We Made It!!!!

Let me first start by saying I am so sorry I am just now able to post this! I know I originally said it would probably be once or twice a week and that some of you were worried about us, but do not fear....we are here!!!! This is going to be long. The flights were so very long. We flew from Memphis to Boston and then overnighted from Boston to Amsterdam. I did this all with no sleep. On the flight to Amsterdam I sat next to a guy that was about my age and he was headed to Edinborough for a semester abroad (brought back fond memories of my semester in Italy). Anyway in Amsterdam we got on a plane to Nairobi, Kenya. I slept for about three hours on that eight hour ride. Finally, we flew to Lusaka, Zambia. We arrived at 11:15pm Zambia time (seven hours ahead of Arkansas) on September 3 after leaving Memphis at 2:15pm on September 2. What a trip! We then took a school bus on September 4 for 7 hours to Namwianga!

We had a welcome reception a couple of nights ago (my days are all running together) with the people here at the Mission. They are such a loving and gentle people. We also toured the mission (it's 7000 acres!) including all three Havens (orphanages), the clinic, and saw the schools from afar. The third Haven is not quite ready for babies yet but hopefully will be in a month.

On Saturday we went to market right after breakfast and I bought three chitange materials. Chitanges (pronounced just like it is spelled but with a long e sound at the end so ch-tang-ees) are huge pieces of fabric that the women wear here as skirts. They are very informal and they often wrap them around their nicer clothes so they can take them off and sit on the them without getting themselves dirty) There is a lady (Ms. Mono) that lives here whose son goes to college and she uses the money she makes from sewing this material into chitanges with strings to tie or even into purses or bags or dresses or skirts or whatever really to put her son through college. So I think I might wear them until I am about to come home and then change them right before leaving. Market was fun. We did some bargaining. The currency here is called kwacha and is also pronounced as spelled. The exchange rate is 1 US dollar for 4540 kwacha. So I spent 320,000 kwacha or roughly 8 dollars. Sad isn't it? But not as bad as Zimbabwe who has a 10 trillion dollar bill! Unbelievable what their president has done to their economy.

That afternoon we went to a funeral of one of the boys here at the mission. He was in a car accident. The entire community came out and it's actually this boy's aunt who is a nurse at the clinic. But his entire family is well loved and highly regarded here in Namwianga. We just went to the burial where we actually saw them lower the casket into the ground, make the concrete to make the crypt and then cover it with dirt. Then people came up in groups (his mom, his dad, one of the boys that survived, the church choir, the elders and deacons of the church, his classmates, etc) and placed flowers into the mound of dirt. They do something very interesting here also. They put his plate and cup on the mound of dirt and then smack it with one of the trowels to break it. We are not sure but are assuming as a sign that he is no longer coming home. We are going to ask our language teacher Monday morning. The women and men separate. The women all sat down and the men stood up. Together we formed a giant circle around the grave. Africans do their grieving out loud. Lots of them wail and fall out. But I think that's healthier. It doesn't build up. Though they did almost all of this at the church at the funeral so we didn't witness it. It was very sad and my heart aches for this family.

We went out into the bush for church this morning. Not far out in the bush, but out in it none the less. I imagined the building to be like the church at Poteau in Haiti. We drove down (maybe I should specify here that we are all in three SUVs...the kind that has seats along the side windows in the back so we can fit 12 students and three faculty in one vehicle comfortably) sandy dirt roads. As we have been driving, I've wondered how they give directions. Anyway, we got to the church which is made of concrete bricks with a tin roof. There were windows on each side which provided a wonderful breeze. The church was called Tumango church of Christ. The name is pronounced two-mango and is so named because of the numerous mango trees. Services in this church were fairly westernized. A few songs, a prayer, a couple more songs, a sermon, a song, communion, a song and a prayer. After the closing prayer, a group of four teenagers stood up and sang a couple of songs and then they invited our group to do the same. This is pretty typical and we expected it. We sang two songs. During We Shall Assemble, I got a little choked up. Singing in churches where they speak another language, whether I am in Haiti or here, always gives me chills. I always feel like it is the closest thing to singing with the angels in heaven when we will all get there. I mean how cool that it is because of Christ that we are in this place together despite our language and cultural differences we share the most important thing of all! After the two songs we sang, we returned to our seat where they did announcements of sorts. After that one of the men started a final song about perseverance in spreading the Good News. The women walked out first and as we left the church building they began forming a circle in the outside courtyard. This is a little confusing to write and try to explain, so sorry! :) But as I walked out the door of the church I turned to the left and immediately began shaking the hands of the women who had gone out before me until I got to the end of the line and then I took my spot. This continued until all the members of the church were in the circle. The song kept repeating until we ended as well. It was really neat to feel the sense of community and love these people have.

We went to the Johnson auditorium tonight (the auditorium of the students here at the mission...similar to the Benson at Harding) for worship. It too was very westernized, but the sermon was wonderful and the people so loving. We sang Because He Lives tonight and it brought tears to my eyes during the chorus (because He lives I can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future and life is worth the living just because He lives)... (I don't know why I'm so emotional haha) because it was if God was speaking right to me to not worry about back home and that He is in control through all the beautiful voices of His children.

Classes start tomorrow...at 6:30 in the morning! We start with language lessons and then another class (I don't really remember what it is) but it's with a Zambian teacher as well. They come and teach us before they teach their classes on the mission (I can't remember if they are high school or college professors but we have heard so many wonderful things about them). We then eat breakfast. And then chapel and two more classes (this time taught by Ross and Ms. Bingham). Then lunch then the students go to either the Havens (the orphanages) or the clinic. I think I'll be spending my time this week at the clinic. We are going to see how that goes. Then dinner and a couple of evening classes. The schedule is different on Tuesday (less class).

I'll leave you with a quote I heard from an African at the bank while exchanging money today. We were talking to him and he asked us how long we were going to be here...1 year or 2? And we told him only until November. He looked at us and said three months? Just three months? Oh, you'll be back...Africa is contagious :)

I hope to eventually figure out how to post pictures on my Mac. I don't know how to shrink them down and must do that in order to keep with the guidelines here.

Please keep us all in your prayers! Thank you for keeping up with me...it truly is an honor!

For those of you reading, you may wonder what this bottom section is about. A dear friend of mine teaches seventh grade science and weather is part of that so the bottom of the blog is the weather update :)

Mrs. Carol, I think I'll put the weather updates at the bottom and in a different color :) The weather has surprised me! It is the end of their winter. It is a very dry heat during the day (which I expected), but at night it is a little chilly! I haven't found a temperature gauge to know the exact numbers. They have not had rainfall since April. So everything is dusty and not in bloom. Except for the Jackaranda tree (I have no idea if that's how you spell it but it's how it is pronounced) :) It blooms towards the end of winter these beautiful purple flowers. I hope your school year is starting out well! Love you!