Coming in to Lusaka was pretty incredible. The skies had been too cloudy for me to see anything along the way; however, at the border I was able to see a huge lake and then most of the way into the city. Lusaka is a very spread out town with some high rises in the center. Surrounding the city is a lot of farm land with smaller houses and even a lot of mud huts with thatched roofs.
I made it through customs ok. Getting a visa is now $100!!! Instead of the $50 is used to be. I guess, the Zambian government charges whatever the reciprocal country is charging. (So, for example, Germans only pay $25. I’m going to have to work on getting my German passport again.)
I flew in with Rick and Tracy (missionaries who met here in Lusaka two years ago – getting married in January) whom I’d met at the retreat near Jo’burg. They gave me a ride to Bryan and Diane Wilson’s home. (Bryan is the FM Zambia director.) On the way in we stopped for pizza. It was really pretty decent.
Archive for October, 2006
Arriving in Lusaka
Set My Heart on Fire
On Friday night at the retreat, we had a bonfire. It was huge! In fact, it was so big, that most people sitting near it had to move to get out of the heat. The general idea was to sing praise songs and share what God had been doing in your life. Mostly it ended up being a time to sing. A few people did share some wonderful insights.
Several of the songs we sang were in Setswana (the most common language spoken in Botswana). Obviously, I couldn’t sing along on those. So I listened, and soaked in the music.
Listening to the songs took me back to 1993 when I was driving down a busy road in Seattle. I heard a song on the radio called “O Se Baba” which means Thank You, Father in one of the Nigerian languages. It had beautiful African rhythms and beats and a fantastic chorus of African voices. It was at that time that I KNEW without a doubt that God wanted me to do missions work in Africa. However, I said NO and kept doing my own thing.
The Retreat
When Bryan first told me that I would need to attend the Flying Mission retreat in South Africa, I was a little skeptical. I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy meeting so many new people, most of whom work in Botswana. Since I’ll be moving to Zambia, I won’t actually get to spend much time with them.
However, the retreat was phenomenal! And the people were even better! I feel like I’ve come away with new friends.
In the morning we had worship time, then a speaker. The theme for this retreat was “Change.” The speaker focused first on personal change from a Biblical perspective (why, how, when, etc), then on corporate change (again, why it’s important and how to manage it).
After lunch, we had nothing on the schedule again until supper. This meant that I had several hours at a time to get to know other FM team members. It really was good to get a chance to meet so many of them. Now when I read the weekly e-memo or e-mail people, I’ll be able to put a name to a face!
The retreat took place at Stony Ridge Retreat Center about 45 minutes west of Jo’burg and belongs to Scripture Union. The accommodations were quite rustic. The beds all had springs to hold up the mattresses. Five of us “single gals” shared the room. So every time someone moved, the bed would squeak. It was also extremely non-supportive for anyone’s back. So I put my mattress on the floor. I’m sure it started out as a 4” mattress many years ago. It’s a little thinner these days. However, sleeping on the floor was certainly better than sleeping on the coil spring bed. And I’m sure my chiropractor will appreciate it also! 
We had a swimming pool right next to the thatched-roof dining hall. The pool was extremely cold, but I got talked into swimming anyway. It really was quite refreshing.
On Hate and Driving
Today I went to the Apartheid Museum. It is amazing what we will do to each other in the name of money and religion.
Officially, the political practice of Apartheid began in 1948. The hate and segregation was building up long before that. The simple version is that conflicts broke out over land and money (from gold and diamonds). The Afrikaans (Dutch decendants – white) got the upper hand in the 1930s and were able to pull it off. They remained in power for over 50 years.
Numerous anti-Apartheid activists were imprisoned, killed, or banned. In 1991, then president FW De Klerk, commuted Nelson Madela’s life sentence and he was allowed to go free. Around the same time he also lifted all of the bans, freeing many other activists from their home-imprisonments and allowing anti-Apartheid movements to take place legally (they’d been taking place illegally for many years).
In 1994, the first fully democratic vote took place in South Africa. Apartheid was officially over.
The museum did and oustanding job on portraying the history of Apartheid and the events leading up to it. Well worth a visit if you are ever here. I spent about 2 1/2 hours there. The next time I come back, I’ll probably go through it again. I’m sure there’s stuff I missed on this visit.
Today, Blacks (completely African) and Coloureds (Blacks mixed with something else, or other minority races) have many more freedoms. South Africa has made much better strides in repairing race relations than has the US. It’s really only been a decade. However, there is still huge disparity between the haves (primarily white) and the have-nots. It will be interesting to see how things change in the next decade.
Monkey Gland Burger – UPDATED
Tonight Kathy took us to dinner at Dros. A very nice restaurant that serves burgers, steaks, pizzas and a few other items. We also invited Mark’s two assistants: Siza and Rioleen. Two very lovely women. Rioleen ordered a cheese pizza with chicken livers. Pretty sure we’d never see that in the “good ol’ USA.”
At dinner I ordered the Monkey Gland Burger. I was told that the sauce is made from a gland taken from behind the monkey’s ears. The burger was delicious.
Locked Up
South Africa has the highest crime rate (as an entire nation) in the world. For that reason, all the houses and shops have bars on them.
I’m not talking about bars just on the windows. Every window, every door has bars. Then the entire property is surrounded by a wall. The wall is either an iron spiked fence or a brick wall with iron spikes on top. Then on top of that is an electric fence. And still, people’s homes are robbed/burglarized. People are routinely carjacked and held up at gun point. Sometimes the only thing the thief gets away with is a cell phone. Often these crimes happen in broad daylight. Yet everyone goes about their daily business.
So while the bars are a good thing, for the most part, they can also cause some problems. Nichole, one of the other World Venture missionaries here, told us that she was unable to get out of her yard today. Her gate remote (like a garage door opener) batteries had gone dead. It was 5:45 in the morning so no one else was awake. She had to wait for her landlords to wake up so she could get let out to buy new batteries. Yikes!
Lawley
Yesterday morning I arrived in Johannesburg. Kathy Schaaf picked me up at the airport. (Kathy and her husband Mark are the Southern Africa area directors for World Venture. Unfortunately, I won’t get to meet Mark on this trip since he is in Madagascar on business.) Before she arrived, I was able to confirm my flight to Zambia on Sunday and exchange some US Dollars for South African Rand. The exchange rate is about Rand 7.6 to $1. So I had a sandwich for lunch that was Rand 29, which looks like a lot of money at first. But I’m starting to work out the conversion thing.
When we got back to Kathy’s house around 10 AM, I took a 2 hour nap, which was wonderful. I’d been moving since 7:00 AM Saturday morning. 10:00 AM South Africa time is 1:00 AM Arizona time. So I’d been on the move for 42 hours at that point. I did sleep some on the plane and in the London airport, but it’s never quite the same as sleeping in your own bed.
In the afternoon we picked up Kathy’s daughters, Sara and Katy from school. Both girls are delightful. We had great conversation around the dinner table. At dinner we tried to find as many different ways to say thank you as we could. I think we rounded up 15 – 20 languages between the four of us. Not bad.
Grey’s Anatomy (yep, the one we get too) was just coming on around 7:30 when I decided it was time for me to go to bed. I was pretty pleased at having made it that far. And I slept good. Didn’t get up again until about 6:30 this morning!! Yay!
This morning I went to Lawley with Kathy, who is a nurse. Lawley is a suburb of Jo’burg. It used to be an “informal settlement”, which means it was just shacks. Now part of Lawley is a “formal settlment”. So the structures in Lawley One are normal houses and quite sturdy. In Lawley Two, they are still basically shacks, and there is no running water at all. All the water is trucked in. All of the front yards are wonderfully clean, and most have vegetable and flower gardens in them.
Observations in an Airport
I made it to South Africa. Praise God! Both flights were rather uneventful – which is just the way I lke them.
While I was sitting in the London Heathrow airport for many hours, I observed a number of things. Here are two of them:
Little girl in a denim dress
Sits in a red chair and giggles.
She tries another red one,
And then a green one.
And finally decides -
The best seat in the house is still
Daddy’s lap.
Fantastic Friends!!!
Wow!! Only two more sleeps before I leave for Africa! I can’t wait! 
And I’ve still got a lot to do and the next two nights will undoubtedly be very short. However, thanks to the help of some friends, it’s starting to look a little more manageable.
The other day, I asked a handy-man to help me with some work around the house. He said he wouldn’t finish installing the shower door because I had already started. (Note to self – never start a handy-man project if you can’t finish it. None of them will touch it with a 39 1/2-foot pole.) Then I asked him to paint one interior door and 8 door frames/jambs. He thought it was going to take 5 hours (at $25/hour). I thought it was a little steep, but willing to pay because I needed to get it done. When he came back the next day to get started, he told me he had thought it over, and it was really going to take 10 hours. Apparently, he’s a very slow painter. I told him to take a hike.
What A Faithful God Have I
I’ve been feeling a bit stressed recently – working full time, taking two classes, trying to prepare for a two-week trip to Africa on October 14, and full-time missions in July of next year, AND getting my house ready to put on the market. Yeah, just a little on my plate.
God did make it clear he wanted the house on the market before I leave next weekend. And there are an amazing number of “little” jobs that need to be done by then. Every time I turn around I find something else.
One of the things I’ve been most concerned about is how little support raising I’ve been able to do. I should be much farther along at this point, but haven’t been able to give it much attention. But God knows that I’m doing as much as I can humanly do.
God proved this with some wonderful encouragement.
