The Cooks in Zambia

Leaving on a Jet Plane

2009-01-09T09:24:00.000-08:00

Today is our final day in Zambia, as we board a plane back to South Carolina, ending our term as guest house managers. We had a wonderful time of fellowship with our mission family last night and were very grateful for the many words of encouragement. We have loved serving in Zambia and serving amongst our heroes (those who take the gospel to the ends of the earth). We will ALWAYS cherish our experiences here and will never forget the people we came to love. We will miss so many of you who have touched our hearts, and we are hoping that we will have the opportunity to return to Zambia soon. Thank you, Zambia, for loving us so much!

Me and my best friend, Suzie Rodgers

We will arrive in South Carolina, USA, on Saturday, January 10th.

This will be our last posting to this blogspot. Please go to

www.cookdaysofourlives.blogspot.com

for new adventures in the States, updates from our children, and more.

Gift from Denmark VBS

2009-01-08T09:12:00.000-08:00

Goliath (on the left) and Patrick (on the right) with the 3 new chalkboards used for teaching Bible school in the bush.

Last summer the First Baptist Church of Denmark raised some money during their VBS, and we have been looking for different ministry opportunities to help out with. After talking with some of the missionaries on the Eastern Harvest Team, we decided to use some of the money to build chalkboards for the teaching in the bush. Patrick Mutale, who has helped do some of the tile work at the guest house, was able to find a carpenter willing to make these boards in record time before we left Zambia. Goliath, the carpenter, did a very nice job in making 3 chalkboards which will be used in 3 different areas in the bush to teach Bible school to young men aspiring to become pastors in Zambia. The Bible schools are led by 3 of our missionaries, Kevin Rodgers, Van Thompson, and John McPherson. I know these men are thankful for the gift from Denmark FBC, and will enjoy using these boards to teach the word of God.

Lunch (Zambian Style)

2009-01-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

The one and only opportunity for my parents to eat a Zambian meal was during lunch one day at the guest house. We invited the staff to help prepare the meal and eat with us outside in the Lion's Den. Elistina and Esnart prepared and cooked several Zambian traditional dishes. We had nshima (mealie meal), fried chicken, rape (greens), tomato and onion sauce, chiwawa (pumpkin leaves with ground nuts), and inswa (fried termites).

This is Kelsey's reaction after eating the termite! Everyone, except for my mom, tasted one (yes, only one, that was enough to taste it).

Kalimba Farms

2009-01-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

The kids wanted their grandparents to visit the crocodile farm while they were in Zambia, so we took them out for a visit. The Rodgers family joined us there and we had lunch together. The grandparents were NOT interested in holding any snakes!

Coby holding a turtle.

Orphans of Zambia

2009-01-03T12:03:00.000-08:00

My parents brought greetings from some of their friends back home in Denmark, SC, and one family decided to send some gifts to the orphans in Zambia. I began calling a few of the places where I had been before to see what kinds of things they needed. One place called the House of Moses is an orphanage for babies aged 0-2 years. Some have lost both parents, and some are abandoned. We were able to use the gifts from the Cornforth family to provide milk formula, mealie meal, and cleaning supplies for this orphanage. The staff was very appreciative of this gift, and we enjoyed delivering it to them and getting to see all the babies.

After this visit, we went to another home where one lady, Elizabeth, has adopted 15 orphaned children, and she takes care of them in her home. The oldest is 16 years and the youngest is 2 years old. They are a special family, and we delivered mealie meal, rice, juice, cleaning supplies, and school supplies to this family. We enjoyed a wonderful song from these children and enjoyed talking with them and learning from them.

Our last visit was supposed to be to the community school of World Child Care, where I have been before trying to start a ministry. Unfortunately we did not get to actually go to the school, but we met with the directors and presented a supply of first aid care for the children at this school. Many of them are orphaned or vulnerable children and the school provides education for over 150 of these children. First aid was a challenge for them and we were happy to bless them with the gifts from the Cornforths.

Thank you so much, Cornforth Family, for spreading your wealth in Zambia. We were privileged to share in your blessings by being the deliverer of these gifts. The people we spoke to and listened to are very grateful for your generosity.

Flying Mission to Namwala

2008-12-31T21:34:00.000-08:00

After our trip to Livingstone, the following day Ricky, Dad, and Randy Greenwood flew to Namwala to work on a mission house. Dad had never flown on a small plane before, so this was a first for him. Once they arrived, they surveyed the work to be completed that day. They were able to build one door to a closet and two closets in the bathroom and hallway. Now we all know that it was probably difficult for Wyman not to have all his tools there with him, so this was an experience in itself! They stayed all day and flew back before dark. On the way home, the pilot flew over the Kafue Flats and they were able to see hundreds of animals, mostly impala, zebra, lechwe, hippo, and crocodiles. It was too hard to get good pictures from the plane.The Namwala house (below)

Bedroom closet fixed

Bathroom closet before...

Bathroom closet after...

Views from the plane

Random Pics from our trip to Livingstone

2008-12-30T11:49:00.000-08:00

Coby & Kelsey with the zebra at Zambezi Sun
Meme with the zebra
An overturned truck we passed on the way home (that's a lot of mealie meal)

Women carrying their goods on their heads, and babies on the back

Coby, Kelsey, and Ricky at the top of the Falls

Meme and Kelsey at the top of the Falls

Coby doing a handstand in the pool

Kelsey running out of the pool

The bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe which is used for bungee jumping (and where Ricky would have gone if I'd have let him!)

A beautiful bird we saw on safari

The many trucks at the border of Botswana waiting to pass customs

Victoria Falls, of course

2008-12-30T11:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, the reason we came all this way was to see one of the 7 wonders of the world - Victoria Falls! As soon as we arrived on Sunday we put on our raincoats and headed to the Falls. Being the 2nd time we have seen this wonder, I was able to watch my parents as they saw it for the first time. Their reaction to the greatness of God's creation was priceless. I enjoyed taking the pictures (underneath my umbrella, of course) of Mom and Dad and the kids. Enjoy our favorites!

Safari Day to Botswana

2008-12-29T12:20:00.000-08:00

Early to rise to meet the bus for our all day safari in Botswana at Chobe National Park. First we had to ride the bus 45 minutes to the border between Zambia and Botswana. Here we had to go through immigration office for stamping of the passports. Then, we met a boat to ferry us across the Zambezi River. On the other side of the river, we had to make another immigration stop and cross over the cleaning mat to clean off any "foot and mouth disease" we had carrying with us on our shoes. After arriving into Botswana, we went to the Chobe Safari Lodge where we boarded a cruise boat for a 2-hour river game cruise. We saw lots of birds, hippo, elephant, lechwe, one crocodile, and we even got to step into the country of Namibia while watching the cape buffalo. Niki was so excited from being in Namibia that she hit her head coming into the boat. Ouch! After everyone was sure Niki did not pass out or have a concusion, the cruise continued. After the cruise, we had lunch back at the Chobe Safari Lodge, and then it was off to the Park for the game drive. We were greeted by the baboons and impala. This is the time of year for impala (and all of the animals) to have their babies, and, boy, we saw lots of babies! We saw more elephants (and baby elephants), warthogs (and baby warthogs), sable, giraffe, and kudu. One exciting part of our game drive was seeing 2 elephants fighting, or at least, one defending his territory. After our game drive with our guide, Rambo, we returned to the ferry to cross back into Zambia. Because Mom and Dad had single entry visas into Zambia when they arrived on the 20th, they had to pay AGAIN for another single entry visa when coming back from Botswana. Dad thinks they should spend the extra visa money on fixing the roads! Our day ended about 6pm when we returned to the Zambezi Sun Hotel, just in time for the kids to take a quick swim before dinner. You can check out all our safari pictures in the previous blog on the slideshow.

Chobe Safari in Botswana

2008-12-29T07:48:00.000-08:00

Trip to Livingstone

2008-12-28T11:29:00.000-08:00

We left Lusaka at 6:00am for our drive to Livingstone. We packed a lunch of sandwiches for the long ride ahead. Along the way, we saw many "new" things for Mom and Dad including this man carrying straw on his bicycle...

We did have to make a couple of pit stops along the way. We stopped at the Golden Pillow Lodge where they have a restaurant and bathrooms...

The road was fine until we got to the detour...

The detour took about 30 minutes, and we could see the main road to our left, so it was like we were on the frontage road. The workers have removed all that was left of the tarmac (pavement) and have begun grading the road for new pavement. The detour road was actually not that bad, only a few "humps" (speed bumps) every few meters. And we laughed at all the road signs...

After the detour, we were headed for the worst road ever. It was a bumpy 35 minutes along the last stretch before arriving into Livingstone...

Finally, after 7 long hours, we made it to Livingstone, arriving at the Zambezi Sun Hotel, where we were greeted by the tribal dancers...

Stay tuned for more stories from our trip to Livingstone!

Baptism Video

2008-12-27T07:41:00.000-08:00

Kelsey's Baptism

2008-12-25T12:20:00.000-08:00

Today, Christmas Day 2008, Kelsey was baptized in the Chongwe River in Zambia! We were joined by Kelsey's grandparents (the Abstances) and the Rodgers family. Kevin Rodgers gave the opening, then Ricky got to baptize Kelsey, and her Pop Pop gave a closing prayer. She was very excited to have her best friend, Hannah, there to witness this special occasion in her life. The water was a bit chilly, but when she came up from the water, her words were, "That was cool!" And she wasn't referring to the temperature of the water, she was stating what an awesome experience that it was to be baptized. Thank you Kevin and Suzie, Zach, Justin, and Hannah for sharing with us your home and your time! Kelsey will always remember her baptism on Christmas Day in Zambia.

Here we are traveling across the river rocks to find a good spot for the baptism.

Uncle Kevin explaining about baptism.

Best friends - Kelsey and Hannah

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Before... (around 6:30am)

During...

After... (around 7:00am) - Now it's playtime!!!

Parent's Day 4 - Christmas Eve in Zambia

2008-12-24T13:03:00.001-08:00

On this rainy Christmas Eve we stayed around the guest house mostly. Dad and Ricky went downtown to buy more tile for the project going on here in one of the rooms. Mom and I made chocolate covered pretzels. We were also busy making a video to send back to Denmark for their Christmas Eve service. It took about 6 takes before we got the video complete. The kids wanted to take Meme and PopPop over to the showgrounds and show them the horses. So while Ricky & I stayed at home to prepare lunch and wrap a few presents, the kids took the grandparents for a walk across the street and into the muddy pasture. They saw the baby colt and loved on all the other horses. They also gave Edward (their friend at the stables) a New Testament Bible that PopPop had brought from the States.

Dad is checking out the fleet of BMOZ vehicles parked at the guest house.

Boys will be boys! Ricky and Dad playing Wii.

Tonight, we went to the Marlin for our Christmas Eve dinner. We took the kids here last year on Christmas Eve, so I guess we made a tradition.

Christmas Singing in Zambia

2008-12-24T00:16:00.000-08:00

Parent's Day 3 - Shopping

2008-12-23T11:42:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, our day started out by shopping at Game. We were buying another refrigerator for the guest house, and so we gave Mom and Dad the opportunity to visit our "Walmart" for the experience. Game is located at one of the shopping malls - Manda Hill. They were very busy this day, so we decided to get the refrigerator delivered so we wouldn't have to wait on it.

After going to the shopping mall, we went to the "real" shopping of Zambia - in the open market. First, we passed the vegetable section, then it was on passed the lady getting her hair done (under the hair dryer), then through some mud puddles in the "aisle" (actually we had to jump a few). We arrived at Albert's wood working shop to purchase a few goodies. We made our way down the aisles to where the ladies were cooking all sorts of things, but we had to pass by the ladies cleaning fish (which Mom did not fair well smelling that), and across the way, a lady was cleaning and chopping up a chicken - fast food! We showed them the many different types of food you can buy ready to eat at the market, like caterpillars, inswa (termites), kapenta (dried baby minnows), all with a side of chips (french fries). YUM! Mom and Dadloved the experience of the market - with all its sights, sounds, and even the SMELLS!

After the open market, we had to make a trip downtown Lusaka, which was very busy. Here is the main round-about leading into the downtown area.
We ended the night with a Subway sandwich and a movie rental (from Blockbuster, of course). These Subway employees thought we were really weird taking pictures of the menus and the food. They thought they were celebrities. Mom & Dad said it wasn't the same taste as Subway of Williston. We couldn't get Wyman to leave the mall because he was videoing the Christmas music sung by a church group outside the mall.

During the movie, Mom kept the mosquitos away with our handy tennis racket/bug zapper. She was very entertained the whole night!!!

Parent's Day 2 - Protea Lodge

2008-12-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

Protea Hotel Safari Lodge is located about one hour outside of Lusaka. This is the rooftop of the main reception area where we ate lunch.
This is an orphan elephant from South Luangwa Park. Her name is Mkumvu (I think this is the spelling), and she is 17 years old. Mom was a little scared of her when she came up to the truck and sniffed everyone out!
Coby is trying to feed her.

A couple of zebra running away from our oncoming safari vehicle.

This bushbuck decided to eat from the foliage around the reception area. Pop Pop was a little brave and petted it, but he advised Kelsey not to get too close since he bit Dad on the hand.

Everyone is looking on as the bushbuck eats.

The lions were hard to see today. This is the son... the daddy was locked up.

This is the momma lion.

The kids talked the guide into climbing on the elephant like before. He was kind of dusty, but the kids didn't care about getting dirty. Mom and Dad refrained from climbing on!

Goodbye, Mkumvu!!!

Hartebeest

We saw lots of baby animals today, as this is the season for babies being born.

Sable

Eland

Parent's Day 1

2008-12-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

The parents slept well the first night. We even had to wake them for breakfast! We attended Twin Palms Baptist for worship, and were surprised to find the children leading the service this morning. They had a Christmas play and the children led the music.

Dirt road leading to the church

Twin Palms Baptist Church

Children's Christmas Play

Leaving the church, we took the parents through Kalingalinga area which is where you can buy almost anything - on the side of the road. This was a good picture of a part of Zambia and how people work and live. They saw people breaking rocks, pushing charcoal, and selling all kinds of things.

These buckets are made for washing your hands, like a sink!

These people are crushing rocks one by one with either another big rock or sometimes a hammer. You can see by the mud puddle that we are in the rainy season now.

This guy going across the road is carrying charcoal. You can see the metal gates for sale in the background. The blue van coming down the road is what we call "mini buses."

After church, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Rhapsody's, and enjoyed a delicious meal. Dad took my advice on the Chicken Espatada!Then we ventured through the market to find some souveniors. Dad and Mom even found their way to the Subway to check it out. We went back to the house to give the parents a nap, and then we ended our night at our International Bible Study. After bible study, we watched a live interpretive movement from College Street Baptist Church via Skype. (Thanks CSBC for including us in your worship service!)

They are here...in Zambia!

2008-12-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well, my(Niki's) parents, Wyman and Jan Abstance, have arrived in Zambia. It has been 17 months since we have seen any family, and we are so excited they are here to visit us. They had a good flight - on Ethiopian Airways - and everything arrived safely. They were only delayed about 40 minutes, but other than that it seems all was good. We have kept them up all afternoon so that they can get their time clocks adjusted to Zambian time. We will keep the blog posted about all our adventures while they are here for 21 days. They are fighting sleep as I'm blogging this, and it's just after 9pm. They should get some rest tonight, unless they wake up in the middle of the night from our neighbor's (see previous blog).

Sorry for the man's head in the way... the airport was so busy with people everywhere. You see their luggage behing Mom made it to Zambia without any problems! Yeah!

Up On the Rooftop...

2008-12-19T23:19:00.000-08:00

Click, Click, Click...

No, it wasn't old Saint Nick!

At 5:45am Ricky and I awoke to this clicking sound on the roof. When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash,Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. Ricky actually didn't open the shutters since the windows are already open, but he arose and rushed to find the school field next door covered in white birds. There must have been several hundred. When he returned with the camera, most of them had flown away. We tried going back to sleep, but kept hearing the clicking noise on the roof. Finally, Ricky went outside to find these crows on top of our roof. I guess they were angry at the white birds, and were showing their frustrations by banging on our rooftop. Needless to say, we were wide awake and could not go back to sleep. And this happened to be the night that we were kept awake until 3am with our neighbors partying, and then to be awakened by these early birds!

With Great Sadness

2008-12-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

Psalm 107: 6-9 "Lord, help!" they cried in their trouble, and he rescued them from their distress. He led them straight to safety, to a city where they could live. Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

We are resigning our term with the IMB as guest house managers in Lusaka, Zambia, and plan to back in Walhalla, South Carolina, in January 2009. We have truly enjoyed our 15 months serving in Zambia, and this decision has been one of the hardest decisions we have ever had to make. You have been our prayer partners for this mission endeavor, and we are encouraged by your continual prayers and your commitment to partner with us in the work.

Why are we returning home?!!!

Ever since we arrived on the field, we have struggled with home schooling. All three of the kids had attended public school in the states, and as much as we tried to home school, it just did not fit our family. The fact that we were running the guest house out of our home and trying to home school three children (ages 12, 10, and 7) amongst the chaos was not cohesive.
Also, shortly after arrival to Zambia, our son, Austin, was diagnosed with severe anxiety. He was then diagnosed with asthma. Our two youngest, Coby and Kelsey, were hit with allergic reactions which caused them to go on allergy medicine every day to prevent breaking out in rashes. Still, after Satan’s attacks, we were still obedient. It seemed that we were traveling for medical purposes every couple of months. We were encouraged to try some different methods of home schooling, and it was recommended that we get the kids into a school system. This year has really been tough on the whole family, and we began to “cry out” for help.

We began the process of searching for better options for our children, but in the end it was determined that the best decision for us at this time would be to return to the states. After much counsel and many, many tears the Lord has drawn near to us in this time, and He has given us a peace about our decision and a grace to not only be okay with our situation, but even be excited about what He has planned for our family.

We still covet your prayers as we seek what the Lord has in our next chapter. Nothing has changed in our hearts. Our desire is still to serve our Lord and be obedient to Him. All that has changed is our geography. We love you all and look forward to keeping you posted. Thanks to all of those who have already responded in prayer to God and encouragement to us.

We have known throughout all of the change of our plans and throughout this time of struggle that God has not left us. He is ever-faithful. He always has been and always will be. We see this as another chapter in our lives. As stewards of our children, we simply desire to aid in the molding and shaping and forming of Austin, Coby, and Kelsey’s hearts and lives in a way that is most pleasing and honoring to the Lord. Please pray that God will grant us grace and mercy and wisdom and discernment to be the parents that we need to be for our children.

Friends

2008-12-19T11:44:00.000-08:00

Today was our last day of home school as we get ready for the holidays. We spent the afternoon and early evening in Chongwe with our good friends, the Rodgers. When we arrived, Hannah had to give Kelsey a present - the apron you see her wearing in the picture. Hannah has a matching one, so they wanted to cook something. Here they are after making chocolate pudding. They licked the bowl and spoon afterwards.

I wish we would have gotten pictures of them after dinner, when they went outside to play in the mud! They were so dirty! Coby and Kelsey had to have baths when we got back home. We had wanted to leave before dark so we would not travel in the night, but we left a little late and the sun had already gone down. On the way back to Lusaka, which is only 31km, we passed 4 cars without brake lights, and we came up on one big truck broken down on the partial side of the road. We were lucky that we saw the branches in the road marking the signal that a truck was in the road broken down. Added to this, there are no street lights and no lines on the road, so you have to guess where your lane is. That is why it is so dangerous to travel at night in Zambia!

We praise God we arrived home safely!

Austin being funny

2008-12-10T06:15:00.001-08:00

Austin took this picture with the webcam and sent us this email today with the words "Bubblegum!" Thanks Austin for showing us your bubblegum.

Hannah's Birthday Party

2008-12-09T21:17:00.000-08:00

All the kids: (back row) Callie, Anna, Zach, Austin, Troy, Justin; (front row) Trent, Daniel, Coby, Kelsey, Hannah, Dorcas, Deborah

Kelsey's best friend, Hannah, had a birthday party at Adventure City yesterday. As soon as the kids finished school, we met everyone out there. Shortly after arrival, Coby finds a chameleon. He played with that thing the whole time we were there. The little critter entertained the adults, too, by catching the flies on our table. Coby insisted on bringing her (Camille) home, so I agreed. She is now living somewhere in their tree house. I was actually considering letting them keep it inside, but we read that it's very hard to keep them alive. Everyone had a great time at the party. Thanks, Hannah, for having a birthday so we could all celebrate with you!