Full Day at the Falls

Good Morning and Happy Sabbath!

Yesterday was such a full day I had no chance to blog.  Sorry!  Truth is, there will be very little time from here on out.  I will catch up once we return to Arizona, so you won't miss out on any part of the trip, but it may take awhile as we have Alumni Weekend next weekend.  Our media team will be busy assembling some presentations to share over the weekend, so be sure to come for that--probably during church in the TAA gym.

Anyway, yesterday was rather amazing.  We spent the day at Victoria Falls--doing everything from bungee jumping to shopping.  We all had a great time with the beautiful views, the adrenalin rushes, the serious dousing of Falls water and spray, and the bartering with the local merchants.  I will post more pictures later, but here are a few to whet your appetite.
[Photos c/o Eric McArthur]

Amazing Day in Botswana

Yesterday was an amazing day.  It had lots of animals, some stress and a bit of drama.  The park has anywhere from 80,000-120,000 elephants in it at any given time.  Next are the impala, then a variety of other animals. Not everyone saw all of the animals, but between all 4 of our groups, we saw most of them. We did not see any zebra, but have two of our own here at the Lodge.  We were there in the heat of the day, so didn't expect to see any cats.  One group saw a leopard.  We saw many different kinds of birds.  I had a birder on my jeep, so I think we saw more birds than others.  

We started the day with a water cruise up the Chobe River where we saw our first elephants and impala and many of the shore birds.  We also saw a pod of hippos--including baby ones--resting in a shallow area of the river.  Once done with that, we had a delicious buffet lunch at a beautiful resort (would have loved to stay there, but at $345 a night that wasn't going to happen!).  Then it was on to the bush part of the safari.  That was where we met many elephants and a host of other creatures.  I'll let the pictures suffice for them as words fail...

The last of our four jeeps had a rather scary encounter with a bull elephant in "musk."  That story will come later in the Thursday Reflections entry.  I'll just say this:  God was watching over them.  He sent his guardian angels to protect them, without a doubt.

We are off early again for some adventures at Victoria Falls.  I hope to have time this afternoon to post more about all the events that are now piling up on us.  We have an early group going out to walk with the lions and ride the elephants.  The rest of us will be bungee jumping, zip lining, rope swinging, helicopter riding, and other such activities.  It will be another great day in Zambia!

[I will caption these later so you'll know what you're seeing.  Some animals will, of course, be obvious :) ]

Adults Only

Full Moon over Kaazmein Lodge last night

[I am posting this morning without too many pictures because there is no time.  I will add to this when we return from our safari (!!!)]

There are other adults who have been part of the team as well.  Ralph Robertson, pastor of the Peoria/Sun City Church, has led our construction team.  Mrs. Larissa Pearson, alongside her daughters, has led the high-energy VBS program in the evening and helped at the medical or construction sites during the day.  Mr. Ward Pearson has done construction by day and VBS by night.  

Dr. Morada did the health nugget each evening at the evangelistic meetings and served at the medical sites during the day.  His wife, Emily, was a cheerful hostess at the medical sites.  Dr. Irene Daluyen and Mr. Renato Daluyen have served on the medical team as doctor and nurse, respectively.  

Dr. Gary Muncy has worked the medical sites tirelessly.  Pastor Jay Warren was the safety officer at the construction site (where he also worked) and he coordinated the spiritual nurturing for each day.  Mrs. DeeDee Warren organized the medical supplies, worked the medical sites, helped with the cooking and shopping, and was a cheerful energizer bunny when it came to helping others.  Mr. Peter Bujor (father to Jessica) worked the construction site and was an inspiriting conversationalist for listeners of all ages.

Mr. and Mrs. Maloon kept track of everyone, making sure we didn't leave anyone behind.  Mr. Maloon worked both the medical and constructions sites as well.  He was also responsible for raising much of the money for the trip.  Mrs. Apryl Maloon spent most of her day time hours with the medical staff.  In the evening she coordinated the music/worship team for evangelism. All the women did a turn or two in the kitchen as Christi's adult helpers.  

Mrs. Arlene Morada joined her brother and sister at the medical sites every day, serving as the lab technician.  Mr. Oliver Morada laid bricks by day and coordinated the evangelism meetings by night.  He also preached.

I could write pages and pages about the amazing Mrs. Sheryl Muncy.  She has been Chaplain Rob's right hand woman for months, serving as the major force behind all the communication with parents and students; organizing the transportation, medications and vaccinations, and so much more.  It is impossible to recount all she has done.  I imagine she will find her post-Zambia days quite boring and empty!!! (probably not)

Then there's Chaplain Rob Parrish.  Again the wordsmith can't find the words.  Hour upon hour, phone call upon phone call, meeting after meeting, time after time.  It's taken all that and more out of an already busy chaplain/recruiter to make this trip happen.  He has worked tirelessly to bring everything together. The trip has had its moments of frustration, but those were all circumstances beyond any of our control. Things have gone very well.  The team members have had a great experience, and have made a difference in the lives of everyone they have met and worked with.

There have been many partners at home who have helped get this trip off the ground, literally.  The TAA staff has been wonderfully supportive, working with the students so they could leave a few days early and come bak a day late from spring break.  Several also covered classes for the teaching staff on the trip.  We are so grateful for their cheerful partnership.  Parents, family, and church members have contributed money and supplies and prayers.  Mrs. Anjali Tierney raised thousands of dollars for the project from TAA's Development office.  

Yours truly has spent much of her time at the computer writing and uploading pictures to the blog.  I usually start at about 7:30 after the last bus has gone off for the day and finish around 4 when they come back for supper.  The hotel workers have gotten used to me working in their space and have been cheerfully friendly and a little curious at what I am doing.  One offered to help me.  She said "I always see you at work.  You look like you could use some help."  I showed her the blog and she was quite excited to see what I was doing and what the group was doing.  She is the same one who imagined with me what fun 

God must have had when he created the zebras :)

My routine will change after today because of the excursions and then travel.  I will blog in the evening (our time) for the next three days instead of in the morning.  I may not have time to blog after Saturday evening because of travel out of Africa.  Quite possibly it won't be until Monday evening before I can blog after we leave the Lodge early Sunday morning.  I will do my best to keep you posted as much as possible.

All in all, it has been a huge undertaking, one that would not have been possible without the contributions of every single one of you reading this blog.  Most importantly, God has been the overall tour managers.  He took care of us in numerous ways that we know of and many more that we may never know until we have a face-to-face conversation with Him in heaven.  Lives have been changed.  Zambian and American.  Please continue to pray as we wrap up this trip and prepare to come bak home.  Re-entry will be difficult.  This has, for many, been a better life because they have had nothing else to do but witness for Jesus, with very few distractions.  That will not be the case when they return home.  That's when the harder prayers need to begin.  That's when they will need your support more than ever.

What's Cooking?

Cook Christi (right) consults with her kitchen
helpers while they take a snack break

When the original cook Mr. Maloon had found for this mission trip had to bow out, he wasn't sure what we were going to do about that all important team member.  I remember him asking the staff at morning worship to pray, that we needed a cook and quick.  Not too long after that, he got a phone call asking for information about the school.  A woman was interested in Thunderbird for her niece.  One thing lead to another and by the end of the conversation, we had our cook for the mission trip!  Just one of many of the God-ordained events connected with this trip.

Ashley and Catherine make lunch for the day.

Christi Currier has had to put up with a lot, starting with being booked in a different hotel from the group in D.C.  She told me she wondered if God was trying to tell her something when things kept happening to discourage her from making the trip.  She stuck with it, though, and ended up becoming an integral part of everyone's day.

Kaazmein Lodge's kitchen

It's not been easy, though.  Start with the water, and having to boil and/or bleach everything before it could be used in the cooking.  Factor in the fact that every time she tried to use the oven it blew the electricity for the whole camp--more than once when people were in the showers (turning off the pump and leaving soapy people unable to rinse off).  Consider that ingredients that are commonly found and used at home were difficult or impossible to find.  Recipes had to be devised to use what food could be found.  Christi and her team had to go out two, three, and sometimes four times in a day--and to different stores--to find the groceries for the day. Add to all that yesterday when all the food was locked up and the Lodge staff didn't arrive until it was time to serve.  Or today when there was no gas to cook any of the hot food.  Go-with-the-flow Christi has had to make countless adjustments every day to keep this group of hungry workers fed.  It's not been ideal.  It's not what she had planned from the comfort of her home.  But as Pastor Jay said the other day, we have not been hungry.  We have been fed.

Eggs waiting for the bleach wash

Each day, Christi has a different group of helpers that she works with--usually three students and an adult.  The team gets up before anyone else, long before dark (if they are on time) to prepare the 6:30 breakfast and make the sack lunches everyone takes to the job site.  After everyone has gone off, the kitchen crew cleans up breakfast, plans out supper, and makes the grocery list for the day.  Then Christopher (taxi driver) takes Christi and one or two others out for the purchases.

Meanwhile the rest of the crew is working on what they can in the kitchen.  There is an hour or two break, then it's back to work, preparing supper and the post-VBS/Evangelism snack.  It's a long, long day.

Grant volunteers to help with breakfast every morning.  
"I like food, I like cooking, I have the time to help."

During the course of her time working in the hotel kitchen, Christi has had opportunity to witness to the hotel workers there.  They have been curious about all the bleach we use to clean the dishes and the food.  They have never seen anything like it.  After explaining about the need for cleanliness, they have been impressed to start better cleaning practices themselves.  When she was making brownies for one of the treats, they had no idea what she was doing--they had never seen or tasted brownies.  They filmed her making macaroni and cheese, and have asked her for her (vegetarian) recipes.

Dishes, fruit, vegetables, and eggs
are all cleaned with bleach and water.

One of the first meals at Kaazmein
Lodge.

A beautiful salad

A Christlike Attitude

Continuing his series of worship talks based in Philippians, Pastor Jay focused on Philippians 2:5 for his Wednesday morning meditation.  The King James Version reads, “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus.  The New Century Version says, ^5 “In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.”  In Spanish it says “let your attitude be like Christ's.”

“What does this mean? Pastor Jay asked.  “It basically means you need to think in the way that Christ thinks. What does a Christian look like?  Should you be able to see a Christian?  When it says “let this mind be in you,” Paul is trying to help us understand what a Christian looks like, what he does, how he acts.  In your lives you must think and act like Jesus--

So, how does Jesus think and act?  Don't be interested in your own life, look out for the good of others.  A Christian is someone who looks out for the good of others—one who serves others not just themselves.

“When you get back to the states, it's going to be a shock.  You're going to walk in and the music and the media and the materialism is going to be shocking.  We've lived kind of simply here.  We have enough.  We've not gone hungry.   We’ve had a little more PBJ than we'd like, but we are eating.  In the US it's all about serving ourselves.  But a Chrisian is thinking and acting like Christ, and that is all about serving others.  In His very nature, He was equal with God, but He did not think that was something to use for His own benefit.  He gave that all up to serve man.

“Selfishness takes, love gives.

“What does a disciple of Christ look like?  A disciple of Christ gives.  You are giving.  You could be surfing the ocean for your spring break, but you're laying brick in the hot African sun.  You're doing VBS and playing with kids.  You're giving medical care.  These are all acts of service, doing for others.

“Jesus said whatsoever you've done to the least of these, you've done it unto me.  Whatever we do for somebody, the lowest of the low, the smallest, sickest, grossest person who has yet to understand what we're doing for them...they are the “least.”  We are serving them for now and for eternity.  

“A Christian does things with an unselfish motive.  That's what a Christian looks like.  That's what I hope we'll look like when we return to Thunderbird.  Choose to serve today.”

God of the Small Things

One of the peaceful views at
Kaazmein Lodge

I must confess that I have, on occasion, judged a book by its cover.  More to the point, I have chosen a book based solely on its cover.  It could be the cover art that intrigues me, or the author’s name—one that I’ve read or one that I’ve read about, or—often—the title.  My students will tell you that I like titles.  Clever titles.  Thought-provoking titles.  Inviting titles.  Whenever they write, I want them to give their work a title.  And I don’t want that title to be anything remotely close to “Reflective Essay” or “Essay on Thomas More.”  I want them to think it over.  Consider the content of their essay.  And then find a way to express that content in a few succinct and inviting words. Here’s a secret:  If it’s a good title, chances are good it will be a good essay.  Not always, but quite often.  A writer who produces a good thoughtful title has likely produced a good thoughtful essay.

Children at VBS

So.  I like interesting, clever, intriguing titles.  Which is why I bought a book once based solely on its title:  God of the Small Things.  The intriguing thing was that it was in the fiction section, not the theology or inspirational section.  It was an imaginative book set in India about how the small things in life affect people's behavior and their lives.  To be honest, I don’t remember much else about it.  I remember I thought it was good.  It won the Booker Award after all.

I remember that it kept me reading and thinking.  But really, nothing else.  And I’m OK with that because the author gave me something far more important to remember and that is our God is a God of the small things.  He’s there for us in the big moments, but He’s also there in the smaller, more frequent, more ordinary moments of our lives.

Woman and baby at a village clinic

I’ve been thinking about that book title quite a bit on this trip.  We have seen our share of examples of this God of the small things throughout our trip.  Yes, we have had big answers to prayer:  our safe, if long, journey from Thunderbird to Kaazmein Lodge.  Chaplain Rob finding his room keys that he lost in town.  No one being dangerously hurt or ill (although there have been moments with nausea and other gastrointestinal discomforts).  But we have also had answers to smaller things—things that, in the great scheme of life, are pinpoints amidst boulders.  Things like getting once-in-a-lifetime photos and videos back days after a power surge took them out, finding lost cameras, being able to pull something out of a sink drain that would have cost hundreds of dollars to replace.  Big-but-small things when put in perspective, especially with the life we are observing here in Livingstone and its surroundings.

Using the GoPro in a bush village

Relaxing under the trees in the bush

The incident with the photos happened early in the trip.  Early enough so the footage was the first that had been shot of things that would not happen again (as opposed to job site footage that would have a few more days for a reshoot).  Disappointment was huge.  I could see it on the photographer’s face.  I prayed for a miracle.  “We need a miracle,” I told God.  I wanted that disappointed face to relax into a smile acknowledging that God was indeed God of the small things such as those photos, but also the of the big things such as the entire direction of his life.  For three days I prayed for this small-but-great thing.  And on the third day, the answer came and the photos were restored.

Dr. Daluyen (Mrs. Morada's sister) brings
comfort at the bush village clinic

I don’t know what the small things are in your life.  I am sure there are many as you go through any given day.  Individually, they might not be a big deal, but add them together, they become a great weight that is difficult for us to handle.  If you give them to God one at a time they never become a burden—to you or to Him.  Great or small, God can handle them all.  Yours.  Mine.  Ours.  I love that God is indeed God of the small things.  I love that we are discovering His amazing love in concrete and specific ways on this trip.  I pray that when the planes touch down in Phoenix Monday evening, we will continue to give Him our needs and concerns, but great and small.

African giant belted kingfisher who dove off
this bridge at the Lodge at least a dozen times,
fishing for his breakfast.

African bush butterfly