December 2006 Newsletter
Liberty Baptist Preschool
Preschool is on a break in December. The Zambian school year starts in January so very soon we will be starting the new year. There were several new students last year and a number of students will be going on to first grade this year. Many of them are too young for school, but the teachers have accepted them because they are mature enough to start. It has been a joy for me to see the way God has worked in the lives of these children as they have attended preschool over the years. I will miss them, but I'm glad that they are doing well and I'm excited for the new students that will be coming.
<-Some of my Pre-School Students
Liberty Independent Baptist Church
The church, Liberty Independent Baptist church, which I attend here in Kalulushi has been allocated a plot by the city council. We have been meeting in a school classroom since the church started 3 years ago. The council plans to expand Kalulushi and has started allocating plots of land for churches, schools, shops, and houses. My pastor, Frazer Kane, worked very hard to see that Liberty was allocated one of the church plots, but every time his efforts fell short. We prayed daily for God to provide the way for the church to get a plot. Praise God, our prayers were answered a couple months ago. Everyone is very excited for the land and we have gone several times to clear the land which is about the size of a softball diamond. Three weeks ago, the council changed their mind about how to lay out the plots so again we are waiting to see if the location will change. Although we've already done a lot of work on the first plot, everyone is still excited because they know that God will put us in the exact right place.
This last Sunday we had baptism. The church service started an hour early so that we would have extra time for baptism. When the service was over, we all headed for a place with water about 5 miles away. It was exciting as the choir sang the whole way to the water hole. We reached the place which was more or less a drainage ditch for all the rain water. But it was a clean kind of ditch. It is not easy to find good places for baptism near Kalulushi. Fifteen people were baptized with much rejoicing and excitement. I always enjoy watching the people after they have been baptized. Their faces are so full of joy. It is not easy for many of them to be baptized as many Zambians fear water. I know several of those baptized were very afraid, but they wanted to show their obedience to God. The ride back to the church was even more exciting that the ride there. When we arrived at the church, we partook in the Lord's Supper. They could not find small cups for the drink so Pastor Frazer Kane asked people to give their small medicine measuring cups. Although many people contributed their cups, we had to take the Lord's Supper twice for everyone to be able to participate.
I took this picture of Teresa being Baptized->
Liberty Women
Although I do not have any direct responsibility with the ladies in the church, I like to spend as much time with them as I can. I work with most of their children in preschool or Sunday School. I've realized that you cannot have a influence with the children without it also impacting their mothers. I have been teaching at the ladies meetings for the last few weeks. God laid it on my heart to emphasize on "Trusting God". After I teach, the ladies always have questions for me. They all decided that they were struggling with trusting God to take care of situations. They admitted to always rushing to do things their own way, but that their efforts always failed. They purposed to start trusting in God to see what He would do. I was surprised a couple days later. I was walking with many of the ladies when a man started shouting at them. I expected them to start shouting back and arguing as they always did in the past, but instead they all started saying, "Let's leave this in God's hands." I was so excited to see them applying God's Word to their daily lives.
The ladies all came to my house a few days ago for a gift exchange. It was something that they put together, but they needed a place to hold it. I offered my house for the occasion. Fifteen ladies came and we had a really enjoyable time. They each had a certain "friend" that they bought a gift for. They made a big production as each person received their gift. To people who rarely get gifts, this was a very happy and special occasion. We made a big feast of chicken and rice. Of course, I started playing with their children as usual. It was a good time had by all.
God's protection in sickness
We were at the plot working a couple of weeks ago. It is a 45 minute walk from my house. Clara and I walked there with no problem. I'm used to walking a lot so I felt fine. We were at the plot for a while when they realized that they needed to buy sugar for the drinks. I'm not exactly gifted with a hoe, or at least I don't have nearly as much experience as everyone else, so I volunteered to go buy the sugar. I started walking towards the market. I had been walking for about 10 minutes when I started getting very dizzy. Everything soon went black. I could only see a small bit and that was distorted. I was stumbling along when people started asking me if I was ok. I didn't want to appear helpless so I just said I was ok. I realized that I was near to the house of Lacky's grandparents. Lacky is a 4 year old boy in my preschool. His father died in September and I attended his funeral. Although I didn't really know Lacky's grandparents, I knew that they would recognize me from the funeral as Lacky's teacher. I also knew that they had a small bench outside of their house. I sat on the bench and soon realized that I was in worse shape than I had originally thought. The back of my head was pounding, and I was drenched with sweat although the temperature was mild. Someone at the house noticed me sitting on the bench and asked me to come in. I couldn't make it into the house, but managed to get into a chair outside. I don't know how long I sat there before I gathered myself together enough to call Clara. I quickly explained the situation to her. She thought that I was just tired so she sent a couple guys with bicycles to carry me home. While I was waiting for them to come, Lacky's grandmother sent her daughter to get some aspirin for me. I also had her buy a Coke for me because I thought that perhaps I was just dehydrated. When the guys arrived with bicycles, I realized that I was not improving so I asked them to take me to the clinic One took me to the clinic while the other went to tell Clara what was happening. Clara must have run once she heard that I went to the clinic because she was there almost immediately. She came with another lady in the church, Mrs. Banda. They sat with me while I waited to see the doctor. Clinics in Zambia are a very good place to practice patience. Nobody is in a hurry and there are numerous patients all waiting to see one of 2 doctors. We were there for about 90 minutes when I saw the doctor. I was told to get a malaria test, which ended up being negative. I then waited the see the other doctor. He decided that I probably had a different form of malaria that what the test would detect. I was given Fansidar, malaria medicine, to start taking. Fansidar does a good job fighting malaria, but it also has a tendency to make the person temporarily crazy. I once was convinced that I had lost my leg while on Fansidar. This time I prayed quite bit before taking the medicine and God allowed me to have a quick recovery without any bouts of craziness. Although the clinic tests your patience, the doctors were very helpful and the price could not be beaten. I paid about 60 cents for the consultation fee, lab test, a notebook, and the medicine. I praise God for his protection over me during that time. He sent all the right people in my path to help me through that difficult ordeal.
Around Home
Clara, the lady from the church that stays with me, is doing fine and greets you all. We have been privileged to have Clara's sister, Yvonne (16), and niece, Mwitwa (4), with us for the last couple of weeks. Yvonne has always been interested in me and always had a million questions ready for Clara whenever Clara visited her home. I told Clara to invite Yvonne to come stay with us during the school break. It has been a real joy to have the girls here. Mwitwa had never tasted cake before so that inspired me to try to make a cake. My oven is smaller than most microwaves so I don't use it much, but I decided to try. Mwitwa helped me add all the ingredients and each step of the way she would ask if it was ready yet because she didn't even know what cake looked like. In the end, the cake turned out much better than expected and Mwitwa loved it. Mwitwa has also been helping with feeding the rabbits. I have 4 rabbits now and it is sometimes difficult finding enough food for them. Mwitwa followed me around as I would search for the weeds I knew the rabbits liked. I would grab the weeds and Mwitwa would just grab anything in sight. At least she was an eager helper. Yvonne has also been a big help around the house. It has been nice to have the house full of many voices. I'll be sorry to see them go.
Yvonne, Mwitwa, and Clara
My chickens are doing fine. We have 6 chicks and 2 more chickens are "expecting" any day. God has blessed so much with these chickens that I wanted to share a chicken with Morgan and Dorothy Lufunda, a lady from the church who often helps me. I told Morgan that he could catch a chicken for himself. He caught it and prepared to kill it. He had the knife in his hand, but couldn't bring himself to kill it because he had become attached to the chickens. In the end, he had to take the chicken home for someone else to kill. Dorothy sent her children to catch her chicken. We had a fun time chasing the chickens around the yard.
Clara and I have been catching a lot of bugs lately. At this time of year, the rainy season, flying termites come out at night and are attracted to the lights. Zambians enjoy eating this termite, so Clara and I keep catching them. They have large wings so they are awkward and easy to grab. After catching them, we have to de-wing them so they will be ready to eat. The funny thing is that Clara doesn't eat them and of course, I don't either. We just like to be able to give them to others. This is definitely a Zambian snack that is provided by God.
We had a snake in the yard the other day. Morgan, a young man from the church who helps me in the garden, came to tell Clara that he found a snake. Every once in a while, he will find a snake just a few inches long, but he said this one was much bigger. Clara boiled a pot of water for him to flush out the snake out of its hole. When it came out, Morgan killed it by throwing stones at it. It ended up being at least a couple feet long, but quite thin. He burned it in the end just to make sure it was definitely dead. It was definitely a good reminder that there are snakes slithering all around. I know that God must be watching over all of us.
<-Morgan Burning the Snake
I appreciate all of your prayers. Every day is a new challenge here and I know that I could not make it from day to day without all of your prayers. Please pray as the new school year will be starting soon. Also pray for my health. It is difficult to stay healthy as an expatriate. I would like to answer any questions you have in future newsletters. Please feel free to write me at Jenjt@zamtel.zm or at P.O. Box 260533, Kalulushi, Zambia. I am looking forward to hearing from you.
Praise Be To God,
Jennifer Townsend