Into the Bush--Part I

I went out into the field today for the first time this week.  Actually, it was the bush, and I went not once, but twice.  Since the internet only works well when the students are not here taking up all the bandwidth on their phones, I have stayed at the Lodge during the day to post about the previous day.  As a result, I've not had the opportunity to see for myself the things I've been reporting on.

That all changed when I went out with the medical team this morning to a village buried in the heart of the bush country outside of Livingstone.  The road to get there kept narrowing and narrowing until it was literally two well-worn dirt tracks in the midst of the bush.  Every now and again huts would crop up alongside of the road until we came to an wider spot where there was an open air market on one side and a three-sided shelter on the other:  the clinic.

The village open-air market

There were about a dozen people sitting in the shade of the roof when we got there but word soon spread via the village grapevine, bringing more and more patients, two by two, in small groups, or solo.  The three doctors, along with the lab, set up inside the shelter.  The dental "clinic" set up at the end of the shelter, triage took place under the tree in front of the shelter, and the bus became the pharmacy.

The triage line (nurse in white at the end).

I spent a couple of hours observing the professionalism of all our medical/dental staff--from the the doctors, nurses, technicians, and interpreters down to the students.  Patience certainly was needed as the crowds could easily have gotten out of control.  Truth to tell, they did on occasion--especially with the children.  But calm was restored after a bit, and everyone

went on with the real business at hand:  healing.  It was inspiring to watch them all at work, each with a specific and vital job to fill.

By the time I left, the dozen had swelled to many more.  This was just supposed to be a half-day visit, though, so they finally had to shut down triage and send everyone away except the ones already in process of being cared for.

I left this village humbled and awed at what I had seen.  We take much for granted.

Triage under the tree with Mrs. Morada
(Oliver Morada's mother) and Rebeca

Medical and Construction equipment to do
dental work :)

The lady is an English teacher in town.
She brought her father, who lives in the
village, to our clinic.

Mrs. Maloon prays with some patients.

Rebeca takes temperatures in the
triage line.

Arlyn checks a patient's eyesight.

Dr. Muncy counsels with a patient alongside an
interpreter (right).

Mrs. Morada's brother dispenses medicine
from the bus

Eric checks a patient's weight

Mrs. Muncy and Haley hand out toothbrushes

Narce and Abigail demonstrate proper tooth care.

Haley uses a dinosaur to teach
tooth care.

Children are the same everywhere
when there is a camera!  "Copy me!" 

"Doing Good"

Narce and Mrs. Maloon help with triage at the
Medical Clinic

Mr. Morada shared the worship thought Sunday evening.  He based his remarks off of II Thessalonians 3:13:  “But you, brothers and sisters, never become tired of doing good” (The New Century Bible).  “You may feel tired, but realize that you are doing what the Bible has asked you to do,” he said.  He reminded the group to remember why they came to Zambia.  “You and I are still writing the book of Acts.  There are still stories to be told of what God is doing through you for others.”

Dr. Morada (white shirt with blue band on
sleeve) sees patients while photographer Keaton looks on.

Jacob checks a blood presurre

Encouraging the group to step out of their comfort zone and find ways of extending their ministry, he challenged the group with this question:  “Why just build a church where someone else can minister when you can minister to others right here and now?  It’s not just about building a build,” he said.  Even with the medical ministry, which is clearly serving others right there and now, he encouraged the workers to pray with the people they were working with.  “You may one day meet them in heaven where they might say ‘Remember that day when you prayed for me in Zambia?’  We have a field of people right here and now that we can not only talk to, but minister to and meet their needs.”

The evening’s sharing time reflected the very thing Mr. Morada had just spoken about:

Chaplain Rob—I stood out at the road and tried to invite people into the meeting tonight.  There, I met a man named Joseph.  He's apostolic but he seems very interested in coming to church.  I talked with him for about an hour.  He needs a tooth pulled and will come back to the 

Narce checks a baby's temperature

clinic to get help with that.  At the end, I took him into the meeting.

Rebeca--When I was doing triage with Mrs. Muncy, she told me to pray with them while taking the blood pressure.  At first I was nervous, but then I did and it felt really good.

Daniel--When I was talking with some kids, they seemed really interested in getting a Bible.

Dr. Morada and his daughter Irene 

Johann--some kids were asking me for Bibles, too.

Mrs. Muncy--Today I had a great group of students working with me and it was a such fun working with them and helping them get some good experiences.

Haley watches her dad, Dr. Muncy, at work.

Jaden--At the construction site we were waiting for the bus to show up.  People that come in and work there don't get paid all that much.  Three guys that we were talking to invited us (JT, Catherine, and me) to come eat with them and they offered us food.  They were very nice.  Also at the VBS there were these two little girls who came up behind me and jumped up and hit the back of my head.  I looked around and they said "you have nice hair." 

Haley--It seemed that the people we gave toothbrushes to were extremely happy to get them.

Mr. Maloon--I was playing some soccer with some kids and I asked them if they believed in God and then had a chance to talk with them about Him.  I'm going to get some Bibles to them.

Arlene hands out stickers to the children.

Pastor Ralph—[Referring to Christopher] He's kind and wise and has high values.

Mr. Maloon--Cook Christi is actually affecting how the Lodge cooks work.  They’ve been watching her and she's been able to share cleanliness and good health 

practices and is affecting how they do their own work in the kitchen now.

Cook Christi--I talked with one of the girls downstairs and I asked her about the other two girls downstairs and she said they are the two wives of the owner of this resort.  They are Muslim.  We've been only talking about recipes and cleaning with bleach but now we have religion to talk about.  I’m excited to see where things will go tomorrow.

Dr. Muncy--Remember that every act you are doing is your ministry.  You don't have to say anything specific.  If they know you are a Christian and you are a loving caring Christian, that's your ministry, that's your witness.  Every single one of you is doing something that way because you are living and breathing.  Every minute that you are living, you are acting out who you are and you are living for God.  You don't have to pray with someone.  If you can’t, or don’t, it doesn't mean that you re not ministering to someone.  You are just by being here.

Ashley, Mrs. Morada, and Narce at the
 blood drawing station

Pastor Ralph--Remember when Moses came down off the mountain he had a glow about him that he had been with God.  When young people show others kindness, that shows them God.  It bears a mighty witness to others about the character of God.

Chaplain Rob—In I Corinthians 13, Paul talks about how God loves me and how I can love others.  Don't take your witness for granted...  You may be the only Jesus someone ever sees.

Mrs. Pearson leads out in VBS

Pastor Ralph--I know the building project has been frustrating because we are starting and stopping on it.  But the truth is we're 7 courses up on a 13 course building and we're not halfway through the time we have to work. . . The goal is to complete that wall and as much on the interior as we can.  This group has done a tremendous job.  You are all contributing to the effort.  It takes the synergism of the whole group.

Mrs. Maloon, Brooke, Eric, and Alex share a song at
the Evangelistic meeting

Dr. Muncy—The same applies to the medical field.  I may make the final decision, but I can't do anything without what you've done first.

Chaplain Rob--find time to meditate tonight or in the morning.  Search for what God is calling you to do.

Flexibility Awards

Mr. Pearson leads a parachute game during VBS

Cook Christi--Eric--being a great worker—and a courageous one.  When a rat ran across his foot, he jumped and broke his shoe, but he went and changed his shoe and came right back to work.  Then Grant—got pulled into the kitchen and that was wonderfully flexible and then he also helped me tonight at VBS--even invented a game.

Alex--Dr. Muncy and Dr. Morada because they took care of my sister when she got stung last tonight.

Mr. Morada--to Pastor Ralph because I am a horrible brick layer.  But he has shown great patience with me.  In fact, he has shown patience with everyone.

Johann gives the construction site
a "thumbs up!"

Mrs. Maloon--the music team.  They have had to change things up every night.  Alex and Brooke had to change up their song tonight and they didn’t miss a beat.  We just try to go with the flow.

Dr. Muncy--Mrs. Warren.  She has been outstanding for so many reasons, but especially today at the medical clinic when it was so busy and patients were upset because they had been there a long time and she was running around and putting out fires and keeping people calm...very flexible

Haley--to my mom because she did not have the right equipment for pulling teeth, but she was able to do it with all the wrong equipment.

Pastor Ralph--Mrs Muncy has been such an integral part of making this all happen.

Chaplain Rob--you are here because of the Lord and Mrs. Muncy.

Today's photos are c/o of Mr. Maloon. 

Janaai and Marilyn talk with some of
the older children at VBS

Photographer Keaton captures a priceless moment.

Jaden shares the Word

Worship Thoughts

Notice the intricate decorative thatched roof!

Thursday Night--March 21, 2013

For our first evening worship, Chaplain Rob challenged us all to reflect on what we needed and wanted from this mission trip for ourselves.  “It’s all about you,” he said—which might sound a little strange when you usually think about mission trips being about others.  But the truth is that it’s all about the change that comes over anyone who does something good for others…and for God.  “So think about what you want God to do with you and for you on this trip,” he said.  “It’s going to be something great.”

Then he asked for team members to share their experiences and impressions of the day:

Alex was appreciative of how the church family welcomed them at the evangelistic meeting.

Rebeca loved the feeling of working with the children at VBS.

Narce learned how to say good morning.

Ms. Aastrup realized again how small the world is when she, along with Cook Christi and Chaplain 

Rob, met people from AZ at the local grocery store.

JT reflected on how happy the kids seem to be with so little. 

Pastor Ralph thought the TAA kids are "super." He thought they would be zonked out after the long trip to get here, but they did very well that first day on the construction job. “Tomorrow we’ll build on what we learned today,” he encouraged. 

Narce loved her day with the medical team.  And at VBS, she enjoyed how the kids loved the camera.  They kept saying “Copy me!”  And "they went crazy with tooth brushes."

Cook Christi confers with her Friday helpers
about the meals for the day.

Everyone loved the food that Cook Christi made.  “It was so good,” they all affirmed.  And they were thankful that we were blessed with safe bus rides.  Chaplain Rob said that the taxi driver who is on-call all day for whatever we need really enjoys working with us.

Everyone is being so flexible, going with the flow without complaint.  It’s been an excellent experience so far.  God is blessing.

Friday morning--March 22, 2013

Pastor Jay's worship thought on Friday morning focused on the blessing of service.  One of our drivers said to him that “it's more blessed to give than receive.”  He thought that was the perfect way to describe this mission trip—giving and receiving.

He then told us that it's 9,612 miles from Scottsdale to Livingstone.  We’ve come almost 10,000 to serve others!  Think, then, how much farther Jesus came to serve us.  “Service is our theme today,” he said.  “We traveled a long way to come here.  We are doing it to emulate our Savior who traveled infinitely farther to serve us.”

Native photos are from the medical team's work on Thursday c/o Dr. Gary Muncy.