Christmas Braai

The church we attend has a tradition of meeting together on Christmas Day to remember Christ's birth. Afterwards there is a braai (bbq), with everyone sharing a good meal together. This year our family volunteered to host at our home, since we have lots of space in our backyard, and good kitchen/meeting facilities.

At 7:30 Christmas morning a car came to our gate and honked. I decided it must be someone to see my neighbour since the service wasn't supposed to start until 9am, but it turned out it was one of the organizers with some food and drinks to drop off. So I went out in my pyjamas and unlocked the gate.

At 9am a few people came but we didn't get started on the church service until past 10 sometime. Some of the ladies started peeling potatoes and preparing chicken. We lit the braai stand so that the charcoal would be hot enough later.

For the church service we sang a few carols and shared what Christmas means to us. Some of the young people presented "Lord I lift your name on high" with sign language, and also presented a sketch about making room for Jesus in our hearts.

Then it was time to play and eat!

Michelle chatted with the youngest member of our church.

The last person left around 4:30pm. So it was a long day, but good to spend it together in a meaningful way. Some of the people were saying that for many Zambians, Christmas is an excuse to drink in excess, so I'm glad the church was able to offer an alternative.

We opened our presents around the Christmas tree as a family afterwards. We didn't really have supper since we were still full from our late lunch! This was our second Christmas in Choma. Only one left before we return to a good old Wet Coast one! :)

Holidays in South Africa

We've taken a couple of weeks of holidays here in Holiday season. My parents were here for two weeks. For one week they visited us in Choma while we went about our work; they were able to spend some time at Chodort and visit some village schools with Michelle. Then we spent a week in Livingstone together, with lots of it in the pool to beat the heat! We also visited the Falls and enjoyed a self-driven safari in Mosi-au-Tunya park.

We both flew out of Lusaka airport on the same morning; Mom and Dad went home via Amsterdam and we went to Cape Town, South Africa. We have regional meetings in Durban next week, so we took the opportunity to see the south coast of Africa. There's been a bit of culture shock (in a pleasant way) as we play the part of tourists. We've enjoyed a ferris wheel ride, McDonald's, shopping, the Aquarium, penguins on the beach, and Table Mountain. See picture of me with some feathery friends. The area is cool enough for these penguins to thrive!

Today we drove up to Table Mountain and took the cable car to the top. We enjoyed the view, etc, but I was mostly thinking about my hike down! Michelle took the kids for lunch and then the cable car down, while I saved ten bucks by walking down the steep trail. It took one and a quarter hours. My legs felt a little shaky the whole time--maybe because I didn't have lunch?--but they did their job and it was a beautiful place to get some exercise!

Cabinets and Chameleons

Life continues to be moderately full, dawn to dusk with family, work, and recreation.  

I have been guest-teaching the Chodort carpenter class for the past few weeks, as they've been doing a unit on cabinetry.  I taught the same unit last year but wasn't satisfied with how it turned out, so have tweaked a few things this time around.  The students seem more serious this year than last year--all hard workers.  Because most of them will find jobs in "the field,", they mostly use hand tools.  They take unwanted hardwood offcuts from the Production Unit and plane them down to size by hand--which can be very time consuming, especially when they can't afford to eat lunch!  One day I bought buns for morning tea for the class--they all disappeared quite quickly.

I offered to take any students who wanted help to the Production shop, where we would use the power planers.  A few students took me up on it.  They are starting to learn about the machines at this point in their course, so it is a good time to put them to practical use.

The year's course is ending soon--the instructors have cutting lists for final exams, and Graduation is in mid-December.  It's gone by quickly.  We will be away for regional meetings, so unfortunately I will miss grad this year.

The school that Kate is registered at in Canada requires portfolios for Term 1, which is ending soon.  So last week I did a lot more organizing than teaching.  I've been taking photos of Kate's work, organizing lists of books she's read, etc.  I even did an entire Science unit on Force and Motion in one afternoon, after Michelle noticed I had been doing the introductory unit all term!

Also on Mondays, I take half an hour with Mr. Lwiindi, our gardener, and ask him to help me learn Tonga.  I direct the lessons; usually he helps me read simple children's books in chiTonga and then I ask about different words or get him to repeat so I pronounce things better.  I'm still learning very slowly, but it's at my own pace so I don't get too bogged down with extra information that I can't absorb.

I've had a bit of time to work on my second homemade guitar, read a few books, play Settlers with Michelle and others, play Angry Birds on the iPad, and play with the dog.  Michelle and I got away for dinner and a movie in Lusaka to celebrate our 11th Anniversary.

And lastly, hot season has peaked (I hope!) and the rains have started slowly. We haven't had any monster rains here yet, but just enough to take the edge off the heat while increasing the humidity. We must have had a month straight of 30+ degree weather by now. With the rains will come new and strange bugs, ants, and frogs. Here is a picture of a dead chameleon that was on the road the other day.

One Day in Africa

Here is the maiden performance of my first homemade guitar.


One day in Africa

Hope life and hospitality everywhere you go
So many barriers
actually working
trying to accomplish
you might forget
keep in mind, This Is Africa

You may come to change the world
The world is bigger
You may find yourself changed first

Greet a stranger on the road
Dogs and roosters fade into subconsciousness
Every shopkeeper's friend, boss, same time

Feel the rain
Feel the heat
Feel the cold
Feel the beat
Breathe the dust
Smell the sky
Scuff the dirt
You're alive

One day in Africa

(c) 2014 Andrew Christopher Potts

Cigar Box Guitar

As promised, here is the story of my first homemade guitar!

It started with Chabota, a student at Chodort, asking me if I could teach him to play guitar. He came over to our house on a few Sunday afternoons and played the one that MCC had in storage, which I've been using. It's a decent guitar, it looks nice, the intonation is okay, etc. I think a SALTer had left it here after a previous term. Because it is MCC property I didn't feel right about loaning it out, but Chabota really needed something to practice on. While there is an Academy of Music right here in Choma which he is a member of, his schedule doesn't allow him to go there to practice. And so was born the idea of making my own (for him to borrow).

Another spark was the visit of the parents of one of our colleagues from USA. Jan's father works with hardwood and came to Chodort to buy some rosewood for a guitar. I realized I had a treasure trove of guitar wood right under my nose! So I planed down some old window frames and made a couple of necks. They were a bargain at 15 kwacha each! ($3). I made them quite thick because I didn't want them to bend, being a six-string guitar with no truss rod.

I should also note that I don't have the patience to build a good guitar. It simply takes too much time and there are too many things that can go wrong. I found out about "cigar box" guitars online--a cheap alternative in the Bluesy Southern USA. Basically they are a neck and a cigar box. I don't have access to cigar boxes here but I knew I could make something similar. The main difference is that CGBs usually have only 3 or 4 strings, and I wanted six.

So, I chiseled out a space for the box, glued on some toothpicks for frets (using a fret calculator for spacing), and attached two metal pieces from a doorknob for nut and bridge. My parents sent me some tuning hardware and nylon strings via my brother-in-law who visited us in August. I put the strings on before I had built the box, and it sounded okay (though very quiet)! There were a few problems with fret noise and a string that kept breaking, but overall I was happy with my first attempt.

I kept waiting for plywood offcuts at work, but having found none, I bought a sheet of 6mm ply for 110 kwacha ($20) and cut it with a handsaw. It was quite rough but I wasn't going for beauty here. I attached it with screws, glue, and nails. Some watercolor paints gave it character and some sanding sealer finished it off. Tonight I re-tuned it and played some songs! It was the coolest feeling to hear the strings resonating against the box--they are now audible! It will definitely work for a learning guitar! But before I give it away...I'll have to make a music video. (coming soon) I will also have to start on guitar #2. Then, I think my career in guitar building can wait...until I retire.

Mobile Carrier Ads

In Zambia there are three major cellular companies. There are no contracts to get locked into (that I know of). If you have a phone, almost any phone, you can buy a SIM card for about a dollar (though you have to register with I.D.). This gets you a phone number. Then you buy airtime in the shops or on the street, in varying amounts. I usually buy about 10 kwacha at a time, which is about two bucks worth, and that will last me a couple of weeks, unless I have a lot of calling to do. (Since I'm not a phone person I don't make a lot of calls) :) Texts are cheap too, and you don't pay to receive them. Anyway, these three companies have different rates and deals on their own networks, and some are better than others as far as reception goes--we like Airtel for calling and MTN for internet. But they are all decent for service and reliability, I think. So I have created some ads that I will send to their advertising departments, and then check the newspapers next month. ;)

Renovation in the Bush

I had a busy weekend. Chodort was doing a quick renovation on a container computer lab in Chikanta, a 3 hour drive from Choma. We had converted it into a classroom two years ago, but some termites had made themselves at home inside the wall panels and the school asked for some help. Our initial estimate was a bit low--the damage was greater than we thought. So I found myself leaving early on Friday morning with three other guys to join the two that had already been there since Monday. We took more timber, paint, tools, and food.

When we arrived in the afternoon we found the container gutted, the brandering (studs) replaced, and the original particle board panels going back on. We got right to work and worked into the night--we had solar-powered fluorescent lights. No one slept too well that first night--we camped in the container. I suspect the hot still night and the ant poison we had sprayed might have been part of the problem!

Early Saturday morning we went back to work. I had packed some food so I ate a bit, but most of the guys waited until lunch and were getting dizzy with the heat by that time. (A line of women with water buckets on their heads went by as the sun came up. I only managed to get a picture of the last one!)

There was beautiful singing from a nearby chapel as we worked--many of the students are Seventh Day Adventist in this area. We worked hard again all day and managed to make good progress, but unfortunately we had to spend one more night. I was persuaded to take an African bath at the water pump that night, under the stars. It was very refreshing! The other guys took good care of me--they were sensitive to the fact that I'm not used to the water, the food, etc. I felt a bit babied but mostly respected. :) Sleep was slightly better that night except for the paint fumes and a squeaky cabinet door that started swinging with the breeze at 3am. I finally put some cooking oil on the hinges and tied it shut with my handkerchief, but couldn't sleep.

We started work at 6am on Sunday. Our driver, Mr. Banda, made us an excellent breakfast of rice, eggs, tomatoes, and onions. Soon we were installing the desks that we had modified with keyboard trays, and other furniture I had designed such as a battery box cover and a teachers desk made of two student desks.

Around 10:30 we started packing up, and soon started the long, bumpy drive home. Peter and Mr. Banda posed in front of the finished container for a picture.

Not far from the school I took a picture of Peter sitting on an anthill, where there was better phone reception (we had seen someone sitting in the same place previously, talking on their mobile). I am planning to make a mobile carrier ad and send it to the various cellular companies in Zambia.

Overall it was a good experience, though tiring. Some volunteers from Intel were coming the next day with some donated desktop computers, making the computer lab functional for the high school. Aside from some sticky varnish on the desks, everything was ready for them!

Kitchen Cabinet Project - Zambia

When we first learned of our acceptance with MCC, we were told there would be a house for us in Choma. We didn't know much about it other than that there was a nice covered porch area and five bedrooms. Then I also learned that part of the rental agreement with the landlord was that I would provide cabinets worth one month's rent. There were some cabinets already but they were not all in good condition.

Due to the pantry room having some great shelves, as well as some other portable cabinets and a table MCC provided, we were able to manage fairly well using the space we had. Still, this agreement was always in the back of my mind, and as I designed cabinets for other houses in the area as part of my work at Chodort, I learned about the materials available and figured out the most cost-effective way to build new ones.

However, one month's rent was only enough to build two large boxes, and the countertops are just melamine particle board with an edge tacked on. I was not able to replace the uppers or the sink section (not pictured). But, having finished today (almost 11 months since we moved in), I am quite pleased with the end product. Kate and Michelle have already filled up the drawers and some of the shelves.

Here's what the 'old' kitchen corner looked like:

I built some boxes out of particle board and installed them on crooked floors, against crooked walls!

I ordered the doors, drawer faces, drawer sides, plinths, and veneers from Chodort. To save money I ordered it all unfinished and then put everything together and sanded/sealed it.

The doors etc. are all made from a local hardwood called Mukwa. Normally it has some beautiful white veins, but the carpenters at Chodort prefer to cut that (softer) part out.

Now I can finally focus on some other projects--next up, cigar box guitars!

Churchy

Kate and Malachi's cars gassing up at the Fruit of the Spirit tree (!?)

I recently read an interesting book by Bruxy Cavey about religion vs. spirituality. It's called "The End of Religion." I think this copy is probably an abridged version of the longer one, and it's nicely written for Christians and seekers alike. It starts off documenting some of the evils of religion (including Christianity), and is mostly about how Jesus came to dismantle religion, rather than start a new one. I had heard of this book a couple of times and seen the author in a different video series, so when Michelle borrowed it from a friend, I was excited to read it for myself. While it may sound controversial, it's actually pretty standard material for most Christians--focusing on our personal relationship with God rather than the structure that sustains it. As I walked to church this morning I was reminded of this quote:

"So, ironically, Jesus wanted his followers to use organization to help spread the message that organizations are not the answer. Christ-followers read the Bible to learn of Jesus' teaching that reading the Bible is not what makes us a Christian.... And we go to church to collectively celebrate the message that going to church is not what makes us God's children." (Bruxy Cavey, The End of Religion, p. 113)

I've enjoyed the laid-back structure of our little church here in Choma. It starts on African time, which is different every week. There is always time given for testimonies or special songs...anyone can participate. Sunday school? That's me taking the kids out during the sermon sometimes to hear a story and play in the dirt. Maybe sometimes it's a little too laid back--but it's refreshing compared to a structured church where 'the show must go on.' We can spend so much time getting the first song's musical introduction just right that there's no time to be God's kids together. Or be so worried about meeting the budget so that we can pay the pastor and the rent that we take the offering at a Sunday picnic.

Winter nights in Choma

It's a little weird having winter in June, although I guess I shouldn't be surprised after experiencing a southern-hemisphere blazing hot Christmas. Mostly it gets dark early, and a little chilly at night. There is not really a concept of heating here, since during the day the sun warms everybody up again. We do use a couple of space heaters when it gets below 22 degrees. :)

So, what do we do on these cold winter nights? Well, same as usual, I guess. We lock up the house and try to get the kids' bedtime ritual going! Do the dishes, clean up a bit, read a book, do some work on the computer, watch a DVD...

Tonight Michelle was joining her weekly Bible Study in Canada via Skype, so the kids and I built a tall tower out of some wooden blocks. Then they had fun throwing stuff at it until it fell down. They liked that so much that they built one by themselves, but it didn't get too high. Here's a few pictures!

Overall we're doing well, having a few struggles, but plugging along as good as we can!

Rockstar

I was about 24 years old when I got bitten by the Canadian Idol bug. I borrowed a Lifehouse CD from a friend and practiced singing one of the songs over and over in our little basement suite office…must have driven our landlord nuts! I told myself that it was all for God's glory…but when the time came to actually go in to Vancouver for auditions, I backed out…and was glad I did when I watched the season on TV later. It wasn't me, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have made the first cut anyway!

I medicated my 'rockstar syndrome' with worship band involvement--leading the church youth, other music teams. I also recorded and mixed my own music. I have always loved the stage as much as I fear it--perhaps because of the attention an introvert sometimes craves? (The same may go for acting on stage.) I struggled in one situation where I felt my gifts were being overlooked in an over-talented church, but that is part of worship team dynamics, which always require a servant heart!

Church in Choma doesn't value six-member worship bands as much as Abbotsford. The higher-end churches have a keyboard and a couple of choirs. Ours has three different dog-eared hymnals and some enthusiastic a cappella singing! There's not too much room for rockstars.

So tonight, here I lounge in my pyjamas, playing soft nylon strings, accompanied by distant crickets and barking dogs, performing for mosquitoes (everyone else is sleeping already). It's a sweet sold-out concert for an audience of One.

Holiday in Livingstone

We are currently enjoying some vacation time in Livingstone, home of Victoria Falls, one of the seven wonders of the world. We checked out the falls (and got soaked!), and also took a boat cruise yesterday, where we met some hippos and elephants. Here is a picture I took of a butterfly (moth?), with the bridge between Zimbabwe and Zambia in the background:

It's definitely been a relaxing time. Helps to have Grandma and Grandpa here to give the kids lots of attention! But, sometimes I get to enjoy some time with Kate and Malachi too!

Six Months in Zambia

(written March 16; we've had little internet lately so was posted later)

Today marks exactly six months since we squinted at the Zambian sun for the first time in our sleep-deprived state. Since then, some things that were novel at first have become commonplace, such as:
-the Southern Water loudspeaker truck that drives through the neighbourhood once a month, reminding residents to pay their water bills or face disconnection;
-People balancing heavy loads on their heads;
-eating guavas fresh from the tree every day;
-tucking in the mosquito net every night;
-ants all over the kitchen;
-paid employees: cutting our grass, growing our garden, mopping our floor, and washing our laundry.

I have started a children's Sunday School at our church. Normally the kids (there are only a few any given Sunday) sit through the service, including the sermon, with a little bit of wiggling; ours are especially good at the wiggling part, so when the sermon starts I take them outside, along with any other kids who want to come. I feel like I get enough 'sermon' during the adult Sunday School time before the service; we are studying the whole Bible, chapter by chapter, and are in the middle of Exodus. In fact I have taken to leading this time as well, when our other leader is away. But today a wrench was thrown into my little system: I was asked to give the sermon next week. One of the other leaders jokingly said he will teach the kids...but I have a suspicion that they will end up wiggling around in their chairs instead!

I am enjoying my work at Chodort quite a bit now that I have found my place more. Last Tuesday I found myself installing cove-top (countertops) similar to what I was doing six months ago...some missionaries from the States had their countertops shipped in a container. (We also built and installed the cabinets.) However, there were a few minor differences between a Columbia job and a Chodort job:

At Chodort, the vehicle comes with a driver
-We are given money for lunch
-We have to slow down for cows on the road
-One of the carpenters rides in the back of the truck on top of the load
-We don't have any belt-sander belts so have to borrow a 110 volt sander with a converter from the customer
-We install the cabinets and the tops the same day. I cut countertops to size with a Skil saw and a jigsaw.
-We get paid for our four hours overtime the next day (how I managed to get paid as a volunteer I'm not sure--though the money will help buy more wall plugs, which I donated. Overtime rates are much less at Chodort than Columbia.

Overall, despite some stress, the job went very well and the kitchen looks amazing. We still have to go back with the upper cabinets and some odds and ends, though.

Out of that Box

Purolator buzzes you at 3:08

Can you come and sign for this parcel

It's pretty heavy, sealed up tight

No return address visible

THIS SIDE UP in heavy black blocks

Smells like corrugated cardboard and fresh packing tape

Then in small letters near a dented corner

Is scribbled 'Contents: GOD'



I've got a warning for you my friend



Don't let God out of that box

He might knock off your socks

Then He'll wash your feet

I'd be careful how I handled that box

Make sure it's bound up and locked

'Cause to stir up the pot

Is the last thing we need

This song originally written for a radio contest.  It didn't make it but I was proud of the song.  A year later, decided to go public with a video (I haven't figured out how to post plain mp3's on Blogger).  Footage mostly of our backyard/porch area in Zambia.

Run in the Path

Just a short music video here.  The song is based off of two verses from the Psalms: Psalm 119:32, and Psalm 59:16.  I've been reading through the Psalms these last few months and these were meaningful verses, as well as ones that I thought could be put to music.  I picked up the 5-string guitar ;) while the kids were at a birthday party, and recorded with my iBook's built-in mic/added a beat from Garageband.  Mastered with Audacity and iMovie.  The pictures are mostly from our Yellowstone trip a few years ago, but there is one of Victoria Falls in dry season as well!

Dog Days of Winter

We have triumphed. Man over beast!

When we moved into our house in Choma a few months ago, we found that among other features, our compound came with two dogs: a mother and a pup. The mother had been left here by the previous tenants, had a litter of puppies, and the other fellow that lives on our compound managed to give them all away, except one that he couldn't catch. He wasn't feeding them very much, just a few scraps--so the dogs would go out into the neighbourhood and forage through garbage or who knows what. We were concerned about them, especially around the kids, so we looked for a solution. Our landlord tried to find a home for them, but when nothing happened we decided to take matters into our own hands. We started feeding them a bit so that they wouldn't need to forage quite as much; we covered our gate with chicken wire so that they couldn't get out so easily (and more importantly, other dogs couldn't get in.

Our gardener surprised us by agreeing to take one of them to his home across town. One day he and his friend caught one--there was a lot of chasing and barking and rope and wire, and somehow they tied it up and we drove it to his home. Now we could get down to training the puppy (named Cookie) and all would be well.

Training a dog wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. Cookie is a bit shy and had never been touched by a human. Eventually I gained her trust somewhat, but never enough to pet her. One day she broke her front leg somehow, and after that we didn't see her much--she was hiding in the bushes at the back of the compound. Eventually she started to heal and I spent an afternoon on all fours with her, confined on the porch, but we didn't make much progress. I had some hope, but that was all dashed when...the first dog, Mango, came back!

I don't know quite how she found us again...think The Incredible Journey. Our gardener promised to take her home again, but never was able to. We were feeding two dogs again, and Mango ate the most!

Two dogs were too much for us. The kids were a bit scared of them, though they never hurt them. They found other ways out of the compound and brought back more garbage. And Cookie abused the cat and ate people's shoes. Kate ended up getting a few rabies shots because she was bit by the cat, and we knew the cat was often held in Cookie's mouth, who played with Mango, who wandered the neighbourhood...we couldn't catch the dogs to vaccinate them. Very frustrating!

Our gardener was not able to repeat his amazing dog-catching performance, though he was willing to take the dog to a new place, the family farm. It was up to me. I tried drugging them with sleeping pills. I slipped a leash on Mango in her woozy state, but as I was putting her in the back of our car, she slipped out (she has a small head). After that she was quite wary of being caught.

My next trap idea was to put food in the back of our Rav4, with a string tied to the back door. When the dog would climb in to get the food, I would pull the string from inside the house. However, the dogs did not fall for that. Too smart.

One morning I woke up with a new idea (I got it from a Care Bears movie actually--thanks Grizzle). A box, suspended from the porch ceiling, dropping onto an unsuspecting dog! I rigged it up.

It worked! Mango came to lick some food off the porch floor. Inside the house, I let go of the rope at just the right time! It came crashing down on Mango. With a yelp she somehow busted the wooden box (former cabinet) apart and escaped. I was crestfallen, and she didn't come near the porch for the rest of the day!

During the weekend I reinforced the box with every screw I had. This morning I rigged it up again before breakfast. I set out some food, called the dogs, and ran inside to loosen the rope. Mango started eating off the floor while Cookie took the dog bowl. Once again I let the rope go. The box fell gently on top of Mango, and this time it held. There was a quick yelp and all was quiet.

Our gardener's brother, who is now working for us, helped me put the box in the back of our Rav4. We drove to his farm, 16 kilometres away down a dirt road. We took out Mango--she was scared, but quiet and calm. We chained her to a tree. The farm will be a nice place for her to live--and hopefully it's far enough away that she won't find her way back. Finally! (Now what to do with Cookie? Probably re-use the trap and get her put down at the vet, unless someone else wants her.)

Thanks for those of you who were praying for this situation.

Puddle-icious

'Thwock!' A small rock landed in the brown puddle overtaking the dip in the dirt road. Malachi got ready to throw another one as ripples spread out from the place his stone had landed. The air was quiet and humid, but cool thanks to the overcast sky, as well as the big rainstorm we had earlier. Occasionally a car would disturb the puddle, or a passer-by would greet the busy three year old, as they delicately skirted the water by means of a raised pathway. It was a peaceful Sunday afternoon in Mochipapa.

Sometimes it is difficult to keep Malachi awake around suppertime--when he skips his afternoon nap. The great hope is that he will go to bed early, and we will enjoy a quiet evening. This hope is not always realized, however...and the over-tiredness that his family must deal with is not always worth it. But there is always hope, and some father-son bonding time around rocks and puddles.

A few other thoughts:

This morning I was half an hour late for church (Sunday School precedes the service), and I was the first one there. The door was locked. I undertook to study Exodus 18 myself, standing outside beside the half finished clinic building, trying not to sit too long on the wet log...not too many people came for the service today (and we didn't know who had the keys) so eventually we held a short prayer time and dispersed.

My sermon last week went okay, and I am recycling it for this Tuesday's chapel, with some changes.

I had a prayer answered last week, but not in the way I expected. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed at work because our morticing chisel broke, so we were morticing doors by hand...the boss had been away for awhile so I was trying to help the foreman with new customers' quotes, and scheduling pending jobs which neither of us knew enough about. I'm not exaggerating when I say that morticing by hand takes about 20 times longer. And there was a certain customer who we were a few months behind on his kitchen cabinet job due to a wood issue, and hadn't even started, and it was a huge job...just on my mind. So as I chiseled away at my piece of rosewood, I voiced these problems in my spirit, not even praying per se, but bringing God into them. At tea-time the customer I mentioned came to ask if we had started on his kitchen yet. I had to tell him no, we had not, and no, we did not know when we could start, and no, the boss was still away... yet I took the opportunity to ask if we could change the type of wood for the boxes, and he was quite affirmative and gracious, and it lifted a load off of my shoulders because it will likely save us a significant chunk of time in the midst of the busy-ness. I realized later that it was an answer to prayer.

Lastly, I hurt my upper back somehow--I think it was partly from exerting myself whilst pruning our guava trees, coupled with bad posture when reading a book the other night. Not sure if it's just muscles, or a slipped disc? I don't think it's a pinched nerve. It hurts very much to sneeze. It has put my oil-change plans on hold, and we'll see how work goes on Tuesday, as well!

Handymanning Around

It's been a somewhat eventful week here in Choma. Last Sunday our kitten bit Kate while she was trying to feed her. It was a tiny bite at the tip of her finger but we immediately became worried about rabies. Not because our kitten was acting strangely, but because our dog 'eats' the kitten, and plays voraciously with the other dog who has come back after being given away, who wanders around town frequently. So, for peace of mind we started Kate on the anti-rabies vaccine at the local medical clinic. Now, six days later, all the animals are fine, but we will continue the third shot of the series on Monday and stop after that (unless the cat dies suddenly).

We promptly got the feline version of the rabies vaccine for our kitten so that this doesn't happen again, and tried to catch our dogs so that we could give them the shot too before we give them away (we've decided they're more hassle than they're worth, and have people willing to take them off our hands). But, the dogs will not be caught. They're friendly enough until I get near them with a leash. I even drugged them with sleeping pills one day, but although they acted a bit woozy, they never slept...they have a lot of room to run around so it's difficult to contain them. However, I've fixed our front gate so it's a little harder for them to get out on the street.

I was discouraged about my failure to deal with the dogs, so I turned my energies toward other things needing attention. I cleaned out our spare room (fifth bedroom) which has been a breeding grounds for collecting junk and working on projects. We plan to convert this into Michelle's home office, and use her current office room as a dedicated guest room. Also, our fridge plug has not been reliable so I took it apart today and it seems to be okay now; while I had the fridge moved, I realized why it has been leaking water on the floor these last few months--the drain hose was directed away from the drip tray! And, while I was at it, I tackled our ensuite door, which has never closed properly--maybe due to settling? I cut off a strip at the top of the door, added a towel hook, and fixed the lock so that you can open it from the inside, not just the outside. I am very satisfied with my handymanning today!

Here is a picture of a typical lock in Zambia (the one I fixed). I couldn't believe that these are the norm here, but it's true--even our exterior doors have these, though often a second security mechanism as well. I don't like them personally--they seem to break easily, and are probably easy to pick if you know how.

We took our monthly worker renewal meal at the Choma Museum tonight. We usually order chicken and chips, and the kids love getting Fanta to drink! They jump on the trampoline while they wait for the food, and we eat outdoors at a picnic table nearby. Fine outdoor dining in January! And now I need to polish off my sermon for church tomorrow. I'm borrowing the sermon idea from Gerald Janzen--'The Snake and the Son.' It combines the bronze snake in Numbers 21 with John 3:16.

So, that was my week. How was yours?