On African Soil

The title of this blog is deceiving. There really isn’t a whole lot of soil here… it’s more a red, sandy clay that when dry creates a slightly abrasive surface on all floors (think: sandpaper) and when wet, a thick red clay, similar to the kind you would use to create pottery by hand. Basically, though, it’s everywhere.

Anyhoo, enough about the soil, although you’d be interested in all the things climbing and crawling along in it, like giant centipedes and snails and cute little lizards… And then there’s the things growing out of the ground, like the mango trees, which aren’t quite ready for eating raw, but when cooked take on a flavor and consistency similar to cooked apples. There are absolutely amazing flowers as well – some lilies and other familiar ones, and some that look like they belong in the rainforest.

Speaking of rain, we’ve had some rain basically every day. The power has stayed on since we’ve arrived, though our water was off when we first got here. Today was actually sunny most of the day and Luke and I went out on a walk and visited a nearby market. We had gone to a grocery store when we first arrived to get milk and cereal and fruit and meat and such to last a few days (to my Dallas friends, it reminded me of Fiesta), but the market is completely different… especially considering the route we took had us basically going through the town dump, jumping over ditches where sewage mixed with rainwater ran alongside the alley way. I realize as I write this that a few of you are probably freaking out a bit about the “conditions” in which we are living – don’t worry – it’s not like that everywhere; even so, we constantly praise God for His provision in our lives, and for allowing us the opportunity to see what blessed lives we have lived.

So at the market, you can buy clothing – likely imported, used clothing, stacked in piles and definitely not very clean. You can also buy fresh fruits and vegetables. Planning to make spaghetti tonight, we bought a few tomatoes and a green pepper for about 500 kwacha each. That’s roughly a dime in US dollars. We also bought a large eggplant for 3,000 kwacha, about 60 cents (and we hear we paid the “white man’s price” – significantly inflated from what the local Zambians would pay). Also along the market path were butchers, barbers, and other tradesmen of sorts. We found a route back to the compound that involved trudging through much less waste and sewage – directly to the door of our compound.

We are currently staying at the Evangelical Church of Zambia compound outside Lusaka, Zambia. We have a quaint little guest house here until we move to Solwezi in early January. It is interesting living out of suitcases and crates, and one box that we had to open and now think we will have to replace before moving north. The first two nights we had dinner with other missionaries, but cooked our first real meal here tonight, making spaghetti with makeshift pots and pans and serving utensils. We look forward to settling into our own kitchen and buying spices and such and having a refrigerator bigger than a small dorm fridge. We also look forward to digging into “daily life.” Daily life right now basically consists of sleeping, cooking, eating and conversations here and there with the few missionaries here about what we can expect (or basically, not to have expectations). We’re learning early lessons in slowing down and taking life as it comes. We will be getting our car tomorrow night, and then may venture out a bit and explore as time allows.

We will fly to Solwezi Monday-Thursday for some time with the Bruce family before they head back to New Zealand. We will then spend Christmas and New Year’s here before moving to Solwezi. We hear that we will be attending a presentation of “Messiah” next Friday and have a big barbecue, or “Brie” for Christmas. We will try to update as we get settled in, but definitely appreciate your prayers as our entire lives and all that we know and are accustomed to are changed and turned upside down.

Thank you for your prayers, your encouragement and your support!

Note: I was not able to post this last night while it was still true. Shortly after going to bed, it stormed, and then the power went out until sometime mid-day today.