Significance by Association

Time for an update. We have been so busy it has been hard to find the time to update the blog. My last note was almost three weeks ago! First for the basics - no our household belongings have not yet arrived, still living out of suite cases. Our second car did arrive and it was in much better shape than the first, so that is an answer to prayer. Amy gets the newer car - it is more reliable and a bit of a tank (Prado Land Cruiser) so safer on these treacherous roads.

One of the main reasons we have been so busy is that Zambia was chosen as the country to launch a new initiative - Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon (PRRR). This is a public private partnership attempting to address both breast cancer and cervical cancer, building on the incredible success of the Pink Ribbon campaign in the states. We were asked to write a proposal during my first few weeks here in August. We did not hear much until a few weeks ago when it was announced that we would be the lead country and George W. Bush, Laura, and their daughters Barbara and Jenna would be coming to make the announcement. In addition, the president of Merck Vaccines, Julie Gerberding (formerly Director of CDC) and a host of other industry leaders were present. The visit just ended this morning. As you can see from the photo we did get to meet the president (that is John and GWB). I found the President to be quite a personable guy, funny, folksy, and actually humble. He seems really passionate about making sure we (USA) don't neglect our responsibility to care for people with less resources. He made many references to scripture in his brief remarks - we need to be good stewards, to whom much is given much is expected, we are all made in the image of God...

Perhaps the funniest moment for me was Friday evening, at the ambassador's reception, I was standing to the side of the podium in the crowd listening as the ambassador was making opening remarks when I turned to the guy standing next to me and it was President Bush! He leaned over and asked how I was doing, what my job was, etc. I was a little at a loss for words but managed to tell him what I did, and that I have never been more proud of being an American than I was when he announced PEPFAR in 2003 (see below).

The Zambians were absolutely delighted that he visited. They pointed out that his program - PEPFAR (Presidents Emergency Program for AIDS Relief, $15 billion) which started in 2003 has probably saved some 7 million African lives through provision of anti-retroviral therapy, as well as other care and support.

My role was to develop the actual work plans for PRRR with the Ministry of Health and the cooperating partners at a meeting Saturday (as well as try to squeeze as much free vaccine for HPV out of Merck as possible), it went very well and I am pretty optimistic going forward.

I was amused at how much all of us, myself included, were so excited about meeting a former president. It seemed to me that we all were gaining a sense of being significant because we met the president, "Did you shake his hand? Did he talk to you? What did he say?". It made me realise, again, how important it is for each of us to feel significant. I try to remind myself as we celebrate the birth of Jesus that I already have my significance as a beloved child of God, someone who Jesus lived and died for! That's pretty significant indeed!

Next weekend we will be hosting and leading the monthly youth group at our house. It is a large group of high school kids from a variety of the churches that serve the expatriate community. I am hoping our Nooma videos arrive so we can use one of them, if not we will figure out something. My work at the seminary is at a slight stand-still as we are between terms. Many of my colleagues at the CDC have expressed an interest in a Bible study so I am hoping to get that together soon.

I'll close with a brief Christmas greeting....

Termites, makoswe and gekkos, oh my

The rains have started and with them an abundance of termites. The winged creatures were scattered on the kitchen floor this morning. Piles of wings were at the door step and scattered over the courtyard waving in the wind. On the roads and in the mud gutters children armed with plastic bottles and sticks were busy collecting them as were the ants, lizards, mice, rats and geckos. Upon my return from language class our guard and I tossed termites to a lovely green chameleon with pronged toes and an extremely long quick tongue. He moved slowly with a wobbly gait and eyes that individually darted backwards and forwards. As he moved from the grass to the dark brown earth his coloration darkened. I noticed the gardener and guard also enjoyed a plate of fried termites for lunch as will many families in Lusaka today. We have decided on baked potatoes and fish however. I suspect Jim would be willing to eat some if I fried them up as he is the only one of us who has a history of swallowing live goldfish at a youth group meeting in high school. Jason should try that one at the next gross food event.

After we cleaned up the termites, I plucked a small red spider dangling off of Jim’s hair and headed for the shower where I encountered two miniature geckos. At first with my glasses off I wondered if they were spiders, large ants or cockroaches but once I figured out what they were I transported them outside. They are awfully cute. Rascal thinks so too and we have found some dismembered ones about the house. The geckos come in and out of the air conditioning units and click loudly at each other and at the large fat spiders that come out at night to eat insects. The geckos in turn eat the spiders if they can catch them. We think we also have makoswe (house rats as opposed to field rats) though we have not seen them. We hear them running at night in the roof. They are so loud they sound like an infestation of raccoons. Some friends have rats that are so nonchalant they run past her in the kitchen when she is cooking. Her rats eat around the poison and have also dug through concrete which they used to patch up the holes in their wall.

Out-swimming the Crocodiles!

I have recently returned from two back-to-back trips to the villages (Eastern and Northwestern Regions) as part of my assessment of maternal mortality. Those who are following our blog will know that one of my current tasks is to help guide the US government project - "Saving Mothers, Giving Life", an ambitious attempt to reduce maternal mortality in four demonstration disctricts by 50% in one year. I have now visited all four disctricts and about 15% of the 96 health facilities and villages. The official maternal mortality rate is 591/100,000, about 500 times higher than in the US. I have so many thoughts and ideas it is hard to know where to start. The most simple summary is that access to a quality facility based delivery is the biggest issue. Of course there is a lot involved in this - roads, vehicles, communication systems, traditional beliefs, trained staff, equipment, safe blood products, etc.
If I could have one wish fullfilled it would be for a comprehensive system of paved roads - this would not only improve health but it would also foster broad economic development, as farmers and small business persons could get products to market. This would also further open up one of Zambia's most valuable resources - national parks. Tourism could help the economy immensely. I would employee Zambians to build the roads, which would also stimulate the local economy (too much aid actually goes right to the donor nations companies and nationals). Given that Zambia is only about the size of the state of Texas and has a stable government, this really is not too tall of an order.

When visiting Lundazi, which includes the Luangwa River Valley (where North and South Luangwa National Parks are located) we were told that during the rainy season about 15% of the population is cut-off from the rest of the district. If a woman needs to get to a health facility she may be placed on a raft and a few strong swimmers will push her across the flooded river beds, always mindful of the crocodiles! Yet these National Parks are considered some of the most beautiful in Africa and have many tour groups operating within their boundaries, tour groups with numerous all terrain vehicles. This seems an obvious opportunity for a public-private partnership. Wouldn't the average European or North American tourist be delighted to know that the company they are using is helping to save the lives of pregnant women?

I also noted so many broken vehicles and equipment - wouldn't it be wonderful if retired (but not tired) people from Europe and North America with skills (mechanics, electricians, medical equipment repair technicians, etc.) considered taking a year or two and volunteering in some of these places - teaching Zambian's some of the skills needed to sustain the equipment - think of the stories one would have for the golf buddies! I remember one of my seminary friends once asking, "where in scripture does it say we should retire from serving?"

Chichewa, a Beautiful language

Chichewa is a tonal language. What this means is that you have a good chance of being misunderstood at least in the beginning. For example the word mpeni can be pronounced with an upward lilt and means knife and with a downward lilt and means price. The accent is on the second syllable for both. There are no masculine of feminine words instead there are six different classes of nouns. Based on the class and whether the noun is singular or plural, the prefix to the verb stem changes. The prefixes and suffixes are the “spices” which make Chichewa such a “beautiful” and complicatedlanguage according to Bambo Tembo (Mr. Tembo) our teacher. We have learned 35 different forms of the word “this,” 17 of which indicate something very near, so close that I am in it or on it for example “this dance=gule uno”, “or “this hospital=cipatala cino” (which supposes I am taking part in it or in the building right at the moment. We have learned 18 forms of “that” and 17 forms of “which?” as well as 14 forms of “with that.”

Additionally verbs are never lonely. Things get added on to the beginning and the end of verbs until words need to be carefully dissected to be understood. Let me demonstrate. The sentence “In the future I will be a teacher also and I will not teach you” is: Kutsogolo ine ndidzakhalanso mphunzitsi ndipo sindidzakuphunzitsani. The course is called intense because we cover a chapter a day which means about 100 words a week. We have finished the present, present continuous, imperative, subjunctive, future, perfect and all negative tenses of these tenses. My translation is pretty good, my speaking is slow and my understanding of the spoken word is sparse. When I look at a word I can slowly dissect the parts but hearing it is tricky. Si (not) ndi(I) dza(signals future tense) ku + ni at the end (is the plural you) and then the vowel root phunzitsa (all vowels end with a) and you have it sindidzakuphunzitsani. There are some wonderful phrases such as to be angry, “psa intima,” which is literally to burn or be cooked in your heart. Another interesting phrase is “khuta nsima” which means to be full. Nsima is the food made from boiled fine corn meal. It is eaten at every meal and if you have not eaten nsima you have not eaten no matter what else you may have eaten that day. The term to be drunk is a combination of to be satisfied –khuta and beer –mowa. I have just returned from Tumekutana 2011 the PCUSA sponsored International African Woman’s conference on “Women as Agents of Peace, healing and reconciliation” in Kigali Rwanda followed by a three day trip to Houston for the Medical Benevolence Foundation board meeting so i am studying extra hard to catch up.

Moving In

We finally moved into our permanent housing – yea! The house is not too far from where we were living, so this past weekend I made several trips back and forth moving our items. The good news is that we have yet to receive our household goods shipment so there wasn’t too much to move. The bad news is we are back to living out of suite cases, at least for the time being.  For some reason the car I was using (a loaner from the US Embassy) wouldn’t start Saturday. It turned out to be a dead battery so we were back in business after a jump. I discovered that they use car batteries which require water and ours seemed a bit dry, so I topped it up (distilled water of course) and so far so good. This brought back memories of Auto shop at Lane Tech, 1977. I remember my teacher was excited as he explained these new things called maintenance free batteries which were just coming out!  Not sure why the fad has missed Zambia. At least something I learned from shop class is still relevant, I certainly won’t be rebuilding any circa 1977 carburetors anytime soon (an inside joke, you had to be in Mr. Chaufness’ class to get this one)! I am trying to think of some sermon illustration – one needs to fill your battery (water – Spirit?) if you are going have the energy to get moving for God…mmm, maybe.

Amy is attending Tumekutana (http://www.tumekutana.com/) in Rwanda this week and will travel from there to Houston for the Board meeting of the Medical Benevolence Foundation (www.mbfoundation.org). Keep her in prayer as it is an exhausting 10 days.  Her first flight was scheduled to leave Lusaka at 12:20 am but departed closer to 3 am, in part due to a drunken brawl on board! So it was not a great start to a difficult stretch of traveling. Also, please prayer for the MBF Board as they continue a search for a new director. We are struggling at home to make it without her, but Ruth especially has pitched in with cooking, and I have discovered Zambian ‘fast’ food.

Tomorrow the boys will celebrate UN day and they need to bring some food item representing their home country. I have thought of things like hotdogs, potato chips, peanut butter (George Washington Carver – Chris suggested this one, he loves peanut butter and was rightfully impressed when he studied Carver’s life). I thought the peanut butter one was brilliant – I could make a bunch of small PBJ sandwiches…then I noticed the letter to parents forbidding peanuts! So I have settled on apple pie – I will bake two tonight. What’s more American than apple pie?

The next big event is that the used cars that we ordered from Japan are scheduled to arrive in port by Friday. Then begins the overland journey and various clearances of borders – apparently some new rules in Zimbabwe have added significant delays to car transportation. Ever the scientist I am running an experiment – we ordered from two different companies a few weeks apart. I planned to see who would be faster. Turns out the cars are on the same ship. It will off load our Land Cruiser in Maputo Mozambique on October 20^th and our Gaia (a Toyota minivan with 4 wheel drive) in Durban on October 21^st. then its an overland race to Lusaka! I’ll keep you posted on the winner.

Friday morning I will be preaching at the Chapel service for Justo Mwale Seminary (www.justomwale.net). I am hopeful that God will use this time, both to encourage the students and faculty, as well as to help me get a better sense of my role there.

Finally, in the interest of full disclosure, and so we don’t give anyone the impression that life is too difficult, the new house has a swimming pool (small but nice) and its own tennis court…not too bad! We are hoping to open our home to the many missionaries we are getting to know as well as the Peace Corps volunteers who often visit Lusaka from the rural areas, where they don’t get to relax in such nice surroundings. It also has a lovely guest room – so plan a visit!

John and Chris Settling In

The boys are really settling in well. John has jumped right in at school, the American International School of Lusaka, and now plays volleyball. He is the team setter. They recently came in second in the country and will travel next month to South Africa for an international tournament.

He also has a leading role in The Wiz - he plays the Tin Man! It makes me wonder - can a person made of tin move quickly enought to set a volleyball? Apparently so.

Amy and Ruth are busy sewing costumes. This includes many trips to the "compounds" (very poor shanty town areas) looking for clothes. It is amazing what they can find for 2 pin (2,000 kwacha, or about 40 cents). Probably all Salvation Army discards that tend to get shipped to Africa.

Chris recently visited a chimpanzee rescue program called Chimfunshi Chimpanzee Orphanage. They spent a week observing the animal behavior, hanging out as it were. It seems to have been a good trip with a chance to get to know classmates as well as the chimps.

As a family we continue to explore churches and have found quite a variety. We pray God will continue to guide us as we engage in fellowship and outreach.

Thankful for glimpses of the Kingdom

"Peter said to him, 'We have left all we had to follow you!' 'I tell you the truth,' Jesus said to them, 'no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.'" Luke 18:28-30.

David Brooks of the New York Times wrote an Op-Ed piece on August 22, 2011 (see the blog side-bar for a link) titled "The Rugged Altruist". It is a really interesting piece but begins with the disturbing statement, "Many American go to the developing world to serve others. A smaller percentage actually end up being useful." He then goes on to explain that the successful ones develop three virtues as they serve - courage, deference (willingness to listen and learn), and thankfulness. Without these he suggests, one tends to become cynical and perhaps even part of the problem. He also concludes that if one reaches the stage of thankfulness the service becomes a spiritual experience.

I don't know Mr. Brooks' spiritual background or perspective, but I think he is on to something. As a follower of Christ I would add to the list the ability to see God's kingdom as it unfolds here on earth (my interpretation of receiving many times as much in this age - an answer to the oft prayed, "Thy kingdom come..."), but perhaps that is simply another way of saying thankfulness.

For me this is one of the most encouraging parts about being here in Zambia - seeing God's hand in all we are doing, sensing His kingdom is come, being thankful. Let me share some of the amazing ways I have seen God's hand so far:

There were several problems in my hiring and paperwork in Atlanta and I am still sorting them out. Basically they have been unwilling to consider Miriam a dependent due to her age. I have been patiently working through the system but it does not seem that we have an advocate in Atlanta. Having said that, I just learned that the new manager of my activities will be a woman I helped early in her career in Chicago, a person I count as a friend. She had already sent me an email welcoming me to Africa in August. So I feel as if God has decided to move her to Atlanta in December, possibly to be our advocate!

Upon my arrival in Zambia I was tasked with working across agencies (CDC and USAID) on a project to address maternal mortality. It seems that in general CDC and USAID have not always worked well together. Possibly because we all tend to spend far too much energy worrying about who gets credit. In any event, the lead person at USAID who I am working with is also new to Zambia. As we chatted during our recent trip to Kalomo (picture is of unfinished district hospital operating room) we realized we had crossed paths some 20 years ago in Bolivia, it had been a very positive experience, and we share many mutual friends. Our working relationship immediately began on a positive note!

There are almost too many such "coincidences" to even name - many of my co-workers are believers and have expressed interest in an office Bible study, the CDC country directors in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe are friends of ours from the past, during the recent visit of Lois Quam (Executive Director of the Global Health Initiative) we got to talking about the role of faith communities and she shared that she was a preachers kid, which moved our conversation to another level, I was asked to host a visit by Bread for the World and found many mutual friends among the group - from Lawndale, from the PCUSA, etc.

I feel that we had the courage as a family to step out, Amy and I tend to be deferential by nature (okay maybe just a little), and now I am so thankful for the many ways God has prepared a path for us.

Please pray specifically for: our search for a church home, the possibility of a Bible study at work, seminary teaching (I preach there on October 28th), Ruth's application to work at the US Embassy part time in communications, Amy's language class and her upcoming travel to Rwanda and Houston, Miriam's volunteer activities, John's college applications (tricky coordinating two schools across continents) and upcoming trip to South Africa for volleyball, and Chris' developing of good friendships. Oh, we still need our cars to arrive, our household goods, and our permanent house to be ready, but I am thankful that God has already taken care of these things in His good time.

Reflections on Worship

One of the things I love about being a Christian is the community that one feels when you visit a congregation, no matter where you are in the world.

Last Sunday we visited St. Columba Presbyterian Church in Lusaka and heard a wonderful sermon on worship. I was especially excited to listen because our church back home, First Presbyterian Church of Evanston, is in the midst of changing worship service and exploring new ways of thinking about worship. I have been following the conversation in Evanston via the internet.

The sermon was really great. Basically the pastor challenged us to think of our whole lives as worship – glorifying God all the time. He encouraged us to really not think about Sunday morning as our main time of worship. Worship is a lifestyle. For what are we living? Are we living for our jobs, or our hobbies, or our family, or our possessions? Are we living to glorify God? He charged us to leave the church on Sunday and go out and worship God in all we do.

I was especially encouraged as I will be spending the next three days visiting small villages in the rural south of Zambia to try and see what needs to be done to improve maternal mortality. Many women in Zambia die giving birth and I have been charged with the task of helping improve this situation. I will be away from home and not in communication. It will be my 50th birthday on Tuesday and part of me was sad to be away from family and friends, and probably staying in a relatively uncomfortable living unit. But then I thought, how better to worship God than to be doing what He has called me to do.

What a privilege – to spend my 50th birthday worshiping God and serving others!

God transformed a brothel

I have a week off before I begin my ten week class of Nyanja so I went with Ruth to Chikumbuso Monday (Miriam stayed home with a cold). The grounds used to be a bar and brothel but have been transformed into a school, housing, kitchen, sewing room, workrooms and salesroom. While Ruth did art and read books with the children, I sat with the women and watched them make purses out of recycled plastic bags.

During the morning a grandmother arrived with a week old premie girl of about 4 pounds. The mother had AIDS and had died of hemorrhage from what I could understand. The grandmother had taken the infant to a local orphanage and they had insisted the baby be evaluated in the hospital before they would take her. The grandmother did not want to take the infant to the hospital for evaluation since the elections were the next day Sept 20th and she feared if the child were admitted she would receive no care. We reviewed the importance of taking the medication (to prevent AIDS) and how to make up the formula, how often to feed and the signs of dehydration. The baby was well bundled in about 6 blankets which makes sense if you know that babies are born "cold" and have to be slowly made to become "hot." Productive adults are hot and a baby must avoid exposure to many adults when they are first born. I don't know if this unspoken cultural reasoning had anything to do with refusing to take the baby to the hospital.

I am learning many local beliefs about disease. My tour guide at Chikumbuso informed me about the stye on her left upper eye lid, "In my culture this happens when you or someone in your family is pregnant.We treat it by cutting it open and draining pus. But this one just came back so maybe I am going to get pregnant." I told her "In my culture this happens when you are under stress, don't get enough sleep and get this type of infection. We treat it with hot packs for twenty minutes 4 times a day and sometimes antibiotics."

AISL Volleyball Champions

John is not into blogging, yet so I am reporting on his activities. This weekend AISL (American International School in Lusaka) played in the ISAZ Midlands Senior Volleyball Tournament. John played on the varsity boys team. They won all six of their matches! Bravo.
Theater is a new class for him and he tried out and was chosen for the Tinman in the WIZ. Jim and I are still hoping we will find a violin teacher and he will want to continue his musical studies......

I went birding with the Zambian Ornithological Society (ZOS) this weekend north of the city just beyond the Mutumbi Cemetary.We saw waxbills, twinspots, puffbacks, yellow canaries, weavers, boubou, sunbird, Ashy flycatcher, Cardinal woodpecker, chinsopt batis, Paradise flycathcher(with tail that looks about a foot long), Tawny-flanked prinia, cisticola, bulbul, greenbul,wire;tailed swallow, black kite, Wahlberg's eagle, apalis, and gray heron. There were many more heard like the hoopoe, but not seen.

Wattled Cranes in flight

Traditional Health Practitioners

Witchcraft is illegal in Zambia. Witchcraft is associated with evil spirits. It is also illegal to accuse someone of witchcraft. However, Traditional Health Practitioners are perfectly legal and in fact 40,000 have been certified and are apart of the THPAZ, Traditional Health Practitioners of Zambia. The four main categories are faith spiritualists, herbalists, diviners, and TBA's (traditional birth attendants). Faith spiritualists are possessed by spirits, speak in tongues and may fall down and go into a trance state. Herbalists frequently receive their knowledge from an older family member such as a grandfather who reveals the way to use plants and herbs for medicinal purposes.There is also knowledge of poisons and plants that can permanently sterilize or injure someone. Diviners have received power and can make predicitons, understand and interpret dreams and may make use of objects such as water or mirrors. A diviner could help you find the keys you lost and could help you understand why you are unable to get a job or find a husband. TBA's deliver babies and also instruct women in hygiene and matters of sexuality. Traditional healers have certain areas of expertise particularly in areas where modern scientific medicine has failed including impotence, infertility, family planning, and psychological illnesses to name a few. Our lecturer was a professed Chrisitan, Presbyterian and the head of the THPAZ. He encouraged us not to demonize traditional healers but admitted there were quacks and cheats and to be careful. Many people wear beads "chibwewe" which he described as similar to immunizations which protect against disease, similarly the beads worn around the waist or neck or over the shoulder protect against bad genes, bad spirits, curses and witchcraft. You might wear something to enhance yourself or your good luck. If you are selling tomatoes you want to draw customers to your stall.  As a Christian our speaker might implore God to come into the beads and thus use the power of the Holy Spirit for protection. Shells and oil are mixed and placed on a baby's fontanelle to give it strength. The smoke from a porcupine quill being burned can stop a bloody nose. Leaves gathered in a certain manner, crushed and drunk from the Muvanga tree can leave a person barren for the rest of their life.
When I asked our speaker how he as a Christian would understand the taboo in Leviticus against cutting the body and tattoos and where scripture condemns divination he acknowledged that he knows divination is wrong and that it is using power only God should have. But "we have all sinned and fall short." Additionally the patients who come to him for help keep him sinning. When they stop coming for help he will stop. He stated there is a great temptation if a large amount of money is given for services. He also shared it is unethical to say no to a patient who asks for your help. Syncretism is defined as "to inconsistently attempt to unify or reconcile differing philosophical or religious schools of thought"    

Avoiding dishes

Well, the only reason why I am posting is to avoid doing the dishes. So I need to make this long. Well I really like the weather here. It's nice and sunny all day, but apparently in October the heat is absolutely brutal. The school is pretty cool because when your walking to each of your classes you have to walk outside so you're always getting fresh air between every class which is nice especially after PE when you're really hot.
One thing that's going to take getting use to is the money. You see one US dollar is equivilent to 5000 kwacha. So during the first week when someone asked for 10000 kwacha my first reaction was "10000!? Heck no!" but then I realized that was only 2 dollars. Also the food at the school is very cheap. Its 2000 kwacha for a ice cream bar (40 cents), 1500 for a bag of popcorn (30 cents, and the bags are pretty decent sized). And for a Swift, which is a fruit drink that is like the same size as a coke, its 4000 (80 cents). So I can bring 10pin (pin is a symbol for a thousand, so 10pin is really 10000) to school and get a drink, ice cream bar, and popcorn.
Well the dishes are now done so I will be signing off. I hope everyone in the US is doing fine. See ya.

What am I doing here?

With almost 4 weeks under our belts here in Zambia, a belt I might add, that I have had to literally tighten a notch (a good thing), I feel like I might be better able to answer the question, "So what will you be doing in Zambia?".

As many of you know Amy and I have felt a sense of call to serve overseas for many years. I am working for the Centers for Disease Control as a medical epidemiologist. My actual role seems to be broadly that of a physician-public health person who is to support "where needed most." The where needed most for the foreseeable future is helping articulate what the Global Health Initiative (http://www.ghi.gov/) means in Zambia, and designing and implementing an ambitious maternal mortality reduction plan in four districts. I hope to also engage in the University Teaching Hospital soon as they form an infectious disease fellowship. The Medical College is moving towards developing a School of Public Health and I hope to pitch in there as well. I am sure there are many other projects and tasks that I will get involved in over time.

My main concern is that I not let work overwhelm my time, there is much more to engage in here in Zambia - getting to know the people and culture. I truly hope to engage in the local church and the seminary and do not want my work at CDC to consume me.

Probably the biggest adjustment for me has been going from being in a leadership role at Rush to being somewhat peripheral. I suspect this is not such a bad thing - leadership has its headaches. But beyond fewer headaches, I think this will give me an opportunity to mature spiritually by forcing me to think about my ego, my pride, and my source of a sense of significance. Not bad lessons to learn as I turn 50 in few weeks.

My most significant early observation is that Zambia is a country moving forward from a development point of view but they must do something about the significant disparity in wealth. Of course this is a problem in most countries of the world, but the contrast here is huge. Well over half the population lives on $1-2 per day, with all of the issues associated with poverty (malnutrition, low life expectancy, poor education, etc.), while a significant proportion, particularly here in Lusaka, have most of the trappings as well as some of the problems (obesity) associated with wealth.

I am glad we came even though these initial days have been hard. One can hardly complain when there is so much true poverty around you, but I have to admit I would like to get into our permenant house, have a car, get our household effects, and have consistent internet.

I continue to pray the children will adjust well and hope you will do the same. - Jim

Restoring Children on the Streets

Bros Jacek from St Lawrence Home of Hope* spoke to our class about children on the streets of Lusaka where he has been working for the last four years. Most children end up on the streets due to dysfunctional families and neglect, not poverty. Many children who sell things on the streets actually return to their families to sleep at night and are not homeless. Last month there were 239 truly homeless children in Lusaka. Ninety-five percent of the children are boys. The streets are a “living hell” for a girl who “will never spend even one night alone.” Most girls will leave the streets quickly and return to abusive home environments which are preferable to life on the street, where they will be repeatedly assaulted, raped and become pregnant. Abortion is illegal in Zambia but costs about 20,000 Kwacha ($4) in the compounds. Abortions are done using physical force and crushing the fetus and by using instrumentation with wire as well as traditional medication to cause abortion and hemorrhage. The boys are also subject to sodomy by older adults within days of arrival. One of the names of the streets where children sleep is commonly known as Devil’s Street by the children themselves.

According to Bros Jacek, “Everyone on the street is intoxicated” mostly from sniffing petrol or “Blanket” lead-based paint solvent. Tujirijiri can also be bought in small plastic bags and contains high proof alcohol mixed often with other contaminants and cost about twenty cents or 1,000 Kwacha. It can be deadly depending on the composition.  Sniffing blocks the cold, the fear, the hunger and the pain of living on the streets. These side effects explain the protective street name of “Blanket.”  Almost all the kids are using within a week of their arrival on the streets. Other effects include detachment, dissociation, euphoria, dizziness, slurred speech, impaired judgment, and increased salivation. Long term effects include brain, cardiac and lung damage. The outreach workers know the five main places where children sleep similar to Emmaus Ministry in Chicago insert themselves into the subculture fo homeless children. They visit them early in the morning before they are high, reaching out and targeting new arrivals in the hopes of getting them into shelters before hopelessness overwhelms them and homelessness and addiction become a preferred lifestyle. Residential care is offered to all children under age 15 and they have on average 50 new admissions per year. They trace families and engage in a rehabilitation process with the relatives attempting to reunite children to their extended families. Sometimes this is almost impossible as in cases where children have been trafficked from Congo or Ethiopia. The St Lawrence Home of Hope targets the city center. There are ten other organizations that target vulnerable children from the streets in Lusaka though only three do outreach work on the streets. We were told there is no drug rehabilitation available. There are no specialists such as psychiatrists available for counseling. Even if these children were developmentally able to express themselves it is not culturally acceptable to talk about sexual abuse. Children will not report abuse in the family because the child will be blamed by the entire family for revealing the abuse.

It was surprising to me to hear how adamant Bros Jacek was that we must NEVER give money or food to a child on the street as this creates a “dependency syndrome” and contributes to children feeling comfortable on the street and that cash handouts and food actually attract children to street life. He made the point that giving money or food is to salve our own consciences at night so we can sleep but only perpetuates the problem.

*Home of Hope was established in 1998 by the Catholic Women's League of Lusaka in theproperty of St. Lawrence Community Center in the Catholic Parish of Good Shepherd.

Property Inheritance and Ritual Cleansing

Today I learned about the importance of family and property grabbing. By Zambian law, when a husband dies 50% of his estate goes to the children, 20% to the spouse, 20% to the biological parents and 10% to dependents (his brothers, his  nieces and his nephews). Most clans are matrilineal and children belong to the wife’s family while property belongs to the husband and his family. Since the husband traditionally works and brings in money (and keeps property in his name) the property is his and his families. After the funeral, everything is taken out of the house and divided among the husband’s relatives, very quickly. The widow and children receive nothing and this is enforced by threat of physical harm. If the husband’s family believes she is hiding any property they will beat her severely. The husband’s family has no interest in the children or their protection since they belong to the wife and the wife’s family in a matrilineal system. People are more attached to their families and clans than to their spouses. The family/clan of origin and NOT one spouse is relied upon one's entire life and more important than the marriage bond.

If a widow goes to court for her right to 20% of the estate, she may forgo the cleansing ritual which only her husband’s family can grant her. The belief is that couples are bonded to one another and to each other’s families through a spiritual experience during the act of sexual intercourse. This bond to the family remains after the death of a spouse and can be dangerous to any future marriage or children. When a spouse dies, the widow(er) is still bound to the family and must be cleansed.  The spirit/ghost/power of the dead person is still inside the spouse and needs to be cleansed and removed. Without cleansing, if the person remarries outside the clan the future family and spouse will be put at risk for madness, sickness and even death.  An individual from the spouse’s clan is chosen to perform the cleansing which involves sexual intercourse with the bereaved spouse. If the widow chooses to become a second or third wife of a brother of her husband she remains in the clan and does not need to be cleansed. If a widower agrees to take another wife in replacement from the tribe he does not need to be cleansed. If a widow fights for her property rights the clan can refuse to allow her to be cleansed and can humiliate her by choosing a young boy or a mad man to be the one to cleans her. They can also defer cleansing for many years, preventing her from remarrying.

Since the advent of AIDS some of the traditions have changed so that there is a ritual of cleansing which might involved a close relative placing a flower under the bed while having intercourse with their own spouse (there is no intercourse required of the bereaved spouse) and then the widow (er) is presented with the flower, a lock of hair is cut and a prayer of blessing is given thus freeing the bereaved spouse to marry someone else. If the ritual is done with a flower, however, when there is an illness in the future, there may be questions and suspicions that the ritual was done improperly. People question if the flower was truly “hot” or if the ritual was done improperly and the flower was actually powerless.

The church has rejected the idea of a ghost haunting a person and the need for this sexual cleansing. Until the AIDS epidemic, the church was unable to make a change in this cultural behavior. Even now the family and not the church provide for the ritual and being cleansed remains a RIGHT of the bereaved. FEAR of the power of the ifibanda (ghosts, spirits), the importance of ancestors and the primacy of family before loyalty to a spouse are traditional cultural values and beliefs which still hold sway especially in the rural areas.

Birthday celebration, deities and caterpillars

To celebrate Ruth's 20th, on Saturday we drove an hour north past the airport in a rented car to visit Chaminuka. This 10,000 acre lodge was designed by Danae and Andrew Sardanis in a miombe woodland, savannah with a wetland area. We went on a drive to see the wildlife (all 6), a birdwalk (4 of us), a boat (5 of us), horseback riding (3 of us), swimming (3 of us), and ate a delicious buffet lunch complete with a group of waiters singing "Happy Birthday to Ruthie." Christopher returned to the buffet for ribs three times, even after the cake had been served. John who is an expert flan maker having had to create this for a Spanish class at ETHS, declared that the creme brulee was "pretty good."
On Sunday we drove to northwest Lusaka to the Matero area where Jim preached at a CCAP partner church. Miriam, Jim and I were the only nonZambians there. Several choirs sang and there were about 12 different offerings collected for different purposes; by region of the neighborhood of which there were about eight, from women, from men, from youth, from the choirs, from pastors, and from guests. Following the collections the totals were calculated and the amount collected in each bucket was read out publically. Jim preached from Acts 16 about the slave girl, Paul and Silas being imprisoned, the earthquake and the jailer coming to faith.
Monday I attended my first class at FENZA the Catholic Faith and Encounter Center. I learned there is a traditional god of earthquakes, Makumba, as well as ifibanda, evil spirits whose powers are taken away by Christians. I wonder about the average African in the pew and their interpretation of the events in Acts where we read about earthquakes and spirits of fortunetelling. I also learned about Musonda, the forest god connected to caterpillars. In November there is a very delicious kind of caterpillars with spines ("not the yellow ones"), which can be found in the forests to the north of Lusaka. It is a lucrative business for those who collect and sell them. As you pick the caterpillars from the branches it is easy to find after sometime that you have become lost and you are at risk of perishing or being eaten by wild animals. To prevent these calamities and for protection before leaving for the hunt the chief must perform a ritual to the god, Musonda to keep the caterpillar hunters safe.
Today I learned if you are offerred something to eat such as caterpillars it is OK to refuse but you must eat something unless you are truly sick or it will be offensive to your host who has prepared the meal for you. You may also be given a care package since the meal was prepared for you and is considered yours. When someone comes to your home for a meal they may request a care package since the meal was prepared for them and is theirs.

Miriam's first impressions

            My mom, Ruth and I went for a walk. We went to several stores. We had to cross streets with no speed limits or stop lights of any kind. Some guys whistled at us on our way back from the stores. I was afraid someone who was driving their car might hit us.  We saw several stores, Block Buster, Subway, and several other places that looked interesting. I hope to explore the Block Buster store sometime while we are here. I do not know when we are getting the puppy.  I might start riding horseback more often. I miss my friends and family who are still in the United States.  I found a spider in the shower this morning, that was a little unexpected. Our cat is here in Zambia with us. He seems to be enjoying himself. I am still waiting for the boxes that we shipped here including the box with my DVDS. It is ok, so far we are in a temporary house. I wish my DVDs would get here so I would have something to do besides work on my story I’m writing.  I also might get the chance to help out at the animal shelter called LAWS I still have to look into that. 

       There is a group called Chikambuso for widows with HIV/AIDS and orphans. The women make bags and purses out of recycled plastic bags in all colors. Ruth and I helped them by looping them which is the first step. we did not crochet any yet. Tomorrow we are supposed to go and visit the school where there are 300 children and 6 teachers. We are hoping to be able to help out or whatever they want us to do.  

MOMS IN TOUCH

The AISL (American International School of Lusaka) Moms in Touch group met this morning for prayer. (learn more at www.MomsInTouch.org). We prayed for our children, the new teachers, the school and even the ETHS Moms in Touch group which will be reorganizing soon in Evanston. The front garden and the pool behind the home where we met for prayer were crowded with cattle egret standing about and feeding and three violet breasted rollers were flying around with their iridescent blue wings catching insects. Google violet breasted roller and you will not be disappointed. Wonderful birds, God is so creative! Today we will learn more about driving in Zambia at the Embassy and we hope to attend the school information session on the IB (International Baccalaureate) program. It seems that you could miss out on a science in high school because you must intensively study the same subject two years for example 11^th and 12^th grade would both be dedicated to Biology and you might miss studying Chemistry or Physics. Please pray for us to figure out our transportation needs. Even tonight we need to figure out how to get to the school for the meeting. We have ordered a car but this will take some weeks to come. Jim can get rides from drivers to and from work but it is challenging for me to get places like the grocery store without a car. I have learned about some classes on Zambian culture and on learning Chinyanja. They begin Sept 5^th for the cultural class and the 26^th for the language class. They are three hours a day five days a week. The place is quite a distance from the house. We have been warned not to take the local minibuses. I am trusting God we will find a way to get around.

Yesterday we met Lisa Veitenhaus who volunteers with the Chikumbuso Widows and Orphans Project (http://www.chikumbuso.com/) where women crochet recycled plastic bags in to purses. Buying these purses supports families affected by HIV/AIDS. The bags are quite nice and may look similare to the mats Patty Bastian is making for the homeless. The project has a school with three hundred orphans and six teachers where the girls might be able to volunteer. We trust God will provide meaningful work for all of us.

Funeral Support

During our security briefing, we were told the guards at the gate to our home are employed by the embassy and are NOT our staff. Therefore we do not have to feed them or pay them as we would hired staff like housekeepers or gardeners. When we got home in the afternoon, one of the guards appeared at our back door and informed me his mother had died and he needed money to travel to the east. We talked for a while and I discovered he has a wife and three children here in Lusaka, that his mother was a Christian and that she died with family close by her. I contacted my cultural “authorities” on the issue. Everyone concurred, I did not need to give anything, but this kind of request is not unusual and to be expected somewhat regularly. In Lawndale collections are taken up all the time; for deaths, for birthdays, for folks on hard times, for special circumstances and losses. It occurred to me this morning, when the guard appeared with a letter from the security agency stating the truth of his claims that Nabal was in the same position we were. David and his men had been protecting Nabal’s sheep (read walled house) and Nabal had not asked for this protection (-neither had we. In fact the bars etc are rather distressing). When David asked  for “whatever comes to your hand or whatever you can find for them” in I Sam 25:8 it was quite similar to my guard who likewise did not specify how much he wanted or needed he just stated his situation (read help with funeral expenses). Nabal refuses help and as Abigail reports he is a fool, just as his name would indicate. Back to my dilemma, would a fool give or not give? In our American way of thinking, we might help family, a friend or a longtime staff member or close coworker but someone we don’t know who has to introduce themselves? This is almost like a beggar on the street. We might also consider it foolish to give without assuring the veracity of the claim and foolish to give knowing this might bring other requests. On the other hand, perhaps this African way is more Biblical. Nabal certainly suffered the consequences of his miserly spirit. God says, “He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord. And He will pay back what he has given” Prov 19:17.

First weekend

Sat-We drove north to the Chamba Valley region and toured the Justo Mwala Theological School. A long history of collaboration with the PCUSA and the Outreach Foundation is evidenced by the multiple houses used for income generation, the classrooms and a beautiful new chapel in the process of being constructed. We were very pleased to meet several members of the CCAP church (a PCUSA partner church in Zambia) and faculty of the school and a recent high school graduate from Colorado Drew at a typical Zambian meal, hosted by PCUSA mission co-worker , Nancy Collins. She served shima or nsima (in Malawi) the corn-based boiled dough which we all enjoyed with greens, cabbage, potatoes and chicken. We began learning about the programs of the church and Nancy shared with us about the CCAP hope to do CHE programs in several areas. For more on CHE, Community Health Evangelism check the website www.lifewind.org.

Sun-We attended a CCAP church in Chawama a poor area in the south of Lusaka. They had just had a youth choir competition on Saturday so we were blessed to hear five choirs sing during the service. Almost all of the two hour and 15 minute service was incomprehensible, but the pastor preached in English (with a passionate, dramatic and vibrant translator translating into a local language) from Acts about the crippled man at the Beautiful Gate with a beggar mentality  challenging us all to live more expectantly, more dependently on God and more responsibly. It occurred to me the importance of Paul reaching down and holding out an arm for the crippled man to rise to his feet in order that he might be restored to health by God and the role we can play in God’s restorative plans for wholeness and healing of His people. Jim has been busily surveying vehicle options on the internet, remakes from Japan that come through Durbin.

Mon-I had my first opportunity to drive on the left with a right sided steering wheel, uneventful if not always clear what the rules are at a stop sign. It seems a person can pull out and block the intersection for friends traveling in cars behind them. Ruth thinks this is for funeral processions but I am not sure. It might be wise to attend the driving briefing this week at the embassy. Following the security briefing at the embassy and receiving our ID’s we dropped the boys back at school and Ruth, Mim and I stopped by the Zambian Ornithological Society signpost on Leopard Hill Rd. They directed across the road where we purchased a 6 month membership and Important Bird Areas in Zambia from their secretary. They have regular monthly bird walks see www.wattledcrane.com (I have to check the site myself). So far I have seen bulbuls, cordon blue (it’s a bird not food), pied wagtails and pied crows in the garden. I should have put a bird book in the suitcase, but one will eventually arrive either in our air or surface shipment I cannot remember where I put them. Tonight Ruth and I are going to attempt Caryl’s tortilla recipe (it’s flat bread right?).

Bread making

The first effort at bread making was a disaster. The bread tasted good but was only an inch and a half tall. I am not sure if this was because of the yeast, which did not bubble, the sugar which is very larg grained, the flour, the oven or the fact that i was using a bread recipe from Malawi that did not have any liquid listed so i went on the internet and checked out a few recipes and guesstimated the amount of liquid as well as which step to add it and when to knead and how long to allow it to rise. I bought a loaf of bread at the store today and will make another attempt now that Caryl and Alice have sent some tried and true recipes including my Grandmother Winifred's rolls. If this fails I will try a different brand of yeast.
This afternoon we are being picked up for a BBQ at the Ambassador's for new families to meet old families. I have learned of a Moms in Touch group that is meeting weekly. I know those I usually pray with Kim Klamm, Irene Doyle, Anne Peterson, and Julie Stamos will be excited to hear of this international connection.I am hoping for some new friends.

First Days

Monday- We have arrived safely at our temporary home (for the next few weeks), which is a massive, rambling place, that sits by itself on an enclosure that is rather running wild, with abandoned tennis courts, empty pool, and garden. Rascal, the cat, arrived fine and is checking out the new quarters, no worse for the trip. Orientation for school went well-- we exchanged money, purchased school supplies, an internet time card, phone cards, some food, had lunch out and a brief tour of the area. Our hostess here from the embassy drove us all around, took us to lunch and provided us with a dinner.Unfortunately, Jim just got sick this evening with stomach flu. We are wondering if it is something he had on the plane. I am hoping he will be the only one! Pray for Jim. His first day of work was to be tomorrow.Everyone has crashed for the night. I think I am the only one in pajamas.
Tuesday- The boys left at 6:30am for school today and first day went well. Jim headed off to work at 7:30 am and returned at 6:30 pm, doing well praise God. Today I cleaned up garbage in the driveway, put up the broken curtains, swept the floor, unpacked bags and stored the suitcases, did two loads of laundry with Miriam, went to the local store, cleaned vegetables in bleach, and realized all the things I failed to bring like cloth napkins and a cookbook. These are in the shipment and will arrive in about three months.It's very windy here with rattling windows and doors and cool so we are wearing sweaters. The high cement walls enclose three sides of this huge estate and can see the backs of houses with laundry hanging on one side. I have only seen the guard and someone checking laundry. I feel like we are in a secret garden.
Wednesday- I set out with the girls on a walk past the local garden center to discover what else is nearby. Although we did not go in we found several restaurants including a Subway, a clothes store, meat store, dessert store, pizza place that delivers, a Blockbuster video, and a grocery. The boys are making some friends and learning their schedules at school. Tomorrow I will try to make bread.

Pilgrimage and Prayers

Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage” Psalm 84:5.

Pilgrimage-“life viewed as a journey”, “wandering over a distance”, “a journey  made to a place for a spiritual reason or to discharge some religious obligation.”

Travel with us on a pilgrimage. We know we cannot do this alone. We need the body of Christ to go before us and beside us. We ask you to intercede on our behalf because we believe that prayer and mission are inseparable.  In 2 Corinthians 1:8-11, Paul urged God’s people to pray for him, linking the success of his ministry to the faithful prayer support of the people of God. Paul described some of his missionary experiences as “hardships we suffer,” under great pressure,” “beyond our ability to endure,” and “despaired even of life.” But he speaks triumphantly of God’s deliverance, “God has delivered us” and of the role of the saints “as you help by your prayers” and the “gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.” Know that we are praying for you too.

Day 1 Our relationship to God-Pray that we would continue to mature in our personal walks with God, growing in grace and faith, personal discipline in our reading His word and praying (Eph 5:15-19), being filled by the Holy Spirit, (Eph 5:18) and not laboring in our own strength. Pray for the fruit of the Spirit and God’s love to be manifest in our lives (Gal 5:22-23).

Day 2 Physical and Emotional Life-Praise God for our safe arrival. Pray for our physical health (Psalm 1:3) and stamina as we face jet lag, cooler weather, various diseases (Jim has already recovered from a brief stomach flu praise God), for safety as the boys travel by bus daily to school, for wisdom about purchasing a car, and for the move to permanent housing which should occur in the next three weeks as well as the arrival of our household air and surface shipments. Pray for our emotional health that we might be protected from the evil one (John 17:15) for strength and protection (2 Thess 3:3) that we might guard against anxiety and worry and have deliverance from discouragement, loneliness and depression. In our loneliness that we would seek God who has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5) and thus experience fellowship with God in a new and deeply satisfying way.

Day 3 Our Family- Pray that our marriage would remain strong, that all of our children would grow in the Lord, for the boys as they start school; that they will be good students (Col 3:23), that they will be protected from attitudes of inferiority or superiority (Phil 2:3, Genesis 1:27), for sibling unity (Eph 4:32), that their unsaved friends will come to know Jesus (2 Peter 3:9), that they will choose godly friends (Eccl 4:10, Prov 1:10), that they will be firm in their convictions and withstand peer pressure (Eph 4:14), that they will befriend the lonely, discouraged and lost (Matt 25:40, Phil 2:4), for peace as we entrust our parents Alice and Norman Rubash into the Lord’s care, that God would be glorified in this time of stress by our actions and reactions. Help us all to handle stress, frustrations and unfulfilled expectations in a Christlike manner. We are not concerned that God remove us from trials but that we might honor Him in our responses. Pray that we can maintain strong ties with our First Presbyterian Evanston Church family.

Day 4 Cultural Connection and Adaptation-Pray that we might have the mind of Christ as we enter this new culture in humility and service (Phil 4:12) seeking a knowledge of God’s will for us, wisdom and understanding of the culture (Col 1:9-10), avoidance of prejudice “my way as the right or best way,” God’s help in learning the local language Nyanja and wisdom as to the best way to do this, discipline in spending the time studying and practicing, that despite language barriers we would demonstrate a strong Christian witness. Once when praying in Bench Caryl Weinberg prayed, “In the name of the Father, the Son and his wife” and got quite a laugh. We expect to make some equally humorous mistakes. 

Day 5 Ministry- Pray that we would have wisdom in discerning our role in the local church reaching the Zambian people and for the establishment of deep relationships with both Zambians and expatriates we meet. Pray in particular that Amy, Ruth and Miriam would be wise about what to pursue and what to leave undone as they seek to find where God wants them to serve. Pray for the CCAP church a PCUSA partner, the Justo Mwala theological school, our PCUSA mission coworkers Nancy Collins and the Ellingtons who we will meet for dinner Saturday August 20^th.

Day 6 Relationships-Pray that we would have a proper perspective and work as unto the Lord (Col 3:23), harmony in working with others, wisdom and discernment for Jim as he builds a team at work, humble spirits that are teachable and quick to surrender to the prompting of the Spirit and any need to seek forgiveness, insight into setting priorities and goals. We pray we might empower others in a spirit of community and unity.

Day 7 Country- Pray for stability during upcoming elections for President, for continued openness to the Gospel, for unreached peoples.

Our New Adventure

We as a couple have felt called to serve overseas since we first met 28 years ago. All in God's time. God has now called us to serve in Zambia beginning August 2011.

In Zambia, Jim will work with the CDC Global AIDS Program with the main task of integrating HIV, TB, maternal child health, and malaria activities at the grass roots level. The hope is to use the considerable resources committed by the PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief) to improve the health of the Zambian people while building their public health infrastructure. In addition, we have been in contact with the PC(USA) mission co-workers, Rev. Dr. Dustin Ellington and Nancy Collins in Zambia, and they are excited about the possibility of Jim volunteer teaching at Justo Mwale Theological University College in Lusaka. Jim was ordained as Minister of Word and Sacrament here in the Chicago Presbytery July 31st.

Amy, Ruth and Miriam, will explore the activities of the CCAP in Lusaka and see where they might be of the most help as volunteer mission co-workers. John and Christopher will attend the American International School in Lusaka.

We anticipate as a family a time of adjustment and exploration as we see exactly what God will have us do during our time in Zambia.

Zambia is a country in sub-Saharan Africa with a population of about 14 million people. During the colonial era it was known as Northern Rhodesia. The area is slightly larger than the state of Texas and is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Using the Oxford Multi-dimensional Poverty Index, Zambia ranks as the 21^st most impoverished nation. 82% of the population lives on less than $2 per day. Like many countries in the region the population is young, with a median age of 16.5 years. The life expectancy is 52 years with an infant mortality of 66.6/1,000 live births. The major health problems facing Zambians include food and waterborne diseases, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Current estimates are that 15.2% of all adults are infected with HIV, with approximately 600,000 orphans as a result. There are 152,000 people on therapy for HIV with an estimated additional 330,000 persons in need of anti-retroviral therapy.

An estimated 85% of the population professes some form of Christianity. Another 5% are Muslim; 5% subscribe to other faiths, including Hinduism, Baha'ism, and traditional indigenous religions; and 5% are atheist. The majority of Christians are either Roman Catholics or Protestants. Currently, there is also a surge in new Pentecostal churches. The Church of Central Africa Presbyterian Synod of Zambia (a PC-USA partner) traces its origin from the Livingstonia Mission of the Free Church of Scotland. The Livingstonia Mission was formed in 1874 in memory of Dr. David Livingstone who died in 1873 at Chitambo, Northern Rhodesia (present day Zambia) after his three missionary and exploratory journeys.  As of August 2010, the Synod has 67 congregations in eleven presbyteries, 58 ordained ministers and 9 evangelists with a membership of more than 65,000. Theological training is available at Justo Mwale Theological University College in Lusaka.

We would love to hear from you.   We as well as the kids will be posting periodically so check back with us regularly.