As I just sat down to think and start typing, I just realized that it was only 2 days ago that our container got to the school. It feels like an eternity ago though, as it was such an ordeal and we’ve already gotten a bunch done and thought out and wow-just seems more like a week or two.
So Brian is leaving on 9-7 and coming back on 9-29. There is someone thinking about going with him, please pray that he will know for sure if they are to go (and quickly-it’s just a week away already!). It would be super helpful for Brian as he would be able to oversee what’s going on at the house if Brian had to go to town, etc. Heck they could be working on two completely different projects and get even more done! So please pray for that decision.
There is still a lot to be done on the house. And there is a lot to think about doing and getting before next week. It’s not as bad as when Bri first left in May; at least our house here doesn’t need a lot of work (by the way-keep praying that it sells!). But even more than last time, Brian doesn’t like the idea of leaving us. There is a lot of going-ons in his brain right now, and he is having trouble relaxing enough to sleep well at night, which of course for him leads to headaches. So please pray for rest for him, that he wouldn’t be worried about things he can’t take care of yet. I am sure I will come up with a prayer list for our prayer team soon and have more to add. For now, the main thing is rest. It’s hard to do anything when you don’t feel all that well.
We are also looking at tickets for our family to go over at the end of October. We got a flight schedule and price quote. Please pray that we will know the right time to “pull the trigger” and commit to the departure date.
We are very near our full support level. We are at the point where we need that last push to get over the top. Please pray for us as we best decide how to raise that last level of support. Pray that anyone who has been watching and reading our progress over the last year will now truly seek the Lord as to their involvement with our ministry. Our September newsletter is going to talk about this also, so please pray for discernment and wisdom, and being “diplomatic” in our words. We also have some churches that we are talking to about being monthly supporters-their budget year is coming up and we are asking them to consider adding us to their budget. Again, pray for wisdom in how to approach them this year.
You can also pray for our church home. The worship pastor just resigned, so they will be without a full time worship leader for awhile. There are many, many qualified and gifted people who will be able to fill in while they search for another leader, but transition and change are always hard. There are always hurt feelings and rumors and the enemy creeping in to try to destroy. But even in the hard times, God still reigns!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
$2500, a passport, & ready to go?
Does that you describe you? This is what we have found out about Brian's trip-maybe you can go too!
airfare $2250
visa $140
Departure tax $25
Unforeseen African Misc ???
Looking at departing on 9-7 and back on 9-27. Could go with on 7th, come a week later, stay all three weeks, or only 2!
airfare $2250
visa $140
Departure tax $25
Unforeseen African Misc ???
Looking at departing on 9-7 and back on 9-27. Could go with on 7th, come a week later, stay all three weeks, or only 2!
PRAISE THE LORD!!!
If I knew how, right now you would be hearing the Hallelujah chorus!
Just talked to Henry, the container is unloaded, locked up, and waiting for Brian at the school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (All the exclamation points that could be possible!)
Just talked to Henry, the container is unloaded, locked up, and waiting for Brian at the school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (All the exclamation points that could be possible!)
a little-bitty update
Henry was just up so here I am checking emails again at 3 am.
Good news is I just got an email saying crane is going to office today, supposedly to head to school with trucker to offload. Sorry, no exclamation point as they haven't actually left the office yet, so I have now learned not to get too excited until it is actually done.
Yup, our first shot at business in Zambia has pretty much sucked. We had to get some of the higher-ups involved to get it done. I suppose we should have done that sooner, I don't know. I always hate doing that, as here in US, if you go over someone, they can actually make things worse for you. Brian says though, that over there, while they will try to get away with some things, once they are "caught" they don't react that way. They just then do what they are suppose to.
We just got flight info for Brian to go back to Zambia. He is looking at going on Sept. 7th. Yup, that is a week from Sunday. He would be back on Sept. 27th, the last Saturday of the month. Unfortunately, airfare has gone up quite a bit, as everyone knows. So any money we actually saved on the duty/customs costs, will probably get eaten up by the flight increases, and it's really too short of notice to get anyone to go back with him this time. So is life.
We are also going to need to pick a date for family departure to have a better shot at tickets-finding a flight for all 9 of us may be a little harder than for just one! And due to the distance and flight time factor, our options are limited. The price quote I got for flights was probably 5 months ago, so they are going to cost a lot more than we first planned. But we know God will handle all those details and costs as He has guided us through everything else so far.
So lots of things to do in the next week. Lots and lots to do in October! Still no offers on the house. Not sure how that will turn out. Maybe we're not suppose to sell the house before we go. It would sure be a lot more comfortable (for me!) if we did though. I suppose this is just more stretching and testing. We will try to look for renters when Brian gets back if we don't get any offers. Again, definitely not what I would prefer, but I don't always get to decide!
Good news is I just got an email saying crane is going to office today, supposedly to head to school with trucker to offload. Sorry, no exclamation point as they haven't actually left the office yet, so I have now learned not to get too excited until it is actually done.
Yup, our first shot at business in Zambia has pretty much sucked. We had to get some of the higher-ups involved to get it done. I suppose we should have done that sooner, I don't know. I always hate doing that, as here in US, if you go over someone, they can actually make things worse for you. Brian says though, that over there, while they will try to get away with some things, once they are "caught" they don't react that way. They just then do what they are suppose to.
We just got flight info for Brian to go back to Zambia. He is looking at going on Sept. 7th. Yup, that is a week from Sunday. He would be back on Sept. 27th, the last Saturday of the month. Unfortunately, airfare has gone up quite a bit, as everyone knows. So any money we actually saved on the duty/customs costs, will probably get eaten up by the flight increases, and it's really too short of notice to get anyone to go back with him this time. So is life.
We are also going to need to pick a date for family departure to have a better shot at tickets-finding a flight for all 9 of us may be a little harder than for just one! And due to the distance and flight time factor, our options are limited. The price quote I got for flights was probably 5 months ago, so they are going to cost a lot more than we first planned. But we know God will handle all those details and costs as He has guided us through everything else so far.
So lots of things to do in the next week. Lots and lots to do in October! Still no offers on the house. Not sure how that will turn out. Maybe we're not suppose to sell the house before we go. It would sure be a lot more comfortable (for me!) if we did though. I suppose this is just more stretching and testing. We will try to look for renters when Brian gets back if we don't get any offers. Again, definitely not what I would prefer, but I don't always get to decide!
Monday, August 25, 2008
trying to get it all figured out
Think doing business is bad here in the states? Trying doing it with a 7 hour time difference!! Luckily I got up at 6 am and checked the email. Our clearing agent on Saturday told us to arrange crane service; we said no, you are suppose to. Well, he didn't, so they were waiting around to hear from us. Up I got Brian and so began the phone calls and emails. You know, it's not like you are physically doing anything, but it's just draining! By 8 am we were just exhausted, and we weren't even done yet!
We got through to the crane. They can bring out tomorrow; if they get money. Well, money takes a while to transfer. We sent an email confirmation of wire, hopefully that will be good enough.
Oh-we also found out about some new fees that were enacted at the Tanzania port after August 1st. Well, our container didn't leave on 7/30 as they said, so we had to pay those too.
So, anyway we got the crane taken care of we believe. Well, then we got another email saying the driver was told that he couldn't leave Lusaka until we paid for 40 litres of fuel for the extra distance to the bible school (I think that comes out to around $80?). We were warned that this might happen. That wouldn't be so big of deal...if we were in Lusaka! Again, it's not like you can get money over in an hour! Even Western Union isn't that fast (well, actually they are, so we may have to look at that...)
So, it looks like we will be up at 11pm to who knows when trying to figure out this last bit of the puzzle. Please pray it gets straighten out tonight, so we can be done.
On another note, since the container will be there, Brian needs to start planning his return trip. He really doesn't like to leave us, but there really isn't a better way. We just don't think the transition would be good for all of us to just go over as a family and live in cabins until the house is done. I just don't think the kids and I would handle it all that well. So he would look to leave sometime around Sept. 6-7-8 and be back Sept 25-26-27. I don't know which days are cheapest to fly, so we are checking all that out.
This of course is short notice then for anyone to go over with him unfortunately, hence 3 weeks instead of 2. But who knows-maybe someone out there could go for the last 2 weeks?
We got through to the crane. They can bring out tomorrow; if they get money. Well, money takes a while to transfer. We sent an email confirmation of wire, hopefully that will be good enough.
Oh-we also found out about some new fees that were enacted at the Tanzania port after August 1st. Well, our container didn't leave on 7/30 as they said, so we had to pay those too.
So, anyway we got the crane taken care of we believe. Well, then we got another email saying the driver was told that he couldn't leave Lusaka until we paid for 40 litres of fuel for the extra distance to the bible school (I think that comes out to around $80?). We were warned that this might happen. That wouldn't be so big of deal...if we were in Lusaka! Again, it's not like you can get money over in an hour! Even Western Union isn't that fast (well, actually they are, so we may have to look at that...)
So, it looks like we will be up at 11pm to who knows when trying to figure out this last bit of the puzzle. Please pray it gets straighten out tonight, so we can be done.
On another note, since the container will be there, Brian needs to start planning his return trip. He really doesn't like to leave us, but there really isn't a better way. We just don't think the transition would be good for all of us to just go over as a family and live in cabins until the house is done. I just don't think the kids and I would handle it all that well. So he would look to leave sometime around Sept. 6-7-8 and be back Sept 25-26-27. I don't know which days are cheapest to fly, so we are checking all that out.
This of course is short notice then for anyone to go over with him unfortunately, hence 3 weeks instead of 2. But who knows-maybe someone out there could go for the last 2 weeks?
Saturday, August 23, 2008
news!!!
Our container cleared the border!! Duty free!!! We got the new residents rebate, no questions asked!!! PRAISE THE LORD is all we can say!! (Sorry, I don’t follow the exclamation point rules!) We were told today that there is a possibility (we'll see) to offload at the school on MONDAY-like 2 days from now! WOOHOO!
Just one real last “detail” to figure out-we need to arrange the crane to be at the school, and pay them. This crane service has been to the school twice before, so we know about how long it should take to get there and they know where to go-it is just to get the driver and the crane there at the same time. So please pray HARD for just a few more days!
We also received word the other day that the Zambian President died last week. Here are a few things we have found out (thanks K.R. & D.M. for the info!)-
-Pres. Mwanawasa was a godly and righteous man and a wonderful president and the nation is mourning right now. We have 21 days of mourning and the radios and television will not play anything but Christian music or preaching during this entire time out of respect to his memory. He was born again a couple of years ago and was a member of one of our Baptist churches in Lusaka. He was the real deal... several people who were involved in discipling him. He was greatly loved by all and will be missed by all. As far as the future is concerned, they will have another election 90 days after his burial on September 3rd and then it is all up for grabs. People are mourning and we are going through an extended state funeral process... not many people are thinking too far beyond today.
-We were told that the President’s body had to travel to each of the provinces before the funeral. Part of this may be because some areas are remote enough that they may not even know he had died yet. No radio, no TV., so no real forms of communication.
-When Brian was there this summer, he noticed that every business had a picture of the President at the back of the store. He wasn’t sure if this was customary for all presidents, or a testament to Pres. Mwanawasa. When the President first had his stroke and it was announced he died, Brian said the national pastors were visibly upset about his passing (which ended up not being true at that time).
Just one real last “detail” to figure out-we need to arrange the crane to be at the school, and pay them. This crane service has been to the school twice before, so we know about how long it should take to get there and they know where to go-it is just to get the driver and the crane there at the same time. So please pray HARD for just a few more days!
We also received word the other day that the Zambian President died last week. Here are a few things we have found out (thanks K.R. & D.M. for the info!)-
-Pres. Mwanawasa was a godly and righteous man and a wonderful president and the nation is mourning right now. We have 21 days of mourning and the radios and television will not play anything but Christian music or preaching during this entire time out of respect to his memory. He was born again a couple of years ago and was a member of one of our Baptist churches in Lusaka. He was the real deal... several people who were involved in discipling him. He was greatly loved by all and will be missed by all. As far as the future is concerned, they will have another election 90 days after his burial on September 3rd and then it is all up for grabs. People are mourning and we are going through an extended state funeral process... not many people are thinking too far beyond today.
-We were told that the President’s body had to travel to each of the provinces before the funeral. Part of this may be because some areas are remote enough that they may not even know he had died yet. No radio, no TV., so no real forms of communication.
-When Brian was there this summer, he noticed that every business had a picture of the President at the back of the store. He wasn’t sure if this was customary for all presidents, or a testament to Pres. Mwanawasa. When the President first had his stroke and it was announced he died, Brian said the national pastors were visibly upset about his passing (which ended up not being true at that time).
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Saturday, August 16, 2008
a baby story (the short version)
About 9:50 pm I heard and felt a pop near my belly button as I was lying in bed. Not knowing what it was, I laid there for a few minutes. Three minutes and two contractions later I got up to go to the bathroom. Yup, that was my water that broke. I called for Brian three times (he was half-asleep downstairs). Grandma Judi came over and we were off to the hospital. We got there about 10:10 pm as I hit “transition”, my cervix dilating as they checked me. My doctor got there about 10:30-it’s suppose to be a 30 minute drive I think-she made it in about 20 praying, “please don’t let there be any deer, please don’t let there be any cops.” She knows I deliver fast. As we waited, everyone commented on my pretty toes (I had treated myself to a pedicure right before Brian came home and my nail art was still intact.)
I finally hit the green light to push about 10:50 or so. A handful of pushes later, he was there. Brian said the cord was somehow wrapped around his back, neck, and his body, so we had to hurry to get his shoulder out right away. Because he came so fast, his lungs were a little wet, but otherwise all was well. He was pretty cheesy looking. But definitely a Kallevig-a carbon copy of the last four at least. Really, unless your picture has a date or a name on it, you wouldn’t know who was who!
After he got cleaned a bit, he came back to me and happily ate for awhile. About 1 am I went to take a bath and Henry slept in the chair with daddy. They came and got him for his bath around 2:30 and we got to sleep until 5:00 before he came back to eat again, except he didn’t want to eat, so we slept a few more hours! Brian left to check with Grandma Carole and the kids about 7 am. Myron got up in the middle of the night to head to our bed, but once he found it was Grandma and not Mom & Dad, he went back to bed with Joe!
Brian brought the kids up to see us in the morning. Things went pretty well-Myron wasn’t overly interested in pictures and Henry, but everyone else was. When it was time to go, Hailey and Greta wanted to bring Henry home; didn’t know why he had to stay. Myron just wanted me to go with him! He cried all the way to the van. I guess later in the day Hailey and Greta wanted mom too. (So nice to be missed!)
There are many more funny stories and other details all women love to share, but since our readership is so diverse, I thought I’d spare you :-)
Friday, August 15, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
link to pictures and more
This is a link to Shalon's blog for the last two week trip this summer to Zambia.
Friday, August 8, 2008
HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY BRIAN!!
Happy birthday babe!!!
And now, a special song from Greta :-)
Happy birthday to you
happy birthday to you
you look like a monkey
and you smell like one too
(you can thank Grandpa Don for that one!)
Now, we get to have a counting lesson! 35 spanks-not sure if they little ones can count that high. Oh well, means they get to start over again! And the big girls can work on multiplying-if there are 7 of us in the family, and everyone gives 35 spanks....
some more pictures
Here are some more pictures of Brian. This first is right before he came back-and before he shaved.
This is Brian standing up cutting one of the asbestos pipes that he used for the pillars on the veranda. They then fill them with cement. And no, the thought of a face mask to cut the asbestos never crossed his mind!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
HIV/AIDS
A reality of where we are going. It is something like 1 in 10 are infected according to some reports.
I was asked the other day what I was going to do to protect my family. I don’t think I answered the question very well, so I’m going to try to do better here.
Have I ever been in contact with people who are infected? Yes, I would think so. Just looking at the numbers it would be almost impossible not to. Did I know it? No. I was asked once by a doctor how I was going to treat someone with AIDS. I just said, “Like I would anyone else”. Afterwards I thought about the question, I’m not sure if it was a medical or personal question. I took it as personally. I specifically remember last year doing ministry at the university hospital and asking myself, “Do I lay my hands on these people when I pray for them?” The answer had to be YES, for a number of reasons (just look at Scripture).
I was asked “How will you protect your family from AIDS?” Well, how do you protect your family here? What am I NOT going to do, is have my children live in a bubble. They will be out running around and playing with the area kids just like they do here. I don’t know who may be infected with HIV over here anymore than I can be certain of it over there.
How HIV is passed on: vaginal, oral or anal sex, injecting drugs from infected needles, blood transfusions, mother to child, tattoos/piercing health care settings (rare). Infected blood or sexual fluids entering your bloodstream in a sufficient quantity are the only ways to become infected.
You CANNOT get HIV from: kissing, sneezing, coughing, sharing drinks/cups, spitting, sharing musical instruments, swimming pools, toilet seats, public showers, insects, injections from sterile needles, protected sex.
So what am I going to do? Probably sounds like a copout but I’m going to trust God. No, I’m not going to be careless. But of course that can be point of discussion because often what I see as okay Kelly sees as dangerous.
What we will do is love the people the way Christ has commanded us to do no matter who they are or what they might have.
I was asked the other day what I was going to do to protect my family. I don’t think I answered the question very well, so I’m going to try to do better here.
Have I ever been in contact with people who are infected? Yes, I would think so. Just looking at the numbers it would be almost impossible not to. Did I know it? No. I was asked once by a doctor how I was going to treat someone with AIDS. I just said, “Like I would anyone else”. Afterwards I thought about the question, I’m not sure if it was a medical or personal question. I took it as personally. I specifically remember last year doing ministry at the university hospital and asking myself, “Do I lay my hands on these people when I pray for them?” The answer had to be YES, for a number of reasons (just look at Scripture).
I was asked “How will you protect your family from AIDS?” Well, how do you protect your family here? What am I NOT going to do, is have my children live in a bubble. They will be out running around and playing with the area kids just like they do here. I don’t know who may be infected with HIV over here anymore than I can be certain of it over there.
How HIV is passed on: vaginal, oral or anal sex, injecting drugs from infected needles, blood transfusions, mother to child, tattoos/piercing health care settings (rare). Infected blood or sexual fluids entering your bloodstream in a sufficient quantity are the only ways to become infected.
You CANNOT get HIV from: kissing, sneezing, coughing, sharing drinks/cups, spitting, sharing musical instruments, swimming pools, toilet seats, public showers, insects, injections from sterile needles, protected sex.
So what am I going to do? Probably sounds like a copout but I’m going to trust God. No, I’m not going to be careless. But of course that can be point of discussion because often what I see as okay Kelly sees as dangerous.
What we will do is love the people the way Christ has commanded us to do no matter who they are or what they might have.
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