29 July Ndola, Zambia Ricoffy, Bemba and Anthills...

Hello all! The planet trek (cue music...) that started at noon on Sunday ended well on Tues in Ndola, Zambia... I'm here! Train to LAX, flight to New York, then Johannesberg South Africa, then to Ndola Zambia... all the luggage made it fine, got my visa without a hitch and customs inspection was smooth.

I was able to sleep on the plane (NY to Johannesberg was 18 hours), got settled into the SOHIP guest house in Ndola Tues afternoon, which is on a secure compound with the well-drilling rigs and the cement block-making factory (hand-made, each one!). The Zambian staff are awesome, and are makiing sure I'm a part of the team.

SOOO... without a skip for jetlag, I was in worship with the staff at 0800... awesome, the staff lifting their voices in song in Bemba (the regional language that most people here speak... English is official, but Bemba is the heart language), then everyone off totheir days! I went out with the Hygiene team to plug into 5 communties they are lining up Hygiene Committies in schools... so we spent the day bumping down cow paths to remote villages with no electricity and hand-pump water wells. What a great start to connecting with the team here in Zambia!

I used to laugh at the crazy anthills the San Diego Zoo have around their little Africa exhibits... well! Let me tell you! They don't come close to the 25-40 foot hills all across the plains! I guess my idea of 'anthill' will be permanently tweaked...

Physically, fighting a bit of fatigue, the anti-malarials are not fun on the stomach... but I'm doing OK... there's this wierd product called Ricoffy, a mix of coffee and chicory in instant form... not bad...

The next few days will be a continued settle-in ( I still need to exchange some dollars into Kwachas, about 1 US to 5,100 Kwachas) and connecting with the existing Health-Hygiene-Sanitation team with SHIP. I should be able to get a couple of spaces on the internet during the week here in the office... slooooooooooooow connection....

Prayer requests: totally get the body into this time-zone, fine-tune my ears to the accents and learn some basic Bembab greetings, begin to see the width and breadth of the health-related work here...

blessings,

Chris

25 July Chula Vista On the tarmac...

25 July

Well, the Lord must have some really cool things for the time in Zambia (which many have confirmed in prayer and prophetic words...)... becuz way too many wierd things have come my way these past few days, clearly guff from the Enemy...

... but the really cool things far outweigh the guff... the Provision has been very evident...

OK, this will be the last Blog until I arrive mid-week in Zambia... LAX to JFK to Johannesberg to Ndola... over 28 hours of air time... I'm taking the Chronicles of Narnia to read on the plane (all 7 books)...

pray for me

Chris

21 July Chula Vista 2 special peeps

Two special peeps... Lori with little baby Luke (our grandson)...

(aaaawwwww.....)

21 July Chula Vista When God gets involved, He will...

21 July

Packing, getting ready to fly for Zambia, hoping it all will fit... also, meeting up with friends and fellow God-followers who pray for me...

Scripture that jumped out these last few days: Exodus 3:7-10

Check it out... God says that He has seen the misery of people... heard them crying out... that He's concerned about their suffering... that He has come down to rescue them and bring them to a wonderful place with Him... that the cry of suffering has reached Him and He has seen the oppression...

SOOOOO... What happens when God gets involved like that?

"So now (God speaking), go, I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people... out of Egypt" (v 10).

Sense in prayer... people of Zambia hurting, God's there and He's calling me over. That's part of His answer, He calls us to jump in.

OK... keep packing for deployment..

Chris

20 July Chula Vista ZAMBIAN FACTS

ZAMBIAN FACTS 2009

<> Zambia has a population around 12 million (2008) and has been a peaceful country since it's independence was given from Britian in 1964.

<> Mining and export of copper is the leading industry in Zambia.

<> Zambians have a life expectancy of 41.2 years (compared to United States at 78 years).

<> Only 58% of Zambians have access to safe drinking water.

<> Malnutrition is wide-spread, with 20% of children significantly under-weight for age.

<> Malaria is the largest reason for death amongt children in Zambia.

<> The percentage of Zambians infected with HIV is overall 16%.

(Sources: United Naitons Human Development Report, 2008. World Health Organization)

July 18, 2009 Chula Vista from Lori

I'm looking forward to using this new forum of letting you know about our everyday life as missionaries. Hopes are that Chris will be able to give us a glipse into his time in Zambia on a weekly basis. You'll more often than not read about my activites after the fact because of lack of internet access while I'm in Mexico.

Currently, I'm preparing for another week of teaching sewing classes....enjoy the pic where some of my students are displaying the wall caddies and satchels that were made as gifts for Fathers' Day 2009.

Have a great week.

Lori

17 July Chula Vista It's In The Steps...

"In his heart, a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps" Prov 16:9

Zambia, Africa... many of our mission peeps don't know that I have been trying to get to Africa for over 8 years. I have had a number of "join an outreach for a week" offers, but the Lord said no. I pursued 3 options with groups working on the pork-chop continent, two of them rather complicated... and those doors closed (hard)... so didn't go to Nigeria, Sierra Leone or Ghana...

SO when the Zambia thing started coming into focus, and the offer was quite strong... "OK, Lord, another dead end?" He said press in. I did. I'm seeing green lights, and getting guff from the Enemy (always a sign of being on the right track)

I fly out of LAX in a week... LAX to New York to Johannesberg (South Africa) to Ndola, Zambia... 8 years to get there... I may just get off the plane in South Africa and DANCE!!!

It's not a dream, no starry eye stuff... it's more a strong feeling like I need to go. This is what I've trained for. This is what I'm supposed to do. He's pulling me to go be with Him there (Mark 5).

Onward!

15 July Chula Vista... Doors opening wide 4 Zambia

Two things for sure... when you step out to follow the LORD into missions, you will [1] get blasted by the Enemy in unusual and strange ways, 'cuz he don't want you out there, and [2] you will find the LORD's Hand making things move along quick (when they would normally be slow-go)

"You know you're on the right track when they be shootin' at ya!" (old Detroit saying)

Chris

13July Chula Vista CA Gettin ready for Zambia

Getting ready for a long stint in Zambia is taking as long as I'll actually be in country.

Not only are there complex visa issues, travel equipment (bednets, bug juice, malaria meds), packing and flight issues (they change the size and weight for luggage every other week)...

... but since I'm going to assess, plan and develop health education programs for villagers and Zambian healthcare workers, I'm having to gather together alot of resourse info to take with me. A couple off days was spent seraching out the literature databases (CINAHL), and pulling down references. I'm shooting all our manuals and teaching materials into pdf digital format so I can take it on computer. Some references are already digital, others not....

I do feel the LORD putting His hand into all that is going on, and helping it go well.. but it still is long-hour, tedious work...

Chris