Dec/Jan Update
Word of the day:
Teacher: n, 1 : one whose occupation is to instruct. In Nyanja ‘mupunzisi’ means teacher.
Dear friends and family,
I’ve been in Zambia now four months. I moved into my very own hut on Action Zambia’s (AZ) property known as the Farm, attended the first ever AZ women’s retreat sponsored by lovely people in the States, finished three months of orientation and initial language acquisition classes, got to know my teammates, took the Zambian midwifery exam (still waiting another 2-4 weeks for results), and am having my first Christmas away from home. It has been wonderful to be here and sometimes I forget that it is ‘work’ being in Zambia!
Susan (a nurse from California) and I are revising and adapting a curriculum, called Community Health Evangelism, to make it to fit our situation here in Zambia. There are three different environments we will be teaching in come January.
The first is a squatter church called Venter. Every time I go to church here I cry. There is something about their worshipful hearts coming out of poverty and suffering that is so moving. Because of their poverty they have very little practical medical skills and we looking forward to coming alongside this community.
The second is a church school called Living Waters. There are not enough schools here, so quite a few churches host some sort of ‘school’ for the kids in the compounds (high density, low-income areas). Often they are run by undertrained (several having only finished grade school themselves) volunteers. As part of AZ’s involvement with several of these schools we will teach health curriculum to the teachers.
The third is Emmanuel Family Home. It is an orphan home project begun by one of AZ’s missionaries and run by house mothers. We will be teaching the house mothers practical medical skills to help them take care of the children.
It may not be hands-on midwifery at this point, but AZ’s health ministry is growing and Susie and I are waiting on the Lord to see His directions for us!
A typical day consists of breakfast, working on curriculum for classes until lunch, a trip into town (20-30 minute drive depending on where we are going) for medical supplies or copies or a meeting, searching the internet for free teaching tools to go with the curriculum (when we have power), dinner, a few episodes of whatever TV series Megan and Susan (who live at the Farm with me) and I are watching, reading my Bible, and bed.
As I have worked on this curriculum I have been amazed by what I hear other missionaries say and what I witness in the communities around us. There is so little practical health training here! I can’t remember ever being taught how to use hydrogen peroxide or Tylenol or gauze pads or to eat and drink when I am sick or have diarrhea, yet I know to do all of these things. The average Zambian may never learn to know how or when to do these things! Much less the ‘typical’ things that I have been taught: to use gloves around blood, to do CPR when someone needs it, what a germ is and why it is important to wash my hands.
So, we have been allowed the opportunity to tie in our faith with our passion for helping people be healthy- praise the Lord!
God has been teaching me the value He sees in our trials. My prayer for this New Year is that as God teaches us, through trials, that “the proof of [our] faith [is] more precious [to Him] than gold” it would “result in [our] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7
In His hands,
Stephanie
Praises:
-God has more than provided all my financial needs- thank you for allowing God to use you in this manner!
-Ease in moving to Zambia and fitting in with the team already here
-Single women friends here at the Farm
-Easy access to email to communicate with friends and family
-Greater understanding (sometimes daily) of my own inadequacies and God’s choice to use broken vessels like me!
Prayer Requests:
-Wisdom as I work on curriculum- that it would be relevant and at the correct level for each audience
-For the three teaching sites that they would be both receptive and able to understand and apply what we teach
-God’s guidance as Susie and I develop AZ’s medical ministry
-That Susie and I would pass our medical examinations and be allowed to legally practice here
-More consistency both in reading and especially in memorizing the Word
Teacher: n, 1 : one whose occupation is to instruct. In Nyanja ‘mupunzisi’ means teacher.
Dear friends and family,
I’ve been in Zambia now four months. I moved into my very own hut on Action Zambia’s (AZ) property known as the Farm, attended the first ever AZ women’s retreat sponsored by lovely people in the States, finished three months of orientation and initial language acquisition classes, got to know my teammates, took the Zambian midwifery exam (still waiting another 2-4 weeks for results), and am having my first Christmas away from home. It has been wonderful to be here and sometimes I forget that it is ‘work’ being in Zambia!
Susan (a nurse from California) and I are revising and adapting a curriculum, called Community Health Evangelism, to make it to fit our situation here in Zambia. There are three different environments we will be teaching in come January.
The first is a squatter church called Venter. Every time I go to church here I cry. There is something about their worshipful hearts coming out of poverty and suffering that is so moving. Because of their poverty they have very little practical medical skills and we looking forward to coming alongside this community.
The second is a church school called Living Waters. There are not enough schools here, so quite a few churches host some sort of ‘school’ for the kids in the compounds (high density, low-income areas). Often they are run by undertrained (several having only finished grade school themselves) volunteers. As part of AZ’s involvement with several of these schools we will teach health curriculum to the teachers.
The third is Emmanuel Family Home. It is an orphan home project begun by one of AZ’s missionaries and run by house mothers. We will be teaching the house mothers practical medical skills to help them take care of the children.
It may not be hands-on midwifery at this point, but AZ’s health ministry is growing and Susie and I are waiting on the Lord to see His directions for us!
A typical day consists of breakfast, working on curriculum for classes until lunch, a trip into town (20-30 minute drive depending on where we are going) for medical supplies or copies or a meeting, searching the internet for free teaching tools to go with the curriculum (when we have power), dinner, a few episodes of whatever TV series Megan and Susan (who live at the Farm with me) and I are watching, reading my Bible, and bed.
As I have worked on this curriculum I have been amazed by what I hear other missionaries say and what I witness in the communities around us. There is so little practical health training here! I can’t remember ever being taught how to use hydrogen peroxide or Tylenol or gauze pads or to eat and drink when I am sick or have diarrhea, yet I know to do all of these things. The average Zambian may never learn to know how or when to do these things! Much less the ‘typical’ things that I have been taught: to use gloves around blood, to do CPR when someone needs it, what a germ is and why it is important to wash my hands.
So, we have been allowed the opportunity to tie in our faith with our passion for helping people be healthy- praise the Lord!
God has been teaching me the value He sees in our trials. My prayer for this New Year is that as God teaches us, through trials, that “the proof of [our] faith [is] more precious [to Him] than gold” it would “result in [our] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7
In His hands,
Stephanie
Praises:
-God has more than provided all my financial needs- thank you for allowing God to use you in this manner!
-Ease in moving to Zambia and fitting in with the team already here
-Single women friends here at the Farm
-Easy access to email to communicate with friends and family
-Greater understanding (sometimes daily) of my own inadequacies and God’s choice to use broken vessels like me!
Prayer Requests:
-Wisdom as I work on curriculum- that it would be relevant and at the correct level for each audience
-For the three teaching sites that they would be both receptive and able to understand and apply what we teach
-God’s guidance as Susie and I develop AZ’s medical ministry
-That Susie and I would pass our medical examinations and be allowed to legally practice here
-More consistency both in reading and especially in memorizing the Word
This entry was posted
on Friday, December 29, 2006 at 6:09 PM.
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I know...random post from a random person but I was looking at the Action Zambia site and found you through there. I just wanted to say that I love the Nativity scene! I have one very much like it that I got when I was in Zambia. I hope you are enjoying your time in Zambia...I know I did and would love to still be there.
~ A friend in Christ, Rebekah
Hi Stephanie! Thanks for blogging; it's great to hear of your praises in how well you're transitioning. Having friends on site must help!
Isaiah 55.10-13 is a great one on studying the Word.
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