WE MADE IT!!!

It was a long (but manageable) journey, but we arrived in Lusaka early Monday morning (local time) and we were greeted by a beautiful African sunrise, smiling Zambian faces, and the joy of some new and familiar faces.  After loading more luggage than should have been legally allowed, we made the hour-long trek to Nangwenya, our new home and the permanent home of the Esther School.

 

Our first few days have been filled with jetlag, joy and many (also manageable) challenges but we are feeling great and happy to finally have arrived in the place that God has called us to.  Some of you may have heard that we have encountered some problems with our well, our power supply, and a lovely stomach bug that attacked the younger children.  We look forward to sharing some more detailed stories (we’ve got some doosies) when we have time, but for now, with limited time and internet access, I wanted to assure everyone that we are doing fine and have not been discouraged – if only a little distracted.

 

We are still working on the well situation, but we have plenty of bottled drinking water and are able to obtain water from the local well for washing and boiling.  In fact, we have been gifted with many blessings in disguise along the way.  For example, our kids got a chance to try the well in the village where children ride on a “merry-go-round” in order to draw water from the well.  It was a beautiful picture of the Kingdom, seeing American and Zambian children against a breathtaking backdrop working together to understand, teach, and learn from one another as they laughed without reservation and served a Greater Purpose.  It was beyond words.

 

The power supply has also been improving.  We have plenty of lights and fans and several of our outlets are functional.  Again, some room for improvement in time, but we have all that we need.  In fact, we commented that we have Living Water and the Power of the Spirit and that is all we really need for now.

 

The children are also doing much better.  As we had anticipated, it is very common for people to experience intestinal trouble as they adjust to new food and water.  We were sort of hoping not to have 4 of 6 kids throwing up and 3 at the doctor in the first 24 hours, but they weathered the storm just fine and we almost immediately feeling better after the first day.  We had wanted to explore our options for medical care anyway, so it was great to find out where a good doctor was and we were pleased with the care that we received. The doctor said that we had likely picked up a bacterial bug and that the younger ones just had a harder time fighting it off.

 

I couldn’t say enough about how wonderful the people here have been.  The local Zambians have been unbelievably gracious and friendly.  We are excited to learn more from them and the way of life here, which has so much to offer.  We have also been so blessed by our expat contacts here.  Sophie and her beautiful Daughter Natasha met us at the airport with a warm greeting and some help navigating the airport security and baggage handlers, then came back yesterday to offer some help, encouragement and fellowship.  Bob, the contractor from Every Orphan’s Hope who has been building the Esther School thus far, met us on campus almost immediately and jumped to the ready to help us get to town and a doctor when the kids were sick.

 

Through Divine intervention and (editorial note:) the only redeeming benefits of Facebook, we had been previously introduced to Stephen and Aby Nelms, a young missionary family in Chongwe and founders of Give Life.  They showed up Day 2 with medicine, hugs and Sprite when they heard the kids were sick, then hosted us in their home for laundry, food and showers so that we could regroup.  We even had a chance to play some basketball and get our technology fix!  They have also shared a generator, much from their several years of experience here, and the internet card that we are currently pirating to post this message!

 

I’m not sure how we would have survived the first couple of days without the support and love shared by these wonderful, Godly people while we were in such need.  Again, this all served as a beautiful Kingdom vision and challenged us to consider and understand what it means to help and be helped and to share together in mutual support.

 

All in all, we have been doing wonderfully.  Our tidy little North American to-do list – complete with my trademark checkboxes – sits on top of the fridge where it has been since the first day, and where it probably belongs!  In the meantime we have been dealing with life as it happens here in Zambia and loving (almost) every minute of it.  We have shared many laughs and very few tears and cannot wait to see what yet lies ahead in the next several weeks as we settle in and transition over to our new home from our temporary residence in the Teacher’s Quarters.

 

We will do our best to keep you posted.  Getting our internet set up is on that to-do list…