Another wee update on us. Jono is aiming to do some sort of Civil Engineer training. He's commenced study this week. I am looking for jobs, now we've settled in Christchurch. It had been a bit of a nerve racking time. We were trying to trust God. It seems to have settled down now.
So I didn't take any notes for our final week as 'missionaries' so we'll have to see how my memory serves!
Week 2nd of Dec
Tuesday morning we had the national disability day, which we found out about on Monday. And we were meant to do a skit, we opted for a song instead, at least the kids had practiced that.
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| Jono with Yande |
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| The marching band for the parade |
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| Me dancing with funny-looking-glasses-man as I was dragged up, probably cos I was the only white girl there. |
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| The guest speaker dancing with funny-looking-glasses-man, this would never happen in NZ! |
Tues evening we had a missionary family around for dinner which was lovely. A great family to talk to. I made nachos which is the first time the 'mum' had nachos. She apparently has subsequently made them for her family which was a hit. Yuss taking nachos to the world.
We'd turned out to be pretty busy. We went to our final morning meeting at the base which was nice. Then we headed to Bethesda, there was a group of people who came to see it, so one missionary made cake - Yay! Our pastors (the Lata's) had us around for dinner, which was awesome. They had made us an African outfit which was lovely of them.
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| The family who invited us for dinner, and Peter and Brenda |
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| Our first Zambian 'get up' |
Thursday the children got presents from a missionary family which was cool. We had our farewell lunch (at 4pm) with the Bethesda ladies. It was an awesome meal. They also had made us a Zambian outfit which they presented to us.
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| Geofrey's special haircut, which he kindly allowed me to take a pic of. |
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| The ladies with the present we gave them. |
Friday we had our farewell with the children. Sadly it was overshadowed by another group who had come to see Bethesda and gave gifts. The afternoon we spent packing.
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| Philip working hard with Beatrice |
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| Making a card for our special guests. |
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| I thought there was a little something something going on between these two, finally got some evidence :) |
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| Pin the tale on the donkey |
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| One of the kids I frequently had sitting on me - Kenny |
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| The view I often saw little Bwalya |
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| Yay group hug |
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| Me with my lovely kiddies :) |
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| Last class photo . . . almost |
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| Of course we had to finish on a silly note |
Saturday consisted of more packing. It's amazing how long it takes to pack 2 suitcases full of stuff. When we were eventually done at about 2pm we caught a bus to Lusaka. Stayed once again with Jasper, who was hospitable as always.
We caught an early morning bus (sigh - final one) and headed to Livingstone for a final getaway! Holiday week!!! One had to make the most of being over that part of the world! It is a long way to go from NZ back there.
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| Fortunately we did not give our left or right "arms" to street children |
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| Us before the terrifying rapids! |
It seemed as if rainy season hadn't hit Kabwe but it was evident that it had hit Livingstone. First item to do while there was the white water rafting. Having particularly weak arm muscles (me, not Jono) we opted for the half day. In our crew we had a man who was almost 70, talk about taking on the world! It was an exhilerating experience, taking on the rapids. Feeling cocky as we approached the final rapid, we tipped. And hence commenced the oh so too close encounter with the 'gnashing jaws of death' (name of the rapid). Having managed to hold on while the boat tipped (and holding onto my paddle) successfully, then came the next bit of the rapid which pulled at me with almighty force that I let go of both the boat and the paddle and was sucked under water. I resurfaced under the boat. Feeling tired from trying to hold on, I mustered up the strength to get out from under the boat.
Holding on once again to the boat, then another part of the rapid abused me and dislodged me from my connection with the boat and the air. Once again I resurficed under the boat, feeling exhausted I mustered my strength again to get out from there. Finally our guide flipped the boat upright and dragged an exhausted me inside. There I found Jono, who also managed to stay with the boat, although didn't have quite the encounter I did. We were the only two from our crew who managed it (not including the guide, one of them!). Arms exhausted we then did a mammoth climb up to the waiting vehicle (to exhaust our legs too) and had a lovely provided lunch. For evidence of said rafting experience we have a dvd, sadly no pics.
Prayer thanks
- for safety while we travelled down to the South Island
- for Jono being accepted into Canterbury Uni Civil Engineering 200 level at late notice
Prayer requests
- That I will get a job in the near future
- That we will settle into Christchurch well
Bethesda prayer requests
- For Peter and Brenda as they lead Bethesda
- For the plot of land
- For a physiotherapist
OM prayer requests
- That the building project would be going well
