livin'

zambia...oh zambia...

hello to all my faithful readers!!

first of all, let me apologize for not blogging until now. the internet connection here is slow at best and we have 4 computers in which to share among a team of twelve who are all very eager to check our emails. we get to the internet "place" every friday so that's the only time i get to check in.

you're probably wondering how it's been going. well, it's hard to believe we've been here for 3 weeks already!! much has happened as we've grown used to our surroundings and the culture here. zambia is a very beautiful country filled with very beautiful and kind people. they are a peaceful nation and the people who live here are very proud of this fact, as one would be, considering what many surrounding countries are facing here in Africa. however, AIDS is rampant here and very ovwerwhelming. our team has been faced with much suffering which has lead to many good, but hard, discussions...every monday and friday we go from house to house, sometimes more like, shack to shack, doing homebased care. we imagined this being what homecare in north america is, but what we actually do is go with volunteers from the community to each house, sit and hear what each "client" is sick with (the list is long...TB, HIV+/AIDS, malaria, etc etc) and then they tell us "now encourage them". We're getting used to this, but it's hard not to just sit there shell shocked by the huge amount of sickness that we're not used to seeing in front of our face. sometimes we cry when praying for patients, sometimes they cry, most of them are "positive", which is what the volunteers tell us in hushed voices. there is a lot of shame that comes with being positive so we don't just blurt it out matter of factly.

something that has been a huge encouragement for myself in dealing with all this suffering is what Eugene Peterson writes in the introduction to the book of Job:

"in our compassion, we don't like to see people suffer. and so our instincts are aimed at preventing and alleviating suffering. no doubt that is a good impulse. but if we really want to reach out to tothers who are suffering, we should be careful not to be like Job's friends, not to do our 'helping' with the presumption that we can fix things, get rid of them, or make them 'better'.......
.....instead of continuing to focus on preventing suffering - which we simply won't be very successful at anyway - perhaps we should begin ENTERING the suffering, participating insofar as we are able - enterning the mystery and looking around for God. in other words, we need to quit feeling sorry for people who suffer and instead look up to them, learn from them, and - if they will let us - join them in protest an dprayer. pity can be nearsighted and condescending; shared suffering can be dignifying and life changing."

aside from homebased care we are doing a lot of help on the farm, digging out gardens which will be responsible for feeding orphans, going to many schools and doing programs with the kids as well as learning their songs and stories. so fun.

we've had the privlege of attending a zambian wedding....whoa! so amazing, they really love to dance here. they bridal party dances their way up and down the aisle. one day you'll see both pictures and video of that.

the team has been amazing, resilient, hard working, encouraging...i'm having a great time...they are too. we are thankful for your prayers and emails. we could NOT be here, having this experience and having our worlds shaken without you guys at home being behind us. thank you.

we're suffering from minor sickness...colds, etc. i, personally have been in good health up to this point. i wouldn't mind your prayers that this continues. we have about 3 1/2 weeks or less left here in luanshya, then we will be taking a trip to livingstone to see Victoria Falls and we are having our debrief in London, England.

Much love to you all and more stories to come....

posted by Amanda @ 1:31 AM