I Bring You Tidings of Great Joy...

Givemore’s family was finally able to get all the necessary paperwork to leave Zimbabwe and they are due to arrive in Kabwe on the 1st of January! Thank you so much for your prayers, just another reminder that God has given the gift of life, in more ways than one!

Another dismal situation that God used to show me His sovereignty was with a house that Alisha and I thought we had found to live in at the end of November. We had put down 5 months of rent before we found out that the area we were planning to move to was the reason for Kabwe’s claim to fame as the 4th Most Polluted City in the World. Downwind from the mines, high levels of lead contaminate the dust and water and make the simple act of bathing or walking barefoot harmful.

The biggest issue with not moving was the significant portion of my support that I had put into the rent that was already spent on improvements. With little chance of recovering that money, it was easy to feel discouraged at first but Alisha and I decided to let go of it and trust that it was all in God’s hands and chose to be optimistic about where the money went.

From my experience, it’s when you let go and give it to God that cool things happen. We went away for Christmas in Livingstone and Lusaka for a week, and when I got back I found that I had received the same amount in support in that week as I had lost in the house. God is good – so glad He doesn’t let me forget it!

We had Chinese for Christmas dinner, if you're ever in Lusaka we highly recommend this place!

Breaking Hearts and Crackers

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I hope you all enjoyed time with your family and friends this last Thursday. Mine was special even though I was in workshops all day and didn’t officially celebrate it with relatives and a turkey dinner. Instead my family was from DRC, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, South Africa, Germany and Canada, and instead of cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie we shared communion together and one of my Zimbabwean brothers shared from I Corinthians 10:16&17,

“Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread we break a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf, we who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf.”

He had no idea what day it was in America or how especially significant his words were to me because of it. But as I looked around at the people, my family in Christ, and remembered what made it possible for all of us to be together that day, I was full of more thanksgiving for the simple grape juice and crackers than I could have been for any extravagant feast anywhere else.

I have one prayer request that I beg you to remember as you go on from here, and that is for my Zimbabwean friend, Givemore. He has been here in Zambia for the last few months trying to get documentation for his wife and new baby girl to get out of Zimbabwe but permission to leave has not been granted. The news that he has received from the village is that they are starving and there has been a wave of cholera throughout the country, including his village. This week Givemore is returning to try to get them out but there are rumors that all borders to Zimbabwe are being closed soon to keep the cholera outbreak from spreading to neighboring countries like Zambia. Please pray for the situation in Zimbabwe and that Givemore will be able to get his family out before it gets worse. And remember to thank God for the life He has given you.

“God is very big, he is on our side. Even when things are bad in the world, nothing can limit God. Can we pray?” - Conversation with Carlos from Mozambique

His eyes haunt me. I can justify myself to the ends of the earth, I know. He could have used it to buy cigarettes or given it to his alcoholic father. I would have been encouraging the harassment of all white people in the Kabwe area as well as the 'culture of dependence' that is becoming so prevalent in many parts of Africa. and even if he did use it for food, he would soon be hungry again and asking for more next time. and what about all the other boys with him, i can't feed all of them! so i guiltily drank my cool coca-cola and walked away. His eyes haunt me.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me." Matt 25:45

Hunting for Scorpio-Spiders

I’m in Africa. I don’t know how else to say it. I have been in Zambia for nearly 3 weeks and I’ve experienced 10 power-outages, killed more ridiculously large and hideous bugs than I can count, listened to rats going through my luggage, driven in a taxi with a maniac driver 2 hours north and on a crowded bus squished between 2 men with body odor on the way back, mopped up a flood at 4 am, learned to not expect anyone within an hour of the scheduled time, and my fellow volunteer Alisha has caught some exotic African illness (she’s recovering, thank God). Did I mention the black mamba that was killed at the orphanage I’ve been staying at after it got 3 chickens?

While most of the time has been spent waiting (not for anything in particular, just everything in general), much of our time so far has been familiarizing ourselves with the many CBO’s and projects going on here in Kabwe and up north in Luanshya. We’ve been part of a couple of workshops on proposal writing, startup and management of IGA’s (income generating activities), and computer training for the guys at the Kabwe Service Center where Alisha and I will be working.

Lack of transportation has been one of our biggest challenges here so far. Since our vehicle broke down, we have had to hitchhike into town and back every day from the orphanage 10 km outside of Kabwe and have been unable to visit many of the CBOs and community schools in the surrounding area. It has also slowed our search for finding a place to live, although as of Saturday we were able to find a room in town to live in temporarily.

Prayer requests:
- For Alisha to be completely well and get her health and strength back quickly
- To find a donor for a service center vehicle
- For Alisha and I to find a decent place to live that is within our price range and close to town
- Health and protection for family and friends at home

"Welcome to Kabwe, City of Salvation"

I am sitting here on a Dora the Explorer blanketed bed after my breakfast of 4 penne pasta noodles and instant coffee (which, as an avid coffee junkie, I swore I would never drink). The smell of sweat lingers in the air despite my chilling cold bath last night, and a little brown cockroach just crawled down the wall next to me. I have been in Zambia for 38 hours and I already find it difficult to think of how life was before I came here. Why is that, I wonder? Is it culture shock? Is it a coping mechanism to make adapting easier? Don’t think of how it was before, then what it’s like now will seem normal. And maybe it is normal.

Would you like to hear about how I got here? It’s quite a good story, actually. Or maybe it’s one of those ‘you had to be there’ experiences… either way, I’ll try to relate it as best I can.

Getting through the Lusaka airport couldn’t have been easier. All they took at the customs desk was my passport and customs form, no letter of invitation or proof of finances or return ticket required, and when we got to baggage claim our 4 bags were sitting together on the floor next to the conveyor belt, all ready to go. We were asked to show our bag tags as we exited, and one of the guards asked if I had brought him anything from Johannesburg, that he expected I brought him something. “Of course I did!” I exclaimed as I reached into my bag and pulled out a chocolate bar. He thanked me and wished me a pleasant visit in Zambia. On the other side of the doors were Brooke and Jed, the Peace Corps/Hands at Work couple meeting us to drive north to Kabwe. I couldn’t help thinking, wow, I love God, I prayed for ease getting through customs, but this was incredibly smooth! All that was left was the 2 hour drive to the orphanage, and how hard could that be?

Don’t ever ask that. It’s just better not to I think, it gets you into trouble. A little more than an hour into the middle of nowhere there was a loud pop from the front of the truck, and a little after that we pulled over in a little town with smoke/steam rising from the hood. A belt had snapped and popped the radiator hose.

As it turn out, we had pulled over just a little way down from a bar, and this friendly fellow ambled over to provide his 2 cents about what should be done before wondering on. While Jed called Lawrence in Kabwe to find a car to come pick us up, another man came out from the building next to us to take a look and came to the same conclusion as us. He proceeded to go back inside and blast some African reggae out of his impressively loud speakers to make our wait more comfortable. A little while later he reappeared with his brother-in-law who had a friend with a land rover who they said they’d ask if he had a spare radiator hose – which of course he didn’t.

The next couple of hours held very little. It hadn’t taken us long to notice the little shack beside us catering to people’s drug needs, and our friend with a land rover came by a couple times to check us out as he guzzled a beer. At about midnight we heard from Lawrence that he had found a car and was on his way but it would be another hour before he would arrive. I took a sigh of relief.

Don’t ever take a sigh of relief. It’s better not to I think, it gets you into trouble. As we waited for Lawrence and his friend Sydney the rainy season decided to begin. It hadn’t rained since May and on our first night in Zambia, as we sat broken down in the middle of nowhere, the heavens opened in all their glory. I was just opening my mouth to comment how God has a sense of humor when the electricity went out and the little light we had from a street light and the drug dealer’s lair vanished, leaving us in complete and utter darkness. I broke out into laughter.

Fast forward to our rescue… we fit what luggage we could into the trunk and 4 of us squished into the back of Sydney’s little car. Sydney pumped up the stereo, which was not unlike an African Savage Garden with a Spanish guitar, and with a little laugh Lawrence translated the words of the song. They went something like this:

“All your problems seem bad, but turn to God and He will bring you through.”

- and then there were two -

Me and Alisha, my fellow Zambia Volunteer

the date is set, on october 21 alisha and i are leaving for zambia. i have been enjoying my training in south africa but i am excited to finally be let go for this new adventure. we'll arrive in lusaka late at night on the 21st so we'll have to stay the night at a hotel before driving 3 hours north to kabwe in the morning, where we will be living and working for the next 9 months.

here are a couple of short videos made by my amazing journalist housemate and friend, Heather, that show what Hands at Work is about. the girl in the second video is the same Gertrude I visited in my august 25 post...

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp9pdebZddU

* http://vimeo.com/1920449



some prayer requests:

- safety while traveling and no complications (boarder control has been known to stamp visas with already passed expiration dates so you receive rediculous fines when you leave)

- decent housing to be found for us in kabwe

- ease in transitioning into a new home and culture

- financial support, zambia has been hit hard by the global food crisis and rise in prices, especially as a landlocked country relying on imports

- to recognize and fit easily into our personal roles for the year

cold-blooded housemates

this striped fellow joined me in the shower this morning... it's kind of amusing when you start to realize you're getting used to having creepy creatures living with you! we had a giant lizard living with us for at least a week, and after seeing a one-eyed frog around for awhile we didn't even react when he hopped into my room one night. haven't seen a snake yet, although we've heard stories.



And this furry friend is always climbing this tree beside our house with his buddies and storming across our tin roof. it's kind of a game for us to guess what is on our roof: galloping monkeys, scurrying squirrels, or little children picking mulberries.
And if you ever need to find me but can't, this is very likely the place I've wondered of to. Everyone needs their place to escape to, and this one is mine.

mental note: beware of ice skates in africa

I went to a mall in a nearby city on Saturday and there was a little fenced in area where kids were 'ice skating' on hard plastic (don't try this at home!). One of the kids slipped and his ice skate went under the fencing and cut my foot. Figures. :)

I am now half way through training and still pretty excited about what God has planned for me this year. On Tuesday I found out that I have been officially assigned to live and work in Zambia for the year and so the rest of the training will be much more 'individual prep' and really getting to know what my role will be. I have heard nothing but good things about the community in Zambia, and the fact that no other volunteer has ever been placed there makes it all the more thrilling. Please pray for me and the other volunteers as we have a lot to do and learn in the next few weeks!

Also, thanks to all of you who replied to my last post about my 'problem' with falling in love, I really felt encouraged. I would like to share with you what my good friend Mary wrote to me about it (hope she doesn't mind, hehe)...

"I thought of you the other day when I was doing devos and reading Genesis 21:16-17. It's the part when Hagar starts crying because she can't bear to watch her son die in the desert. And it's really interesting, verse 17 says "God heard the boy crying . . ." I know Hagar's pain must have been immense - but it's the cry of the child that got God's attention. God hears the cries. Because He loves them that much - I'm glad that you can be there to be that love for them, even if it means having your heart broken."

It has really stayed with me the last couple of weeks, and I hope it gives you something to think about. You don't have to be in Africa to love someone intensely who needs it!!
This is Lungelo, Virginia's 2 year old son I stayed with in community

Never Enough

From the left: Sule, me, and Virginia.
I stayed with Virginia during my community stay and Sule is her aunt

Home Base Care is the main form of aid that Hands at Work implements into the communities they work in, and it’s where people visit the sick and dying who are too weak to leave their homes. There are 3 different kinds of home base care workers: nurse, childcare worker, and relationship builder.

My first day I went with a nurse and other volunteers but it was raining which unfortunately made many of the patients un-accessible. In the morning we were able to visit a 21 year old girl named Gertrude. It was heartbreaking when we got to where she lives with her 14 and 16 year old brothers. It was a little broken down shack with no windows, and when we went in there were basins covering the floor to catch the many leaks in the tin roof. Her brothers were at school, leaving this frail, sick girl by herself. She was HIV+ and was sick with TB. As we talked with her we asked if she was on TB medication, and she told us that she had been but that because they had no food she was unable to take her medication this past month. We prayed for her and held her as she cried, and bought her a few groceries. It wasn’t nearly enough. After we left her, the nurse said that because Gertrude has stopped taking her TB medication she will now be immune and unresponsive to the treatment.

We were only able to reach one other patient’s home that day whose name was Roselyn, but when we got there her little room was empty. The neighbor told us she passed away on Friday. I just kept thinking how we were too late. For both of them. I knew when I came here that there would be times like these but I still prayed for God to help me understand. I got 2 verses in answer: Job 2 when his wife tells him to curse God and die and he answers her saying ‘Do we only accept what is good from God, and not trouble?’ (more or less). The other was Galatians 6:9 saying to not grow weary in doing good but that we will reap a harvest if we persevere and do not give up.

The next day I visited 3 patients with the relationship builder, which was a much more uplifting time just because the relationship builder, Sandy, was so amazing. As we visited the patients we would read scripture to them, lay hands and pray over them, sing to them, and sometimes anoint them with oil. It was good to encourage them even though it was hard seeing their pain, especially the last one, an old rail thin man clearing dying from TB, he couldn't speak because he was so weak and coughing. A couple of them had relatives who were caring for them who asked for us to pray for them as well. The sick, especially those that are HIV+, are often stigmatized here and so are very much alone. I may not be able to heal them, but I can love them.


and i think i'm in trouble... I fell in love with a little girl named Magnolia at one of the orphan creches. She was the sweetest little girl and it's already killing me that in a few weeks i'm going to leave her behind. i almost cried when i was sitting with her, her little body nestled against me and her head resting in my lap... ugh. how do i find the balance between being too detached and having my heart stolen? i have been praying for God to teach me how to love how he loves, maybe this is it. and i guess it's a lead in to the other prayer i've been praying - to break my heart for what breaks his. God help me.


Today I have been fasting along with many other Hands and Work and partners all over the world as we pray for meetings that are going on during the next few days concerning donors and sponsorship. One of H@W's biggest donors is finishing out their commitment after 3 years, which means many children who have been receiving care such as food and health will now be bumped onto a waiting list unless new sponsors step in to support them. Please be praying for donors to see the great need here and respond to it.
God bless.

This blog is for recording some of my thoughts and experiences while I'm in Africa this year.

The title 'freewill offering' is taken from Psalm 54:6, 'I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.' I chose this to head the page because that is what this year is about for me, I have freely given my life to God to be used for according to His will. He has brought me here, but it is by my own choice as well, this is what I want my life to be. He freely gave his life so I freely give mine.

I have been training with Hands at Work for 2 weeks now and I have no doubt that this is where God wants me to be. He has been showing me so much in different areas of my life, leaving me completely in awe of His power.

There are two other volunteers here doing the Footprints program with me and we have spent several days helping at a creche for orphans; part of the time was spent in the nursery playing with the little ones and part was in the classroom with the elementary school kids.


The head of the creche is a strongly built Saswati woman, Ma Beauty, and we spent quite a bit of time with her in the kitchen helping cook and feed the children. She called us 'Beauty's Team'. :)

We also stayed in the community in orphan-headed households for several nights, experiencing the lives of the people we are here to love. The family I stayed with was an 18 year old girl named Virginia with her 2 year old son and 14 year old sister in their little one room house.

I saw and learned so much during that time, it would be impossible to write about all of it and even choosing a highlight is difficult. I was really struck by how they have learned to watch out for each other in the community, as it is nearly impossible to find someone who has not lost family members to HIV/AIDS and couldn't use some kind of outside support. When I first met Virginia she had a small infant on her back who turned out to be her neighbor's baby. His mother was too sick to care for him so Virginia and her sister were helping out. His grandparents had to go to work at 5 am so Phumsiele, Virginia's sister, would spend the night at the house and take the baby to the creche on her way to school in the morning.

And even though Virginia's uncle lives on the other side of the village, he would come over and sit in their yard for hours just watching out for them. One night some guys had come over and they didn't seem like they had any intention of going anywhere for awhile, and out of nowhere the uncle showed up and told them to leave.

They have learned to work together and do what they can with what they have, and I love that. I wish we could have a better sense of community in the Western world without having to experience the intense loss that the people here are experiencing now.