The Calm after the Storm

The Calm after the Storm

Greetings from a little oasis in the bush of the northwest corner of Zambia! We are nearing the end of week five here in Zambia and it honestly astounds me to say we have already been gone for five weeks. However, when I think back on all we have seen, the people with whom God has brought into our lives, the places we have traveled, the lessons we have taught, the lessons we are being taught and the children who have stolen our hearts; it seems like we have been here much longer. I want to apologize for not writing for taking more time than usual to write this, but with the business of school and the overwhelming task of trying to express what is going on in the hearts of three women, I have procrastinated writing to you.

Since we have last written to you, there has been many activities going on around the school including, the regular routine of classes, activities and lessons (swimming, guitar, piano, etc.) as well as chaos and activity surrounding the building site (the new dining hall that is being built). We have a visitor here for the week named Natalie, who was the girl that we spent the day with at Kalene, so it’s nice to have another Canadian girl our age here. We actually found out that she and her mom are flying out of Lusaka on the same day as us, which is quite neat!! New workers from the UK named Barry and Derek have arrived with a specialty in welding and are working with local workers to put together the tin roof for the dining hall. The trusses were raised on Thursday and God blessed all of the workers and those around with safety, as the heavy machinery and welding could be potentially very dangerous. Thursday was also the day that Jim and Paul, two of the Brass Tacks workers from the UK (and the men who took us on our trip to Kalene) left Sakeji and flew back to the UK on Saturday. We will most definitely miss having them around, but it was such a privilege to have met them!

Last weekend we had the opportunity to travel into a local village for church, which was quite an enjoyable experience. At the break between the gospel message and the breaking of bread service we went outside to socialize with the women and we met little Christopher who we figured was about 16 months from a conversation Gwen had with the mother in broken-English. Leanne was holding Christopher and we were all cooing at him and taking pictures trying to get him to smile when all of a sudden he started “leaking”! The looks on both Leanne and Christopher’s faces were absolutely priceless! Leanne, trying not to be rude, just sort of laughed awkwardly as she decided what to do with this baby who had just relieved himself all over her. Christopher’s face however, was extreme glee, as if he knew exactly what he had just done and was proud of it! We have several photographic records of this occasion, which we will be happy to share with you when we return home :)

Last Sunday afternoon we were teaching Sunday school and Leanne and I went to the library to pick out a book to read the juniors for that week’s lesson of ‘Daniel in the Lion’s Den’. A few of my seniors were in the library looking at books and one of the boys, JP, came over to me randomly (I’m not quite sure what provoked him) and said, “Miss Ashley, you smile too much for a person of your age!” I laughed, as this comment caught me completely off guard and said back to him (with a frown on my face), "Would you rather I walk around like this all day JP?" Neither of us could hold our laughter in and agreed that maybe it would be better for me to smile. I shared that story with the juniors later when we were doing Sunday School and most of them thought it was pretty funny. After Sunday school one of the grade three girls named Ellie came up to me and said, "Miss Ashley, I like that you smile all the time. It's because Jesus lives in your heart." God used this little girl to remind me, that even when things seem confusing and we get worn down from the worries of the world around us, we should have the biggest smiles on our faces because the Creator of the universe loves us so much that He sent His only Son to bring us life. He did not sacrifice His life so we would go around worrying, fearing and complaining, but rather living life ABUNDANTLY!!!

An exciting even that took place on Tuesday evening at Jim and Paul’s flat was the “platting” of Leanne and my hair! A friend of Jim’s wife Joyce and her three daughters came and plated (which is just the British and Zambian way of saying braiding) our hair. It took them two hours with two of them on each head. Joyce could speak very good English as well as her oldest daughter Jackie and so Leanne tried to explain to them the way that we were thinking of having it done. The way we tried to explain it was “corn rows”, but they did not understand that so Leanne said “Just do the top part tight to our head and then the rest of it loose.” They nodded to agree that they knew what we meant, however, when we saw the end result we had to try very hard to keep back the laughter. The back braids were all done the way we thought, but then the ones at the front were “tight to our head and then loose”, which to them meant braid it for about two inches and then tie it. So the front of our hair had these short pieces braided and the rest was just our natural hair. To be honest we looked quite funny and after we heard the daughters whispering in Lunda, probably saying something like, “Those crazy Canadian girls sure like their hair looking strange”. We took pictures before we finished the braids ourselves back home. Whenever we look at the pictures or think back on it we just laugh at the results of broken communication.

Wednesday evening we had a farewell party for Jim and Paul and a belated celebration for Lina’s 25th birthday. All of the staff and visitors gathered in the Main Sitting Room and played team Pictionary, which was quite competitive as it was boys versus girls. It’s so great to be able to get together with the staff and just relax and laugh after a long day of school and such. The snacks (of course) were exceptional including cheese scones, carmel corn, regular popcorn, rhubarb muffins and chocolate cake; all homemade of course!!

We had a special opportunity on Thursday afternoon to travel into Ikelenge with Mark, Pam and Phil to the local high school. Every Thursday they go in to share a gospel message with the students at the high school. It was neat to see a local high school and compare how different it was to Sakeji. First of all the basic school was quite close where all of the elementary students go to school and we arrived just as school was getting out so there were kids everywhere! We got into the classroom where the meeting would be held and were greeted by the two girls behind us. It was also interesting because most of the students were around our age or just a little younger. Mr. Ronald shared the message from Mark 5 when Jesus heals the man possessed by demons. He talked about God’s almighty power to heal and Jesus’ response to the man when he asks to follow Jesus. Jesus says to him, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the LORD has done for you and how merciful He has been.”

I have reflected on this passage, since then and it has made a few of my own questions clear. For those of you who don’t know, for the past few months I have been considering the possibility of staying at Sakeji until the end of the term (July 21st). When I arrived here the longing to stay grew as my love for the children and the desire to be used as a teacher and mentor for the students increased. I wrestled with the thought of staying and going and for quite some time I was in much turmoil trying to make a decision. After consulting many of you for wisdom and spending nights praying and begging God to make it clear, I finally stopped worrying and gave the issue completely to Him. I am still waiting on Him to continue to make it clear, but each day I spend with Him He continues to bless me with His peace knowing that in His time I will know. When thinking of what to entitle this entry, I thought of Jesus calming the storm with simply His voice. In the same way He calmed that storm, He has called out and said, “Peace, be still” to the storm that has been raging inside of me. I praise Him for His ability to calm even the most intense of storms.

There are many more stories I could share, but we have to save some for when we return, as reading on a screen isn’t nearly as exciting as a story being told in person.

As we continue to get closer to these children we see their needs and would ask that you pray especially right now for the young women at Sakeji and in this country. This week we have been enlightened as to the probable fate of many of these women and it has caused us great heartache and sadness to see these beautiful young women that we love to dearly and think of what life is like in the villages and towns back home. If you could pray that God would give them the strength and courage to stand strong when the enemy comes knocking whispering lies to persuade them into believing they are anything other than the most beautiful creation God has made. Another request is for the young men. That they would grow up with a strong faith and relationship with their Creator. That they would also be men convicted to following Christ’s example of a husband in the way that he loves His bride, the Church. The need for permanent help here at Sakeji is still very real, as the need for another teacher is great. Please pray that God would continue to prepare this person (or people) and that when His time comes for them to be at Sakeji, they would be a devoted servant to the LORD.

I must wrap this entry up as the Sunday evening get together is starting and the seniors are playing the music, so I am very excited to listen!! I love you all dearly and cannot wait for the day when we are reunited. I pray that we would each be changed more and more each day into the likeness of our Father.
May you know and experience this week, the GREATNESS of God’s love for YOU!

Ash