Thursday, October 31, 2013

October Happenings

Good news!  The barrels and tools and saw blades and donations from America all arrived in Lusaka and have been brought to the mission!  That's especially good news for Steve M as he can now have his tools to work on the vehicles. There is always something that needs fixed on the Isuzu or Pajero.
Let us introduce you to the souls who keep the mission running...  Back row Kelvin is new to the mission. He asked Steve for work, having come from Southern Province, and he asked just when the men were piercing the hard dry ground to lay new pipe. And he now has housing and medical care for his family. Your provision is provision for Melvin and his family of 3 children and wife. In the black and white top in the back is Best, and her main job is laundry and cleaning. She runs the generator driven two barrel washer every Mon and TH and hangs it all to dry, and she irons with a coal iron on T and Fri. Richard is in the red shirt, and he is married to Sabina in the front row, left.  Richard is Steve's trusted man and runs the store and fixes things and runs the hammermill saw mill. Sabina has many children to care for and she also cleans and cooks for Ruth. Terence is next to Richard, and he has helped Oscar with the big saw that will cut lumber from the massive trees, and he helped dig the trenches for the water pipes. Cloud is in the blue shirt on the right, reaching out to Steve M. That's their relationship...  and Cloud is the main gardener. Next to Steve M on the right is Catherine who runs the clinic and is the main translator for everything... prayers, patient care, the villagers communicating with Steve and Ruth. The children I will just name... Linda, Inez, Foster is in Steve M's lap, Flora, Ridgeby (which is impossible to say with their accents), David.

Malaria is beginnning to spread through the area, and several families at the mission have children who've already been testing postive for malaria. Ruth also treated a girl this week who fell from a tree getting catepillars. The rains are coming and slowly beginning, and the mission is lush green, and so catepillars will even fall from the ceiling when you get up to go to the bathroom at night... yes, personal experience speaking here. The Zambians love to squeeze out the inside of the catepillars and then fry it in oil. Ifishimu is the name in Bembe.They have it as a main meal called "relish" with their ground maize porridge.

Last month Steve and Ruth and Keli went to Saint Anthony's school to take the orphans out for a picnic. Ruth surprised everyone hiking up the hill that overlooked the gorgeous spring fed Lake Kashiba
. Ruth fixed a generous lunch of egg salad sandwiches and potato salad and even chocolate cake.... AND cheese curls and candy bars and paw-paw. What a feast! There was laughter and hiking and swimming, and they all had a wonderful time! Plus all the orphans got a new tube of toothpaste, soaps, shoe polish, and even cookies to all share.

Challenges continue with getting the water pipes fixed... lots of days without water and needing to use only the water that was stored in barrels. When the wind isn't blowing... things are hard. So Steve installed a solar powered pump onto the roof this first week of November. But the rains should be coming more plentifully, and planting should occur Nov 15, so perhaps the water needs and supply will balance out.

The Women's Conference planned by Ruth was attended by 14 women.. Walking with GOD was the theme.

One night a snake was in a grass roof so one of the men burned down the hut. Steve spoke the next day, Sunday in church, on chasing away snakes instead of burning down the whole kitchen! The men are rebuilding a kitchen that burned last year... now they will have to build two. 

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