Sapita Guest Post

Well Hello All,

It is the baby sister of Beth. I have been in Zambia for about one and a half days now and it has been wonderful! To back track a little bit my travels went very smoothly, and I even ran into an old friend from Young Life Summer-Staff on the same flight from South Africa to Zambia (such a God moment because that was the main part of my travels that I was nervous about, PTL.) After I had a very warm welcome from Beth and the whole Nelson-clan at the airport we headed to the crocodile farm in the big ole' Special Hope truck. There we looked at some of the most-deadly snakes in Africa (terrifying), a guinea pig that was not there by the end of our trip (snakes, guinea pigs...the circle of life ya dig?), and crocodiles right at feeding time. The crocodiles were eating rotten chickens that were donated by a local farm. At one point a chicken literally exploded the minute it hit the crocodile's teeth shooting organs, blood, and feathers everywhere. CRIKEY, it was a sight. Then we had a lovely snack and headed home. As many of you know us sapis very well, I immediately fell asleep in the car. Then a lovely evening at home watching casino royale, well for me sleeping through casino royale waking up only to the sound of "em, do you want a cookie?"

This morning we woke up, ate muffins (MU-FFIN), then headed out for the day. We ran a few errands then went for some serious special hope-ness. We met Nancy, a very helpful translator, who knew of some families that had children with disabilities. She took us to Joseph who was an 18 year old boy who was not able to walk and had cognitive disabilities. It was very exciting to see Eric, Holly, Beth, Sam, Maggie, and Mollie do the work that God has sent them here to do. Holly and Eric asked all the important questions to the mother, Beth snapped some pictures and helped with Maggie and Mollie, Sam was his ever-so-friendly self with Joseph, and I somewhat sat back and took it all in.

Then we headed to another family who had a sweet 13 year old boy who really didn't talk much. The Special Hope team did their magic once again and we were then off to Nancy's house to visit. As we walked into her house there was possibly the cutest baby ever named Loti. I held him the whole time we were there and it soon got late so we had to go home. While dinner was being made Eric asked me a few questions to get my marketing-mind going-"how would you market Special Hope?" We chatted it out a little and right now here is who I have on my list to email, as the Special Hope Research Intern: The Passion 2011 conference for the "Do Something Now" campaign, Sarah Palin, Watoto organization in Uganda, and George Foreman (to sell a Special Hope edition of a George Foreman grill. Any others you can think of?

Sapi-Doo-Hondra

Tomorrow, my sister arrives for a two-week visit...WOOOHOOO! There is no one in the world quite like my Sapi (the nickname we gave each other- well, the one my mom gave us a long time ago, I brought back, then Emily stole, then Sam modified with the Doo-Hondra at the end), and I am so excited to share with her this crazy life I currently live. Pray for our time together, would you? Pictures to come, I'm sure, but for now, here are some random ones of us from days past...


Sapis at the C-Ville City Market (oh how I miss you)













Sapis at Graduation















Sapis in Charleston




















Sapis take an intense walk down Avon St (thanks to Dad-O for all the hair).

"You are now a Zambian Woman!"

My friend Nancy may have said this to me today, but I assure you I am not actually a Zambian woman. Compared to Zambian women, I am an absolutely non-skilled, lame excuse for a woman. Here's how I found this to be true-

Nancy (our language/culture tutor extraordinaire, not to mention one of our closest Zambian friends) gave me a cooking lesson today. Now, a lot of you American friends know that I consider myself not-too-shabby when it comes to kitchen skills. The cooking lesson I received today, however, was filled with tips never to be found on Epicurious.com nor Martha Stewart's Everyday Food blog- since neither seem to be catering to an impoverished African audience.

While I was at her house, Ba Nance showed me how to light a fire on the mbaula (small brassier), using small sticks and malasha (wood charcoal). Then, moving into the kitchen (dangerous, right?), we started on the process of making nshima- the staple Zambian dish made of unga (cornmeal, known as mealie meal). Here are some pics from the process...

Mollie and I, eager to learn/eat.


Step 1: Put cornmeal through a sieve to remove unwanted bugs (as opposed to the ones you cook and serve atop the nshima when it's done). Then, add boiling water.


Step 2: Bring porridge to a boil over charcoal, and let it cook "until you know it's done." How do you know it's done? "You just know." Once it's done, you add more unga, and stir in a very particular way (which I never got right), until it has a much thicker consistency.


Step 3: Dip spoon in hot water and then scoop the cooked nshima into portions. Serve with ndiyo (relish of choice), then eat by using your right hand to make nshima and ndiyo into bite-size little balls.

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My first guided-attempt at nshima was, indeed, a success. Even Moses (Nancy's son, in the picture), gave me a head nod of approval after eating his portion. So, I could have accepted Nancy's praise, and maybe even agreed with her calling me a "Zambian woman now!" I cannot, however, because of the following two reasons:

1. In the process of heating up the porridge, Ba Nance used her bare hands to remove the lid of the pot, touch the handle of the pot, and re-situate the charcoal pieces. May I remind you that all of these items were BURNING HOT- and she acted like "it was no problem." I tried to do what she did, and instantly had to pull my hand away. The entire family playfully laughed at me because I couldn't do it.

2. I could not bring myself to eat the portion of ndiyo I was given with my nshima. Like I said, ndiyo is a relish of choice- and apparently, today was the day Ba Nance chose to serve us kidneys. I took one bite, and could not stop the gag-reflex that followed. Luckily, I don't think Ba Nance saw.

Unfortunately, I have already discovered and will probably continue to discover many more reasons why I am not actually a Zambian woman, and be humbled all over again. And again. And then, probably again.

For now, I will thank God for this particular woman, Nancy, and for all the women like her that I have gotten to know. What a privilege for me to spend time with them, visit their homes, and just to be their friend. I pray they continue to be patient with me as I learn from them all about this wonderful place called Zambia.

Why it's Worth It

Of course, the day after I write about being frustrated with all the paperwork, etc- I would get to go to this place-

The Chelstone Clinic














...and get to meet this little guy-


Francis.




















Is he not the most precious little man you have ever seen? He is 8 months old, and his mother found out he had Down syndrome 3 weeks ago. The volunteer physiotherapist at the clinic (where I was today) told her, since other doctors had never noticed before. We were so excited to meet this little guy, and look forward to more conversations with his parents in the future.

I do declare- I will stand in as many lines, wait in as many offices, stick in as much traffic, and attempt to get as much done as possible if it leads to more mornings with kids like Francis.

Life as a Modern Missionary

I wish I could say it's just like the biographies I read while preparing to come here. I wish I could say it's right out of the pages of Amy Carmichael's, Jim Elliot's, David Brainerd's, or Hudson Taylor's writings. I wish I could, but I can't...

There are some similarities- learning a new language, adapting to a new culture, feeling sick a lot of the time. Those things are still a part of it, but overall, I am coming to understand that the life of a modern missionary is quite different than those lived by missionaries of the past.

This week, for example, I have gotten to spend very little time with the children I actually came here to serve. Instead, I have stood in lines, waited in offices, gotten stuck in downtown traffic, and failed at a lot of attempts to get things done. So much of me gets easily frustrated when I lay down to sleep at night without having held a single orphan that day- and so I find myself wrestling with God about how much of my time is spent doing paperwork, errands, and administration. "This is not why I came here! I am here to care for orphans, and so my time should be spent doing just that!"

Problem is, I don't actually get to care for orphans if I don't stand in the lines, wait in the offices, stick in the traffic, and attempt to get things done. Those are necessary parts of the initial work of Special Hope Network here in Zambia. And in order for me to be faithful to that which God has called me to do- I must be patient during this time.

What has me encouraged, however, is the way patience seemingly pays off here in Lusaka. About two months ago, we walked into the Toyota dealership and bought a Land Cruiser. Since then, we have probably been back to Toyota about 25 times, and gone to visit most of the Zambian government buildings in this city in order to be able to actually take the car home with us. I cannot tell you how frustrating this process has been- but today, we finally got to drive away from Toyota with the truck. It was incredibly exciting, and a big milestone for Special Hope.

Probably not something that the old missionaries celebrated- but we, as modern missionaries, celebrate indeed God's providing this car, and it finally making its way through all the red-tape and into our driveway.

Officially Legal!

It's official, people. My employment permit came through on Friday! Now is when the real fun/work begins...

My Hope for This Year

For the past several years on my birthday, I have prayed a specific prayer asking the Lord to give me vision for the next year of this life. This morning, as I again prayed that prayer and turned to my daily Bible reading, I came across this verse, and found it to stir the depths of my heart in hope for my 23rd year-

"...even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many."
Matthew 20:28

The ultimate hope of my heart is that I would become more and more like Jesus as my years continue on. I pray that this year, the Lord would allow me to become more like Him in the way He gave His life away for others. Right now, there are thousands of children with intellectual disabilities living right around me- in the compound right down the road from my house, and all around this city. Their own hope has been kidnapped, captured, imprisoned by circumstances of poverty, neglect, and oppression- the reality is that most of them will not be alive when I celebrate my 24th birthday next July.

My hope is that this year, my life would be given daily to see that these circumstances are changed; that my life would actually serve to pay the ransom demanded for their release. O that God would give me grace this year to be the one who loves those who can't love at all; the one to give hope to those who have no hope at all; the one to stand for those who can't stand at all (to steal lyrics from Jon Foreman). And O, that He would increase all the more in glory, blessing, honor, and praise forever and evermore.

Stuff

Tonight is our first night in our new house. Since I will be living here for a while (as opposed to moving about, as we have done for the past several months) I am having to really wrestle with what it means to put down physical roots- meaning, how do i deal with acquiring 'stuff?'

It was easier when I was leaving Charlottesville to obey Jesus's command to 'sell all that [I] have and give to the poor'(Mark 10:21)- getting rid of stuff was a natural part of my moving to Africa, since I had no desire to cart it all with me. During the 'in between' phase, when I was living out of a suitcase (technically 3) for several months, it was still easy to feel as if I had checked that one off my faith to-do list.

But now, in moving into the new house, I am faced with the reality of 'needing' stuff again...if that's possible. I gurantee you I'm not actually doing a good job with figuring it out- but I am really asking the Lord to give me a different heart than I had have had in the past in order that I may do things differently than I have in the past.

Practically, I am trying to ask questions like 'how would having this particular 'thing' allow me to be more faithful?' So for example, in buying furniture for my room; do I buy a desk? It seems it would allow me to better study, which I am called to do so that I may know God and His Word, in order that I may be more useful in teaching and encouraging others- so it seems like that may be a good idea. What about a reading chair- will it allow me to be more faithful in my reading, or it is extravagant, as i can simply read in a regular chair- seems like a not so good idea.

The overarching question remains however; what if I am asking these questions in order to simply justify having more 'stuff?' It allows me to say 'oh, I really wrestled with that,' and somehow that sounds enough like holiness to count for obedience.

Problem is, scripture doesn't seem to count wrestling as 'good enough.' Questions don't mean anything unless my asking them actually leads to my acting in obedience of God's commands. Wrestling in itself does not count for much in the end...it is how I act that will be counted for me and against me. So would you pray with me, that God would give me grace indeed to trust and obey; that in my actions (and particularly the stuff I have), I may be counted worthy of the calling to love Him and others as myself.