A Tough Goodbye

Above Dan loads his luggage into the Janman's car

I thought it would be easier saying "goodbye" to Dan than it was to Debbie and Sharon simply because he was here for four weeks instead of two. Ahhhh, such was not the case. We were all in tears and it has been a difficult afternoon.

Dan brought much needed refreshment and encouragement when he arrived four weeks ago today and we thoroughly enjoyed every minute he was here. Below are more photos captured during his last trip to the market. Dan has endeared himself to everyone he met including the vendors at the market. They insisted that I bring him in to say "goodbye".

Below: Walking home from the market

I just had to throw in some of our favorite bushes. The colors are truly magnificent.


Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Meet Annie

Let me introduce you to a beautiful little girl who lives in Kawama compound (compound is the Zambian term for 'slum'), in Mufulira, a small mining town just north of us. It has taken more than a week to prepare this post simply because I can't seem to find adequate words to express my feelings about this precious child of God and the many thousands like her who share similar challenges.

I met eight-year old Annie after church near her home in Kawama. She came to the service unattended as do many of the children living close by. Most little ones in the compounds have never seen white-skinned people and are frightened by our appearance. Annie, however stayed close by me until time for our departure. Leaving these children was heart wrenching.

Annie and I connected immediately. In the photo above, she is standing right in front of me with my hands on her shoulders.

Most of the children of Kawama, including Annie, do not attend school for lack of tuition, books, and uniforms. Even worse, many are orphaned and malnourished. Death is part of daily life.

These little girls were quite mesmerized by Caylie. In the picture above, they watch as she draws in the sand.

I knew before leaving the comforts of American life that my most difficult struggles would involve feelings of helplessness in the midst of tremendous need, particularly in vulnerable children. I am overwhelmed with passion to find solutions to age-old problems preventing children like Annie from the most basic human requirements of love, nourishment, shelter, parental guidance, and education.

Pastor John Nkandu and his congregation at the church in Kawama. More than half are orphaned children living close by the church. For more regarding this day, see Dan's post titiled A PACKED WEEKEND OF MINISTRY. Scroll down to the July 15th.

Kawama means "things will change" in the Bemba language. I believe the church will have a key role in giving these children a future and a hope. I will keep you posted as plans unfold.

In the meantime, please join me in praying for these precious children.

Blessings,
Beckie

We have the best science teacher ever!

Biology was always my favorite subject in school. This year, the subject seems even more significant to us as we live in a country bursting with fascinating life and all its wonder.

Well, it just so happens that Dan is an AP Biology teacher at Redmond High School. Even though he is suppose to be on vacation, he teaches a science lesson in our little school each afternoon. All of the kids enjoy every second of it, but our Zambian children especially touch my heart as most will never have the opportunity to learn at this level.

Since malaria is part of daily life in this part of the world, Dan taught a lesson on how the disease is transmitted and developed in the human body. Earlier in the day, he caught a mosquito for viewing under the microscope. We were mesmerized throughout the lesson as you will see in the following photographs.

Above, Dan used illustrations we downloaded off the internet to explain the cycle.

Below, Prudence views a mosquito through the microscope while Jane waits her turn.

Our new student, Gloria takes her first peek. What a joy it is to welcome this little girl each afternoon. She attends the local school in the mornings then comes to our house for math, reading, vocabulary, and science. Gloria is 8 years old and is as spunky as can be. She's a perfect fit for our crew.

Next is our little scientist Caylie who is always full of questions, observations, and theories. She and Gloria have become great friends.

My goodness there is loads to share with you all but I simply can't keep up!

Darla, thank you once again for sharing Dan with us during this whole month. What a joy his visit continues to be not only for our family, but for many others as well. He thoroughly enjoys Zambian people and culture. We are all praying that YOU will join him next year. What do you think? ;)

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

A New Church Has Begun

What a thrill it was to share with Dan a most blessed event in Zambia Foursquare, the commissioning of Pastor Charles and Petra Sande along with their daughters as they begin a new church in Mushili, one of Ndola's larger communities.

I have written about this special couple before so they are familiar to many of you. Both Petra and Charles attend MTI classes in Ndeke making this event especially heartwarming for us. What made it even more special is that Dan preached the sermon and joined Pastor Mwanza, and Jason in praying over the Sande family.

Above, Dan teaches a powerful sermon from Ezekiel with Pastor Sande as translator.

Below left to right Pastor Michael, Pastor Mwanza, Dan, and Jason

Please join us in lifting the Sande family in prayer as they begin their ministry as pastors in a newly formed church. They both have tender hearts for Jesus and for people. We are excited to be in Zambia for such a time as this!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Eating Out With Dan

First I want to let you know that our internet connection is still crazy and unpredictable making it difficult to publish to my blog or even receive and respond to emails. So I am several days behind, ughhh. Right now, I am typing this on Word. If you are reading these ramblings, my attempt at finding the small window of time when our connection is working was successful.

Friday afternoon, we treated Dan to our favorite eatery in Kansenshi. This little place is owned and operated by Partner, wife to Jefferson, our treasured taxi driver.

Partner is the sole operator of this little eatery. She does all the work including purchasing food and charcoal over which to cook it, preparing and serving meals, hauling water in for washing all the dishes. Honestly, I would go crazy under these circumstances. Not Partner. She always greets us calmly and with a friendly smile.

The red bowls contain water used for washing hands which are then dried on towels hanging inside the little eating space. Above, Gloria pokes her hands under the curtain to clean them as most Zambians do not use forks or spoons to eat with.

The seating area seats 5-6 people comfortably. We arrived as a group of 10. So in true Zambian style, everyone crammed into the tiny space and eagerly placed their orders. On the menu was Zambia’s beloved nshima served with a spinach relish and a choice between chicken, beef, or meatballs.

Above, you can see the towels used to dry hands after washing hanging just below the red water bowls. The kids have looked forward to this for a long time as you can probably see by their smiles.

Dan has enthusiastically embraced our Zambian lifestyle making it extra fun to share our experiences with him. I made arrangements with Partner weeks before his arrival so that we could enjoy her authentic cooking without interrupting service to her regular customers. We arrived for diner at 3:30.

Below, Carlin demonstrates how to eat dinner Zambian style. Hands serve as eating utensils which thrills my kids to pieces, even the girls.

Below, Dan tries is "hand" at eating Zambian style, (pun intended)

Carlin found this lizard on our way out of the market.

In the following picture, I captured Sia, Shauna, Carlin, and Caylie pretending to be skateboarders in the ditch. Can you imagine having this much energy?


I captured the following photo on our way home from the market. This house is going up not too far from where we live. We see new construction popping up all over as mining continues bringing more people into the area.

Here is Dan as the ultimate tourist.

Each day is an adventure with Dan around and we Sibleys are enjoying the minutes as they fly by. I am convinced that friendship is one of God's most precious gifts particularly to those of us on the mission field.

In my next post, I'll share about the awesome church service we enjoyed this past Sunday. Stay tuned. . .

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

***Happy 7th Birthday Caylie***

Michaela Renee' Lawrence

Isn't this just the cutest cake? Belinda Janman made it especially for Caylie.

It's hard to believe that our little Caylie was born seven years ago today. To celebrate, we invited Daniel and Kiara Janman over for games, cake and ice-cream, and dinner. Gloria was here to share in the fun as well.

All of the kids pulled Dan into their American football game making it a Ducks-Beavers showdown. For those of you who have not a clue what that means, I'll offer a brief explanation.

Our oldest son Justin graduated from the University of Oregon. As a toddler, Carlin loved visiting Justin on the U of O campus and is an avid Duck fan to this day. Dan graduated from Oregon State University. So a "friendly" rivalry has existed for years.

As you can see, loads of fun was enjoyed by all.

Dan explains the plan

Isata played quarterback on this down.

The boys got just a wee bit too competitive forcing Kiara to run in the wrong direction. Ooops!

Caylie, I love being your grandma. You are loads of fun, full of dreams and ideas, and you have the gift of turning ordinary activities into great adventures. Happy Birthday Sweetie.

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Finally!

What pure joy Dan's arrival has brought to our family. Many times over the past the ten months, one of us has said, "Oh Dan would love this," or "I can't wait to show (fill in the blank) to Dan when he comes to see us."

I am typing this post to the squeals of delightful football competition right outside the window with Dan in the middle of it all. What a blessing he is to us.

The first thing Dan had to do was climb the lookout tree.

Well, the game is well underway and I am the photographer so I better get out there. I hope you enjoy a glorious day where ever this finds you. We certainly are here in Zambia!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie

Dan Elliott Arrives in About 12 Hours!!!

If you have spent even a short period of time with our family, you undoubtedly know that Dan and Darla Elliott are two of the most loving and generous people on the planet. Together we have walked through some of life's greatest joys as well as shared in its deepest sorrows. Our friendship grows more and more precious with each passing year.

Dan loves adventure. Darla does as well just as long as bugs and reptiles aren't part of it. So, Dan is on his way to our house and Darla is enjoying a nice soft bed, flushing toilets, a dishwasher, electricity 24 hours a day, ahhhhhhh American luxuries!

The fact that Dan has taken such a large chunk of his time and vacation to travel half way around the world to live with a family of eight crazy people for a month says a whole lot about him. Thank you Darla for sharing your husband for 4 solid weeks. You both are amazing!

I promise to take lots of pictures and will blog regularly as Internet connection allows. Let the games begin!

Blessings and joy,
Beckie