World AIDS Day

Tomorrow, December 1st, is World AIDS Day.  "It is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died." (www.worldaidsday.org).  

Tomorrow, we will remember our friends we have met who are living with HIV.  Four children we know well who live down the road at a small house, surrounded by Aunties.  

We love these children.  We love holding them, we love hearing them laugh, we love seeing them smile.  I have to be honest though, every once in a while, as they are playing with my face or trying to get their fingers in my mouth (ahh, the joy of making kids laugh with a fish face...), I get worried.  What if one of them has an open sore on their hand, what if I have a cut on my face or my mouth...what could happen?

After a short moment, this fear melts away.  I know they are positive, but their status is not what defines them, nor should it be.  My love for these children is not conditional.  I will never love them less because they have HIV.  They had no choice in their status.  It was inherited, passed on to them mostly likely from a lack of knowledge of HIV and how the disease is spread. 

So, tomorrow, as we observe World AIDS day, let's not think about orientations, place blame, pass judgements.  Let us, instead, consider how we can remember, how we can educate ourselves and others, and how we can be a part of the fight against HIV so that children like J, A, R, and D can grow and live full lives.

Paints and Smiles

On Friday, we spent the better part of our day at the orphanage.  It was one of the best days!  After watching them drum and dance for a while, we played outside.  The children were excited because they knew we had come to paint with them.  They saw all the supplies in our bags when we got to the house (they also saw the lollipops...).

After we played for a while, we got set up in one of the classrooms and brought the children in two at a time (so we could have a little one on one time with each of them) and painted.  The many little artists chose their own shapes and colors to paint with.  The little ones sat on our laps as we guided their tiny hands and taught them how to use the brushes.

It was an amazing day and brought lots of smiles to their faces and to ours.  Incredible what a little paint can do!

Playtime before painting
Masho (top) and Amos (bottom)

Jon & Charles 

Masho and his orange hand

Chipo...focused on her artwork!

Masije - incredibly excited to paint!

Lushomo and Erin

Dorcas and her creation

Even Auntie Betty helped out with the rest of Gifts' painting

Moments

A moment is something that comes out of nowhere and it’s only there for a very brief amount of time and then it’s gone.

There are some moments that you never forget. Moments that change you, inspire you, and give you a taste of the fullness of joy and life. The night my dad prayed with me when I was in the third grade as I asked Jesus to come into my life. The night I sat on a hillside in Jamaica with tears in my eyes and told God I’d follow His leading in my life and go into full time ministry. When Erin walked through the doors of the sanctuary with her father on our wedding day. These are moments that put you in a place of awe, they make your heart beat faster, and they reassure you that life is so much bigger and beautiful than you could ever imagine.

This morning I had one of those moments that completely steal your heart and you wish you could live there for just a moment longer. Erin and I went to the orphanage to work on a painting project with the kids and before we got to painting we watched the kids dance, listened to them sing, and then we went outside to play. My little buddy Jonathan ran up to me and I quickly scooped him up into my arms. Jonathan and I have hung out a lot over these last seven months. He is one of the most extraordinary people I have ever met. He doesn’t talk a lot, but through his eyes and his gentle spirit, he has preached to me the most powerful sermons I have ever heard. Today he just wanted to cuddle and laugh. So I started making funny noises and he was playing with my face and then I pretended to drop him and caught him on the way down. He exploded into laughter and I just kept doing it.

What made it such a special moment was that when I would catch him he would give one of those deep belly laughs that you know is coming from the very core of who he is. His laugh was so funny to me that it brought out one of those same belly laughs in me. It was a moment of pure, genuine joy that he and I got to share together.

When moments like these happen, enjoy them completely. When the moment is gone, remember it with a smile and thank God for it. Then keep loving and letting others love you because more of these moments are on the way.

Time Flies

We have been back in Choma for over 3 weeks now.  Time is flying by as we wrap up our time in Zambia.

Everyday, I would think to myself..."I need to share this..." but would get home, crawl into bed and sleep, get up the next morning, and head back to the village for another day.

It has been an amazing three weeks back...

On our return to Zambia, we headed (almost) straight to the village of Sinanjola, about 2 hours north east of Choma, with Sheridan Wesleyan Church.  Sheridan has been partnering with Sinanjola for three years and it was exciting to see the relationship they had with this village.

The people of Sinanjola were incredible!  The team worked with them on some church renovation projects and spent some time celebrating the villages' graduation from the program.  They are now self sustaining with cash in the bank to start a new project to support the orphaned and vulnerable in their village.

Darrell (pastor from Sheridan) praying for a man and his
cousin at a home visit.

Greeting EVERYONE after church in Sinanjola

Two days after Sheridan left, a team from College Wesleyan Church arrived from Indiana.  This team of four had a packed week, visiting 4 different villages.

In Siamanzila, we went to church, met sponsored children and shared a meal with the community.

In Sinamoono (where we spent two days), we were able to dedicate the school that College Wesleyan provided funding for and visit an orphaned child and a person with HIV.

Part of the School Dedication - everyone surrounded the
building and prayed.

New Football Uniforms for the school team!
(Thanks to Highpoint First Wesleyan Church)

We were also able to take a gorgeous three hour drive through the mountains to Sinafala - a remote village north east of Choma.  There, we talked with the Village Committee, visited 2 community homes and ate lunch with the committee.

Fishermen casting off into Lake Kariba by the village of
Sinafala.

Our last village visit was to Sialubala - a place I have grown to love.  We visited the Headman's house and talked about the village, the challenges they face and how they would like to see their village develop over the next three years.

It has been a busy three weeks. But, to finish it all off, we were able to spend 2 full days in Livingstone with College Wesleyan and 21 nursing students and their professors (that group has been in Zambia since September 9!).  We not only got to take our last walk through Victoria Falls with this group, but finished our weekend with an early morning game drive through Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park where we ran into a herd of 200+ elephants!  An amazing way to end our time with them and an experience that cannot be described.

A small portion of the herd...

From One World to Another

Victoria Falls, Livingstone, Zambia

Yes, it is on the same planet, but on Monday morning we will begin our journey back to another world...to Choma, Zambia.  We are looking forward to getting back to Zambia and our friends there, even if only for a short time.

Today, I got to spend time with two close friends.  We took a short road trip to this big farm (that sells painted pottery and enamel-ware, among many other things) with one of the coolest shops around.  The shop is immaculately decorated.  One of them asked, "Erin, is this weird for you, being here, with all this around you?" (referring to all the beautiful dishes, pictures, ornaments).  "It's not weird," I replied, "just different.  Zambia and the US are 2 different worlds."

Reflecting back on that statement, I feel like, in some respect that is true.  Zambia and the US are different. The cultures are different, the way you greet people is different, the opportunities and resources available are different.  But, in some respects, they are the same.  

They are filled with people finding their way in life, people who need to be loved and feel valued.  People who struggle, who lose jobs. People who want the best for their children, who work hard so that the next generation can grow up healthy.

We love both worlds and will now take pieces of both with us wherever we go.

Bloomfield, NY

Adjustments

We have been in New York for two weeks.  It has been exciting, strange and exhausting.  For the first three or four days, I would wake up at 4am, slightly disoriented.  The first day, I looked around for the mosquito net wondering if we put it down or if we got attacked all night!  Then, I remembered where we were.  No net needed.

We have been doing lots of waiting, on tests, on doctors appointments, on more tests.  In the meantime, I have been helping Debbie decorate for fall, spending time with family and friends and trying out a zillion new recipes.  I am actually becoming quite knowledgable in all things cooking. I have even learned how to make cheesecake.

All the cooking and baking means lots of running around to pick up groceries.  My first trip to Wegmans (cue the heavenly music), was fun and overwhelming.  It was 5am, so there really was not anyone else there...what crazy person is at the grocery at 5am?  I walked around in awe at the meat section, at all the different fruits and vegetables, at the massive amounts of cereal, kleenex boxes galore and the HUGE selection of coffee.  I spent a good 10 minutes just picking out what kind of coffee I wanted to take home...pretty sure the man stocking the shelves thought I was crazy as I picked up and put down just about every box of k-cup coffee in the aisle.

Of course, we have also been through the drive thru...just a couple of times, to pick up coffee or ice cream.  We have been ingrained in Zambia to pass ONLY with your right hand.  You pass with your right out of respect. That is pretty much impossible going through a drive through. Passing with my left hand seems awkward unnatural now.  

It's strange the adjustments we have had to make the past couple of weeks.  The little things we have had to get used to all over again.  New habits are much easier to form than one might think.

Home

If you have heard rumblings, yes, we are currently in New York.  It was time to come home and get Jon well again!  We have been here for a little over a week and are hoping to get some answers about what is going on soon.  Then, we will be on our way to Choma, back to our home there.  We miss our friends in Choma and the beautiful children down the road...and are loving being around our family here at the same time.  It is a strange mixture of feelings as we adjust to life in NY again for a short time.