Update from Kaondeland

I realized recently we haven't written an update in quite a while! Life has been sweet in Kaonde land the past month. Jason and I have been really feeling the effects of only having 6 months left with the wonderful people in Mumena that we have grown to love. When we first moved here I thought two years sounded like such a long time. Well, it isn't! Time has flown by, almost too fast for us.

Jason has been working hard to develop pig feed that can be made locally in the village. For the pig farmers, making their own feed will mean saving lots of kwacha (money). They would no longer have to buy commercial feed from town and it would give them a more profitable use for the maize they grow every year. This would also help boost the local hammer mill business. It is all very exciting! 

The ladies at the Kampande congregation wanted to start meeting together again recently. I was very happy about this so I offered to teach the first few classes. I am teaching them "how to teach each other." Some of the women at Kampande are young in their faith but some of the women are more mature Christians. This is the perfect combination for them to work together and edify one other. I have one more week of teaching then I will pass the baton off as they will start to take turns teaching each week. Please be praying for the ladies and their desire to grow stronger in Lord through assembling together mid-week.

Underneath our kinsanza Jason has a few guinea pigs and couple rabbits. Both animals are perfect for Zambians to have a breeding pair for relish (which would give great protein) and for selling. Also, both can be fed with plants we can find in the bush. We hope raising them ourselves will encourage others to do so as well. I try not to dwell on the fact that they could be used for meals but more so just enjoy hearing the guinea pigs little squeaky noises as I walk by everyday. Our friend Edward brought several of the school boys over today to show them how to feed the little critters which gave Jason a chance to show them how to hold them and gently pet them. At first they were terrified to hold either but after I encouraged them with "if you hold one, I'll take a snap of you and show you the snap after," THEN they all wanted to participate! They ended up really liking them and laughing at the silliness of it all. Here are a few pictures of them...

That is all for today's update. Happy Thursday!

Saturday Fun

Today Jason and I took a stroll about 2 miles down the road to the Kimpalumba village. Two men in this village are working with Jason doing a pig production project. They were required to build their own pig pens then have been gifted with a bred pig in return. The men and their families will feed and care for the baby piglets, along with the sow, for 6 months then be able to keep their profits from selling the piglets to invest in the next years production. Our hope is for this project to help two qualified farmers have a better means of supporting their families through pig farming. Here are a few photos of the new piggies!

Our reason for visiting the Kimpalumba village today was to check on the new babies but as an added surprise we got to observe some of the fun these families have on an average Saturday. The kids invented their own slide to ride down one of the termite hills. We were very tempted to want to take a ride as well but it was pretty steep! Looks pretty fun huh?

The women were mostly sitting under their kinsanza's preparing their relish for this evening's meal (pumpkin leaves). But Edward's wife was "polishing their house." She mixed red dirt with water, making a paint, then she painted a stripe around the bottom of their house. Next to her on the right is a little one who made herself a pouch to carry around her roasted ground nuts to snack on while she waited for her turn to slide down the termite hill.

We loved getting to spend part of our Saturday with a village full of people we have grown to love over the last year. Although the weekend activities of the Kaonde people may look a bit different than we experienced growing up it is neat to see them have family time, fun time, and relax time in their own special way!

Wednesday News

Last weekend the missionary ladies put on a workshop in Mumena for women interested in learning how to teach Bible classes for children. Our aim was teaching methods that could be easily used in the village. So, we used basic materials like notebook paper, crayons, scissors, and a little tape. All of these items can be bought in Solwezi, the nearest town. It was so exciting to see the women (over 40 attended) fellowship and create lessons together. Also, I think they enjoyed having time away from their laborious responsibilities at home. Art is such a therapy and that was evident in their enthusiasm for just coloring with crayola crayons. Most of the women had babies on their backs throughout the seminar and few brought along their young ones to play outside while they were in class. Sondra, Whitney, Ellie, and I were very pleased with the outcome of the weekend. Please be praying with us for the women who attended to have the confidence and calling to start sharing the Lord with their youngsters.

In other news:

4 baby goats were born this last week. They are just about the most precious baby animals. Even when they are only a couple days old they are start running around trying to jump and buck. Many times they end up landing on their bellies because they aren't quite coordinated enough yet. Jason and I spend a little time almost every evening just watching and laughing at them. For those of you who do not live in the African bush this might sound like an odd type of entertainment. But take my word for it...it's adorable.

Special Delivery:

Our rains came early, YES! This means I get to start working on this seasons flowers! I already have a new layout for the backyard drawn up, Jason is helping get the plans rolling by getting our fence re-built. We have grass fences here and our backyard fence was in very shabby shape. Since our truck is out of commission for the time being we have resorted to using alternative means for transporting the grass for the new fence. Meet the ox cart crew!

Happy Wednesday!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 118:1

Jacaranda trees and preparing for piglets

After our weekly apprentice class this morning I thought it might be a good time for a picture of the beautiful Jacaranda trees that are blooming right now. We are tredging through our dry season (no rain since early May), everything is brown, dusty, or burned except for the one tree that blooms during this otherwise not so pretty time of year. We have one in front of our house and there are a whole line of them on the other side of the school campus. Here a couple pictures for you see:

 

Jason with his friend Pertheus. They are working on building pig pens for the piglets that will be born soon.

That's all for today's short update. Our ladies seminar starts on Thursday. We are so excited about the women wanting to learn easy techniques for teaching Sunday school at their churches. Hopefully we will have a good post for that next week. Happy Tuesday!

July-August Update

We recently sent out a new newsletter and below is our "Notes from Jason and Erin" portion that gives a quick update on our life the past couple of months in Mumena.

It has been very odd to me that life in Mumena is much slower than our American lifestyles were used to yet time has been flying by. We can't believe we are now in our 8th month in Zambia.

Jason has been very busy with the school production project this month. While the kids are on break from school he has been offering Ag in-services for the production teachers. With the possibility of growing their own feed and encouraging local farmers to grow the crops needed for the animals, Jason's goal of sustainability could really be within arms length.

July was a wonderful month that included the Allison's visiting for the marriage seminar and our Sunday school teacher's seminar at the refugee camp. Janet and Fielden Allison travel several months out of the year from their home base, African Christian College in Swaziland, to teach marriage workshops. The material they present is contextualized in a way that Africans participating can take the material back to their churches and teach other couples. It was such a joy and inspiration to sit in on their classes. I would love someday to be able to follow in their footsteps of teaching about the Christian marriage and family in cultures that readily struggle with this specific area in their faith. It was my first visit to the refugee camp the Saturday the missionary ladies from Mumena taught about the importance of teaching children Bible lessons as well as easy techniques to do so. It was a very neat experience to visit our lively Congolese sisters and we hope and pray they will continue to be excited about teaching their little ones about the Lord. Sondra, Whitney, and I are looking forward to starting back up with our lady teacher's Bible study in September and are hoping for a good number of teachers who will be committed and excited about studying together each week.

Thank you for your prayers and support!

Pictures!

We have been waiting for a good enough internet signal to post these pictures for a while. Yay, internet in town is great today! The first few are from the lion and cheetah walk we went on in Livingstone at the end of the June campaigns. It was an amazing experience. We still cannot believe we got to pet and walk with such beautiful animals. Also in the mix are a couple pictures of the US Ambassador to Zambia's visit to Mumena Christian Outreach Center. He visited to tour the Ag projects happening at the center involving partnership with the Zambian people.

Talking to Suzie about how to behave

Mumean B school's production class with their teacher, Mr. Mutale, showing off their chickens

Layer chicken coop

Jason, the Ambassador, and Chief Mumena discussing the
pig production section of the school project

 The Ambassador viewing the layers pen

Quick HIghlights

Last week Jeremy, Whitney, Jason, and I rode the bus to Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city (about 9 hours away), to pick up our work permits and order a part for the truck we share. It was a quick but very successful trip. Whitney and I got to go shopping while the boys ran errands. We found Oreos, salsa, brownie mix, and a few other wonderful things at the grocery store there so we were very excited about that. We also had time to print off pictures at the mall. Is it odd that we have 5 pictures in frames on the wall of Rex (our dog, who stayed with my parents in Texas)? Probably not if know me very well…haha…but not to worry we have numerous pictures up of our family and friends as well. We love being able to see those we love all the time, even if just in pictures. 

            Jason picked up 8 piglets for the 4-H project with the school on Monday. Since I used to show pigs when I was younger I told him if he wants to keep them from smelling he needs bathe them regularly. Not sure if he will take my advice on that though. So far I think they are his favorite animals of the project.

In April the Servant Leader Seminar will start for the church leaders of all the churches our Mumena team works with. Our apprentice team is excited to see this large event happen. We are expecting to have around 50 men here for it. Some of them will stay in Mumena at the dorms and some live close enough that they can walk each day. A lot of preparation has gone into it so please be praying for the church leaders who will attend.

I was finally able to upload pictures of our house. Jason and I have spent many hours making it "home," which entailed curtain making, picture hanging, fence making, gardening, and turning practical items into decorations. Our favorite part about it is the location. We are on the outskirts of our village so we usually have a pretty peaceful and private environment. Well here it is....welcome to our home in Mumena!

View of the living room/office/dining room looking toward the front door

Our office area

Our room....It's just big enough for the bed

Our kitchen

Our back porch

The other side of the living room

Front of the house

Our view from the front porch

 Hope you enjoyed the quick picture tour...feel free to come by anytime!

News!

It has been a while since our last blog post so I thought today would be a great day for an update!

It’s interesting how the first few weeks we were here there seemed to be quite a bit of free time, sometimes feeling like too much, but after almost two months our schedules are plum full!

On Monday afternoons Sondra and I have begun hosting ladies teacher teas. Many of you have probably heard us talk about the struggle to help teachers here understand the calling they have to responsibly teach the children that have been entrusted to them. Many teachers do not show they feel teaching is their “calling,” rather just an occupation that grantees a pay check. It IS true though, in Zambia teachers are considered wealthy. But just because the teachers are guaranteed a paycheck hasn’t meant the students have been guaranteed a teacher that shows up for work everyday or a teacher that takes a personal interest in their well being and education. Until there is a heart transformation we will not see a transformation in the classroom either. Out of this common issue came the idea for “teacher’s teas” (a voluntary Bible study that also includes tea or juice on Sondra and Brian: Jason’s aunt and uncle’s front porch). We have about four female teachers and two spouses of male teachers that have attended the two beginning sessions. Sondra has been teaching using a curriculum she taught to the ladies while she was in Cape Town, South Africa.  Eventually I will help out with the teaching of the study but for now I am enjoying learning from Sondra. A great part of being an apprentice is the pressure is taken off from feeling like we need to lead several studies from the start but instead have the chance to really learn from our mentors.

Jason and I have been attending and trying to encourage the Kampande church, which is about an hour walk from our house. It is a small church that has been through quite a bit but they are seemingly eager to learn and grow together. In an effort to reach out, I have offered a weekly ladies class for them on Wednesday afternoons. Currently we are studying the women in the genealogy of Jesus. My hope through this study is for the ladies to understand that women of different walks, with different struggles, and much different stories make up the lineage of Jesus. Therefore no matter our background, color, gender, or spiritual maturity we are all joyfully welcomed to be a part of Christ’s church. I am adapting the study guides from Francine Rivers’ Lineage of Grace series and through that I am able to learn and grow myself while preparing the lessons.

Whitney and I have also started meeting with a few young girls (pre teen-young teen) each week to have a study about God’s Love for Us. In a culture that children aren’t given as much importance as the Kindgom culture calls for we feel it’s important to do all we can to uplift and encourage a marginalized age group. Hopefully pretty soon I will have some pictures of this sweet class to share!

Jason has been very busy with the start of his 4-H project. I have been helping as well by naming all of the goats. : ) I told him as long as I name them they cannot be eaten! So far we have, Belle, Polly, Clover, Calico, Brownie, May (she looks like a dairy cow hince Mayfiend Milk), and Laverne and Shirley. There are still a few that need names but I don’t want to force the naming process so as their names come to me over time they will get one.

That’s all for the work updates so far. I already have my next blog post planned…”Homemaking in Mumena.” It hasn’t been easy for a neat freak but I am adapting a little at a time. It will also include pictures of the inside of our little house…yay!

Before I go, since we are starting our Kampande Ladies class each week with everyone sharing something they are thankful for, I want to end my post with a few quick thoughts that have been on my heart...I truly feel that I am abundantly blessed to have wonderful friends, family, and church family. When I have tough days here I just think about how lucky I am to have so many who love and encourage Jason and I unconditionally. It is hard to describe how even the quick emails and facebook posts make us feel surrounded by love. Isn’t it amazing how many avenues God uses to show the love he has for us? So, today, I am thankful for God working through the words and actions of my friends and family to show his love for me. 

Us with Chief Mumena and his wife at the palace a few weeks ago

First Month

This first month has gone by faster than we could have imagined. We have been very busy getting our life here going and other a few hard days we are blessed to have had a smooth start.

Last week our whole team spent several days on a team retreat at Lake Kariba which borders Zimbabwe and Zambia. We had time to get to know one another, relax, and review what all has been happening in Mumena over the past years. With three new families (including Jason and I) joining the existing team, it was a much needed time together that we greatly appreciated our supporting churches making possible for us.

Since then Jason and I have been busy bees continuing to get situated at our new home in the bush. I am getting used to (kind-of) making everything from scratch, riding my bike with a long skirt on, and checking the walls and floor for termites daily. Jason has been getting set up for a 4- H project he is venturing to start with the school here. He has some really great plans for it that he will blog about sometime soon so I won't give away too much information... But lets just say...there are already some really cute goat kiddos that will be the first teaching tools of the program.

Also this week, we were given our church plant assignments. Jason and I will be working with a church near the roadside, which is very close to Mumena, as well as a church a good drive away pretty far into the bush. Since the farther away church is not accessible from a vehicle during the rainy season (because of the road conditions getting there) we will not be visiting there for another couple of months. But we are very excited to get started building relationships with the members of the church at the roadside. It is a great church to invite the teachers we are living near and those Jason will work with in Ag to come to because it is within walking distance. Please keep these churches and our work with them in your prayers.

Speaking of prayers, thank you to those of you who prayed fervently for the snake bite scare with Jason. This is also something he will write about later but I will say, God was in control that day and the outcome was 100% an answer to prayers. We are already encountering intense times where our faith is being challenged and I hope that we continue to grow while we strive to rely on Him.

Hopefully sometime this month I will upload pictures of our house and surrounding areas, so be looking forward to that. Hope you have a happy February!

We found this little critter on the road at the team retreat