Tuesday, October 14, 2008

as time goes by

This past week went by very fast! There was a lot going on so I kept very busy which usually makes time go by quickly. It’s hard to believe its mid-October already. I feel like this month just started. Before I know it my time here will be up and I’ll be headed back to the good ‘ole USA. Can’t say I’m not looking forward to returning home to my friends and family. I’ve missed social interaction. Sure, I have it with my Zambian friends, but the language barrier makes it hard at times. Starr is very good at making friends here so I’m trying to learn from her. Thank goodness for a cell phone to be able to keep in touch at home. If I didn’t have that you can bet I’d be going a little crazier.

Anyways, back to this week. I’m helping the staff of The Mango Tree plan a festival for Zambia’s Independence Day on October 24th. Last year when Beth Trevino (oops, it’s Goodman now- congrats!) was here she held an Independence Day Festival and it was a big success. I’m told almost 500 people showed up to participate in games, competitions and even a Miss Mango Tree Pageant. So I have big shoes to fill, but I’m doing what I can to make this year’s a success as well. I bought some material in town and made a banner to hang outside the Mango Tree. I also created all kinds of sign-up sheets for activities like apple bobbing, eating contests, sack races, etc. There will be prizes and all sorts of fun things. I’m looking forward to it! It also generates a lot of money for the Mango Tree because people buy food while they are hanging out there all day. It’s also good advertisement for the center and a good way to let people know what’s going on there.

I also spent a considerable amount of time this week working on helping a family back in the States adopt a little boy from the village. Things obviously don’t happen easily around here so it’s been a big of a struggle but I’m praying we make some headway this week!

When Starr and I went into town last week we met up with 3 girls who are in the Peace Corps. They invited us to lunch and we had a good time sharing stories of frustration and laughing over silly Zambian things. One of the girls was telling us how her daily routine involves biking about 30km. Starr looked at me and said, “I’ll never complain about our bike ride again!” We certainly appreciated our circumstances after hearing that.

Things are going well with the Mango Mobile Taxi Van. They’re making profit, which is good, and things seem to be picking up. They’ve had several churches and clubs renting the van for day trips and such which helps as well. I’m proud of the way they’ve been handling things so far. Hopefully things only improve from here on out.

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement over the past 7 weeks. It’s been hard at times and even very lonely but God is with me. I’m learning to depend on Him more and more. He is my ultimate source of comfort and joy and each day I try to rest on that. I pray God would continue to bless and watch over each of you during these crazy times we are living in. Remember to press into our heavenly Father when you need strength, wisdom and encouragement. He’s standing there just waiting for you to call out to Him.
Much love and peace from Africa...

2 comments:

marcusandkatie said...

tug of war, sack races, blind folded mango relay, donut on a string eating contest- these were some of the games we played at my going away party!! use them too! (i see you already are with some of them!)

marcusandkatie said...

which peace corps volunteers did u meet up with? let me guess- hannah, yeng, jeana? ?