Caution: May Contain Nuts

“Ah…. … Ashley,” Dr Hassasing sighed as he leaned back in his worn, vinyl chair. “Didn’t I tell you NOT to take Frederick into any of the villages this winter?” The gentle Indian voice that generally brings solutions and comfort now sent a chill spike of worry down my spine. I HAD been told. I had even thought twice before popping Frederick into his little carseat and heading out for our two week field trip in the bush. But he’d only looked at Frederick for sixty seconds- what did he find in such a cursory examination??

I gulped and asked the question that every mother in Africa utters with trepidation, “What does he have?” I braced myself to hear the words “needs a hospital” or “blood transfusion” (not unusual with most African diseases).

“German Measles.” Hassasing had the nerve to smile.

Virtually irradicated in the West by the MMR vaccine, German “measles” (so called for the rash) is very, very common in all parts of Africa. It’s no more dangerous than the common flu if treated carefully and precautions are taken against the baby getting croup. GM gets out of hand in the villages because they don’t take care of the diarrhea, fevers, and hacking cough- in which case this relatively benign illness can quickly become fatal to a small child.

So, while I feel stupid for hitting the trail without the doctors blessing, I know we are exceptionally blessed that it wasn’t something worse.

Now I know that Dr Hassasing isn’t paranoid. He’s experienced. Praise God for the blessing of a good local doctor.

Oh, and I have German Measles too, by the way. Awesome.

We’re so happy to have Abby with us for the next two months! She is here to help us out, spend time with the kids, experience Africa, learn about missionary work, and lighten our life with her great sense of humor and beautiful smile. Frederick has already decided that she came for his exclusive benefit.

Besides filling our house with her fun-loving laughter, she has been incredibly helpful. Having an extra set of hands to help with the two babies has certainly made my life much more pleasant! She has also worked with several of the local missions, social work groups, and missionaries. We’re trying to give her a chance to experience Africa and ministry from a variety of angles. In June and July we are working with the OM Pro Christo mission doing various local outreaches. We’re blessed to live close to a large mission like this one, as they are more easily able to organize large scale outreaches. This will be a GREAT opportunity for Abby to flex her developing missionary muscles! ; )

Tomorrow we are heading for the Eastern Province and Malawi. This part of Zambia is quite different from Kabwe both in climate and culture. We’re “looking forward” to our first camping trip with both babies. And we’re soooooooo glad to have Abby along with us!!! (We hope she survives the 10 hour trip in the backseat with the babies…. maybe we’ll have to take turns….. )

Abby got a real missionary start this morning. We somehow didn’t communicate when she needed to be ready to go… so she got 15 minutes notice. She went from bed to dressed to the car in that time, missed coffee, and hardly got any breakfast. However, she walked out the door with a smile on her face, waving and telling me to have a nice day. Wow. Good job, Abby! (Watch out, mom & dad… this girl has what it takes!) I better be careful, though… if she keeps up like this, Pro Christo will try to steal her from me. Frederick would never forgive me.

Thanks to the Kutz Family for sharing her with us- she’s a real treasure!

It has been a crazy couple of months, to say the least! Each day has had its joys (read: coffee) and frustrations (read: learning to operate with two small children). At the end of April I had my first whole week alone with both kids. I wasn’t sure how that would go. I had visions in my head of temper tantrums, big messes, and lots of screaming. And I figured Monica would cause some problems too. I was surprised and exceptionally blessed, however, as both children were easy going and well behaved. (I didn’t throw a tantrum once. I’m quite proud of myself.) ; ) We actually enjoyed our time together. The kitchen was “closed” for most of the week- except for the day that Monica and I decided that we needed to make cake for lunch.

Timothy had a really great field trip. He and several teachers from a local Christian school held leadership/teacher training courses in Petauke and Chipata (towns in the Eastern Province of Zambia). Timothy came home really excited by the response he got from the Chipata classes. He said the teachers and pastors were enthusiastic about the material that was presented. It was the kind of group that listened and really wanted to understand. What a blessing! Aside from the standard discipleship and foundational lessons, he helped them understand how to teach to the glory of Christ, for the furtherance of His Kingdom. He also had team members who gave presentations on how to teach reading, how to run a school/church, and how to prepare lessons/sermons. It’s incredible to teach teachers, knowing that they will take the material home and multiply it a hundred times as they work in their school.

He did it.

He got to the even dozen.

I think he can stop now.

Yup, that’s right. Timothy has malaria. Again. The poor guy is a mosquito magnet.

Timothy has the distinction of having suffered this nasty, parasitic disease not once, but twelve times. So many times, actually, that it has become less interesting to me than the common cold. After all, you’re just stuck with the cold until it’s gone. You can treat malaria with a few pills… that is, if you catch it on time. And if you have the pills. And if you can keep them down. Did you know that your average medicine cabinet/ first aid kit doesn’t contain malaria pills? I can’t imagine living without them. Or, I should say, I can’t imagine Timothy living without them!!!

So when he came home on Monday, pale, clammy, and achy, croaking out that he might have malaria, I calmly tucked him into bed, gave him a glass of water, and waited for fever spikes (the sign that you have malaria, not the flu). By 9pm he was still holding in at exhaustion and lethargy, so I figured it was the flu after all. However, when I got up in the morning to find that he’d slept the whole night on Monica’s floor because he was too dizzy to make it back to bed… and when he had a few fever spikes… and a few other unpleasant symptoms… we called it official. Malaria times twelve. I pulled out the Coartum, filled his tummy with bacon, and continued with my day (the anti malarial works better in conjunction with fatty foods; poor Timothy gets as much bacon as he wants, but he’s too sick to enjoy it!)

Later I mentioned to a few friends that he wouldn’t be around as he was dealing with the migraines, fever, etc. To me, this is all completely normal malaria-like behavior, overcome after a few days of medication and rest. To other (normal) people, this is not good news. This is take-him-to-the-hospital news. This is will-he-make-it-? news. This is pull-down-the-shades-and- close-up-shop news. Apparently I have become a bit cavalier about malaria. Maybe it’s because once a person has had malaria eleven times, he is sharp enough to take the medication before he needs hospitalization, an iv bag, and a blood transfusion. I think this takes a bit more deductive reasoning than your average fever/migraine-ridden individual is capable of accomplishing, but Timothy is up to the task. A gift I very much appreciate, as I like to live with the confidence that my husband will make it through this disease again and again. After twelve times, I’m not fooling myself into believing that he has actually charmed the mozzy beast.

Actually, it’s not easy to diagnose malaria before hospitalization becomes necessary. This is because, in the early stages of the disease, it can only be detected by a blood test during a fever spike… and even then it sometimes doesn’t show up. By the time the parasite count is high enough to register as positive on the tests (especially the field tests, which is what most hospitals out here use), the suffering individual is already beyond keeping down any pills and has a few other symptoms contributing to dehydration and extreme fatigue. At this point, a good hospital is your only hope. I’m glad that Timothy has become so proficient at self-diagnosing.

Having two small children in the house, we have layered on as much anti-mosquito protection as we reasonably can. We have bug zappers, “Doom” plug-ins, we’ve sprayed all the openings to the house, sleep under mosquito nets, and go to bed early. That being said, sometimes the little buggers get through. And it only takes one.

Please pray for our babies. I’m not so worried about Timothy and myself. If we get malaria, it’s painful, it’s ugly, but it IS treatable. If Monica or Frederick get it, first we have to figure out that they have it (“Frederick, where does it hurt?” still isn’t very effective), then we have to get them treatment before the dehydration, vomiting, and diarrhea become… too much.

Please, please remember my babies when you pray for yours. We are doing what we can to protect them, we trust in God’s grace and provision for the rest.

We praise God that He has again enabled Timothy to realize the problem before it became life threatening. We praise Him that Timothy had the fore-thought to have Coartum on hand. We praise God for providing the means to protect our family, as much as possible, from malaria. His faithfulness alone keeps us, body and soul, from day to day.

God bless Coartum.

After 3 ½ days on the road, we arrived in Pietersburg on Thursday.  Our trip was, for the most part, blessedly uneventful.  Some of the roads in Zambia and Botswana were in bad shape.  Timothy drove slowly over the worst sections of potholes and washouts, endeavoring to deliver mommy and baby safely to South Africa… without actually delivering the baby himself!  Monica proved that she is adjusting well to the missionary lifestyle with her easy going manner and acceptance of [almost all] that we asked of her.  We were again grateful for the portable dvd player that was given to Monica by her grandparents.  At first I felt like we were copping out of our parental duty, neglecting this 100 hour opportunity to teach our daughter patience and self-entertainment.  However, after an hour of blissful silence in the middle of Botswana, I decided that every toddler who travels a lot should have one of those nifty little machines (although, Timothy does insist that he can now quote the entire Milo & Otis movie and the ABC disc has simply been banned from his presence).

 

 

We were able to see a lot of wildlife along the road.  At one point, we pulled over so Monica could watch the baboons play in the ditch.  We had to quickly move on, however, when she decided to hurl her bread out the window and tempt the beasties toward her with shouts of, “Come!  Come!  Snacks!”  The baboons would have come all right.  And taken her snacks.  And possibly her fingers too!

 

 

The journey was really pleasant.  We finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring and started The Two Towers (don’t worry, I didn’t let Timothy multi task his driving with reading).  We also discussed baby names at great length, but ended in the same place we started… nowhere.  Timothy has decided that he needs to see the little guy before he can make any final decisions.  Current names in the running are Frederick, Theodore, and Oliver. 

 

 

Now that we are installed in Pietersburg, I have been able to catch up on the admin side of ministry, not to mention putting everything together for tax time, and Timothy has been able to get some work done on his progressing “Teacher Training Manual for African Schools”.

 

I haven’t seen the doc yet, but baby seems to be wiggling around, so I think we’re doing well.  We would also like to take Monica to see a pediatrician soon in order to get a few tests done.  We are pretty sure that the strong antibiotic that was prescribed to her in Kabwe killed off whatever was causing her faints/seizes… but we want to make sure, as well as check that the little seizures didn’t harm anything inside her head.

 

Please continue to pray for us as we carry out our tasks here in South Africa and await the arrival of Keller Baby #2.

He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul.

 

I never fully appreciated this verse until this recent trouble (what a mild word) with my hip.  As the pain daily grew worse, Timothy finally dragged me to the bed and said, “Lie down and don’t get up.”  With all the work and projects to be done around our home right now, not the least of which being a busy toddler, stacks of moving boxes to unpack, and ministry supplies to sort, this was an extremely difficult thing to do.  But do you know, the Lord sent me to a godly man who knew when to MAKE me lie down… who has continued to make me lie down when I most need it… and my hip is doing much better!!! Praise God for rest, and for the loved ones in our lives who make sure that we get it!

 

Rest is a blessed and holy gift that we so often forget.  It is easy in any field, especially ministry, to get lost in the many needs of those we serve.  The Lord has been teaching me that there is also a “time to rest”.

 

 

As we have made the transition to a permanent, settled life in Africa we have experienced a variety of, hmmm, challenges.  From Monica’s scary illness to the challenges of life in Africa to my immobility issues to the regular hurdles of ministry, we have had a bumpy few months.  However, the Lord’s presence has been with us so clearly and so graciously.  There have been times in my life that I’ve felt Him to be far away… but not now.  With all the challenges at hand, I feel His presence and provision more than ever.  I’ve found that in our most desperate moments, we can find His waters the most refreshing, His grace sufficient to calm our anxieties and worries.

I shall not want.

 

We have been so incredibly blessed with the Lord’s provision for our family. The container arrived with surprisingly, miraculously little red tape to negotiate (nothing short of God’s hand when this happens in Africa!) The items inside were safe and unmolested (although we are now fighting off the African termites). We have a home that is more than I ever could have hoped for and household items to fill it with (thanks , friends!!) We have a wonderful supply of Bibles and discipleship materials that will be used to spread the Gospel of His law and grace to the people of Africa. We are healthy and happy, doing the work to which we were called in a land filled with the wonders of His Hand. I can think of little for which to ask; I am overwhelmed by the graciousness and generosity of His hand. He is a good and generous Father, a gracious and loving God.

 

I am pleased to announce that last Tuesday, October 27^th, we officially moved into our new home in Zambia.  This is very exciting for us, not just because it’s our first home since we got married in May 2007, but also because it has taken a lot of time, prayer, and hard work to get here (not to mention a lot of flying and driving!!)

 

Since I have failed miserably in my original intention of updating this blog once a week, I will quickly highlight the major events that have taken place.  It may take a few days to do that…

 

October 14^th- The engine on the Toyota was finally finished and we were able to pick it up- yay!!!  All in all, the truck was in the shop for over four weeks, and needed a rebuilt engine, turbo, and diesel pump.  What a project!  We praise God for providing the funds needed to make these repairs.

 

October 15^th -16^th – On Thursday we packed to leave Cape Town.  In the evening Timothy prepared to hook the trailer to the truck… only to discover that the hitch had been stolen.  This was an extremely frustrating moment for us.  Then, adding insult to injury, it was too late to buy one that night.  So, instead of leaving at 5am the Friday morning as originally planned, Timothy went in search of a new hitch (not as easy to find in stock in South Africa as it would be in the States.)  He finally found one that he thought would work, but it was just a tiny bit too big.  He spent another 2 ½ hours grinding and fitting the hitch post before we had a workable connection.  At noon we were able to bid farewell to the Cape and “head home” (it’s so nice to be able to say that).  We thought we would be able to reach our first stop, Bloemfontein, by 11pm or so.  However, we didn’t take into account traveling with a new engine, a heavily loaded trailer, a toddler, and a pregnant wife (hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Now.)  At midnight we were still 300kms from our stop and dead tired.  We pulled to the side of the road and slept in the car for a few hours before continuing onwards.  We reached Johannesburg Saturday evening and were greeted by our friends the van der Merwes.  We stayed on their farm for two nights.  Monica loved feeding the lambs!

 

October  17^th – 18^th We were able to fellowship with our Brothers and Sisters in Johannesburg and Pretoria before continuing our journey.  These dear friends have “put us up” on our way through many times.  They are Timothy’s best “braai friends” and a huge encouragement to us as a family.  Thanks, Benoni!

 

October 19^th – 21^st Driving as far as Petersburg, we stopped to pick up a few more items and meet the doctor who will, God willing, deliver our baby in a few months.  We were very pleased with Dr. Henn.  She suggested that we return to Petersburg about 3 weeks prior to the baby’s birth (due date is January 7^th) to minimize the risk of going into labor on the road- a suggestion Timothy is most keen to follow.  ; ) Personally, I think he’d be a great midwife… but I think the idea of a delivering his own baby in the back of a truck, with a toddler in the carseat, along the roadside in Botswana, watching for lions over his shoulder freaks him out just a little.  During our stay in Petersburg we stayed with Andre and Wiida van Jaarsveldt at their guesthouse.  It was a wonderful break from the road, and a great place to finish off our stay in civilization!

 

October 22^nd – 25^th – We continued our journey through South Africa, Botswana, and on into Zambia.  We are very pleased at how well the Toyota managed the road conditions and heavily loaded trailer.  The roads were VERY bad in some areas.  One 60km stretch in Zambia took over four hours to traverse!!  The potholes and road conditions in this section were so bad that the spotlights got shaken off the bull bar!  Argh!!  Fortunately, we sustained no further damage (unless you count two very well shaken and bumped people in the truck… Monica slept through the whole thing.  Carseats are wonderful).  God’s grace truly was with us on the road.  There are so many things that can go wrong on any road, but African roads are notorious for their dangerous conditions.  This is exacerbated by the fact that if you break down you are TRULY in the middle of nowhere, in the heat, and with the wildlife.

 

Crossing into Zambia was a lot more difficult than we originally expected.  It took about five hours to process our vehicle, trailer, and boxes through customs.  It was also a lot more expensive than we expected.  If there is one art the Africans have mastered, it is that of taxation.

 

We reached Kabwe on Sunday and were welcomed by Hannes, Christel, and Dian van Jaarsveldt (our landlords).  It was wonderful to step out of the vehicle for the last time!

 

Monica was very, very well behaved throughout the whole journey.  Some of our days were very long; just the first stretch from Cape Town to Johannesburg (including a few hours sleep in the car) took 30 hours!  She enjoyed seeing the wildlife along the way, especially the ostriches (which she refuses to call anything but, “Ducks!”) and the elephants in Botswana.

 

 

October 26^th – the present

We are now moved in to our home.  We are “camping it up” as most of our household items arrive on the Container.  Cooking has been a bit of a challenge with one camp stove burner, one crock pot, and 3 utensils, but we are managing.  It is also the end of the dry season here, which means vegetables are scarce and expensive.  Tomatoes and cucumbers are very cheap and abundant still, so we are eating a lot of those!  We haven’t been able to get our water filtration system to work.  We think it may have been damaged in the process of moving here.  We are getting a new one from Lusaka within a few days.  In the mean time, we have been availing ourselves of the van Jaarsveldts’ water.

 

All things considered, it’s nice to be HOME at long last.  I might be sitting in a camp chair… but it’s my chair in my house.  I’m also drinking tea out of my mug.  I just finished washing my dishes and put them away in my cupboard.  It was truly wonderful staying with so many good friends in the States.  But, oh MY, MY is it good to have our own home!

It’s amazing how many things you need to cook food and wash laundry and fix cars and nurture babies and, and, and… 

 

 

 Up to this point in our married life, we have been fortunate to live in homes that belong to other people.  Homes that are fully furnished with everything a person could need, from scotch tape to monkey wrenches to basil, it’s all there.  We are now preparing for our very FIRST home together.  Here is the challenge: it’s empty.  Oh, and I mean e-m-p-t-y, EMPTY.  We went stove shopping earlier this week.  We bought outlets.  I just realized this morning that I haven’t bought toilet paper roll holders yet.  (It’s amazing what you think of at 3am when you’ve woken up for your pregnant lady middle-of-the-night potty run.)   Now, this wouldn’t be a challenge in America.  In fact, I remember many a night during college, dashing out at unrespectable hours of the night to get an extremely important ice cream scoop or (even more important) coffee filters for the next day.  You just decide what you want, pry yourself out of the chair, and go get it.  Walmart is always there, isn’t it?  Hmmm… or not; not in Zambia at least.  Whatever we don’t get in South Africa this week, we probably won’t be able to find in Zambia, at least not without paying about five times what you would in America (not even kidding.  I just found out disposable diapers cost .75/ea+ in Zambia.  Hello cloth diapers, so glad I got used to using you guys in the States!!) 

 

I really don’t need to worry.  I mean, we won’t starve or lack any dire necessities (ie, we can use tp without putting it on the nice little dowel on the wall.)  However, I will be really disappointed with myself if I forget things like stirring spoons (don’t really want to stir stew with my hand), baby panties (a potty trained little girl would make a very happy mommy!), and tabasco sauce (blame the pregnancy).  And Timothy would have a hard time building whatever I forget to bring (isn’t it great being married??) if he doesn’t have hammers, nails, and all that other boy stuff that goes in the tool box.

 

 

 So I am sitting here now, writing out a list of everything I can possibly think of that a person might need to last 6 months without resupplying with anything else.  It goes something like this: salt, salt shaker, pepper, pepper shaker, herbs, herb seeds, watering can, frying pan, spatula, big pot, big spoon, ladle, smaller pot, smaller spoon, cutting board, knives…. you get the idea.  I guess I need to ask our dear Father for extra grace.  The grace to remember all the things that I need and “need”, the grace to serve my family with what I already have, and what I remember to buy, and what we can afford to buy.  Then the grace for THEM to put up with me when I realize that I’ve forgotten some vital item or another (I mean really, can you LIVE without a rolling pin??? I don’t think so.)

 

Hope the great US of A is treating you well.  Think of me next time you fly out the door at 11pm for napkins or milk, and send up a little prayer for our family.  We are so grateful to serve in Africa.  God’s people here are beautiful with or without salt shakers.