Day by Day (by Day by Day)

Many of our friends back in the States have asked us what does your typical day/week look like. Well, this post is meant to describe just that…

Since arriving, the AZ team has been really good about giving us time to settle in. Everyone has pitched in and helped us with many things, from buying furniture, to transportation to and from various meetings, to simply praying for us and for that we are extremely thankful. We thought that once we got here, we would immediately be ready to plug into ministry, but we’ve had to learn to adjust to a non-western, non-task oriented way of thinking. In my mind, we had a checklist: arrive here, move into our home, buy a car, adjust to the culture and then begin ministry—and do this all within 2 weeks. That’s an acceptable amount of time don’t you think? (Maybe in the U.S.) In reality, it was more like arrive here, be broken of our dependence upon things other than God, slowly move into our home, wait on our vehicle to clear customs & wish buying a car wasn’t so difficult, realize just how much of a learning curve there is for this Zambian culture, and fall at the feet of God for help in learning how to live here. And this only took 5 weeks. 

So what about ministry? We have tried to get involved when and where we can (weekly visits to the Bryant Center orphanage, evangelism and outreach downtown, etc…), but there are a few other things that are vying for our attention in these first few months. Currently we are going through a 2-month orientation and language training program. We are meeting three times a week and studying the language on our own 7 days a week. I am also helping out at the office. The AZ office is trying to prepare for an audit and is in the process of switching accounting software. This means the entire fiscal year for 2007 must be reentered and reconciled. Because of my experience in business and accounting systems, I am now assisting the director of operations with this process. Kerri has resumed home-schooling the children, which takes up most of her mornings and early afternoons. This Thursday, she will be singing with two of our other missionaries in an Easter program. And next week she will begin attending a ladies bible study out at the Ministry Center. This study is lead by Liese Ripley and is attended by many Zambian women in the Kasupe community. All-in-all, we have a pretty busy schedule.

Please be in prayer for us. This Friday, after team prayer and worship, we are having a meeting with the field director. We will be discussing our ministry here in Zambia and how we can best assist the team. Our desire is to help the team the best that we can with the gifts and abilities that God has given us. So, please pray for wisdom and vision.