New Opportunities; Renewed Vision

So I am crazy impulsive and have a crazy awesome idea that I should probably flesh out before I dig a giant hole of crazy. (How was that sentence for quality English?)

Anyhow, here’s a little background… When Lusa Home-Based Care was under the guidance of an organization out of South Africa, money was sent from the US to build dormitories and other facilities. We’re talking upwards of $70,000. As is so often the heart-breaking case here, that money never made it to Zambia, and we have no dormitory. The same organization apparently promised many community members around Lusa that their work (cooking, gardening, teaching, and other jobs that are considered voluntary right now) would be paid. When that money never showed up, the people didn’t see a reason to show up either. So now, Mama Yoba and Regina are running the place with a handful of volunteers – mostly women who are benefitting from the work we’re doing at Lusa. Our (unpaid) teachers are ready to throw in the towel, and apparently many people are still bitter about the money thing and blaming Mama Yoba. (Learned all of this today)

That said, we’ve started to see things turn around. One by one, people from the community are learning that it truly is better to give than to receive, and have a desire to get involved. Through donations and hard work, we now have fish in our fish ponds, maize in our maize fields, and will soon have chickens in our chicken coops. Two big craft markets at local mines in the next two weeks promise some serious income generation as our expat friends will be in Christmas-buying mode. Using Dave Ramsey’s Money Matters teaching on budgeting via envelopes, the organization actually has money when the water bill comes or other needs arise. We have weekly Bible studies and the handful of people who are coming are now taking turns leading through a book on the women of the Bible. But our efforts to help the children – what Lusa is really about – are falling short.

In recent months, we’ve restarted weekly feeding programs for the 30 or so kids (of about 80 we have on a register) who are coming for school each day. But school has turned more into a loosely run day care. The kids show up at 7. When the teachers show up, it’s usually by 8. Then they finish at 10. We have kids ages 2 to 15 all in the same “class” and there is little structure or anything by way of a lesson plan. And, Lusa has been serving the same kids for several years. Some are single or double orphans; some are sick; many are vulnerable; and some just come to Lusa because their parents would rather send them to us for free than put forth the money to get them into school. We’ve discussed raising the funds to provide first term school fees and uniforms to put 40 or so of the kids into the public school system (about $15 each). Assuming we can get these kids into school, here’s where the idea comes in…

The purpose of Lusa is not just to provide a helping hand to the community, but also to share the love and grace of Christ. The purpose is hope. We don’t have the man-power nor motivation from the community to run Lusa as a school – but what if we go in a whole new direction? What if our efforts at Lusa get people excited about working there, and allow them to forget the bitterness they might have from the previous problems? What if we stop trying to be mediocre in an area (school) where the kids would be better served in the local school system, and focus our efforts on being awesome and glorifying to God with something that’s definitely a need and not one that’s being met elsewhere?

So here’s the idea. Similar to what Child Evangelism Fellowship does with Good News Clubs, turn Lusa into a community center – an outreach center – a place where kids and teens can come to hear about Christ, play sports and games, hang out with each other off of the streets, and realize that people care about them. Rather than run a school for 3 hours in the morning for 30 or so kids, we could have club meetings throughout the day or with different ages every day and be open to the entire community. For example, the grade 1 kids in the community might get off school at noon, and then come to Lusa for activities; and then the grade 9 and 10 girls might come at another time or on another day. We would still help the most vulnerable community members through our income generating projects – helping supply food and school fees and visiting and caring for them – but we would also be able to reach, minister to, and love on potentially hundreds of kids each week. And, hopefully, inspire and lead these kids to be Christ-loving, God-fearing, generous, loving adults.

Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your thoughts and have your prayers. We are discussing the idea with a local pastor whom we respect and admire (and happens to be the chairman of the Lusa board) tomorrow. Also (NEWS FLASH!), Luke will be going to Ethiopia in early December for training in an SIM ministry called Sports Friends, which would be a huge part of the new focus if we go that way.

I personally haven’t been this excited about the potential at Lusa in a long time. We were actually quite discouraged with the state of things when we first came, but ever so gradually have been able to see a way moving forward. Will you pray with us as we continue to seek the Lord’s direction in this?

Tubena Kufunda Kikaonde

A mi wa ne Mrs. Wessler. Twafuma ku Kwamelika. Twaiya na kufunda Kikaonde ne kukwasha bana ba kishali.

I am Mrs. Wessler. We are from America. We have come to learn Kikaonde and help orphaned children.

Get that one down and I’m set, right? Everyone tells us we’re learning very quickly, but I feel like I have to look up everything in my handy dandy notebook (Thank you Blues Clues) before saying it. Yes, my vocabulary is increasing significantly, and we have most of the greetings down, but this language stuff is HARD. It’s one thing to be able to say something to someone, but understanding what they say to you and then responding is a whole different story. And I keep wanting to resort to Spanish. Seriously. Especially because there is this horrible consonant that looks like the rolled “n” in Spanish, but sounds like the “ng” in sing. Not that hard, except it doesn’t end syllables or words, it starts them. Syllables always end in vowels. So here’s one of the words: Mwibananyi, used in “Anweba mwibananyi jizhina?” or “What is your name?” Break it apart…. Think: Mwi ba NGA nyi (but deep in your throat and hardly pronouncing it at all…). Okay, I’m going to stop now. I have figured out that if I say my name first (like the first line of this entry), I can just add, “Ngo bewa” to ask “what about you?” and avoid having to completely butcher the pronunciation. Enough of your language lesson for the day.

The fun part about learning the language is it breaks down a barrier. Because of the local mining community (with expatriates from all over the world), the local people are not used to the Mzungus (white people) making efforts to get to know them or speak their language. As we walk to Kimasala (the village where our ministry will primarily be based), or through the market, we see hard faces and looks of almost annoyance or frustration, but as soon as we greet people in Kikaonde or try to start a conversation, they warm up and tell us how great it is we are learning their language. What’s funny, is that a lot of people, especially kids, like to practice their English when they see us. Kids constantly ask us “How are you?” We think it’s the first - and sometimes the only – thing they learn because when we respond they have no idea what to say back! When we respond in Kikaonde some of them start laughing or cheering. People have started to recognize us, too. Our walk takes longer each day as more people greet us or ask us questions. The best is when the kids from Lusa Home-Based Care see us walking. On Friday a few saw me as we approached the last hill toward Kimasala, and they ran down the hill to give me a hug. Awesome.

We’ve also been told that we have to attend a different Kikaonde-speaking church each month during our language study to help us learn. Now we see people in the market who recognize us from church and ask about our work and our language study. I just wish I recognized them as easily as they recognize us!

With language study comes cultural study. We each have a great language helper that clues us in to traditions and “rules.” Like the men and women very rarely sit together in church. We’re talking full out separate sides of the room. Today we were told that a man will never sit in close proximity to his mother-in-law. Likewise, a woman would never sit near her father-in-law. So when Luke arrived to the home of his helper, the mother-in-law was there visiting and so Luke and Christopher sat outside for their lesson. Another thing – kids don’t receive any respect. There are different phrases and greetings and questions used for children than for adults. We add “mwane” as a term of respect to just about everything we say, but we don’t say it to kids – they would laugh or just be confused. But, you can ask kids things you can’t ask adults… like “what is your age?” (Or “how many years do you have?”) They don’t all know, but at least it’s appropriate to ask and answer. The kids will also run out to the road when they see us coming and yell “MZUNGUS” – letting all their friends know they see white people.

Even as we learn, we find ourselves as teachers. Our language helpers ask us questions about American culture. Today, Regina asked me if people eat nshima in the United States. Nshima is a staple here, made from pounded, ground maize that is boiled and formed into a sticky ball that is then used to pick up other food (think polenta… sort of). She was shocked to find out that we don’t. Then we discussed how our hair is very different and we have to wash it a lot more than they have to wash theirs. We also talk about language differences, helping them with their English. When observing the teaching of the children at Lusa, we sometimes even find ourselves correcting the teachers as they teach the kids English.

We are trying hard, and know that this is an important phase of our ministry – especially building relationships, but sometimes it’s exhausting. Communication is such an interesting thing, and I’ve never felt so much like I can’t express myself, even to those who speak English fairly well. I guess all things with time – and we look forward to a time when we can really share our hearts and speak to the hearts of our friends here. Shalaipo Mwane. (Remain well.)