Celebrating 1 Month (03/12/08)

Well, we’ve now been in Zambia for a month, but it feels like much longer. A lot has happened over the last 30+ days and God has taught us a lot in just this short period of time (our kids included). We thought this would be a good time to summarize some of the things we’ve learned, seen, missed & enjoyed.

Things we have learned: 

• In Africa, things take time. Plan on getting one task done in a day instead of four or five.
  
• Our knowledge of the culture and language is small
  
• How to say various greetings and phrases in Nyanja.
  
• How to eat Nshima
  
• How to drive on the left side of the road while shifting gears with the left hand.
  
• Living without a TV—what a blessing!!!
  

Things We Have Seen: 

• Our children change from not wanting to come here to thanking God in prayer for bringing us here.
  
• Suffering: Families who have lost their homes to excessive amounts of rain this year, a son who lost his mother in a robbery and now lives with his aunt and uncle, various everyday people who are struggling to make ends meet. 
  
• Critters: A chameleon, a snake, Rats, Extremely Large Snails, Geckos, Spiders (large and small), frogs. Our daughter has gone from crying in fear at the site of such things to trying to catch them all (Spiders, Snakes & Rats excluded of course).
  

Things we have missed: 

• Our friends and family. We miss being able to goof off with our buddies and hanging out with our parents whenever we want.
  
• A Vehicle to drive. Even though our van was one of the worst vehicles we ever owned, it did work. Here, we’re walking or taking minibuses everywhere.
  
• Dining out—Zaxby’s, Grecian Gardens, Chili’s, San Jose, etc…
  
• Our Dryer (Still don’t have one)
  
• A Dishwasher, our hands are getting tired and skin is drying out from the bleach.
  

Things we have enjoyed: 

• Family Time (Devotions, Games, Playing outside). This has been a welcome change.
• Learning the language and culture—though we don’t know a lot, it has been fun learning the little we have learned.
  
• Building relationships with Zambians—very friendly people who are relationship focused.
  
• Building relationships with other missionaries. We’ve been blessed with a good group of believers who have treated us like family.