Church With the Matambos

We had the privilege of visiting the church that our friends, Augustine and Bridget Matambo, pastor. What a fun time of worship and fellowship. I was completely in my element as the congregation was full of children! In the picture below, five-month old Anna smiles brightly. Isn't she adorable? Notice how she is dressed. It was extremely warm and muggy and yet she is dressed for a Central Oregon winter.


The church was built using the prized dirt of a nearby ant hill. The cement, metal roofing sheets, and long pipes used to hold up the roof were purchased bit by bit as finances allowed. This church was built with dedicated teamwork and a heavy dose of common sense.

Instead of using glass panes for the windows, they are constructed with brick as glass is both expensive and destructible in the compounds where the building is located. No one living in the area has glass windows. Actually, most of the dwellings have no windows of any kind. Some of them have small holes for ventilation, but no windows.

These windows keep vandals out along with most of the rain. They also provide much needed airflow. The congregation is saving for cement to cover the dirt floor.

There is no electricity so obviously no lights. The restroom use to be a tiny, three-sided brick structure, with a hole in the ground. Since it was not covered, the rain literally washed it away. The following picture shows its replacement.

One of the things I love best about Zambian churches is that everyone participates in some way. Augustine surprised our children with a request that they sing together as a group. They have never practiced singing together so his request caught them all by surprise. They "winged it" and did just fine. You can see by the looks on their faces that they couldn't believe what he was asking.

The next picture shows Isata taking action. She quickly gathered her siblings together to choose a song. Caylie obviously did not share the same concern as the other kids. She was too busy watching everyone else.

After singing Jesus Loves Me, Augustine asked them to sing yet another song! So once again, they consulted with each other and in minutes chose Our God is an Awesome God with Isata singing the solo part.

Augustine laughed and laughed later when the kids complained about him putting the in an awkward position. He proclaimed "surprise attack!" As Karate students, they should all be prepared for the unexpected. Then he added the scripture in 1 Peter about always being prepared. . .they got even with him later!

One of the most awesome parts of Zambian culture is dancing. They dance a lot during every day life as well as during worship. The little ones were so cute. They danced with or without music. How I enjoy children!

Did you notice the light shining through the walls behind our kids? We aren't sure if the holes were put there for ventilation or for light. The church is rather dark. Their placement indicates to me that providing extra light on dark days was a least part of the reason they are there. I keep forgetting to ask Augustine or Bridget.

Augustine had asked Jason to give the sermon. Jason spoke a few lines then waited for Augustine to interpret before continuing. Both did an outstanding job.

The pulpit is held together with sticks and rubber strips from an old inner tube. This is recycling at its best!

In the midst of the sermon, one of the ladies stood up and expounded on the teaching making it more applicable to the people there. The service is very different than we are accustomed to but we enjoyed it thoroughly and were honored to be there.

Pictured below are two of the bishops, Jason, and Augustine.

The church is growing peanuts, beans, to harvest later for those who suffer a lack of proper nutrition.

I know I've told you before that this church sits in one of the poorest areas of Ndola and yet they accomplish more than many others simply because they do what they can with what they have. This is a good lesson for all of us!

Side note: I'm determined to get this posted before our power goes out so I'll have to share later how the kids got "even" with Augustine by staging their own "surprise attack."


Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Today's my birthday, and what do I get???

A glorious day! It all started when I awoke to a sound that has become a rare but sweet melody to my ears--trickling water filling the toilet tank which means our water system was functioning! About the same time, I noticed obvious signs of electricity flowing through our light fixtures. But wait! That's not all. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Jason at the computer enjoying internet connection!

All of these things operating simultaneously was almost too much for my 51 year old heart to take but then my darling children all began singing Happy Birthday Mommy! Does it get any better than this? Not better, but the good life continued.

I found thoughtful, funny, beautiful, creative and tender messages in my inbox. There was a voicemail from my mom wishing me a happy birthday which was wonderful! If you are like me, you know how special it is to receive a message from your mom on your birthday.

And just now, I received another voice mail, (I'm totally choked up just typing this), from my "baby" Mae. She sang Happy Birthday to me!!!! She sounds so grown up!

For those who don't know who Mae is, she is a precious little girl who had me wrapped around her tiny finger the very moment our eyes met three years ago. It was, and continues to be extremely difficult to leave her behind when we came to Zambia. Mae's mommy and daddy shared their little bundle with our family in a way that transcended a typical daycare relationship. She and they became part of "us."

Our little Mae holding our 2007 family picture
(sent by her mommy along with a whole album of equally priceless photos)

Mae went everywhere with us in our Oregon Duck green van (Go Ducks!). She just knew she would be coming with us to Zambia. I can't even begin to describe how emotionally crushing it was to say "good bye" knowing that she didn't have a clue how long that would be. Whoa! I gotta get a grip here; this is a happy post! Anyway, her happy birthday song will forever be saved.

My thoughtful and loving friend Charity created a beautiful card featuring one of her own stunning photographs. Don't you just love it? Another keeper! I am so blessed.

Today, Farai read his first book! HOORAY!!! What an honor it is to walk a child through the reading process. It was more difficult for Farai--until today. He was so excited. Our friends and ministry partners Ken and Emily Marshall sent a link to an educational website from which I printed simple books.

The Matambos joined us for dinner and ice cream tonight. During the kids' "5 Things I Learned Today" presentations, Farai stood up and read two of the books I printed out for him. It was a huge turning point for him and his parents. I captured the moment in pictures but once again, my "professional" flash card malfunctioned. Needless to say, I won't be using that one ever again.

After a dinner that included nshima, pumpkin leaves, a tasty stew, and a salad of tomotoes, cucumbers, and avocados, we all settled down to watch one of my favorite movies. About thirty minutes into the movie, we lost power and water all at the same time. It just popped back on again which is why I can finish this post tonight.

I give thanks to our Lord Jesus for showering me with warm and loving relationships within my home, within my country half a world away, and within my own backyard. I pray that all of you enjoy this day as much as I have.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

PS We still do not have Skype phone service although I do receive voice mails. I will let everyone know when our ISP gets the problem identified and solved.

Happy 10th Birthday Sia

Sia Ruthanna Rae Sibley

Today we celebrated our baby girl’s birthday. Although our eyes first met summer of 2002, it seems like just yesterday that she rounded the last corner of the airport with Isata and Daddy. I will never forget the overwhelming emotion that consumed me at that very instant. It had been a two year battle to get our daughters home and most of those two years looked hopeless. So when Sia lifted her precious arms to me that very first time, well. . .words just can’t describe how I felt.

As you can see by these pictures, our baby girl is growing up. One day when she was about 5 ½ years old, she told me that she was always going to stay little so that we could snuggle. She said that she didn’t want to grow up “EVER”. I told her that Justin said the same thing when he was a little boy and look what happened?

She replied with all sincerity, “Mommy, I won’t be like Justin. I really WILL stay little forever.” And she meant it. It seemed that just for a moment, time stood still as I cuddled my baby girl closely, kissed her velvety soft cheeks, and thanked Jesus for the little blessing I held in my arms. I am a very rich mommy with a treasure chest of golden memories such as this.

* * *

Jason had everything ready to make a special birthday breakfast but woke up to no power AGAIN. I planned a special day in town with just the two of us. But without electricity, stores don’t open. Thankfully, we have learned flexibility. Hopefully tomorrow we can resume our plans.

The Matabmos joined us for dinner, ice-cream, and a movie (The Princess Bride) to celebrate this glorious day. I gathered everyone outside for a quick picture using the self-timer on my camera. Our home radiates laughter whenever this dear family visits.


Back row left to right: Me, Jason, Augustine, and Bridget; Middle row left to right: Shauna, Isata, Jane, Prudence, Sia; Front: Caylie, Farai, Carlin, Steven

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Internet "Service"

This is a real quick post to everyone! Our internet service has been extra lousy since the beginning of the year but has become even worse in the past week. This is very frustrating for us but even more so for you as you don't know what is going on! Neither do we, but we live here.

If you email, I will answer. If I don't, I didn't get it. OR I will get it maybe in a month! No kidding. We can not use Skype to call out or to receive calls. Everything was great until the first of the year.

When the internet comes on, I scramble to get everything written before it goes off again. The only reason I was able to post about Sia's birthday is because I created it in Word had it copied then pasted it into my blog as soon as internet service came on.

For all of you who write, I treasure your emails. They are refreshing to my soul. I will ALWAYS answer within a week's time IF I receive them. Without reliable internet service, I often don't.

Love,
Beckie

Time for Play

From my earliest memories I thrived on adventure and exploration. That flickering flame was fanned into a roaring blaze on my fifth birthday when my kindergarten teacher read the Weekly Reader magazine. You DO remember those don't you? It was on that day that astronaut John Glenn rocketed into outer space, orbited the earth, and splashed down safely into the great Atlantic ocean. (Yes, I am THAT old!) From that moment on, I longed to experience my own adventurous space travel as our nation's first woman astronaut.

Obviously I didn't make into space, (unless you count my explorations via Google Earth), but I did make it to Africa which has to be just as much fun. Every day brings about about new discoveries.

What really brings joy to this mommy's heart is watching my children uncover mysteries of creation where ever we happen to be. Our Zambian home provides daily opportunities for discovery. Below, Carlin carefully investigates the pool for the latest inhabitants. He never comes out empty handed.

He rescued several frogs from becoming lunch for birds circling overhead and others perched on surrounding walls. Crows and even "our" falcons scour the pool bottom for a fast easy meal. We call it the McDonald's of the predator world as unlucky creatures fall or jump into the gaping cement hole particularly after a heavy storm. Their only way out is either clutched firmly in the penetrating talons of hungry birds or in the gentle grasps of the Sibley boys.

Frogs of all sizes are given free transport out of the pit of despair to the dense cover of ground nut (peanut) plants where they find a second chance at life. Above, Carlin thoroughly checked this little guy out for injuries before carefully placing him in the safety of the garden.

* * *

Our talented daughters recycled the cardboard fronts and backs of their finished school tablets to create little houses. Naturally a house has to have a family living in it, so they scavenged fabric and thread scraps to fashion little characters complete with hair, faces, and clothes! Isn't that just priceless? Isata meticulously designed her people first. Her sisters took note and requested sewing needles along with all of the other items needed to begin cloth families of their very own.

Our girls squealed with delight when Jane and Prudence accepted an invitation to play with the new creations. It was quite the bonding experience for all.


Last week, Shauna and Sia exercized their wedding planning skills to orchestrate a ceremony and reception. The wedding included bridesmaids and groomsmen along with parents of the happy couple. I was asked to photograph the blessed event which I did enthusiastically.

You will never guess what happened next. When I inserted the flashcard into the reader, up flashed a little window with the words "corrupted data" written boldly within its borders. What in the world causes something like that to happen? The girls assured me that more weddings would follow and that I will have many opportunities to recapture the lost images.


Naturally, the boys were not to be out done. Carlin put together something that is barely identifiable as a horse or camel or some kind of beast of burden. Thankfully, all they wanted pictures of were their Lego people.

Once again, it's approaching midnight here in Zambia. If I am going to keep up with nine enthusiastic learners tomorrow, this post must come to a close.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Our "School" is Growing!

I have the most amazing news to share tonight! We have another new student in our home school!

Left to right: Shauna, Steven, Jane, Isata, Prudence, Sia, Carlin, and Caylie

Augustine and Bridget came over last night for Ministries Training Center, (MTC), excited to tell us their latest news. They have opened their tiny little home and great big hearts to yet another young girl. Augustine was bicycling to the compounds recently when he noticed the 14 year old daughter of a family friend sobbing. He stopped to ask her why she was crying and she told him that she could no longer go to school. Her story is similar to many girls in Zambia. Her father died a few years ago and her mother struggles to keep the family fed and dry. There is nothing left over for school.

Anyway, back to the good news. Augustine and Bridget talked to Jane's mother about her daughter joining their family. Her mother was shocked that Augustine would even care. Evidently, he use to be a rather ornery guy who showed no mercy to anyone. Jane's mother wondered what had happened to completely transform her good friend's son. He shared his faith and told her that he was now the pastor of a church. She was stunned yet happy to learn this.

Jane went home with the Matambos that night. In fact, she was the friend Prudence was showing her assignments to. We told Augustine and Bridget that she is welcome to join our little school. You may be wondering why we didn't simply buy the uniform, books, and pay for tuition. Before living here for five months, that is exactly what we would have done.

The problem is that there are any number of reasons why children, particularly teenage girls do not attend school regularly. If they are needed at home, they miss school which is why at fourteen, Jane is still in grade 5. Education for girls is not considered a high priority beyond early elementary years.

When they come here, they receive individualized learning. If they are needed at home, we can adjust. Of course the hope is that they will continue to stay with the Matambos and attend school with us five days a week. When Augustine and Bridget went to see Jane's mother today to let her know that she would be studying with us, her mother danced and cried. Her response was to thank God and the Matambos for the opportunity her daughter was given. Even though Jane will live with our good friends, she will still visit her mother and siblings.

This morning, Prudence walked in with Jane by her side, both of them beaming. They worked non stop and then went home and worked together some more. Both of the girls are highly motivated to learn. I've talked to Prudence about her education affecting not only herself, but her future husband, children, and even her country. She smiled as she contemplated her life having such an impact.

Augustine and Bridget have been reading through the books we brought from home. The past few days they read The Prayer of Jabez. Jason teased them by saying they better give the book back before they end up with even more children. He continued to say that their new house will be too small before the walls even go up. They responded by saying "Oh that would be sooo nice."

They thoroughly enjoy MTC and are applying everything they learn. They look forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays so they can discover new Bible truths. It's amazing to see how the simple act of moving into this house has shaped our ministry. It is an awesome experience to watch a couple read their Bible and then look for ways to do what it says.

Augustine confessed that in years past, he would not have even noticed a crying girl. Now he is "filled with mercy." (his words). He and Bridget told us that what we are all learning at MTC has changed the way they interact with their countrymen. Jason told them again that by opening their hearts to these girls, the girls will begin to think differently. It is so easy to encourage people who live an active faith.

Once again it is almost midnight. YIKES! But I couldn't wait to let you all know what the Matambos and the Sibleys are up to now.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Electric Lawnmowers, Power Outages, Heavy Rains

Add all these things together and you have a tough way to earn a living. Lawn mowers are terribly expensive here in Zambia so very few people, including us, own one. They cost well over $1,000. Since the grass is very different here and there is no need to fertilize it, we have it cut once a month during the rainy season. It is dormant during the dry months.

We were surprised to find that most everyone with a lawn mowing business uses an electrically powered mower here in Ndola. But when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. There is no gas or spark plugs to buy. The electricity is provided by customers and the mower itself is much lighter than a gasoline model.

The only hiccup in the whole thing is trying to operate a business that requires electricity in a country that experiences power outages on a daily basis. The man pictured above rode quite a long distance with a lawn mower strapped to his bicycle only to find that our power was out. He waited several hours until it was restored but then it began to rain. He tried to wait out the rain but after another hour or so, decided to put on his rain clothes and tough it out.

As we watched this man dressed in rain gear from head to toe push an electric lawn mower in pouring rain, Jason and I looked at each other and wondered out loud, "Is this even remotely safe?" I guess it was because he finished the job in one piece.

I couldn't get a better picture since I needed to stay under the covered porch to protect my camera.

I hope you enjoy viewing little snippets of Zambian life. Living in a different culture provides daily adventures with even the most basic tasks.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

How to Help Your Children (and yourself) Appreciate Their Many Blessings!

During our 30 plus years of parenting, one question that continually pops up in conversations is how do we as Americans help our children recognize and appreciate their abundant privileges and blessings? The answer turns out to be a rather simple one to state, yet difficult to implement. Are you ready for this? Move to a third-world country! Yes, it IS that simple.

Our electricity was out for several hours last night. Instead of complaining about the lack of power, we rejoiced that our water still worked! When the whole country loses electricity, everyone experiences an interruption in their water service to go along with it which requires collecting rain for flushing toilets and washing clothes.

This morning, the electricity shut off again at 6:30. Thankfully I did all of my printing for school a few days ago so lessons continued as usual. After 5 1/2 hours, there was light! The kids jumped, danced, and squealed not because they found new expensive presents waiting for them, not because they got free tickets to Disney Land, but because we had electricity!

And school? Our kids continually hear how privileged they are to receive such a fascinating and advanced (by Zambia standards) education. One look through the curriculum and adults are astounded. Augustine and Bridget allow Farai to join us for two and a half hours before walking to his public school for another six hours. Farai is proud to go to school now for the first time. Why? Because he understands more than ever before and all of the children and teachers comment on his English skills.

Chores: No one here in Zambia hints that our children are overworked. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Although all of our kids have responsibilities, their workload is nothing compared to their Zambian counterparts. The Sibley kids finally appreciate the fact that their education is a high priority in our family. All of them have improved dramatically mostly because of new attitudes regarding classwork.

Food: Our kids never hear, "Oh you have to eat that?" nor are they asked "How come you don't get to order whatever you want at Taco Bell?" Kids here eat to live. If they enjoy their meal in the process, that is a bonus but certainly not the goal. And eating out? None of the children we know have been to a restaurant. We went one time and it was so expensive, that we knew it would never happen again. In many respects, raising our children in Zambia is much easier at least emotionally.

Don't get me wrong. I love the USA and am honored and privileged to call Redmond, Oregon my home. I treasure our American friendships, family relationships, and our home church. I look forward to enjoying a pleasant shower, drinking coffee (maybe even a latte'), DRIVING a van of our very own, football season, the Super Bowl, and the list goes on and on and on. But I also enjoy our host country and the friendships we will hold dear for the rest of our lives. I thank God for the experiences Zambia offers our family that could not happen anywhere else.

* * *

You may remember a previous post saying that Prudence, Bridget's 15 year old sister, has joined our little homeschool. After her mother's stroke, Prudence left school to remain home during her mother's recovery, still ongoing. When Naomi was living with the Matambos, Prudence had such a hard time because Naomi was getting an education she could only dream of while hers was basically over. When Naomi returned to her family, Prudence convinced her own parents to allow her to live with Augustine, Bridget, and Farai. They agreed after one of their sons and his wife returned from Lusaka to care for their ailing mother.

When we invited Prudence to learn with us, she literally danced with glee. She is thrilled to not only continue her education, but to get to learn with us. She is an incredibly committed student making it pure joy to guide her education. This is an opportunity that most, if not all of her peers will never have.

Last night, one of her friends visited. Prudence proudly showed her friend the notebook containing her completed assignments. I had always thought that I would be teaching younger children here in Zambia but it appears that it is the older ones, especially girls who benefit the most. They are old enough to appreciate it and therefore take advantage of every opportunity presented to them. This has had a tremendous influence on our own children.

Below is a photo I captured yesterday after buying fresh ground nuts (peanuts) from our vegetable lady. Shauna, Caylie, Steven, and Carlin shelled them all which was difficult to do as the shells are kind of rubbery when they are freshly pulled from the ground. We later discovered that we were suppose to boil them before peeling, ooops! This morning Jason fired up the brazier (power was out) and pan fried them.

The next photo I took the other day. I absolutely love the colors and fragrances of the rainy season here in Zambia.

I just had to get a picture of this guy (below). I spotted him on my way back to the house with my camera. What is absolutely hilarious, is that lizards freeze when they see us. After noticing him on the wall, this one became as still as a statue. I had plenty of time to get my camera set up and snap several shots. He didn't even twitch a muscle until I packed everything up and started for the house once again. I'm sure he thought he tricked me into thinking he was just part of the background.

We are grateful to live with such an abundance of critters. Carlin loves to find different species and then look them up online. We look forward to receiving the Brittanica Encyclopedia cds we bought for Sharon and Debbie to bring to us next month. There is nothing like watching our children explore this new world we live in.

I hope that you have a wonderful day and remember to thank God for your many blessings!

Beckie