A Year in Zambia

One year in Africa! Every time I finally sit down to write you all an update, I reflect on how fast the time here is truly going. Looking back at the first few days with the perspective of a year under our belts it is bittersweet. We have grown familiar with the surroundings, smells and culture and feel “at home” in so many ways, but then our hearts can’t help, but ache for the things we love most about our homeland. Friends who bring fun times and spiritual accountability, an environment where you can lay in the cool grass and nothing is going to kill you, fresh cold spring water that you can drink until refreshed with no fear of cholera and most of all the family lifestyle/hobby of horsemanship and homesteading. As I reflect it brings me to a question Karl and I have been pondering since getting here to Zambia. How much do we seek out the things that bring us joy here on earth, when there is unfathomable suffering every where around us? Are we doing it wrong pursuing the passions of our heart and only carving out time for service work? You know the most important work, Gods work? The days we have spent serving here have been the most rewarding days personally for Karl and I, but then also for the family as a whole. We have all been stretched in different ways, pushed out of our comfort zones, and forced to do things we don’t always desire, but where there is discomfort there is growth and our last year here has been absolute proof of that in each one of us. Some of our kids were so shy, unable to address new people without a total breakdown. Now, you know what they are doing? They are able to stop on the side of some dirty and intimidating stranger filled road and say,  “Hey Mister, do you want this cold drink? I don’t need it!” Some days we just yearn for our home and the selfish desires of our fun filled life there, but then we have a day where we see God at work in the ministry here or the hearts of our children being filled with the compassion of the Holy Spirit and you think man we’ll never be able to go back. As we continue to ponder the question above, we are slowly realizing there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the beauty God has offered here on earth, especially when you are doing things as a family and using those hobbies you love to teach and equip your children, but it is wrong if we have a heart posture of me and my happiness first before others. This time serving has woke us up to what we want to prioritize as a family. How much of our lives do we spend doing what we love and what our hearts desire rather than what’s needed as God serving God fearing servants of Christ? We’ll get to ride the most beautiful of steeds in the most beautiful of fields with the most beautiful of sunsets with the people we love the most, any day in heaven, but right here and now what are we doing to meet that end? It’s not guranteed? Narrow is the gate to heaven wide is the path to destruction. With hardships comes perseverance, growth and true joy and has that testament been so evident in the  spiritual growth of our children while out here. What a huge lot of emotions that come with reflecting on this year, but all we can really say is thank you God for opening our eyes and truly truly changing our lives for the better through our time in Zambia thus far.

The days all blur together when I look back and all that has transpired over the recent months. Some days we find ourselves successfully checking the boxes on the never ending to do list and we pause mid day with a high five and a cold Coca Cola to cool down (in a glass bottle!!!). Other days Karl is flat on his back on the living room floor as the dark of night rolls in thinking of all the tasks still left to accomplish. For example, we have been struggling here in Zambia with load shedding. Our power source from the dam is minimal due to the drought here leaving the residents here with sometimes only three hours of power in a whole day. Here at Grace we are so blessed with both Solar and Generator back up power, but one particular night the Genset was having some issues and we had just placed day old chicks. These birds usually need a heat source for the first week or so. What were we to do? Well kicking it the old fashioned way Karl and Clement (the local manager) fired up the charcoal braai. A braai is the traditional way to cook here in Zambia. They make their own charcoal and then basically put it in a perforated metal tin/bucket and put on a grilling top. This is actually used as a heat source as well for the locals houses in the cold season here. So, long story short Karl and Clement spent the night keeping the braai lit so that our chicks could stay cozy and have a good start to life. We had such a great time over the past couple months hosting some family. That time spent with them was such an encouragement for us and gave us the boost of energy we needed to carry on here. The other day something interesting happened. I got to do surgery on Karls back and cut/pull out a bot fly larva that was making a nice cozy home in the tissue of his back! Barf! If we don’t iron our clothes well enough here the flies land and lay eggs on the clothing that then burrow into whatever host is blessed enough by their presence in the clothing. Haha I will forever say, never a dull moment in Zambia!

As for the farm, the team has been trying to figure out how to most efficiently meet the needs of the cafeteria as well as do some selective crops that make an income to put back into the needs at Grace here. Basically the goal is to try and get the farm very streamlined so that Clement can manage more independently and the next farm manager can enter into the job to oversee and ensure the schedules are being upheld and things are running efficiently. We currently are filling most of our greenhouses with tomatoes so that when rainy season hits and not many people can grow tomatoes outside any more, we are hitting the market when the prices are highest. We are doing the same with cabbage. We are planting cabbage wherever there is preexisting irrigation in the same effort to bring cabbage to the market when its worth the most. These profits can then go into farm growth or covering the cafeterias invoices. One thing Karl loves about doing these selective crops is that he can walk through each step with the local guys here and run the numbers behind it all to hopefully encourage and equip them to take on their own personal farming endeavours. The trees in the orchard are starting to produce! We have also planted a bunch of new papaya trees around the farm which are taking root nicely. A very small quantity, but that is exciting. Berries both strawberry and raspberry have been producing abundantly with proof all over the Grace kids berry stained faces. We grew a lot of onions over the dry season and they are now hanging undercover being used by the cafeteria as needed and then any extras to be sold when the market demand is highest. Wow, I don’t think I mentioned our new addition on the farm, a steer. Well that’s a lie, its actually a bull, he showed up intact when we were told he wouldn’t be! Haha Welcome to Zambia! But alas he will still bring some tastey beef to the cafeteria just in time for our Christmas celebration. The rains have started and we couldn’t be more excited. With water being a major concern across the country we are welcoming the rains with open arms. The kids are literally squealing with excitement as they have never gone so long without rain. 

As for the adoption, things are beginning to progress! Praise God. We have spent the past couple days in town trying to get some last minute necessary documents together for the court. Its been such an adjustment for us when it comes to stuff like this. You have to be prepared to hurry up and wait. Heading into town for what should be an hour long task turns into an entire day ordeal. You see things here are ever changing, protocols that one person may follow are not followed by another or someone changed something, but didn’t communicate it and you spend most of your time running around playing he said she said until finally you have figured something out haha its hard to explain, but if your feeling confused by my explanation then I hit the nail on the head for how we feel going through such a task as described above! We are being told it should only be a couple more months until we can get our adoption order, but only God knows. We are just grateful for the steps in the right direction. 

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support as we serve out here.

Praise Items:

Thank you God for RAINNNNN!

Thank you God for moving the adoption forward.

Thank you God for more Canadian friends moving close by.

Thank you God for good health in the family.

Thank you God for family that made the long trip to visit us.

Prayer Requests: 

Please God may the adoption move ahead steadily and we get our adoption order before Christmas.

Please God may you protect our family from any works of the enemy.

Please God may you bless us all with good health and protect us all from malaria as the season starts.

Please God bring rain and any needed provisions to the people of Zambia.

Please God bless the Seeds of Hope Ministry and continue to move mountains through the ministry.