WELCOME !

Welcome friends, old and new, known and unknown! It has been my desire to share with you how the Lord is working in my life as I serve the Lord on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. There is an old black and white movie called The African Queen. It is about a boat that travels down river. This blog is not about a boat. It is however, about my travels on the mission field of Kabwe, Zambia. By the way, did you know that my name means queen. For many years I have been burdened for souls in Africa. That is why some of my friends call me African Queen.



Showing posts with label zambia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zambia. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2015

Showers

Psalm 107:35
"He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, 
and dry ground into watersprings."


As you know, dry season was a hard time.
Farmer's fields were catching fire.
That fire would burn all of the grass they needed to feed thier cattle.
Times of drought and dryness seem hopeless.
Everyday, you find yourself peering up at the sky 
wondering if the Lord will send the rain "today".


In November the rains should come, but November came and went.
We hoped that December would bring the hard rains and
yet it only brought a few showers.


By January, we were still only having light showers,
but thankful for every drop of rain.


I thought about the many blessing that the Lord gives us.
We should be thankful for the small things, 
not just for the large showers of blessings that God gives us.


After all, big or small, they are all gifts from the Lord.


Even though we have not had enough rain 
and rainy season is supposed to be over,
God continues to send those small showers to sustain us 
through the dry times.

Psalm 63:1-8 
1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: 
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee 
in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
 2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
 3 ¶ Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.
 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
 5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; 
and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:
 6 When I remember thee upon my bed, 
and meditate on thee in the night watches.
 7 ¶ Because thou hast been my help, 
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
 8 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.




Monday, February 16, 2015

Spider, Spider,.....

I have to admit,
when I first set foot in my house
on the night I arrived,
it was a little scary.

I HATE SPIDERS!!!

Not that I am terribly afraid of them,
but I hate things that hide 
and then crawl around when you don't see them
(like roaches and snakes too....)


I took the above picture in my bedroom when I first arrived.
A huge spider on my cupboard near my bed!!!


What that picture does not show is 
the other four on the rest of the cupboard.

Even in South Africa, 
I have never seen spiders as big as some of the regular spiders I see here.

Needless to say, that first night as I lay in the dark trying to go to sleep I had to  give it over to God and decide to trust Him to watch over and protect me.
After all, I could not live out my days being afraid of falling asleep.

~~~

Since then, I have grown accustomed to these spiders and others.

(Below you will see a short video clip 
of a huge hyper spider running around my house.  
That night, the first time I saw it, 
I didn't know what it was, because it was so fast.  
Now I know it was a Roan/Rain/Roman Spider, 
here they call it any of those three names 
and they come out just before the rains come.
These spiders are very fast, but "friendly" spiders.)


I have learned to keep bug spray and a flip flop within arm's reach
and I have also learned which ones are harmful and which ones are helpful.

~~~

In fact, I was feeling quite used to them and rather kind toward the spiders
as long as they kept away from me.


This beautiful one was living in the corner right outside my front door.
I thought I would be courteous to him and let him live, 
as long as he did not come in the house.

The kindness ended after I came home one evening.
I had forgotten to turn the outside light on, so I walked down the path with my flashlight, hesitated to point the light up in the corner to be sure the spider was there and not on the door.


It was when my light hit him that night 
that I saw the bright red dot on his belly.

God made the creepy crawly creatures with warning signs.
I went in the house after taking these pictures and looked him up.

Yup!
I knew it!

He was not a friendly spider.
In fact, he is in the Black Widow family.
The article I read said that they lay 200 eggs per pregnancy and will do that 6 times in thier lifetime.
My mind went wild:
How many thousands of spiders are right outside my door 
or even in my house..... 
in that same corner was a "teenager" of the same kind,......
Oh dear!!!!


When daylight arrived the next morning,
I found a nice can of spray to kill them with.
"Sorry spider, I was trying to be kind, but found out you were not friendly".

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Life on a farm in Zambia


Today, I would like to show you the farm where I stayed while in Zambia.


Like most farms in the area, this farm is back a long lane and across the "dambo" (an area that fills with water during the rainy season and used as a water supply the rest of the year).





I stayed with this family of Afrikaans farmers.
They attend Independent Baptist Church in Kabwe.

The back of the house
The room where I slept
Every night I slept under a mosquito net.
Even though the net is made of mesh, it gets quite hot and very hard to sleep under one.


The farm has a number of fruit trees & bushes.
They have mangos, papaya, guava, pineapple, pomegranate, grapes, bananas,...


The farmer's wife dries any excess fruit.


She also makes butter & yogurt with the excess milk.

Homemade butter - yum!!!

Marion and I became like sisters.
She was truly as Anne of Green Gables says, "a kindred spirit".

Marion's house
Gate to the farm

The sheepfold


Marion has over 100 sheep.  She raises them for a profit.
Many lambs were born while I stayed there.



I loved being on the farm and would tromp out through the sheepfold and fields.
On the second week, the farmers came home from the store with a pair of muck boots for me!
That was so precious that they thought about me 
and wanted to make me feel a part of the family.



This farm has between 15-20 cows.


Everyday the foreman delivers milk to homes nearby on this bicycle.

I greatly enjoyed living on the farm in Zambia.

I enjoyed the godly fellowship.
I enjoyed the busyness of farm living.
I enjoyed feeling at home & like family.


After surrendering to serve the Lord in Zambia,
one of my prayer requests was about housing.
Between me & the Lord, I asked Him to provide a place for me 
to live on a farm and specifically near this family.
A few weeks ago, I got word that they found a place for me to live.
Guess what!
The Lord gave me the desire of my heart and has allowed me to live on this same farm!!!
I am so excited to get to my home there, to teach children, share the Gospel, 
disciple the saved, and also to be with my Afrikaans family.


"Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."  ~ Psalm 37:4



Sunday, May 11, 2014

Zambian Facts #21-30

10 More Zambian Facts ~

21. A favorite way for Zambians to pass time and relax is conversation,
      with an emphasis on story-telling

22. Zambians expect friendly persons to call on them unannounced

23. The national symbol is the African Fish Eagle, which looks much                                       
      like the American Bald Eagle


24. The population of Zambia is just under 13 million

25. Nshima (ground cornmeal) is considered to be the staple food of Zambia
Nshima is mealie meal (corn meal) mixed with boiling water.
Stir, stir, stir until it forms a fluffed up lump like this.   I think it tastes like cardboard :)


26.Over 85% of the nation is considered below the poverty line

27. Anything considered “rural” is called “the bush”

28.  Victoria Falls is known to Africans as “Musi-o-Tunyi” or “The Smoke That Thunders”

29. Copper is still the key resource of Zambia; Zambia is the worlds fifth-largest producer


30. Average life-expectancy at birth is 38.6 years


Come back tomorrow to learn about 
how I know the Lord wants me in Zambia.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Zambian Facts #11-20


10 More Facts about Zambia~

11. Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, was planned for 200,000 people, 
      but is now home to over 1,500,000 people

12. Zambia is one of the world’s poorest countries 
      and ranked 165th out of 177 on the Human Development Index

13. Zambian military helped the Allies in WW2 by fighting in Burma

14. Zambia is a republic with a president, much like the United States and France
President Michael Sata, Zambia's current president
15. Since Zambia’s independence in 1964, the country has had 3 constitutions

16. Iron and copper have been mined in Zambia for over 2000 years

17. Victoria Falls is one of the seven natural wonders of the world
      (*I have posted a short video clip below that I found on Youtube, 
        so you can see how beautiful the Falls really are)


18. Over one third of Zambians live in urban areas

19. Zambia is one of the hardest hit nations with AIDS
20. There are 7 local semi-official languages: 
      Bemba(the language I will be learning), Kaonde, 
      Lozi, Lunda, Luvale, Nyanja, and Tonga

Coming tomorrow, 10 more facts about Zambia!!!

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Where in the World is ZAMBIA? and 10 Facts about ZAMBIA


Yes, Zambia is on the continent of Africa
(please tell me you knew that).
As you can see, the country of Zambia is located in 
what is considered Southern Africa.

Zambia is further North than I was serving before.
Since it is closer to the equator and inland, 
the climate will be more tropical.


As you can see, Zambia is landlocked by the 7 bordering countries of:
NAMIBIA, ANGOLA, REPUBLIC OF CONGO (ZAIRE),
TANZANIA, MALAWI, MOZAMBIQUE, and ZIMBABWE.

10 Facts about ZAMBIA-
  1. Zambia is slightly larger than Texas
  2. The nearest ocean is 600 miles away
  3. Zambia’s name comes from the Zambezi River.                                                  Zambezi is from a local word yambezhi “heart of all”
     
  4. Northern Zambia is FULL of beautiful waterfalls
  5. From November to April, Zambia experiences severe rainstorms                            (the equivalent to the Asian monsoon)
  6. Zambia is considered to be tropical”
  7. Zambia has a mild climate, rarely reaching 35 degrees C (95 degrees F)
  8. Termite hills in Zambia often “grow” to be as big as a cottage
  9. One mushroom native to Zambia grows nearly a yard in diameter,                        making it the world’s largest
  10. Livingstone was Zambia’s first capital

 Come back tomorrow for 10 more facts about Zambia!!!