SAFARI

One of the amazing things about living in Africa is having so many amazing animals so nearby. Here are some pictures from a day safari our teammates took us on. Evan is petting a real baby warthog that tried to eat his shorts! The kids particularly liked the elephant whose name is Mphamvu which means power. Actually she is just a teenager and very tame.

A Christmas Party for Street Kids

This year we were privileged to be a part of the annual Christmas party for street kids. There are hundreds of boys and girls as young as 5 years old living on the streets. They beg, steal, prostitute themselves, sniff glue to get high, doing anything to survive. These children desperately need the hope of Jesus.

The children heard a presentation of the gospel, played soccer, ate lunch, danced to "Uncle G's band", and experienced a puppet show about Christmas.

Please pray for a young street boy named Adam that God has put in John's path. Every time John sees Adam he tells him a Bible story and Adam seems very hungry for God. We would also like to see him come off the street to live in a center for street boys.

Why do we need a guard?????

When we first came we had questions about having a guard. Is it not safe in Lusaka? Would our guard have a gun? It became clear to us early on that yes, it is safe in Lusaka but that in a place where there is such poverty there will be temptation to steal things. And no, our guards don't have guns. They spend most of their time mowing the grass and tending to the yard.

The picture is of our guard named Lungu. I told him recently that his most important job is to teach the boys how to play "football" (soccer). He smiled big and said "madam, I am good at football". Lungu is a young guy, about 22, who became an orphan about 12 years ago. He has had a hard life but is so thankful to have a stable job. He said yesterday he might begin looking for a wife. Maybe you'll see pictures of Lungu's wedding on this blog one day!

We have staff ??!!!!

It is strange as Americans to imagine having a house helper and guard/guardener that we employ. You mean someone is going to mow our yard and someone else is going to do our laundry and sweep the floor? In America that is a huge luxury. In Zambia, it is the kindest thing we can do for the poorest of the poor. You see, Lusaka has almost 70% unemployment.

This is a picture of Pauline, our indoor house help. Let me tell you her story. She was married with two children when her husband died in an accident. She remarried and had a third child when her second husband ran away and married another woman and had a child with her. Her husband refuses to support Pauline and says it is normal in their culture for men to have more than one wife. If she did not have a job, she and her three children would be living on the street. Already, we love Pauline dearly.

Jesus is the Reason for the Season

The answer to the fruit quiz from the last post is . . . a mango!

Here are some pictures of the kids decorating for Christmas. The young lady in the picture with the kids is "auntie" Mari, a single missionary who has come to equip teachers in the poorest community schools.

On the Home Front

I thought some of you would be interested in what our house looks like. This is the front of the house and the yard. Also, this beautiful flower is on a bush in our yard. Last but not least, this fruit grows on a tree in our yard. Who can guess what fruit this is? It is a tropical fruit that is fairly expensive in your grocery store. I'll give the answer in the next posting.

A Real American Thanksgiving

Several of our friends have asked how we would celebrate our first Thanksgiving in Zambia.

Our team celebrated together and there were 41 people present! We had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, green beens, pumpkin pie (you get the idea). After we ate and sat around moaning because everyone was so full, the Stevenson family did a puppet show.

A Party for Staff

Last week Chet and LeAnne Burns, missionaries with ACTION, hosted a party to say good-bye to their staff and for us to say "hello" to them. We have four guards that rotate working for us and two women who work inside the house. It was great fun seeing the staff "off work" and we enjoyed meeting their families.

We did relay races and a water balloon toss. Everyone ate potato chips and "softies" (soft drinks). One of the guards named Banda played the guitar and we had a wonderful time of worship. Marshall seemed to have the best time of all of our kids, playing every single game!