Week 6 :)

Just a quick update on my week here in Macha with the New Hanover team that is here! Over the weekend, we went out to Bertha’s village and spent the day there! We brought 3 chickens for lunch, the lucky 4^th chicken escaped before we even got in the truck to go! We spent the day in Bertha’s village helping her cook, taking a walk to the river where they bathe, hanging out with her kids and attempting to stir the nshima for lunch! On Sunday we went to church – which was outside for the first time! There were people from surrounding churches there and many youth choirs. We spent the rest of the day resting and getting ready for the next week!

the girls before church

Monday and Tuesday were both holidays, so we went on a hospital tour with Eric’s dad, Phil. He took us through the men’s, women’s and children’s ward, as well as to the outpatient clinic, counseling/treatment wards, and through the malaria research lab. The Macha Mission Hospital was started by all missionaries, but since then has been turned over and is under all Zambian leadership. The hospital doesn’t look at all like hospitals in the U.S. It is now funded by the government, instead of the Brethren in Christ Church in North America, so there is less money, which means they use more money to make sure they have resources and medicines instead of for maintenance and things like that. Another example of how different the medical system here – in America, we have CT scans/MRI machines in every ER you find. Here in Zambia, they have 2 CT scan machines, one in Lusaka and one in northern Zambia, and sometimes they don’t even work all the time. The technology we use is not available here is Zambia and, as Phil told us, the doctors really have to know what they learned in medical school in order to diagnose diseases totally off of the symptoms of the patients. The malaria research lab was also really cool to see. They do all kinds of test there and they can determine the different DNAs of malaria, see what strands they carry, and so much more. They grow mosquitoes in the lab so they can do different studies and testing with the mosquitoes.

After the hospital, the team helped to put in the volleyball court at the PTRZ campus! It has gotten quite a bit of use since we have put it up! After playing with the kids for the afternoon, we finished up the night with a climb up the water tower to watch the sunset. There are a few pictures below, but we climbed up a really tiny ladder in the middle of the 80 ft. high water tower – Mom, we were fine!! – It was a little scary, and we were all a little shaky at the top, but it was an absolutely incredible view!

volleyball court!

with my "parents" on top of the water tower :)

water tower

On Tuesday, we started the day out at MICS, even though it was a holiday and there weren’t any kids around. We helped Phil hunt for water, using a method they call “water-witching” or just water-hunting, as MICS is looking to dig another well. He used two thin copper wires and held them loosely in his hands. When you walk over a ground that has water deep under it, the wires cross. Some of the people here believe that it is spirits, while Phil explains it with magnetic forces. We all got to try it – it worked for me and was really cool! After finding water, we helped the construction team here, filling in trenches and painting! That afternoon we made the 45 minute trek out to Macha Central to watch the cup final game of the local teams. We finished the day with dinner out at MICS with the team!

We spend today, Wednesday, out at MICS with the team for their last full day here in Macha! We spent the day helping the kids make piñatas that we will fill with candy tomorrow and let the kids hit! We also had a friendly match against the boys here at PTRZ this afternoon and we’ll finish the night tonight with the World Cup game. Speaking of the World Cup, what a crazy game that Brazil and Germany game was!!!! I stopped watching and got some sleep after it got to be 5 to 0…

the pinatas!

It has been so much fun to have the team (and Madison!) here in Macha! It has been crazy and busy, but it has awesome to have these students here that want to learn more about the culture and just serve and love the people here. I have had the opportunity to sit in on the team’s devotional times throughout the week, and am amazed at how these students are processing and learning from their short time here in Macha. Their time here has looked different than a typical “missions trip.” They aren’t building things or doing manual work, and sometimes it may feel like they aren’t even doing anything, but they are building relationships and they are living the Zambian culture. They are creating relationships out at MICS, but also with the children that come here afterschool to play soccer and volleyball in the PTRZ campus. This is so important for Corie and Eric here at Push the Rock, as it will keep these kids coming back here – allowing them to grow and play in a safe environment, but also in an environment with people they can look up to in Eric, Elem, and Corie.

One thing that has been questioned and talked about in the last week in the team’s devotional time is the topic of the differences between this culture and home, and how sometimes here we feel like God is more present in our lives. This is also something I have been thinking about a lot as I only have a month left here in Macha. I think part of it is that we, meaning myself and the team, are here with our focus being on God and sharing His love. But I also think it is easier for me personally to see God at work more here because I take the time to do so. At home, there are distractions; there is no down time. I run around from one thing to the next. We love entertainment, whether that is going to the mall, the movies, or anything else. Here, we sit. We talk. We walk or bike everywhere. There is no mall or movie theater. There is no form of entertainment. It’s quiet and slow, in the best way possible. And I have loved every second of it. I’m not saying our culture at home is bad, but I don’t choose to spend that time with God when I’m at home. I don’t spend time really working on relationships. And I have been trying to figure out how to translate how I have lived here to when I am back home. I don’t want to come home and just fall back into the same routine. Being here the past 6 weeks, with 4 more still to come, has changed my perspective on many things. It’s so hard to put into words without experiencing it yourself. So everyone should come to Zambia… just kidding, but if you could be praying for me over the next month for the transition period that will come when I get home that would be awesome :)

some of the kiddos at the PTRZ campus

So this didn’t turn out to be as short as I anticipated, but thanks so much for all the prayers and support from home… we leave Macha for Livingstone tomorrow with the team and Madison. We will spend Friday morning to Saturday morning on safari in Botswana, and then we will visit Victoria Falls Saturday before dropping the team and Madison off at the airport on Sunday! Prayers for ours and their safety in traveling would be great as well :)

Hope everyone is having a great week :)