Christmas Traditions

Every family has their own Christmas traditions. They're what we've grown up with, what we associate the holiday season with. It can be certain foods, midnight church services, Christmas carols, etc. You don't really realize how unique, and even how important they are to you until you're away from your family on Christmas for the first time.

This is my first year staying through rainy season (obviously also through Christmas) here in Zambia. The base is quiet, with only myself and another family making up the "foreign" staff. Jessi and I have been planning Christmas by combining all of our favorite traditions together. The first one has been the great cookie bake. Now my mom usually bakes the christmas cookies, while my sister, brother, dad, and I "help" as the taste testers. However, Mom isn't here so Jessi and I pulled together all of our favorite recipes (thanks, Mom, for sending the recipes for my favorite cookies!) and spent an entire day baking cookies. We started our baking day by laying out a game plan. After a short discussion of whether we should half the recipes or not (deciding on not) we starting the baking spree. By dinner time we had made about 20 dozen cookies. For 3 adults and 2 young kids. That's a lot of cookies!! Did we get carried away? Sure! The good part about all these cookies is now we have lots to share with our zambian and missionary friends here. There's nothing like the taste of your favorite, childhood Christmas cookie to make you feel a bit more connected to home despite the thousands of miles of separation. 

The Mass Exodus

If you sit still all you can hear are the sounds of the birds, the wind, and some sounds of construction here on the base. The masses have left the base and just a few of us staff remain here at Rapid 14 base. Over the next few weeks, only 3 of us will remain here for the entire rainy season. As I type this, dark clouds are rolling in and thunder is echoing in the near distance. It looks like rainy season is finally picking up! There are pros and cons to this. It's finally a break in the intense heat we've had for months. It's also great for the villages since they're farmers and need the rains to begin planting their maize (corn) crops. The con is that is makes driving on the roads very hard. To reach the villages, we're driving on dirt roads and crossing riverbeds. With the rain it turns the dirt into mud and clay and fills the riverbeds, cutting off our paths to get to these villages. Even though ministry does slow down, there's still plenty to do. I'll still have one of my bible studies running in the villages since the road should be passable most days. Being a missionary also means that you wear many hats. With most of the staff back in the States, the 3 of us remaining have taken on the responsibilities of running the base. I'll be in charge of food and kitchen duties for not only us but our workers. This season will also let me focus on language studies, bible school (been needing to finish the certificate course for awhile now), and preparing teaching materials for the village bible studies for next year.  No matter what season here in Zambia, life is never boring. I'm looking forward to blogging more and introducing you all to life here as a missionary! Blessings!! 

Seeing Growth

I just heard the most amazing report this morning and wanted to share it with all of you. Last week, Pastor Dragan and I had to cancel our weekly meeting in Mahalulu; he had caught the stomach bug that was going around. Apparently the people in Mahalulu didn't want to miss the meeting so Wilson, the man we've been training to be the zone manager in that area, led the bible study. Not only did he show his own initiative to lead the study but he's been going out several times a week doing door to door ministry. This is such an amazing report because it shows such growth in these men and women that we've been pouring into since June. I feel like a proud mama!!

Dragan and I will be there on Thursday, as per our usual ministry schedule, and I cannot wait to hear the testimonies and just share in how excited I am for what the Lord is doing in their lives.

New Roommate

I have a new roommate in my chalet here at Rapid 14 base. His name is Tyrone and he's a baboon spider, a relative to the tarantula. The photo isn't of him but looks the same. I accidently walked in on him in the shower yesterday. He needs to learn to lock the door! When I came back with my posse and a really big stick, he was gone and thankfully hasn't returned yet. Normally I don't have any issues with spiders. Lots of them eat mosquitos so we have a great relationship. However, there was no way I wanted to wake up to this thing crawling on me in the middle of the night. Since he's not dead, we came up with a plan B. My bed is now completely surrounded in a mosquito net. I usually wait as long as I can to put the net up since they're really hot to sleep under. However, desperate times call for desperate measures. The warm weather brings out the strangest insects and creatures here in Zambia. Last year were giant scorpions. This year seems to be the year of the spider. Oh the adventures we have!

Weather Change

This morning I woke up with this thought: "I'm not cold!" It's the first morning I've actually noticed that the frigid, winter weather here in Zambia was gone. There's a fine line between cold and hot season, and today may be the day we've crossed it. As the afternoon has progressed, long sleeves and pants were quickly changed into shorts and tank tops. There have been other signs of the upcoming hot season over the last week or two. The sky has been hazy from dust storms and bush fires, but the intense colors of the sunsets have only increased. Also, my garden seems to have started growing again after the long, winter sleep. No matter what, there's no escaping the heat. I can't bring myself to embrace this weather but experience tells me to grin and bear it until the blessed rains arrive in November. Until then it's lots of water and whatever shade you can find!

Cabbage Mishaps

On Friday evening, myself, two volunteers, and our zone manager Crispen had an overnight in Ndele village. Every friday morning, we hold a bible study in Ndele and wanted to take this chance to build a stronger relationship with the people. Just before sunset, the ladies were gathered, chopping cabbage for our evening supper. Becca and I grabbed our knives and went to join them. I must say that these women are excellent cooks. As soon as we sat down and began asking them about how to chop, the giggles began. In this culture, every woman knows how to make nshima and relish (i.e. cabbage). It's what makes you a good wife and mother. About 5 minutes into our chopping experience, I sliced my finger and it started to bleed. The women laughed and told me that my hands were "too soft" and that I needed "elephant skin." They then showed me their rough, callused hands, comparing them to my smooth, soft skin. My knife was quickly taken away; it was clear that I was fired from the job of chopping vegtables. Becca didn't last much longer as they fired her for chopping the cabbage into too large of pieces. We might not make great village cooks but the time spent with the people was absolutely amazing.

Mangos & Cod Liver Oil

This morning I headed out to Ndele Village for our weekly bible study. We meet under a mango tree in Kennedy's garden (pictures coming soon). This was actually my first time leading the bible study, so we spent the time really getting to know one another. I shared my testimony about what the Lord's done in my life and encouraged them to not view themselves "according to the flesh". Several others then opened up and shared several testimonies from what the Lord has done in their lives. Many had come to the Lord through healing, admitting to once trusting in "traditional medicine" but found that only the Lord is our healer. It was amazing! Kennedy also asked for prayer for the bible study to grow to include everyone in the village. I absolutely love his heart.

After we were done with the teaching, one woman, Katherine, said

they needed more vitamins. Some of you may remember that last year we had 5 containers full of vitamins that we distributed. Suddenly everyone was sharing about how much the vitamins have helped them. Then Katherine continued saying that she loves the cod liver oil. In fact, she not only takes it as medicine but also puts it on her skin and hair. She smiled brightly as she shared this, exclaiming how cod liver oil not only makes you strong but also gives you beautiful skin and hair. I had to hold in my laugh as I heard this. I can't imagine using cod liver oil as a conditioner or lotion but it's good to know that if you enjoy fish smells, it's a great option. :)