Click on the "View all", then "Slideshow" (at top right of photobucket page), then "full screen" at bottom right of slideshow page to see pictures with commentary.
Showing posts with label Zambia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Zambia. Show all posts
Monday, October 4, 2010
Slideshow from Zambia Mission Trip
Click on the "View all", then "Slideshow" (at top right of photobucket page), then "full screen" at bottom right of slideshow page to see pictures with commentary.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
More Zambia Mission Trip Pictures on Facebook
If you have a Facebook account, check out more pictures from the trip here:
Zambia Mission Team Pictures
Zambia Mission Team Pictures
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Kanyama Children’s Conference – part 1
We were blessed to be able to teach, serve, and play with around 350 children from the Kanyama compound while we were ministering in Lusaka. Kanyama is a slum made up of about 300,000 people living in about a 4 square-mile area. To put that in perspective, there are around 200,000 people living in Montgomery, Alabama, which is about a 156 square-mile area.
We spent four days teaching them about God’s word – that it is true, comforting, and surprising. We enjoyed teaching them new songs about how much God loves them and how his Word can guide their lives. We also enjoyed hearing them sing new songs for us:)
On Saturday, our last day in Kanyama, we celebrated by providing the children with a lunch of nshema, chicken and cabbage. When we finished, and counted our remaining plates, we learned we had fed 355 children.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Zambia team is home!
Just wanted to let everyone know we made it home safely and ON TIME this morning! We are all praising the Lord for a safe journey where we made all of our connecting flights and all of our luggage arrived with us. We will try to post some pictures and videos soon. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us -- God is so good!
The Team Has Arrived in DC
Received a text message from Will. The Zambia Team has arrived back into the US and are in DC. Just wanted to let everyone know.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Packed up and ready to return
We made it back to Lusaka (Alfred and Muumbe's home) last night after a long and adventure-filled trip from Livingston.
We left last Saturday afternoon (after our last day of Children's Conference where we fed 355 children nshima, chicken, and cabbage) for Monze, where we met back up with Craig and Alfred. They left Friday for Pilgrim Wesleyan Bible College in Jembo, where Craig was the speaker at their graduation (I will let him fill you all in on the details -- I am sure you all will hear much about our trip during sermons over the next month or so!).
We spent the night in Monze, then left Sunday morning for the Nkandela village. As soon as we arrived, Dan taught the adults a lesson while Will and I [with our wonderful interpreter, Mweembe (Muumbe's sister)] taught the children a lesson. Following the lessons, we all returned to the church building for the worship service. Craig shared the word while Will and I returned to the school for another lesson with the children.
After a nshima, chicken, goat, pork, and cabbage lunch meal provided by the ladies of the village, we walked to the old well where the village had to draw water before they received the new well in May. Then we all met together for a long presentation from various village leaders, school leaders, church leaders. We also enjoyed to sketches: one from the school children and one from the ladies of the village. They were quite entertaining once we understood what they were saying! We also took many photographs of the community and were able to print them out right there on site using the power from the bus battery. They were thrilled to see themselves in print:)
We left around 5:30 pm (or, as the Zambian's say, 1730 hours) to head to Choma for dinner and our lodging for the evening. We staying at a beautiful guest house run by a the Brethren in Christ. Our lovely hostess, Marian, is a sweet Mennonite lady from Pennsylvania. She took such good care of us:) We then hit the road for Livingstone, where we had lunch and checked into our inn before heading to Victoria Falls. On the way to the falls, we came up upon 7 elephants walking on the side of the road. It was such a treat. The falls are just indescribable. Hopefully, we will be able to download some photographs when we return and have faster internet connections. After the falls, we visited a game reserve and saw impalas, warthogs, giraffe, elephants, monkeys, water buffalo, and guineas (probably some more, too!). We ate dinner at a nicer restaurant and had a great time of fellowship with Alfred discussing his ministry and plan for the future. We look forward to sharing that with you all later.
We left Livingston yesterday (Tuesday) morning for what we were told was a 7 hour trip. Well, it took a little longer, due to a few unexpected surprises. One was when the brakes on our bus began to smoke and we were waved down by locals on the side of the road. Fortunately, we were able to get back on the road soon and just drove slower. Soon afterwards, we were stopped at a checkpoint because our bus did not have all the required stickers (strange, because we had made it through multiple checkpoints prior in the trip with no troubles). After Alfred did his magic, we were again on the road. We arrived around 1930 hours to a wonderful supper prepared by Muumbe using the new gas stove we purchased and installed for them -- because they had been without electricity for most of the day until right before we returned. We enjoyed chicken and potato salad before we all met for one last team meeting and debriefing with Alfred.
We are packed and waiting for the bus to load up and head to the Airport. Please keep us in your prayers over the next 30+ hours that we make all our connections and make it back to Montgomery at our scheduled time of 11:15 am Thursday.
Twalumba! (goodbye in Tonga)
We left last Saturday afternoon (after our last day of Children's Conference where we fed 355 children nshima, chicken, and cabbage) for Monze, where we met back up with Craig and Alfred. They left Friday for Pilgrim Wesleyan Bible College in Jembo, where Craig was the speaker at their graduation (I will let him fill you all in on the details -- I am sure you all will hear much about our trip during sermons over the next month or so!).
We spent the night in Monze, then left Sunday morning for the Nkandela village. As soon as we arrived, Dan taught the adults a lesson while Will and I [with our wonderful interpreter, Mweembe (Muumbe's sister)] taught the children a lesson. Following the lessons, we all returned to the church building for the worship service. Craig shared the word while Will and I returned to the school for another lesson with the children.
After a nshima, chicken, goat, pork, and cabbage lunch meal provided by the ladies of the village, we walked to the old well where the village had to draw water before they received the new well in May. Then we all met together for a long presentation from various village leaders, school leaders, church leaders. We also enjoyed to sketches: one from the school children and one from the ladies of the village. They were quite entertaining once we understood what they were saying! We also took many photographs of the community and were able to print them out right there on site using the power from the bus battery. They were thrilled to see themselves in print:)
We left around 5:30 pm (or, as the Zambian's say, 1730 hours) to head to Choma for dinner and our lodging for the evening. We staying at a beautiful guest house run by a the Brethren in Christ. Our lovely hostess, Marian, is a sweet Mennonite lady from Pennsylvania. She took such good care of us:) We then hit the road for Livingstone, where we had lunch and checked into our inn before heading to Victoria Falls. On the way to the falls, we came up upon 7 elephants walking on the side of the road. It was such a treat. The falls are just indescribable. Hopefully, we will be able to download some photographs when we return and have faster internet connections. After the falls, we visited a game reserve and saw impalas, warthogs, giraffe, elephants, monkeys, water buffalo, and guineas (probably some more, too!). We ate dinner at a nicer restaurant and had a great time of fellowship with Alfred discussing his ministry and plan for the future. We look forward to sharing that with you all later.
We left Livingston yesterday (Tuesday) morning for what we were told was a 7 hour trip. Well, it took a little longer, due to a few unexpected surprises. One was when the brakes on our bus began to smoke and we were waved down by locals on the side of the road. Fortunately, we were able to get back on the road soon and just drove slower. Soon afterwards, we were stopped at a checkpoint because our bus did not have all the required stickers (strange, because we had made it through multiple checkpoints prior in the trip with no troubles). After Alfred did his magic, we were again on the road. We arrived around 1930 hours to a wonderful supper prepared by Muumbe using the new gas stove we purchased and installed for them -- because they had been without electricity for most of the day until right before we returned. We enjoyed chicken and potato salad before we all met for one last team meeting and debriefing with Alfred.
We are packed and waiting for the bus to load up and head to the Airport. Please keep us in your prayers over the next 30+ hours that we make all our connections and make it back to Montgomery at our scheduled time of 11:15 am Thursday.
Twalumba! (goodbye in Tonga)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Kanyama Women's Conference
Today I was blessed to minister to about 20 women from the Kanyama Church Women's Group. God's message to them through me was on the power of prayer. I was assisted by Alfred's wife Muumbe who was my interpreter (speaking via an interpreter is interesting). After our session Carla and Carol helped each lady make a prayer necklace to remember us by. As the group leader Catherine was closing the session, she commented that the lesson today was a continuation of their study last week on (you guessed it) PRAYER! Is that God or what? I have truly been touched by the genuine kindness of the Zambian people.........
Sing to the Lord
This is from Will. What an awesome time we are having every day doing VBS! Unlike our VBS at Mulder, we are having morning and afternoon sessions. We start with the kids singing and then do our Bible point and the scripture for the day. Then Dan does the lesson and we do a craft. It has been so much fun to teach songs to children who don't know our language. Our interpreter, Mweembe, goes through the words and explains what we are singing. She loves to teach, so she doesn't just tell the words. She takes the time to teach the meaning. She's also great with classroom management/crowd control. We had over 225 kids this morning. Then we sing the songs in call and response/ echo form. They love the song 'Today is the Day'. They like to chant the wo, wo-o part especially. The children also like 'Power in the Blood' and 'Your Life Will Change'. Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear some choirs in two different churches. I got video footage of both so we can share the superb harmonies together. Can't wait for the kids to hear these groups at school either. Above all else, I love to see the joy on the children's faces as the sing. God's children are a joy anywhere in the world. Got to go get ready for the next craft.
In Christ,
Will
In Christ,
Will
trivia #1 answers
ANSWER 1: Scissors. Her mother's sewing scissors had made it through every other checkpoint up until Johannesburg. When they found them, she said she could not give them because they were sentimental. She was told to take it back to the ticketing counter to be a checked bag. Everyone else was rushing to our connecting plane because it was boarding and about to leave. A few of our group waited for her near the plane -- fortunately, she made it, but only with special assistance from a TSA agent. Ask Carla for details when we return:)
ANSWER 2: Dan. Upon checking in, Dan was whisked away for a check through TSA. We thought it might be because his name is on the no-fly list. Well, not HIS name, but someone else with his name. He had already received a redress number, so we thought all would be well. We began to wonder what to do when it seemed he would not return in time to board the plane. Fortunately, made it back right before boarding. He said that they told him it was totally "random" and had nothing to do with the other issue. Sure. Random:)
ANSWER 3: His neck pillow. But, he does not use it for his neck. Put it this way: the road we take several times daily has more potholes than you can even imagine. He decided to be creative. Use your imagination.
ANSWER 4: A Frog. A cute little toad was in the corner by the tub. We will post a picture later. Will was kind enough to release him to the wild -- out the window.
ANSWER 2: Dan. Upon checking in, Dan was whisked away for a check through TSA. We thought it might be because his name is on the no-fly list. Well, not HIS name, but someone else with his name. He had already received a redress number, so we thought all would be well. We began to wonder what to do when it seemed he would not return in time to board the plane. Fortunately, made it back right before boarding. He said that they told him it was totally "random" and had nothing to do with the other issue. Sure. Random:)
ANSWER 3: His neck pillow. But, he does not use it for his neck. Put it this way: the road we take several times daily has more potholes than you can even imagine. He decided to be creative. Use your imagination.
ANSWER 4: A Frog. A cute little toad was in the corner by the tub. We will post a picture later. Will was kind enough to release him to the wild -- out the window.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
travel trivia
1. QUESTION: What would Carla refuse to turn over to the security agents in Johannesburg, South Africa?
A. Crochet Hooks
B. A bottle of water
C. Scissors
D. A metal rat-tail comb
2. QUESTION: Who received special attention from the TSA agents while checking-in to our South African Air flight at Dulles Airport?
A. Carla
B. Bob
C. Craig
D. Dan
3. QUESTION: What does Will carry everywhere we go?
A. Chewing Gum
B. His Bible
C. His neck pillow
D. Anti-bacterial wipes
4. QUESTION: What did Sherri find in the bathroom?
A. A pot of coffee
B. A Frog
C. A Christmas Tree
D. A Lizard
Answers to come.
A. Crochet Hooks
B. A bottle of water
C. Scissors
D. A metal rat-tail comb
2. QUESTION: Who received special attention from the TSA agents while checking-in to our South African Air flight at Dulles Airport?
A. Carla
B. Bob
C. Craig
D. Dan
3. QUESTION: What does Will carry everywhere we go?
A. Chewing Gum
B. His Bible
C. His neck pillow
D. Anti-bacterial wipes
4. QUESTION: What did Sherri find in the bathroom?
A. A pot of coffee
B. A Frog
C. A Christmas Tree
D. A Lizard
Answers to come.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
In Zambia
Thanks to Lauren for sharing some of the information that we were able to text her using one of the global phones acquired by a few members of our team (thanks Carol and Sherri!). We thought we had the phones set up to post directly, but all attempts have failed.
Now that we have internet access (and I don't know how long it will be available) I wanted to download many of the great pictures we have taken since we began our journey Monday morning at the Montgomery Regional Airport, but... our internet access here is very slow and pictures just are not downloading. So, I will try to give you all an idea of the wonderful things we have been a part of so far.
Our flights went without delay, except for a brief thunderstorm at Dulles while we were on the tarmac awaiting our turn at departure. We did think we might lose Carla at one point, but God worked that all out, too. I will wait and let her fill you all in on that part of the adventure.
When we arrived in Zambia last night (20 minutes ahead of schedule!), we were met by Alfred and Muumbe Kalembo along with Muumbe's sister, Mweembe and several members of their church. All but 2 of our twenty bags made it (and the other two were picked up today). A beautiful ladies trio from Alfred's church welcomed us in song. We arrived back at the Kalembo farm around 10:30 pm.
This morning, Barbara stayed at the house to work with the ladies in the kitchen to learn how to make the Zambian staple food Nshima. Bob and Rudy began their maintenance assignment with the installation of transom windows and frosted panes in the restrooms. They also installed television cables to one of the rooms. Craig and Alfred met with leaders in Kanyama while Dan, Lisha, Will, Carol, Carla, and Sherri began the first day of the Children's Bible Conference at the Kanyama Pilgrim Wesleyan Church. The group at Kanyama returned to the farm for a delicious meal of Nshima with soup, sauteed rape, sandwiches and crudites. Barb learned the fine art of Nshima cooking and is determined to recreate it when we get back home.
After lunch, we all headed to the US Embassy in Lusaka where we gave the consulate notification that we were in the country and shared with the Assistant Consular about our activities. He thanked us for our efforts in Zambia. This evening, we worshiped with the congregation at the John Howard Pilgrim Wesleyan Church and they heard the Word from our own pastor, as they call him, the Reverend Dr. Craig Carter. We really enjoyed the worship team and their passionate singing and dancing. And, yes, I did say dancing! :)
We are now back at the farm preparing for another wonderful day of ministering to the sweet people here in Lusaka. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I do not know how long we will have internet access, so I will give you a brief rundown of our upcoming schedule:
Thursday: Craig will have another Pastor's Conference, and we will hold our second day of the Children's Bible Conference. We will hold one in the morning for children that attend school in the afternoon and in the afternoon for children who attend school in the morning.
Friday: Last day of Pastor's Conference for Craig and another two-a-day Children's Conference. Craig and Alfred will leave that afternoon to the Bible College in Jembo (they will meet up with us Saturday evening). Barb will lead a Women's Conference with the help of Carol and Carla.
Saturday: Last day of Children's Bible Conference -- just a short morning session with all the children together since they have no school that day. We will end with a celebration "block party" sponsored by our Mission Team. We will provide a chicken and Nshima luncheon with a surprise dessert. The remaining team members will leave and meet Craig and Alfred in Monze.
Sunday: We depart for Nkandela village where we will teach Sunday School lessons and Craig will preach during the morning worship service. After lunch, we will dedicate the well that the Mulder Church gave to Nkandela village via our Advent Conspiracy offerings last Christmas. We will then depart for Choma where we will spend the night enroute to Livingstone.
Monday: We will travel to Livingston and view the Victoria Falls and visit a Game Reserve park.
Tuesday: We will return to Lusaka, stopping over at the Choma Museum enroute.
Wednesday: We will depart Lusaka heading home around 1:30 pm Lusaka time.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we serve God's people in Zambia.
Now that we have internet access (and I don't know how long it will be available) I wanted to download many of the great pictures we have taken since we began our journey Monday morning at the Montgomery Regional Airport, but... our internet access here is very slow and pictures just are not downloading. So, I will try to give you all an idea of the wonderful things we have been a part of so far.
Our flights went without delay, except for a brief thunderstorm at Dulles while we were on the tarmac awaiting our turn at departure. We did think we might lose Carla at one point, but God worked that all out, too. I will wait and let her fill you all in on that part of the adventure.
When we arrived in Zambia last night (20 minutes ahead of schedule!), we were met by Alfred and Muumbe Kalembo along with Muumbe's sister, Mweembe and several members of their church. All but 2 of our twenty bags made it (and the other two were picked up today). A beautiful ladies trio from Alfred's church welcomed us in song. We arrived back at the Kalembo farm around 10:30 pm.
This morning, Barbara stayed at the house to work with the ladies in the kitchen to learn how to make the Zambian staple food Nshima. Bob and Rudy began their maintenance assignment with the installation of transom windows and frosted panes in the restrooms. They also installed television cables to one of the rooms. Craig and Alfred met with leaders in Kanyama while Dan, Lisha, Will, Carol, Carla, and Sherri began the first day of the Children's Bible Conference at the Kanyama Pilgrim Wesleyan Church. The group at Kanyama returned to the farm for a delicious meal of Nshima with soup, sauteed rape, sandwiches and crudites. Barb learned the fine art of Nshima cooking and is determined to recreate it when we get back home.
After lunch, we all headed to the US Embassy in Lusaka where we gave the consulate notification that we were in the country and shared with the Assistant Consular about our activities. He thanked us for our efforts in Zambia. This evening, we worshiped with the congregation at the John Howard Pilgrim Wesleyan Church and they heard the Word from our own pastor, as they call him, the Reverend Dr. Craig Carter. We really enjoyed the worship team and their passionate singing and dancing. And, yes, I did say dancing! :)
We are now back at the farm preparing for another wonderful day of ministering to the sweet people here in Lusaka. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. I do not know how long we will have internet access, so I will give you a brief rundown of our upcoming schedule:
Thursday: Craig will have another Pastor's Conference, and we will hold our second day of the Children's Bible Conference. We will hold one in the morning for children that attend school in the afternoon and in the afternoon for children who attend school in the morning.
Friday: Last day of Pastor's Conference for Craig and another two-a-day Children's Conference. Craig and Alfred will leave that afternoon to the Bible College in Jembo (they will meet up with us Saturday evening). Barb will lead a Women's Conference with the help of Carol and Carla.
Saturday: Last day of Children's Bible Conference -- just a short morning session with all the children together since they have no school that day. We will end with a celebration "block party" sponsored by our Mission Team. We will provide a chicken and Nshima luncheon with a surprise dessert. The remaining team members will leave and meet Craig and Alfred in Monze.
Sunday: We depart for Nkandela village where we will teach Sunday School lessons and Craig will preach during the morning worship service. After lunch, we will dedicate the well that the Mulder Church gave to Nkandela village via our Advent Conspiracy offerings last Christmas. We will then depart for Choma where we will spend the night enroute to Livingstone.
Monday: We will travel to Livingston and view the Victoria Falls and visit a Game Reserve park.
Tuesday: We will return to Lusaka, stopping over at the Choma Museum enroute.
Wednesday: We will depart Lusaka heading home around 1:30 pm Lusaka time.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we serve God's people in Zambia.
Just a little info about Zambia
If your wondering about the time difference, Zambia is 7 hours ahead of us (Central). Looks like the team will be cool on their trip as well. Currently the daily temps are in the 50's..
http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/zambia/lusaka
http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/zambia/lusaka
Zambia Team Arrived Safely!
I just wanted to post an update letting everyone know that the Zambia Team has arrived safely in Zambia (yesterday). Remember to keep them in your prayers daily!
Will post more as details arrive.
Will post more as details arrive.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Preparing for Zambia
What an amazing week! During VBS, Lisha and I have worked on packing and tagging our supply bags for the trip. We've done lots of packing, weighing, unpacking, repacking.....you get the idea! It is also interesting to see what everyday items weigh. In case you are interested, 190 pieces of the really good soft peppermint candy weigh about 2 pounds. Many thanks to those who donated supplies and luggage for our journey! We will complete the packing, tagging, etc. of our checked bags on Sunday afternoon and depart for Zambia early Monday morning. Please pray for us as we travel and serve. Also pray that our luggage arrives safely and on time. Blessed to be serving Him!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Meeting with Alfred Kalembo
The members of the mission team to Zambia were blessed to be able to meet with Alfred Kalembo and his son, Chipo, last night. They arrived in the U.S. last Friday evening and Alfred preached at St. James UMC in Montgomery Sunday morning. We were happy to be able to arrange for him to join us so that he could meet the members of our team and answer many questions. We shared a meal together in Carter Hall and spent some time learning more about our mission next month and what to expect.
Alfred and Chipo are enroute to Kansas to register Chipo for college in the fall. They will be returning to Zambia next week. Please pray that the registration process goes smoothly and they have a safe trip back home.
Alfred and Chipo are enroute to Kansas to register Chipo for college in the fall. They will be returning to Zambia next week. Please pray that the registration process goes smoothly and they have a safe trip back home.
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