Flying into Zambia, Flying into Sioma!

Just a quick note to begin the blogging again.  We are now actually at Shikwaru Lodge and back in an area with internet access for us.  So we will start to try to catch up with the blog entries that we could not post from Zambia.  I may add in prayer requests for the present day so you can continue to pray effectively for us.  Thanks for the prayers while we were "out of sight".  Below is the blog entry that took place on August 9th.  I hope to catch up a couple more days tomorrow!


Flying into Zambia, Flying into Sioma!

Well our day began with a great Breakfast at Jouney’s Inn Africa and then off to the airport to experience some more international travel!  After working our way through the airport we even had to take a bus from our gate to the plane, which was a new experience for all of us.  All we need to get on now is a train and we have planes, trains and automobiles covered!  Livingstone is known for its train history so who knows.  

The flight to Livingstone was quite uneventful.  It was about 1 3/4  hours long.  The majority of the landscape along the way looks barren with brown and reddish soil.  The majority of this trip was over the country of Botswana.  We also would have been able to see a portion of Zimbabwe and Namibia.  The occasional obvious location with irrigation makes quite the difference as you can clearly see the green crop within the reach of the sprinklers.  Just before landing we were able to catch a glimpse of one of the 7 wonders of the world, Victoria Falls.  Even from the air you could see how spectacular they are and this isn’t even the time of year with the highest water flow.  We landed in Livingstone to hot, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, dry weather.  We couldn’t help but wonder if any of the small planes we saw parked there would be Jacques waiting for us. 

We had no issues getting through immigration and paying for our Visa’s.  $50 US each, except for Terrace who was free! If we had of come the day before Jaelyn would have been free as well as 16yrs and older have to pay.  She is costing us more at 16 already.

We had only checked one bag and had no trouble getting through security along with our carry-ons.  Then we met Jacques at arrivals and it was time for a quick washroom break and then right back through security with him on the older “Domestic Flights” side of the airport.  Wish checking in was like that all the time, although then our flights would not be so safe. 

Now we found ourselves walking out across the tarmac toward various smaller planes.  Terrace has been a little stressed about this flight since first hearing of it.  She has been asking whenever we see smaller planes, “is that like Jacques or is his smaller?”  I have only been able to guess as we have only seen a few Facebook pictures of planes that Jacques has been in and they have not often shown a good view of the outside of the plane.  As we passed a few that were larger there sat likely the smallest plane on the tarmac for us!  I think Terrace’s heart was already pounding in her throat before we even boarded the plane.  Jaelyn and I on the other hand were extremely excited about this flight!  Crystelle admits to “a nervous excitement”.

Now began the process of loading baggage into the plane and we are very thankful that our big bag was able to be flipped open and flat to slide into the compartment under the cockpit along with our other carry-on bags.  Another answer to prayer!  It was nice to have Jacques tell us that as a family and with luggage that we are “quite light”.  Although now we know we could have done much better! 

We had a slight delay as we taxied to the pumps to get fuel for our flight.  Jacques had just told us how he doesn’t ever like to take chances with fuel while flying.  After Jacques gave the girls a math quiz to calculate how much fuel we needed to go to the base and back plus an additional hours worth of fuel in case of emergency we waited for the airport staff to come and fuel the plane.  The girls were already learning that when around Jacques you better be on your toes to answer questions, including math!  

Now a gentleman from the airport came and took Jacques aside to speak with him.  It turns out that today the airport has no fuel.  Seems interesting to be at an international airport and not have any fuel…but this is Africa!  “No problem”, Jacques says, we do another math quiz, that the girls did slightly better at, and calculate that we do have enough fuel plus extra in case of emergency to get to the base one way.  So after some phone calls arrangements were made to have aviation fuel delivered sometime during the week to the base so we would have enough to fly back.  Welcome to the missionaries world of problem solving!  During the delay on the tarmac we were able to take some cool pictures of Reaching a Generations plane in front of our British Airways Jet that we flew in on as well as the air terminal in the background.  Not everyday you get to spend time out on the tarmac for a photo shoot!

After final flight checks and clearance we were finally in the air and headed off to the western province of Zambia, called Sioma, a place that most Zambian people never go.  The flight was quite rough because of the sun heating up the African terrain, and all of us except Jacques were feeling the effect of that.  Some of us more than others but at least nobody needed to use the “barf bags”.  I think all the girls had their eyes closed for much of that trip. Jaelyn said she managed to sleep a bit along the way but was not feeling all that well despite her excitement for the ride at the beginning.  With the Zambezi River in sight for much of the trip, it was amazing how much you could see as we flew west the approximately 170 miles to the dirt airfield near the base.  The many villages dotted the ground in various locations along the way.  I was amazed at how many tiny villages there seemed to be.  The other most noticeable thing was the smoke that covers the whole horizon and the many fires that you could see burning.  This time of year many of them are set intentionally to burn the dry undergrowth but I‘m sure the fire risk is high since there has not been any rain here for several months.

As we came closer to the end of the flight we were able to get a overhead view of both of the Reaching a Generation sights that we would be spending time at over the next four days.  The most striking feature of the area is the white sand that can be seen along much of the shores of the Zambezi River.  An amazing sight!

As we taxied to a stop on the dirt airfield after an incredibly smooth landing, considering the turbulence all the way, we were greeted by 6 girls, likely between the ages of 4-13 yrs old, who seemed very excited to see us.  I’m sure they love to see the plane but they sure made our arrival feel special.  Although, it didn’t take long in our conversation with the one who spoke english quite well to get to the point…”do you have sweets” she asked.  hahaha!  Same as kids you meet anywhere around the world.  We figured it was likely not a good idea to hand them out and that was quickly confirmed by Jacques that it only creates a continuing culture of poverty and that with RaG they strive to have the kids earn things that then can be used for rewards like candy and other more useful items.  Our new friends did not seem too disappointed and continued to visit while we unloaded and then happily waved to us as they headed back home.  I could not help but think what a different world already.  When would I have ever let my four year old head off somewhere without me, not to mention to walk out on a airfield moments after a plane has landed.  Lets not even mention the whole “talking to strangers thing” (oops, just did).  I also couldn’t help but feel that this was already way different than my last trip to South Africa as the condition of these kids cloths and their hygiene was like nothing I’ve seen here before.  It already rivalled the worst conditions that I saw while in the poorest areas of Mexico!  Wow, here we are, lets get started!

After walking up to the road with our bags we were picked up by Simba and Ben and taken to the “Ministry House” site where we would be staying.  We met Simba’s wife Enny.  They head up the children’s river ministry here in Zambia for RaG.  We also met Conrad the chef for this week here. His regular job is being Shikwaru’s Ranch Manager but he was here to cook for the past weeks medical mission and this weeks pastors training.

Enny showed us our options of where to stay and the girls decided to go for the more adventurous choice of outfitter style tents set up on decks that overlooked the Zambezi River only yards away.  Good job girls…proud of you!  No staying in the main ministry house for us!  With the tents there was power for lights and to plug things in. Our washrooms were African style huts with showers surrounded by bamboo like walls and mini dug out canoe sinks.  Very cool!  Oh did I say cool?  Well that’s what the hot African tents turn to after the sun goes down.  Each morning you could see your breath.  I thought I was back tree planting in May in the British Columbia mountains!  

After settling into our tents we were told we were going to head out on the river in the pontoon boat to see the area and do some tiger fishing.  Ok did I hear right?  Am I on a mission trip or not?  Yes we did go fishing but it was a great way to see the area we would be ministering to and be able to spend time hearing Jacques tell us bout the ministry here and begin to answer many of our questions.  The most amazing thing was hearing kids calling out to the boat to say “hi” and ask what are names were.  You could barely see them through the reeds but you could here their excitement  and you could tell they were already aware of the good things that this boat brings to their community including God’s love and Word!  What an amazing way to do ministry!  I can tell you that the fishing and the sunset were a lot of fun.  Since we didn’t catch a tiger fish I’ll leave that to your imagination for now but we will revisit that one on another day.  I did get one bite and fight the fish for a bit but he got away so I never got a good look yet.  Of course a good fish story of the big one that got away.

After the amazing supper provided by Conrad (steak and sausage…I love the food here…meat) we had time to sit and review how our week might look.  It was going to consist of us going to see a couple of the villages that are ministered to here and setting up a time for our family to work with the kids providing games, Bible lessons, and present the salvation message to them.  We would also be participating and helping with the pastors/teacher training that would be taking place starting Tuesday afternoon.  This will also include helping with a children’s ministry in a nearby village so that new teachers can observe a model of how their ministry should look after their training.  What a great practical idea.  We are really looking forward to the next few days and feel very welcomed by Jacques and his team!

It is still hard to believe that we are here and actually going to be assisting in any way we can with the ministry.  I think we realize we may not significantly impact a bunch of lives for eternity with our visit here.  But I am so excited to see how this will impact our whole family for the future and what effect it will have in bring us closer with our girls and future ministry opportunities.  I feel that our lives will be changed as we try to be faithful, and who knows if we might be just the encouragement that one of the teachers here needs to go on with their ministry, or if some child (even one) might pray to accept Christ as a result of our trip here.  Any of those things would be good enough for me!