Another Day

Maybe because it was Friday the 13th , or because I slept half the night in a chair, half in bed with Myron and didn’t get up to have quiet time with God this morning…I don’t know, guess the overall day could have been better. You know, it’s not that it is hard to clean up for open houses and showings, it’s just the then keeping it clean, with 6 kids! Needless to say, I did a lot of yelling today! Come on-just give me a couple of hours! So, I am SOOOO ready for our house to sell, I am not even worried about finding somewhere else to live for a while, I just want it to sell! So please pray for that end! Our realtor called tonight, he has one couple coming tomorrow for what would be a “regular” showing, another realtor called to do the same, and it’s an open house. So hopefully we can get something written up soon! Our guy also hasn’t heard back from the couple that looked last week to see what they decided. So PLEASE PRAY!

Our container has left Spain and is on its way to Salalah, Oman in the Persian Gulf. It is scheduled to be there on 6/21 and from there to Tanzania on 6/25. Since Brian is still in Zambia, he’s going to be contacting the trucker/shipper in Tanzania. Please pray that goes well-that they understand each other clearly, that he will know how/who to pay customs (if we have to), that it can be arranged to get out to the school quickly. God can still work miracles and Brian could at least see that it’s to the school and locked up before he leaves. He is also going into town on Monday; one of the things to do is get his work permit. He only has a day or two left on his visa, so he’s got to at least get that changed. Pray he can get the actual permit on Monday, and not the run around.

His parents left today, about 6 am our time and then travel until 4 pm our time tomorrow afternoon. The worst part will probably be the layover in Washington DC. I hear it is not a great airport and it’s only a few hour delay-not long enough to go anywhere, but too long to want to stay there when you only have one flight left! It seems it was pretty hard to leave. I know Wendell would have loved to see the walls go up, and I think Carole was having a pretty good time with the ladies. Such a laid back, enjoyable style of life. Brian actually prefers it when the American teams aren’t there-it’s so much more peaceful in the evenings-but don’t tell anyone! :-) Brian is loving the pictures the kids sent him, and the kids there are excited to have our kids coming. Sounds like there are kids from 11 and down regularly at or near the school. I am sure when Brian’s parents gets back I will have TOO MANY photos to choose from! And all the workers love pictures. You try to take a picture with just one…and end up with a half dozen!

Carole tried her hand at washing some of their clothes with the ladies too. I guess her palms got a little bruised and her fingers were bleeding. Takes a bit to get used to I am sure!

A few posts back I wrote about how honest some of the workers guys have been. Well, that only goes so far with some. Seems a couple stole something. Paul offered a reward if it was found, well, these 2 guys knew right where it was. So Brian’s reward for them was a free pass. This would never happen again or they would be gone for good. They know Brian and Paul are the boss and they don’t want to lose their jobs or disappoint.

The Gospelink Zambia Board meet a week or two ago. One of the national pastors that was going to come and teach, now isn’t. That’s about all Brian knew about how that went.

Brian says it is pretty interesting to hear what the Americans think of our house. Half think it is just too big-apparently when you are a missionary you are suppose to live in poverty. Most of the Africans love the layout and have no problem with the plans. We will never be able to be 100% African, and we will probably never again be 100% American. The Africans love it when you try to learn their language, eat like them, some of those small things; but let’s face it: they know we are not African just as much as they do. They don’t expect us to be. We can learn the culture, but we won’t be able to (nor want to) follow it completely, and they don’t expect it. Yes, we are going to have someone help with the cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Sorry folks, this is not a “colonist” thing. It is a practical thing, number one, as hand washing seven people’s clothes, making food from scratch over charcoal, home schooling, etc. just would take too much time for me and the kids. We may have a guy help with yard work-to help keep the snakes away! Again, this is expected from the Africans. Not just locally with the villagers, but nationally, if you are coming to do work in most African nations, they expect you to hire nationals in some capacity. It is very easy to take a quick look, see what you want and leave and question. But we are learning and understanding the culture and learning what is expected, what to do, what not to do.

One of the trucks is in bad shape. Apparently the air filter was plugged, then got a hole in the air line, which then sucked dirt into the motor. Not good.

The foundation is all set up, and they were planning on pouring the floor today and tomorrow, and Monday if need be. We’re praying they can get it done in two days instead of three. All of the plumbing lines are in. Wendell had been working on the backhoe for the past couple days-Lewis had him filling all over. Now Brian is the only one there who runs the backhoe, unless someone on one of the other teams can do it. Hopefully there will be at least one person so that Brian can focus on our house. Lewis had told the group 2 weeks ago that our house would be priority now, so let’s hope (and pray) that will still be able to happen.

Abel, who is around the same age as Alfred, has also said he will be Brian’s dad when Wendell is gone. So neat and encouraging. Such a level of respect there for elders; Africans would often give up there seats around the fire for Wendell & Carole.

At one of the closing sessions Henry asked Wendell to pray, but he didn’t hear him. So he just sat, finally Carole told him; I guess Henry had a good laugh.

Apparently while the group had church last week at Victoria Falls, someone got baptized up on the ledge. How cool would that be! I have seen pictures in the National Geographic of people swimming right next to the edge-there are little eight foot deep pools that form when the water is down. I just can’t imagine it this year with all the rain they got!

Seems the weather changed over night-now very cold and windy. Oh well, guess it is winter!

Brian says he is starting to pick up some of the Chiyanja. Often he’ll catch something and tell the guys to quit talking about him. They just laugh. Believe it or not, as weird as it sounds, I am looking forward to just doing a lot of laughing. I will obviously have to learn to laugh at myself more, but the people there just seem to love to laugh and love life. So different than here it seems.

Brian still has not himself seen any snakes. Henry killed a cobra in Lucy’s garden before any teams came and they killed a black mamba down by the river. It was 2-3 feet long and 2 inches or so thick-so just a little thing.

I told you Brian was playing doctor some. He told Lucy she had to stay off her feet and soak them-even told the other ladies so they would keep her out of trouble. So he went to check on her, and sure enough she was soaking her feet-she just laughed and said, “Yes I am soaking!”

Another of the main cultural things to learn is about the need for privacy. Africans can have privacy with 30 people around. To them, it’s about a mental privacy, even though it isn’t physical. Westerners seem to very much need the physical space as well as mental. Another missionary in Zambia also commented on this; Africans who have been in the West at some point seem to understand it some, but if they haven’t it’s hard for them to understand. Last week neither Paul nor Brian went to church, just needing some alone time. I am not sure the people there understood completely, but they respected it. I think this may be easier for guys. Brian says some nights there can be 8 guys at the fire all working on their own thing, no talking needed. If there were women there-can you imagine? We can’t have silence you know! :-)

Continue to pray for Paul’s decision. Pray for relationships there as well. It’s already been a month or longer that these guys (not just Paul & Brian, but some of the others) have been together, pretty much 24-7. Brian has had to do a little apologizing for some things that have come out in the heat of the moment. Pray for discernment for them all in speech; wisdom in knowing when to say something, and when to let it go; humility to ask forgiveness when needed; responsibility for everyone to do their part.

I had a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday. I thought I was doing pretty good this month-but am still packing on the pounds. During the mid point I seem to do that with all the kids. Oh well, I just can’t get into the mindset of worrying about that, or I will become consumed and that wouldn’t be good. My doctor isn’t worried about it, so I am not. I gained 60 pounds with Hailey, but 40 is my average. I’ve always lost it all, so oh well. We were able to schedule my next ultrasound on the day after Brian gets back, so that’s good. He enjoys the times when I am pregnant, so he’s missed out on a lot, but he’ll at least be able to see this again. I still can’t believe I just typed that stuff about my weight. Oh well-I will pretend I am already in Africa where it is a compliment when they tell you that you are getting so fat!