This will involve digging a shallow trench roughly 250 feet long between the well house and the storage tanks, laying conduit and pulling wire to connect the pump switch to the float we’ll put in the tank. This will help eliminate overflow and water loss problems and lack of water from being too late in turning on the water pump manually. It should stabilize the water supply and reduce waste. The work on this will begin Monday as well.
Today was a pretty good day all around.
The seal on the doors provided a sufficiently good dust barrier that Dr. Kari, anesthetist Barb and the local members of the surgical team were able to perform surgeries in the adjacent operating room after all. The noise from the hammering seemed not to be the problem we expected either.
In the afternoon, the surgical team did one or two more surgeries. These went quite smoothly.
Again, Ann spent much of the day providing patient care with the other nurses. A particular focus was the care and feeding of the very tiny premature baby. The baby has not been feeding well and the mom has been somewhat frustrated. This morning, Ann was able to get a good quantity of formula into the baby and to get the baby to nurse some at the mom’s breast. Ann clearly appeared to feel relieved, thankful, and successful when she reported this to the rest of the team.
Diane worked alongside the other nurses again this morning, helping change/make beds, deliver orders to pharmacy, and other helpful tasks. In the afternoon, she accompanied Joan on yet another trip to Livingstone to pick up supplies and to take volunteer medical workers at the nearby eye clinic to the airport.
In the afternoon, the construction team built the wood structures we will use to jackup and provide structural support to the sagging water tower platform. We can’t finish the job until we are able to borrow a hydraulic jack which should be available Monday. We also made plans and checked supplies for the installation of a float-based automatic on/off switch to the water pump that fills the water storage tanks. This will involve digging a shallow trench roughly 250 feet long between the well house and the storage tanks, laying conduit and pulling wire to connect the pump switch to the float we’ll put in the tank. This will help eliminate overflow and water loss problems and lack of water from being too late in turning on the water pump manually. It should stabilize the water supply and reduce waste. The work on this will begin Monday as well.
Today was a pretty good day all around.
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