I can't decide if it gets easier or harder to adjust every time I come back here. On one hand it's easier because I know what to expect and it's a whole lot less daunting. On the other hand, I always had a time of culture shock while I get used to how things happen...and the easier I think it's going to be, the bigger a surprise the culture shock is!
Here's a few things that have caught me so far...
- A 1.5 hour queue to get through immigration (after the health check which involved a quick flick through my passport and that was it!)
- The immigration guy saying he couldn't give us a dual entry visa and then, when we explained what we wanted to do, saying "Oh, you need a dual entry visa. I will give you one!"
- Being sent from one person to the next every time you want to find something out.
- The power randomly going off (I'm so not back in the habit of carrying a torch all the time!)
- Cold showers, or just off cold showers, but a 32" flat screen TV in our room!
- Being the odd one out.
But that's all part of the fun! I'm fast remembering my golden rule that if I mange to achieve one thing in a day that's good...if it's the thing I originally set out to do then that's amazing!!!
I'm loving the way you can strike up conversation with people you meet so easily. I'm loving the sunshine although I need to be careful as I'm already a little pink!
We've had a lovely start to our time with a few days to find our feet. We've been staying in a lovely place with super friendly people. We've stocked up on supplies and tomorrow we're off...destination Kalomo!
We're meeting up with a guy called Julius. I've never met him but Bernard, one of our Zambian team who is going to travel with us, has met him, told him about what we do and has invited him to gather some people who might want to get involved. And that's what Julius has done...so we're off to run some initial training. We'll be helping people see how they can make a difference in their villages and communities by starting some Christian discipleship groups. We've seen these groups do amazing things, very practically loving their neighbours, and bringing people to know Jesus. It's exciting to think that a few more groups may start up following on from what we're about to go and do.
So, tomorrow morning we'll be saying goodbye to our comfy bed here and this time tomorrow I'll be jumping into my tent and sleeping bag...hopefully with no spiders or other bugs creeping in alongside me!!
Frank and I have committed to covering the cost of the trainings we take part in. As a rough estimate, this one is going to cost about £130 to run, roughly £195 to drive there and back plus an extra £100 on equipment we've had to pick up at the last minute (because poor Jon and Jude who have all the camping equipment that we were going to borrow are stuck in Namibia waiting for car parts for their broken car - pray they're back on their way soon.) If you would like to join in the training in Kalomo by helping cover the cost, you can make a donation here: www.give.net/Zambia2015 We would also love you to be praying for Julius, for us and for all the people who will gather there. Thank you!
