Zambia Update 4 June 2009

I grown up hearing the saying, “God is good…” to which, everyone replies, “all the time.” And then the leader says, “All the time…” and everyone says, “God is good.” I’ve always really liked the saying, but I’m learning the fullness of the truth of that saying. This past week and a half has been full of many valuable lessons. Some of them have been easy to learn while others have caused me to have to focus on the truth behind God is good ALL the time.

I was scheduled to speak to the youth this past Saturday at church. They are starting a youth group since having the local youth conference in their church the other week. The speaker for the conference, Pastor Josephine, had left the leaders of a the church a packet of issues that youths deal with so the leaders of the church felt it would be good to start a Saturday youth group to be able to teach the youth directly. The packet was at the typist though so the leaders didn’t have a copy to give me yet. They also insisted that I had some things that God had laid on my heart to teach them. I tried to tell them how I wanted to really just learn from them what they thought to be important to teach on and observe them. But, they were confident I had things to share with them first before starting to cover the issues Pastor Josephine had identified in the packet. So with that I set off to figure out what God wanted me to share with the youth.

I tossed around several topics and passages, but the one I kept coming back to was Colossians 1:13-23, which is part of the letter Paul wrote to the church of Colosse. In it he addressed how they were saved by grace and how they needed to worship only Christ instead of combining worshipping Christ with other religions they had previously believed in. In Colossians 1:13-23 the idea of salvation by grace is presented as well as an explanation of why and how Jesus saved us. Within the passage Paul explains how Jesus was fully man and fully God at the same time and that by being both at the same time we can see how we are saved only by His grace.

This passage has always been daunting to me, as I feel it should be. The idea of Jesus being fully man and fully God is not something that we’ll ever be ever to fully understand. In faith we believe that which we cannot fully understand. So I really wondered if this is what God wanted me to teach on because it can be difficult to understand and explain let along try to teach to a different culture through a translator! But try as I might to pick a different passage this one is the one God kept leading me back to. The themes of being saved by grace alone and why we are called to worship only Christ – why He alone deserves our worship – continued to be what I felt God was calling me to share with the Zambian youth.

So over the week I continued to study the passage and began to form talking points. During the week, I finished my book, Having a Mary’s Heart in a Martha World. I loved the entire book and feel like it will be one that I will read over and over again throughout my life as it is filled with great truths in every chapter. I helped take care of the Murphy kids as well and helped to keep the house in some kind of order. About half way through the week Isaiah, who is the child the Murphys adopted from Zambia the last time they were here, came down with a fever of 105 and just did not have any energy or appetite. We could tell his entire body hurt and he just laid on the couch all day. The other kids had been sick with respiratory congestion, fevers, diarrhea, and other aches and pains, but none of them had gotten as sick as Isaiah was. With him down more of Rob and Christa’s attention went to taking care of him so I helped with the other kids – just playing with them and giving them attention and getting things they needed. When the Murphys needed to go places I stayed at home with Isaiah. It was actually a good time for him because then it would be quiet and peaceful while they were all gone so he was able to get some good sleep. He hates to miss out on things so when people are around he always wants to be awake so he can make sure he’s a part of what is going on. I would sit with him until he fell asleep and then I would do household chores, read, do some artwork, or work on my talk.

On Thursday, which is my day to make dinner for everyone, I made pizza from scratch. It amazed me how much more I enjoy food when I make it from scratch. Life is slower paced here so I actually have time to do things like make food from scratch. J One of Isaiah’s favorite foods is pizza, but he was still really sick so I promised to save him some for when he got better and that seemed to satisfy him. Everyone else really enjoyed it so I think it will probably be a dinner I repeat.

I’m getting more use to my bike as well. It seems that they just slapped it together in the factory because as much as Rob and I have worked on my bike I still only get the 3 highest gears out of 7 in the back and 2 out of 3 in the front. It gives me quite the workout though and it’s quite interesting to learn to ride in a skirt! All Zambian women bike in skirts though so I’m learning and I haven’t gotten it tangled in my back wheel or gears yet so praise God. J

Friday afternoon I finished up working on my talk and felt pretty good about it. It was definitely the topics God wanted me to cover and although I still felt a little daunted about teaching on Jesus being fully man and fully God I knew that God would give me the right words to communicate with the youth. That evening Christa started treating Isaiah with malaria medication. Within a few days he was back to his normal self. They’re not sure if he had malaria, but we are just thankful he’s back to his energetic and explorative self.

Saturday afternoon I rode my bike to the church and got there about fifteen minutes before two, which was when the program was suppose to start. I knew that Pastor Richwell, his wife, and the praise team had gone to the bush to show the Jesus Film to another village so I didn’t expect many people to be there. When I got there though there were only a few of the neighbor kids playing “football” and some of Pastor Richwell’s kids washing dishes. I waited and waited, but no one showed. Finally one young man came and then a few of the older ladies on another one of the praise teams showed up. About thirty minutes past two one of the leaders in the church showed up and said he thought that maybe most of the youth went to the bush with Pastor and we should reschedule for Sunday. I felt very sad. I knew the Saturday youth meeting was a new program, but I had a hard time believing that all the youth had gone to the bush.

I decided to go for a bike ride to spend some time with God and just pray for Him to show me what He wanted me to learn from the day. I got about five minutes down the Namwianga road and went over a big bump in the road. My bike broke. The post the seat sits on fell down into the frame and the seat came off the top of the post. I was okay, just more frustrated. So I walked my bike back home with seat in hand and tossed it into our courtyard. I went into my room and shut the door and curtains. I spent the rest of the afternoon just crying out to God. This was the first real frustration and disappointment I faced and I felt completely overwhelmed by it. I was disappointed then in myself for feeling upset like I wasn’t trusting in God and His sovereignty in everything. In my mind I knew He had reasons for why no one showed, but I just felt sad, disappointed, and even angry. I had dinner with the Murphys, but came back to my room almost right after. When I experience a big disappointment I tend to get more introverted. I don’t want to be around people or talk with anyone. I let myself be sad and angry for a while, but God softly spoke to me and as I listened and cried out to Him the more He comforted me.

Sometimes I think we try to simplify God too much. At first I was trying to decide what one lesson I thought God was trying to teach me. However, He brought several thoughts to my mind. Instead of trying to nail it down to one I realized that God might be trying to teach me several things through the disappointment I felt about my Saturday. As I spent time with him Saturday evening I reflected upon what I knew about the Zambian culture through my studies before I left. Everything that I had read addressed how the Zambian culture is different in that people to not strictly adhere to times for meetings. Sometimes they can show up many hours late and to them it is not meant to be offensive or disrespectful. Also, sometimes they may not show up at all and they may not have a reason. This Saturday youth program is also a new program they are just starting. Even in the States, when we start new things they sometimes take time before people catch on and the program gains momentum. In addition, relationships are much more important that programs here in Zambia so the idea of attending another program is not nearly as attractive to Zambians as spending time with people they care about. God showed me that I needed not to take it personally that no one showed and that it may just take time for the youth program to grow and to even think about if a youth program is what will really impact the youth. I also felt God telling me to remember that it was not like I wasted my week in studying and preparing a talk on Colossians 1:13-23. Studying the Bible is NEVER a waste of time and I definitely grew in my knowledge and understanding of the deity of Jesus through the week. My conclusion also had three take away points of application and I felt like God telling me I needed to work on my lesson some more to maybe have just one take away point. Rob and I have dialogued on how the Zambians think differently than we do. To them, they make choices and decisions based on what they need to survive today. Long term planning is not something they really grasp so having more than one take away point may cause confusion where as just having one may allow them to hear God more clearly in their lives.

I felt exhausted Saturday night, but no longer did I feel upset, angry, disappointed, or frustrated. I knew that God has His reasons and I thanked Him for teaching me more about Himself through the week and the day.

Sunday morning we went to church and Rob spoke on Ephesians about how we are God’s masterpieces. It was a powerful sermon and the Zambians seemed very attentive. He left them with the charge to be known as Christians by how they love one another. At the end of the service the leaders who were there asked the youth to stay – that they were not to get up and leave with everyone else. Then, they asked me to stay as well. The leaders gave the youth a talking to basically. They said that they were disappointed no one had come yesterday. It was only an hour and half out of their day and that there was no excuse for not giving just a small part of their Saturday to studying God’s Word. There were about 60-70 youths I would say that were at church on Sunday so it confirmed my belief that they had not all gone to the bush. The leaders then asked me to introduce myself and to say a few words. I told them of my background and why I felt God had called me to come to Zambia for a year. I left them with the challenge of living as Christ calls us in our daily lives. I said it’s easy to come to church on Sunday, to praise and worship Him at church, to pray in church, and to bring their Bibles to church. But I shared that what is just as important is if they are opening their Bibles at home, if they are praying at home, if they are praise and worshipping God in their daily lives. I shared my conviction with them that the habits they form now in their youths will form who they will become as adults. They have so much of their lives in front of them and so the choices they make now have a great impact on the rest of their lives. The leaders then finished the brief time with the youth challenging them to come on Saturday at two to spend and hour and half together learning more about God and praising Him. They have asked me to share this week what I was going to share last week so we will see what happens this Saturday.

This week so far has been kind of crazy. As many of you have heard, we have been without power for the majority of the time for most of this week. Apparently the farmers around the Kafue Lake have been dumping their weeds into the lake. The problem with that is that there is a dam at Lake Kafue, which provides most of the power for the southern province of Zambia. The weeds have now clogged the turbines and caused two out of the six to go offline. The Zambian government has apparently tried to get the army here to help out with unclogging these turbines and have been purchasing power from neighboring countries in order to supply the southern province with power. As of yesterday afternoon we have had power constantly. We’ll see if it continues or not. J

Meanwhile with this week being the beginning of June we all needed to go to the Immigration Office here in Kalomo to get our passports stamped to extend our visas while we continue to apply for work permits with Namwianga Mission. What an adventure immigration has turned out to be! We had been cautioned that the lady at Immigration here in Kalomo can be difficult. It’s been a big lesson for me about Zambia. Apparently people who have power in smaller areas, like Kalomo, like people to know they have the power so they make it difficult on those they have power over. So Christa called on Friday to see if she would be in her office on Monday since our business visas expired on Tuesday. She said she would be so on Monday morning, without any power on anywhere here, all 7 Murphys and myself headed to the Office of Immigration. It’s about a 10 – 15 minute walk towards town to get to Immigration. When we got there she started saying she needed all kinds of documents we didn’t have. We asked her how we were suppose to get them without power and she said that was our problem to figure out.


Mainly, we needed Christa’s Zambian medical license faxed to us and to get her that copy. Plus we needed copies of our passports and work permits. She was also wondering what Rob and I were going to do since husbands can’t be under wives and she felt the job I was doing currently of helping with the family was a job a Zambian could do and so I had no purpose being here. I couldn’t tell her about my work with the church because I don’t have a work permit to be doing work with the church. Christa said I would also be getting a work permit with Namwianga where she is going to be volunteering as a doctor. The lady did not seem convinced and did not want to hear our explanations.

So we walked into town as we tried to figure out what to do. I needed groceries to stock up on things I could eat that didn’t need refrigeration with not knowing when the power would be back on. Rob and Christa needed some things too so we went through town and to the market areas as well. By this time we had been out for several hours already so we started to head home and trust that God would make a way for us to get the documents we needed by the next day.

On our way out of town Rob & Christa saw some people from Namwianga Mission at the post office so we stopped and I waited with the kids in the shade under a tree while Rob & Christa went and talked with them. As we were standing there, Golden, the associate Pastor at the church came walking into town. He stopped and asked how we were and what we were up to. I filled him in on our stop at immigration and the need for a fax and copies of things even though we didn’t have power. God is so good. Golden told me that the banks in town have generators so that even when the power goes down they still have power. It was such a God thing… had we not gone into town or stopped at the post office or had Golden walked to town at just that time… we would not have known about the power at the bank. So Rob rode over to the bank to see if they had a fax machine that we could get a fax on. They did and even said they wouldn’t charge us anything so Christa called the Zambia Medical Licensing people and they were able to understand what she needed and even sent it within five minutes. By this point it was 1 in the afternoon and the kids were very hungry. They had been great all morning, but their attitudes were declining as they got hungry. We decided to eat in town since they sometimes have gas stoves that they could still cook on even though we didn’t have power. We walked back into town and found a restaurant that could make some n’sima with chicken and relish for us. It was delicious. While we waited Rob went and got certified copies of our passports made at the bank and was able to have them make copies of the letter from Namwianga that the immigration lady had asked for. We finally headed home and spent the rest of the evening just recouping from being out and about in the sun for over five hours.

On Tuesday morning Rob went back to immigration to give the lady the documents she had asked for and to hopefully get all of our passports stamped. The rest of us stayed home so that Christa could try to get schooling in with Acacia and Christianna. Rob came back with bad news. Christa was okay as long as Namwianga would turn in a copy of the work permit to the lady so she could have it on file, but Rob and I needed to go to Livingston and pay 4 million kwacha each (about $820) to get a special kind of extension because neither of us had work permit applications with Namwianga. Neither of us had anything close to that budgeted for visa fees, but if that was what we were going to need to do then we’d have to trust God to provide. We called Laura, one of the US nurses working at Namwianga, and she said they had the same issues when they first came. She said that we would not need to go to Livingston if we could come to Namwianga today and meet with George Piuri (sp?), the guy in charge at Namwianga Mission. So she came to pick us all up and we made the 15 – 20 minute drive to Namwianga in their little truck.

George is an amazing man. He has his Masters from a university in Texas and was offered a full scholarship by Harvard to get his doctoral while teaching there. He turned it down and told them he had to come back to Zambia to suffer with his people. Namwianga Mission is a huge operation with a clinic and university that has been around for, I think, about 70 years. They do a lot of training people to do the work themselves and is affiliated with the Church of Christ.

We met with him for about half an hour. He offered to file work permit applications for Rob and I after hearing our hearts of what we feel God calling us to do in Zambia. I might even be able to teach at the university. They have a lot of female students that are learning to be teachers. They meet on Wednesday evenings for Bible Study and they’ve been asking God to bring to Namwianga a woman who’s close in age to the female students that can model what living for Christ looks like. I’m excited to get to meet them and possibly join their Bible Study time on Wednesday.

George helped us to know what all the documents we would need for our work permits. We would need an application filled out, a reference letter by him, a letter requesting that we would be allowed to be a volunteer employee with Namwianga, certificate of registration of Namwianga mission, copies of our diplomas and transcripts, copies of our police clearance/background check, copies of our passport, two copies of passport sized photos, and a copy of our resume. And all of these documents would need to be certified. Thankfully, Laura had a stamp to make certified copies and a seal maker that she was able to used to certify everything of ours. I had no idea it was this complex to get a work visa. Part of me is glad that they are thorough with who they let stay in Zambia, but part of me feels like it’s just a lot of hoops to make someone jump through to show that they have the power in the relationship.

The lady at immigration had told Rob on Tuesday morning to bring everyone to immigration at 15:30 (3:30pm) and she would meet with all of us and get at least Christa and the kids stamped. George came with us and we all made sure to be there right at 15:30. We waited and waited and waited. One of the other guys working there was able to get her on the phone and she was in a meeting that was running late. So we continued to wait. The kids were restless and tired because of being off their schedules for two days in a row and the little ones had not even gotten their naps. Finally at about 18:00 (6pm) she showed up. It seemed to really help to have George there as she has respect for him. He did not have the chance to finish the letters of recommendation so she again would not stamp us. Thankfully though, Rob and I would not need to go to Livingston. She said to come back in the morning with all the papers in order that would need to be taken to Lusaka and filed. We also found out that we would each need a certified check for 500,000 kwacha made out to the Chief Immigration Officer to accompany each application to Lusaka. We also needed to attach letters of acceptance of the volunteer employment offered to us by Namwianga. She offered to let us pay her to go to Lusaka for us, but since Rob was already planning on going to Lusaka to pick up other stuff and submit our applications we politely declined.

Onto Wednesday! … Again I woke up early for the third straight day and so was feeling quite tired. I still do not sleep well at night due to the fighting dogs, crazy roosters, flocks of guinea foul and chickens, and our new neighbors of birds who have built nests in our outside rafters that hold up our roof. We finally had power back on though so we praised God for the blessing of electricity. Rob and I rode our bikes to the bank as soon as they finished breakfast so that he could bring Isaiah and Katriya in the Burley. (We still get the funniest looks from Zambians because they’ve never seen a Burley, let along see a girl with light blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes sitting inside with a Zambian boy.) It took an hour for the bank to be able to get us three certified checks! It reminded Rob and I of the Three Stooges because there were three guys in the office who all looked very confused at times about the whole process. But God is good! We got the checks and met Christa, Acacia, Christianna, and Shamirah at Immigration.

George was not there yet so we waited for him. An hour later he showed up. We had been without power for part of the morning so he had been writing the letters and it held him back a bit. He was still having his secretary copy them so he came without them. The lady at immigration was not happy. She did not understand why George came without all the documents. She said she could not stamp us until she had seen everything. She finally had had enough of the kids being there for three days at this point though so she let Christa and I sign our forms so that we would not need to come back later. George said he would be done within an hour and would call Rob when he was on his way back to immigration. Christa, Acacia, Christianna, and Shamirah went with George back to the mission because Christa needed to sign some documents there. Rob and I came back home with a very cranky Isaiah and Katriya who promptly took naps when we got home. I was able to print off the rest of the documents I needed (my police clearance/background checks and more passport sized photos). Christa and the girls finally came back and we waited to get a phone call from George.

As it crept into the afternoon I decided to head to town. I needed to get groceries for myself and for the dinner I had planned for this week. I took my big Kappa soccer backpack this time as I’ve found I always end up having more to bring back than I had counted on. The workers in the stores in town are getting more use to seeing me in town and I’m learning to say hello to them in Tongan, which makes them smile. When I stopped at the mini mart finally I got a coke, which I usually just take with me, but it’s less if I drink it there since it’s in a glass bottle and we get a refund on returning the glass bottles. I decided to drink it there and rest before I lugged everything in my bag back to the house. The bike ride back is every so slightly uphill and against the wind so it’s always harder on the ride home – especially with not having the lower gears! God is good! Have I mentioned that, yet? J On the way home I saw George’s truck just about to pull out from the lot across the road from immigration. He had finally finished his letters, but his cell phone was dead so he was hoping that maybe Rob would just be at immigration. However, Rob was not since he was at home waiting for George’s call and the immigration lady wasn’t even in her office! He was also wanting to make copies of the work permit applications so he could have a copy on file at his office. Rob & Christa have a printer, scanner, copier in one so it would actually be perfect if he could come to the house and get the copies made he wanted and be able to pick up Rob. As we chatted, the immigration lady came walking up the road. She apologized for not being in her office and that she took a late lunch! It worked out well though since George had just gotten finished and we needed to go to the house first. So she walked onto Immigration and George drove to the house while I followed him on my bike. At the house we were able to sort all the documents and make sure each of Rob, Christa, and my application packets were all complete. We made the copies George needed and then he and Rob went to immigration. And we FINALLY got stamped for another 17 days of valid stay in Zambia while Rob went to Lusaka to file our work permit applications. She said once we file those and have a receipt that they are filed that we can come back with the receipt and get stamped for another 30 days.

It’s been a pretty tiring week as you can see. Today we’ve been resting and getting back into our normal schedule… well all of us except for Rob. He caught the 8am bus to Lusaka and is still at immigration as I write this. So we’ll see if there are any new developments and how long he’ll have to be in Lusaka to get everything filed.

I’m reworking my talk a little bit that I prepared for last Saturday and we’ll see who shows up on Saturday! Tonight I’m making banana bread French toast. The kids are really, really excited about it. I made the banana bread yesterday. I really have so much fun baking and I let Isaiah and Katriya help me stir the batter. They’re so much fun to play with and to see their personalities develop.

I need to wrap this letter up though as I wanted to go back into town to figure out something for dessert. I’m sorry it took me so long to update you all. With the power being out we were conserving our phones and computers as much as we could since they didn’t know when it would be back on. I pray you are all doing well and have exciting or relaxing plans for the summer. I hear Zambia’s a great place to spend a week or two. ;)

I will leave you with a few prayer requests as it is through prayer that our Heavenly Father hears and answers us. First, that God would continue to open up the doors to the ministry He desires for me and for the Murphys while we are in Zambia. Secondly, that our finances would continue to come in. Including those of you who have committed to monthly donations I still need just about a thousand dollars. I am so grateful for all the support you all have given so far and know that God will bring in the funds for the time He desires me to be here. If you feel God is calling you to help support me please let me know and I will give you all the donation information. Thirdly, that we would be able to find someone in the community who speaks English and Tongan very well that would be willing to tutor us so that we may learn more Tongan and therefore be able to communicate with more people here.

Thank you all so much. I wish you could all be here and see the amazing things God is teaching us and doing in the people of Zambia.

By His Grace & For His Glory,
Abbie Morehead