As our time in Zambia winds down, I am starting to hear more talk about food and the specific kinds of food people are hoping to get soon after our arrival in the U.S. Many of us will be happy to connect with family members at Thanksgiving; I have heard many conversations about who will be visiting and what specific food requests they will be making. As for Bud and me, all our children and grandchildren will be in our home for Thanksgiving; however, I have been told that they will be doing all the cooking, etc. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone! We have been very fortunate in being able to Skype with them several times during our time in Zambia; a couple times when we had Skype dates, the electricity and internet were down so had to cancel L. We were without power for about 15 hours.
We have given our thanks and said good-by at Choma General Hospital and a few of us will go to Macha Hospital Thursday afternoon for some educational offerings by students and to say a final good-by there! Everyone has been very nice, and the students have had some excellent learning opportunities.
The team from College Wesleyan Church came in last Saturday, so it was very good to see each of them. Shelli Rowley has somewhat of a dual role since she is with both CWC and Indiana Wesleyan University and had a huge role in planning our Zambia trip. She also did most of the orientation for the students prior to our trip, so it is a real treat to see her and be able to chat with her.
Last Saturday evening, we had an event where everyone was directed to dress as in the 80’s, ghetto, or Zambian with chitenges. One of the students did an extreme makeover on me so I could go as an 80’s person. I have to say, I do not recall ever having dressed as such during the 80’s J; however, it was a lot of fun. Bud wore his slacks and dress shirt which he has done no matter the decade! We have a few pictures which will not be published!
We are planning a farewell party for the WHI Zambia staff this afternoon; these are the administrators with whom we have had minimal interaction for the most part; on Thursday, we share our good-bys and small gifts with the WH Guest House staff with whom we have interacted on a daily basis throughout our stay in Zambia. They are the cooks, the laundry ladies, the house cleaners, and the Guest House Manager; we have all developed great relationships and will be sorry to tell them good-by!
This entire trip has been an adventure with many lessons learned; we have had a few bumps in the road but have met some wonderful people. We are all very thankful for God who has been faithful as we have learned cultural differences; had new experiences in the hospitals, churches, and community living; experienced heat and bumpy roads, viewed the sunrise from the top of a water tower, etc. God has been good.
Bud had the privilege yesterday of meeting with the National Superintendent of the Pilgrim Wesleyan Church of Zambia and 7 of the District Superintendents. He was invited to one of their meetings and then had lunch with them which was a real honor! They are truly men of God who want to move the church forward.
I went to one of the local orphanages on Tuesday afternoon with several of the students which was a great experience. There are three orphanages close to the Guest House, all run by the same organization. They are in a building program so all the children will be moved in together which will also cut their costs of staff such as watchmen, grounds keepers, etc. They seem to do a wonderful job with these children, several of whom are HIV/AIDS orphans. They often receive these children as infants who are very malnourished, and they are able to give adequate food, health care, love, and clothing until most of them are relatively healthy after a few months. Many of the students go there whenever they have any free time, so the children know them by name and run and jump into their arms when they enter the gate.
We start our debriefing on Friday morning and will continue Saturday and Sunday as we travel to Livingstone for our final departure from Zambia on Monday morning. We certainly appreciate your prayers as we anticipate the long trip home!
Until next time….
