Rough Week

I should check the calendar as I think it is close to Mother's Day...

I found out that 2 people that I have met have contracted HIV, both women.
One woman found out when she was pregnant but her husband refuses to be tested. The baby was born HIV negative, thank you Lord!!
The other lady did not give me her story but is in the professional field with a couple of years of higher education.
Two women, two different backgrounds, two different financial situations, one homemaker in the compounds - the other a government employee. Why does this happen??
Everywhere you go- there is prevention available.
A radio show I listened to suggested men have an operation that will result in a 65% less chance of spreading the virus- NOONE, NOONE speaks of abstinence.
Is the value of life worth so little that you would rather not know?? There is FREE ARV medicine to help build the immune system and avoid sicknesses that could kill you.
How is it spreading so quickly?
It is acceptable to have more than one wife especially in the villages. The Chief of a village must have many wives to keep up his status which demands respect from the others in the village.
I don't know about the other men in town that are not chiefs!
Jane asked me if our husbands were allowed to have more than one wife...I told her Erik has enough headache with one!! She told me that even if men don't take more than one wife, they can still have many girlfriends.
HIV does not discriminate to age, race or social class, or Country!!
***As I read back over this I realized that I am not just speaking about Africa- the Chief of the village example excluded. Dr. Phil, a parent in Bradley's class, is a Doctor from the US doing research on the transmission of HIV- he told me that Africa is no different than the US as far as their attitude towards this disease- The US just found out about it before it had spread throughout 25% of the population. I pray we are teaching our children about God's perfect plan!!

Stumbling Block

Have you ever made a decision that affected another person? Have you ever done something that someone else followed your lead? In your own life you justify and rationalize your actions but when you see the effect it has on others - do you feel responsible?

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6:3, "We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so
that our ministry will not be discounted."

This scripture helped Erik and I to make the decision not to drink anymore. Although I have not found scripture directly stating alcohol is a sin, only drunkenness. (Gal 5:21) I know that when I drink- I say and do things I shouldn't. Would you discount my commitment to spreading the Gospel if you saw me in the state of drunkenness?? How about when I gossip?? How about when I lie?? How about my life before Christ??
Oh- my heart was heavy with all these questions this morning.

But then, I opened the Word- thanks be to God- the answer to all of our life situations. He wrote it just for us- inspired and literal- God's Word never changes because He never changes. He wants the same things from us that He wanted from the disciples, the apostles, all the people before us and all the people to come.

Back to the Word- I went back to Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:16-21- and read about being a new creation in Christ- God reconciled us to Himself by sending Christ- not counting men's sins against them- Do you hear that?? Not counting men's sins against them- and who would know that better than Paul who was persecuting Christians until God called him out on his way to Damascus(Acts 9). Paul, the one who spread the gospel to all Gentiles (non-Jews) in the New Testament- talk about sin and yet God used him to show us that no matter how big the sin, Jesus died for us all.

"Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in
Him we might become the righteousness of God".

How much does your Heavenly Father love you?? You can't even begin to imagine...

Monday, Monday...

I have found in our friend, Bob West, another music lover...we will just be sitting around the house and someone will say something and we break out in song. We had "dueling" you-tubes last weekend recalling songs from the 70s, 80s and movies. It was fun- Erik was caught in the middle but sang along with us. We borrowed the Sound of Music from our neighbor last night and watched and sang!! See how creative you get without cable tv, or maybe the proper word is bored!!

We spent Saturday morning at the kid's school for Bradley's Swimming Debut. He swam in both the 25m Breaststroke and 25m Freestyle. He was 6 out of 6 in the Breaststroke and 5 out of 6 in the Freestyle. The best thing about my boy is that he is happy to be where he is. I have to ruin it with my competitive spirit. After the race, I told him that if he wanted to learn to swim faster, he would have to train more. He said, "no thanks!" End of that discussion. Chelsea's convinced if he would have shed a layer, he would have knocked some time off the clock. (He did insist that I buy him the school's swimming uniform, a blue/green Speedo bikini- he wore it "under" his trunks)

We rested Saturday afternoon- Erik and Bradley went to a movie- Bob fixed some short ribs for dinner and we went to bed early with the intentions of waking up at 2am to listen to the Gator game. Well, when the alarm went off- we turned it off, went back to bed and woke up at 4:30am- nearing the end of the 3rd quarter and it was 20-14- Wow!! That is all I will say since some of my best friends are Tigers or at least married to one.

We went back to Cornerstone Church on Sunday and I was invited to my first "Kitchen Party" by the women of the church. I heard that people have a kitchen party when they need to update the items in their kitchen. Throw yourself a party and people bring you presents- I like it!! Don't start this trend in Jax until I get back- I get to have the first one!!

This morning Niki Cook, Lee Shaw and myself met at the school and walked and prayed over everything we saw and didn't see. We prayed for the headmaster, faculty, maintenance men- for the athletic fields to be covered with children demonstrating good sportsmanship with decent language, we prayed for the lunch tables to be filled with pure conversations void of gossip, slander, or insults, we prayed for the playground- for safety, friendships to be made, good old fashioned fun. We prayed for the Christian teachers- for their witness to be convicting to other faculty and students- we prayed for our children to be bold and confident in their faith and to know that God is with them wherever they may be. We prayed for all the other children- to find the One True God- there are so many different religions at our school. What a blessing for me as I have seen the power of prayer!!

Meredith Smith- thanks for the comments- God is so good how he gives you the same verse more than once in different places- He must want you to memorize that Scripture- It is 2 Timothy 3:16- Read all of 2 Timothy 3 as Paul describes the last days...see if you recognize any of those behaviors!! Tell your Bible teacher, "Thank you"!!

Camp Fringilla

Bradley had a great time camping with the other Year 5 students!!

Erik and I drove him and his friend, Fadhili, to the campsite Wednesday morning. We were following the bus with about 5 other parents. We had to go through a police stop and who do you think the police stopped out of the convoy?? Yes, us!! My van must have a special license number that says, "She will pay- stop her:)" We did not have reflective tape on the vehicle which is a 56,000Kwacha fine but Erik explained we were on our way to Fringilla with the school and we would get tape as soon as possible. The policeman let us go- Good thing I stayed in the car!!

When we arrived at camp it was a free for all on campsites and then putting the tents up. I was very impressed with the children's ability to put up their own tents. There is a lot of camping in Zambia, the weather is perfect for it and it is cheap!!

The campgrounds were actually on a farm so the campsites were surrounded by pinned up animals such as cows, goats, pigs, turkeys, and peacocks. There was also a pool on the campgrounds. Bradley was in a small tent with Antonio and Victor- 2 pretty big boys. I helped them set up their sleeping mats and pillows- they had to leave their bags outside because there was no room.

Bradley said they had a great time doing their activities during the day- they had to come up with costumes and have a fashion show. He made a mask of leaves and a stick with leaves on it that looked like a chicken's tail. They called him "Chicken Man". He had french toast and yoghurt(that's how they spell it over here) for breakfast, sausage and chicken sandwich for lunch, and chicken, potatoes and vegetables for dinner.

I did get a call from his teacher at 8:00 this morning saying he had vomited at about 4:30 this morning- "it was too dark to go outside" so he vomited in the tent. Sorry Victor and Antonio!! Victor woke up and asked if he was ok, Antonio was snoozing. That was the one and only time- I'm wondering if he had one too many marshmallows last night???

Stephen, the company's driver, went with me to pick Brad up this morning. He was with me when I was almost impounded. Now he will call me and say, "Good morning Madam- any violations today??" Isn't that such a blessing that I was able to teach him the meaning of the word, Violation?? Anyway, Bradley slept all the way home then took a shower and went back to bed. He is up now and feeling much better. He has his first swimming gala tomorrow!!

Baby Hope

Today I got to meet Baby Hope- she was born at 6 months old and weighs 1.6 kg, about 3 pounds. I held her in my arms and she was so tiny- it was scary holding her thinking how delicate she is. Hope's mom is a friend of Jane so we have been praying for her and Jane wanted me to meet her. What a blessing that she is even alive because there is not a Neo-natal unit here so she was sent home after 24 hours.

We went to a new church on Sunday, Cornerstone Worship Center. Erik and Bob had lunch with the preacher last week. He is a young guy that has a great vision for the people of Zambia. He asked Bob to speak 2 weeks ago and Erik got to deliver the message this week. He did an awesome job! He spoke on the Scriptures, how they are all God-breathed and have all the answers for life especially relating to being a good husband, good wife and good parent- all to glorify God!! I was so proud of him. He said that was for my birthday. (Jane, Charity and Danny-from Z-con- attend this church)

We then spent last night at our bible study at the Baptist Mission house. We had our lesson and then it was finger food night. It was great fellowship. We got to see Josh Bowman again- he was in town picking up a missionary from Haiti. It is a cool place to be with all the Americans and my kids have fun learning and playing.

Please be praying for my Bradley as he leaves Wednesday through Friday to camp with the entire Year 5 class. They are about 45 minutes out of town. There will be 50 kids with 5 teachers- please pray for the teachers too!!

Birthday Surprise

My ex-patriot housewife friends- Alix, Nubia, Caroline and Stephanie- all surprised me this morning at coffee with 2 beautiful African pillows and a piece of Lemon Meringue pie delivered by the singing crew at Kilamanjaro. What a nice surprise. (As the singing crew went into the 2nd round of "how old are you?"- I quickly told them we don't ask that in American especially when you are nearing 40, like me!!)
What a great way to start my weekend. The rest of the weekend will be involved in sports starting with Chelsea's basketball game today at 2pm then an all-day Volleyball tournament at the American school tomorrow from 9-1. Bradley, Bob and Erik will be spending the day at a local football (soccer) tournament with our logistics manager, Stephen. Bradley will have his first swimming gala next Saturday morning at his school from 10-12 then the school is having a barbeque- they call a braai. Should be a fun day.
Moses started his reading lessons this week and I must say he is a very fast learner. I have learned from him that he has memorized quite a lot. We went to the Rose Garden the other day for fertilizer and he read the sign on the door "Staff Only"- I said, "You know how to read" but he proceeded to tell me that he use to work somewhere years ago and one door said "Staff Only" so he had memorized that. It is amazing what you must do to survive- as in everything in life- we all have choices- to learn to survive or lay down and die!

The Real Jungle Cruise

This weekend we escaped to the Kiambi Safari Lodge, about 3 hours south of the city. We were able to drive on a great road through the mountains then just prior to the Zimbabwe border we made a left turn down a rough dirt road. That road took us through many little villages, still so cool to see, with lots of goats, chickens and children. We came to a branch of the Zambezi River where we had to take a car ferry across. My kids thought that was really cool!

There were 3 cars on the ferry and again, we are 3 hours out of town, and I run into my new friend Stephanie from Paris- who can in no way even compete with my old friend Stephanie:)

We arrived at the lodge at 5pm and had 2 1/2 hours before dinner. The kids wanted to swim so off we went! Stephanie and Phillipe and their 2 girls joined us for a swim. After the swim, we went to the sports bar to watch soccer on the big screen, order a few Coke Lites and play some pool, and there was air con(air conditioning).

The lodge was set up on a bluff overlooking the Lower Zambezi River. Our dinner was served on the terrace. We had Butternut soup, chicken, beef, rice, potatoes, relish and nshima. For dessert we had a fruit custard. It was really good!!

Our cabin was a big tent built on a wood platform with a deck and bathroom then a thatched roof on top. It was very clever and quite comfortable for those who wanted the feel of camping with the necessities!

Saturday morning I heard my kids getting dressed and sneaking out of our cabin. There were monkies everywhere. Tons of them on the ground playing, swinging from trees, my kids had their cameras and were in heaven. Chelsea has never been more in her element. This was her kind-of place. She even said to Erik, "Thanks Daddy for bringing us to Africa so I could see all these animals."

Saturday afternoon we took a sunset cruise. It was a small boat that seated the 4 of us and Stephanie's family of 4 with a driver. We started out down river and our driver spotted a few crocodiles- that was interesting but I'm from Florida and have seen my share of Gators!! We then saw some hippos, lots of hippos, playing in the water. The River is shallow right now so they were walking in the middle of the River. They would go under water as soon as we approached. The driver then took us close to the riverbanks where there were lots of women and children bathing, washing clothes, washing dishes, playing...later down the River, we saw the men fishing and bathing. Then...we saw a Grand Elephant standing on the edge of the River- He was huge with tusks and he stood there as we approached- Chelsea was closest to him in the boat at about 5 feet from him. It was awesome!! I must say that was by far one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. That was the only elephant we saw so I'm glad we got to see him so closely.

We returned home Sunday afternoon well-rested and so thankful for our weekend adventure!!