Toad in the Toilet?

When the kids were little we took turns praying at meals. John was known as ' John the Confessor' since he used to pray, "Thank you for this food and today I broke .... and I push my brother and...." He was an honest and penitent little guy. There have been many examples of his truth telling over the years. When Chris was in Kindergarten and John was in 3rd grade, they attended a childcare program before school so I could get to work on time. John told me the caregivers yelled and let only one boy use the computer. One day he reported this child had thrown him up against a locker and the adults did nothing. I found these stories hard to believe. Surely John was exaggerating? I did not want to have to search for another childcare situation. I did not want to believe what he said. Then another mother reported that she had contacted the police to get an order of protection for her son who had been hit by the same child. I was filled with remorse. How could  I have doubted John? I immediately hired a woman to come to our home and care for the boys before and after school. Given that John has a history of integrity and honesty you may be wondering why we didn't believe him when he reported there was a toad in the toilet. We lacked faith and like the disciple Thomas demanded to see proof in order to believe. Jim, Chris and I went in to the bathroom to investigate and poked the murky brown water in the toilet which failed to move, even a bit. We concluded it was not a toad much to John's chagrin.  John insisted it had jumped but we laughed at his imagination. That was a month ago. Recently, John insisted we all come to view another toad in the toilet and sure enough it was (see photo). Just the other day the Ellington's who stayed at our home in January asked if we had ever seen a toad in our toilet..... Dustin had tried to catch it but it dove before he could grab it. This toad episode gives new meaning to things we learned growing up. "Put the lid down." "Always flush." "Be aware (beware) of your surroundings." "Look before you leap."Yesterday Jim told us of several families that have found cobras in the kitchen or pantry this rainy season. I think I would rather stick with toads.

Musings on faith, health, and healing

Last Sunday we went to a local church where there was a testimony given by a woman whose sister in law had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She shared how the woman and her husband decided to have faith and not have the surgery as recommended by her doctors. Indeed they seemed to see the idea of using standard medical care as a sign of weak faith, and a sure way to jeopardize miraculous healing.

It pained me to hear such a testimony.  The woman clearly understood her healing to be dependent upon her (and her family and friends) faith and prayers; if she demonstrated enough faith by eschewing medical care and praying earnestly, she would be healed. It did not even occur to her that God might actually work through the medical people in her life.

It reminded me of one definition of an idol - an object used to manipulate God. In essence she had made her prayers and behavior an idol - she was trying to manipulate God. And yet, isn't it appropriate to have faith? Doesn't God promise that we can do greater things than even Jesus, now that we have the Holy Spirit? Aren't we told in the book of James that we should have elders lay hands on us and pray and we will be healed?

And yet has there been a single Christian since Jesus' time here on earth who has not died? And haven't many (most)of the faithful servants of the Lord in the last 2000 years suffered at some point in their lives? Were the apostles just weak in their faith, all but John suffering a martyr's death? Am I weak in my faith when I suffer, when those around me suffer and die despite my prayers? Can my faith handle the reality of suffering and death?

I realize a blog spot is not the place to fully discuss the theological nuances of such difficult questions, but I was glad for the chance to have a good conversation with my children about faith, God's love, suffering, and death.

I find great comfort in two Old Testament books - Job and Daniel. In Daniel 3:17-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are about to be thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to worship the idol king Nebuchadnezzar had created and they said (words I hope to be able to say in times of deep suffering), "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, we will not serve your gods or serve the image of gold you have set up." I hope to say to Satan - "God is able to rescue me from this suffering and illness, but even if he does not...I will serve Him alone."

The other book, Job, is a beautiful piece of literature and deserves attention from all people of faith.
My quick take away message is that I am not God, I will likely never fully understand God's ways, but that is okay, and as it should be. I took great comfort in reflecting upon Job some 23 years ago when my first born was seizing in the neonatal intensive care unit clinging to life, and my wife was re-admitted to the hospital with post-partum infection/sepsis. I remember standing in the call room in the hospital praying to God and saying, "You are God, in control of this universe, may Your will be done, and may I have the strength to endure it..."

May we all cultivate a faith that believes in the miraculous yet accepts God's will and refrains from trying to manipulate God.

More Adventures

November 30^th, Ruth and I went to a lecture on Rape Awareness presented by Linda Graham of the Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security Office of Mobile Deployments. These are some of our notes from the lecturer/ power point presentation. What does a rapist look like? It could be anyone. Fact- Personal appearance of victim and conduct alone WILL NOT cause a victim to be attacked. Rape is the most under reported of all criminal offenses. For every one rape that is reported, 10-20 go unreported. 1 out of 10 rapes involves a male victim. Average jail time for a convicted rapist in the US is seven years. A charge for “abduction and intent to defile” is an automatic twenty years.  Fear of not being believed is the number one reason why victims do not report sexual assaults.  In over half of all reported rapes, the attacker was either a friend or an acquaintance.  Anyone can be raped. Victim selection- Some choose by shoes-high heels and some choose by hair- ponytail. Isolation creates vulnerability. The approach to a victim might be as a con or by blitz/surprise.

December1st, Ruth and I went to help at Chikambuso. She was in the art room helping some kids, and I was in the library helping kids with reading. While we were there the secret service showed up to prepare for a visit from President Bush. That was interesting. December 3^rd our family went to the American Embassy to meet George Bush the 43^rd president of the United States of America.  Dad took John’s photo with him and Ruth shook his hand and his wife’s hand. I lost a shoe in the confusion and never got to shake anyone’s hand.  December 8^th Ruth and I went to Chikambuso for the Christmas party and passed out stickers.

December 9th my mum and I sang carols at an Indian Christmas Party held by the Tamil Association at CPS Hall. We learned a variation of Jingle Bells which told the gospel story in Tamil. “Piranthar piranthar Christou piranthar. Winnilium mannilum vetri mulanga –Hey.” Santa came to the celebration and gave people candy as he passed by. We did not stay for the magic show though it might have been interesting to have seen. I wore a borrowed sari. The guitarist (a Zambian), Mom and I were the only ones not of Indian descent.

Recently we went to Zanzibar for a week. Ruth, John, Chris, and Dad went scuba diving, and my mum and I went snorkeling. I was really afraid because the waves were brutal. Too bad we forgot the Dramamine.

Holiday Update



Red Colobus Monkey Zanzibar

I had not realized that it has been over a month since my last post! Time really flies. I think part of the delay is a desire to write something really profound, but instead I will just update our family and friends. Of course it has been quite a year of transitions for us. This time last year we were in snowy Evanston prayerfully considering a move to Zambia. Now that we are in Zambia I would love to say that all is settled and we have a clear picture of why God called us here, but that would be somewhat untrue.

After 5 months in Zambia we continue to explore how we are to get involved both medically and with church ministry. We have almost completed the ordeal of getting Zambian medical licenses, drivers licenses, car registrations, etc.  The systems seem to be set up to make sure you meet the most people and fill out as much paper as possible, and perhaps learn a little patience along the way! At one point I was a bit exasperated with one young man and expressed my dismay at the inefficiencies - he smiled and said, "We have processes, I am sure in your country you have processes..." Yes, but...oh well, pongano pongano (little by little, or slowly slowly). Who knows, maybe that elusive fruit of the spirit, patience, will blossom in me.

So far it looks something like this - Amy will serve as volunteer physician for the 260+ Peace Corps volunteers here in Zambia and is continuing to explore involvement at Justo Mwale Seminary, both to provide health care to the students and families but also to consider teaching Christian Counseling. As a couple we are working out the details of starting a Bible study/Fellowship for missionaries who could use encouragement. Jim of course continues to work at CDC with ever increasing responsibilities, will probably teach this semester at the Seminary (Preaching, of all things), and is exploring starting a Bible study with expat workers (CDC, USAID, etc.).

Making the famous
 "lazy dazy meatballs"

We had a delightful Christmas visit from Amy's parents, Alice and Norm. Our Christmas tree arrived just in time, thanks to my brother's faithful and fast mailing. It was actually a nice tree, our first artificial one as a family. Christmas is a little more low key here, not nearly the commercialism as in the US. Everyone takes several weeks off and relaxes and spends time with the family.  Presents continue to trickle in as mail can be slow, so we get a prolonged celebration!  Alice and Norm helped us present a Christmas celebration for a group of students and orphans, with Alice playing the keyboards and offering an opening prayer, Jim gave a brief message of encouragement and the benediction, while we all served as the choir for several carols. Amy and Miriam sang carols and our missionary friend Watson (SIM)shared the gospel story for an association of expats from India. Miriam looked great in her sari. 

Miriam and Amy singing carols

 In January we took a one week vacation to Zanzibar where Jim, Ruth, John, and Chris learned to scuba dive. It was relaxing, hot, poignant (touring slave markets from the 19th century), hot, interesting (Spice Island), and did I mention hot? Jim found this great bargain place to stay - no AC or hot water, but really cheap, right on the beach and walking distance to the scuba shop. The lack of hot water turned out to be a life saver! Part way through we broke down and upgraded one room to AC (lucky kids). 

Slave Trade Sculpture Zanzibar

John and Chris start school again January 17th and we are planning a quick trip to see Victoria Falls this weekend. They seem to be doing well. John has gotten in to several colleges he applied to and is waiting to hear from the last two - next the big decision, where to go. Chris is settling in more completely with each passing day.

Zanzibar beach

Ruth just got a job at the US Embassy and is quite excited about it (she will actually have higher clearance than her dad, "top secret"). It seems her job will be to fill in where needed administratively and be an escort for VIP visitors. Miriam continues volunteering and is actively looking into returning to PACE Transitions next year. Amy is off to Malawi for about three weeks to help our friends at Nkhoma Hospital, pray her temporary medical license comes through quickly. Have a blessed 2012!



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?"