6/6/12
Greetings from Zambia!
JOURNEY TO ZAMBIA
Our Zambia
team and all our baggage have made the journey to Zambia safely and soundly. Praise
the Lord!
There are 7 of us on our team from America: Todd Jensen, Purdue Navigators Staff
Leader; Silas Jensen, his son; Jon Chen, my cousin Aaron, and I from Purdue;
Dan Carpenter from Ball
State; and Nathan Hart
from IU.
The journey over to Zambia was cool
and exciting. We left Friday, June 1st around 1pm from Chicago O’Hare
airport to journey to JFK airport in New
York. We had a long layover there till we left on the
next leg of the journey the following morning, so we were able to visit New York City, which was
neat. I had never traveled east of Ohio
before, so visiting New York City
was a cool experience. The subways and Town Square were especially neat. So many
billboards, screens, decorations, and people…
Next, we flew about 12 and a half
hours to Dubai, and then about 6.5-7 hours to Lusaka, Zambia.
Overall I enjoyed the flights. Flying is a neat experience and honor. The last
flight was rougher, because I was out of it from lack of sleep, yet I was able
to get a few hours rest and feel refreshed with energy for the rest of the day.
ZAMBIA
Since arriving to Zambia Sunday afternoon, it’s been
good to have some time thus far to get some good rest and to begin to soak in
the culture. We’ve experienced so much already. We’ve been able to visit
Ridgeway medical campus, the University of Zambia (UNZA), downtown Lusaka, and get more
acclimated with our environment.
We’ve gone to several of the
Zambian Navigators’ staff prayer meetings here. This week they are dong a week
of prayer and fasting as they feel led. In their prayer meetings it is cool to
see their mix of prayer with praise. They are organized with things to pray for
and yet spontaneous as well with different songs of praise. It is cool to see
their foundation of praise and thanks. Today it was comical, yet enjoyable
attempting to lead them with Aaron in singing “Standing on the Promises,” a
song in their songbook they had yet to learn. We sang it again later in the
meeting, because Abel enjoyed it and requested it.
Dan, Aaron, and I are living with
Abel, Gershom, and Sam at the Zambian Navigators headquarters. Abel, Gershom,
and Sam are Navigators’ volunteer staff in their mid-twenties who just
graduated from college. It’s been enjoyable to begin to get to know and relate
with them. They’ve made meals for us, many with Nshima. Nshima is a classic
Zambian dish served with many meals, normally for lunch or dinner most days. Some
Zambians when asked if they had lunch reply, ‘No, just a snack’ if they have
not had Nshima. Nshima is a white grain; it is made with a finely-grinded corn
meal. The look and consistency is sort-of a little like thicker mashed potatoes.
It is filling, satisfying, and enjoyable. You eat it by rolling a ball up in
your right hand, creating an indention with your thumb to create a spoon like
shape; then dipping the Nshima with your hand into whatever else you are having
(cabbage, beans, meat, liver = pretty good, tasted like a pungent meat, ext.). We
have 4 beds here (one double) here for the 6 of us. Abel set me up on his bed,
sacrificing it for me while he himself instead sleeps on the couch. That is the
type of great men of God that we get to live with. The Zambians we get to
interact and work with are great blessing; I rejoice in them.
Here in Zambia,
material things are simpler than in America
and not as nice as America,
as one may expect. Yet still, this stood out to me. Another thing I noticed is
that from what I’ve seen there is no good trash garbage disposal system in
place. The trash is burned. There is a burn pill of trash in the side yard of
the place where we are staying. You see other such dumps in other places. Trash
is more often seen along the streets and in the ditches than in America as
well. We are so blessed in America
materially. I’ve realized though that just like in America,
the people of Zambia’s
greatest need is spiritually. They need Jesus. While they are not as well off
materially as America, most
of the people of Zambia
get by living simple lives.
I’ve had some interesting
encounters so far; I seem to attract action… At the airport at Chicago when going through security, they
pulled me aside and checked my bag again, because I had a flashlight in my
carry-on which seemed suspicious when going through the scanner. I ran into a
Zambian yesterday in downtown Lusaka
who stopped me, saying he knew me, though I had never met him before. When on
the subway in New York,
there was an interesting crazy Mexican on the subway train, who seemed to
choose to talk to me for some reason. Good, interesting events that are the
type that make any trip a little more exciting…
DOOR
OF HOPE
Next week, we will be going with
many Zambian Navigators to the rural villages to reach out and love the people
there. We will be there for about a week. It is the Zambian Navigators main
annual rural mission trip, called “Door of Hope” (from Hosea 1:15). Today our
team had our first day of training; this week we will be preparing for our
journey and later in the week meeting the students that we will be going on
this journey with. The Zambian Navigators and our team could use prayer for Door
of Hope as well as for our preparation and training beforehand. Many of the
students going on this trip have never been to a Zambian rural village as well,
having lived in the city their whole lives. It will be a stretching and
challenging experience for us.
One passage that I’ve been
reflecting on of late is 1st Corinthians 13:1-3. “If I speak in the
tongues of men and of angles, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong of
clanging cymbal…” My desire and prayer is for us to experience God’s love and
love others.
The trip is going great so far, filled with God’s blessings.
At times it has been easy to feel afraid or uncomfortable in certain circumstances that
are out of my normal comfort zone, yet God is with us, ever faithful, and
stretching us through these experiences. Praise the Lord!
Thank you for your prayer and support!
-Bryce
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