Clinics and Chongwe (finally!)

As many of you may have noticed, Brian and I have been MIA (missing in action) from our blog for a few days now. We apologize for not updating more frequently, and will try to do better. A lot has happened since the last time either of us has posted...good things and not so good things. I will break this post into parts, so it's easier to read.

CLINICS:
When we returned from Livingstone last Sunday, both Brian and I ended up with fevers. We thought we'd sleep it off and see how we were the next morning. Unfortunately, Brian still had a fever the next day and I will still feeling ill. We were advised by Mama Harawa (the head lady at the EOH in Zambia) to get checked out at a travel clinic. A few people were worried that we had malaria, which was highly improbable since it's winter over here in Zambia and not considered "malaria season". Even so, a little bit of worry crept into my head, so I asked God to help me not to give in to my worries (which is VERY easy for me to do) and put Brian and myself into His hands. God must have answered my prayers because when we entered the health clinic, I wasn't worried at all, even when the doctor told us she wanted us to get our blood tested. I'm not generally afraid of needles or anything, but have always been a bit wary about getting pricked by needles in a foreign country. Surprisingly, the blood test was quick and less painful than tests I've received in the USA. Anyway, to make a long story short, it was confirmed that neither of us had malaria, but that I had caught something viral (probably from the long bus ride back from Livingstone which had a bunch of sick coughy people and NO air) and Brian had a bacterial infection (don't know how THAT happened). We were prescribed some vitamins and Brian received some nasty tasting antibiotics, and sent on our way.

We spent the next day in bed and took turns using the bathroom (that toilet got a LOT of action). Brian took about 2 days to get back to almost normal and I took about 3. I am so happy that Megan brought some Immodium or else I'd probably still be in the bathroom. (Thanks, Megan!)

CHONGWE (finally!):
For those who don't already know, Every Orphan's Hope has built My Father's Houses in two cities - Lusaka (the capital of Zambia) and Chongwe (a rural town about an hour away from Lusaka. Brian and I had only gone to see the orphans and mamas at the MFHs in Lusaka up to this point, but had heard so many things about the kids and mamas in Chongwe from Ben, Megan and Kate, who had all arrived in Zambia 2 weeks before us. We had been itching to get out to Chongwe, but were not able to go while we were sick. This past Friday we were finally able to go!! Praise the Lord!

The kids in Chongwe don't speak as much English as the kids in Lusaka, so they tend to answer "yes" to almost everything we ask them. Some actually do understand, but they speak mostly Nyanja. There are so many kids and I can't remember many of their names, which is why I am thankful that Ben, Megan and Kate were there. Kate attempted to teach me some of their names before I went from photos she had taken, but I didn't do so well. But after meeting them in person, I think I have a lot of their names down. There was little Doreen, a 3 year old who is fairly new to EOH. She and her brother, Jonah (6), both live at the My Father's Houses. Doreen is really tiny for her age and tends not to smile much, but I did get her to smile several times and even giggle. :) I later borrowed Kim's shitenge (don't know how to spell it), a cloth that Zambian women use as a skirt/apron and also as a cloth to carry their babies on their backs, to carry Doreen around on my back. :)

Ok, who else is there? Oh yes...there's James Zulu, Catherine, Justine (pronounced "Justin", the "e" is silent), Maxamillian, Andrew, Aaron, Espina, Lister, Kauya, Alick, Rebecca, Bianca, Lumbambe, Blastone, Samuel, Chuma, Pamela, Veronica, Henry, and more I have not yet met. These kids are so sweet and so full of love. I was impressed by how polite they are - when they saw me, and obviously didn't know who I was, they would come up with big smiles on their faces and put out their hand to introduce themselves. They have a hard time saying my name (like most people do when they first meet me), but they tried. :)

Yesterday, all of us interns and Paul, Kim, and Hosanna (a friend who works at the church that EOH, Texas rents space from) got to stay overnight in a MFH in Chongwe. Most of us stayed in the different living rooms on mattresses or sofas, and Ben stayed on a bunk with some of the boys. We went to bed around 9:30 pm (21:30 hours), which is a lot later than the kid's normal bedtime of 8:00 pm (20:00 hours), but things haven't been quite on schedule with Camp Hope coming up and Teen Mania camping out nearby. The kids didn't seem to mind, as they were super excited for us to be staying with them.

It took a little while for me to fall asleep, as a rooster who didn't seem to know what time it was, kept crowing, a random cow kept mooing, and the house pet, a kitten named Jungle, kept curling up on my feet. I kept kicking him off, as I didn't want him too close to either Kim or myself, as we're both allergic to cats, but he kept coming back. God has been merciful to me, though, because I didn't even sneeze once because of the kitten. He's probably the only other cat that I am not allergic to. I ended up petting him a lot since he is just so cute. (I never thought I'd say that about a cat...hehe.)

The next morning, we were awaken at 4:30 am (the kid's normal wake-up time) by Mama Lydia and the bleary-eyed orphans singing praise songs in Nyanja. Normally, as a non-morning person, I would roll over and cover my ears if someone tried to wake me up, but their voices were just so beautiful I couldn't help but listen and be blessed. According to their schedules, they would normally have family devotions after singing, but because Mama Lydia wasn't feeling well, all the kids got another hour or so of sleep, or maybe it was because we were in their house and Mama wanted us to sleep more. We had already put away our mattresses and folded up our bedding, so as the kids rested (and snored...so cute!), Paul, Kim, Brian and I, with little Jungle on my lap, chatted a bit, as we waited for the sun to come up.

What a fantastic weekend. I am so thankful that God healed me and allowed me to finally experience Chongwe. It's just so amazing to be there. I am excited to go back tomorrow for the beginning of Camp Hope.

Please pray for Teen Mania, as they will be basically running Camp Hope. Pray also for the 300 or so orphans, coming from all over Chongwe, to attend Camp Hope. Pray that they will meet Jesus and come to love him as their own personal Lord and Savior. Pray for protection from spiritual attacks, and pray for us interns, the EOH staff, and others to be united and work well together.

Thanks for reading!

In Jesus' Love,
Andrea