Caution: May Contain Nuts

There is nothing more familiar to a missionary in the African field than the frenetic pace of preparation… unless it is, perhaps, the glitch, oversight, or accident (not to mention the red tape involved with work in Africa) which inevitably crop up to complicate the process. 

We even have a saying for it here: “Hurry up and wait”. 

Oh don't mind me. I just travelled thousands of miles and have loads of work to do. Why would I be in a hurry?

Preparation for various aspects of missionary field work can involve anything from sorting and packing Bibles to buying rice & beans in bulk (I mean like 500lbs at a time) to anticipating all the possible needs of a field hospital to kitting out an entire camp or household (as recently experienced by myself).  As the trip draws near, boxes and bags are carefully packed, kits are cleaned, and supplies are purchased.  Eventually, each phase comes to a blissful end, packing comes to completion… and then it’s time to start feeling nervous.  The forces, fates, and movements of this world, you see, are not aligned in favor of missionary work.  Whoever is out there controlling the cat’s paw of disaster likes to get us to the ready point, before tying our shoelaces together.  I’m not really complaining; I couldn’t ask for a more interesting job or lifestyle.  I always asked God never to place me anywhere that I would grow bored.  He answered my prayer.  Thoroughly.  (Ever feel bored in America?  Oprah got you down?  Come join me for a few weeks.  You will never be bored again.  Although I’ll warn you, this work is hopelessly addictive, quirks, disasters, and all.)

Well, preparation for this trip to Zambia is no different than any other in terms of the challenges that have arisen as we have arrived at and, as of tomorrow, pass by our scheduled departure date from Cape Town.  About a week ago, we took the vehicle we’re borrowing to the mechanic to check out some strange noises (female translation of the rather technical description I heard Timothy giving over the phone), as well as prepare the truck for the long road to Zam.  The mechanic called back a few days later to say that he needed to take a look at the engine.  He called back a few days later to say that he needs to rebuild the engine.  He called back later to say that he needs to rebuild the heads too.  So, it looks like we are camped out here in Cape Town until the Lord sees fit to heal our truck (with the help of a kind mechanic in Paarl) and send us on our way. 

Of course, the good news is… the engine will be in top shape when we DO finally get out of here!!!!  In the meantime, we are staying busy in Cape Town.  Please pray for the Lord’s hand to be with the mechanic as he overhauls the engine.  We are so thankful that this problem was uncovered here in Cape Town, not in the middle of the bush!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

In Africa, sometimes you need to pack everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink.

 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.

Forgot your knives? No problem! We'll cut it for you!

 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.

After 3 weeks of following up leads and making phone calls, Timothy still hasn’t found the right truck for us.  Most of the second hand imports into South Africa are automatic transmissions.  In order to really handle the Southern African (not to mention Sudanese) road conditions, we really need a manual transmission.  We had several promising leads, one of which was a really nice Toyota Land Cruiser, but they have all fallen through.  We are blessed to be able to borrow a bakkie from Hannes & Christel.  This will allow Timothy to come pick Monica & me up in Cape Town and transport our things back to Zambia.  After that, we’re going “two wheels” until the Lord brings along “our” vehicle.  Well, pregnant ladies need the exercise anyway, right?  : )  Because there aren’t many choices at any given time, purchasing a vehicle here means a lot of dead-end leads and waiting.  Please be praying that the Lord continues to give Tim the wisdom to choose the right vehicle for us. 

African roads necessitate specially equipped vehicles, well covered in prayer and His grace.

The goal: a double/crew cab pick up truck (accommodates a family), manual transmission(drivable in all conditions), good suspension (can handle the extreme potholes of Africa), field kit (allows extended “bush” trips), bull bar (“bush” trips), roof rack (for Bibles, textbooks, and gear), snorkel (sometimes rivers are impossible to avoid), waterproof canopy (protect literature in rainy travels), low miles (we plan on adding a lot more), diesel (cheaper and easier to fix mechanically), good condition (you would not believe what they do to vehicles in Africa- scary).  Next choice: Land Cruiser with similar attributes (a better vehicle but doesn’t accommodate field work as well as the bakkie would).  Please pray with us!

In the mean time we are staying very busy.  The next few weeks we’ll spend organizing our things in Cape Town and traveling back up to Zambia.  On the way there we are going to look into hospitals for our January Baby.  Please also be praying for the Lord to go before us there.