Quenching Thirst
It seems I continue to find myself apologizing for taking so long to once again write. My greatest fear is that many will lose interest and not continue to read about life on this side of God’s creation and I would be to blame. I struggle to find the time to put my thoughts in writing, I am sorry.
We left Lusaka at the beginning of October for what would prove to be our longest time in the bush since arriving in Zambia. We began in Isoka. With the knowledge that both of the families whose homes we were working on would arrive October 17th, time has become more of a factor. The problem is in Africa no one wears a watch nor do they concern themselves with time, everything and everyone
is late. That is just life here, you learn to accept it or you go crazy.
One of the first tasks I had in Isoka was to hook up the bore-hole. That means set a submersible pump in a 50 meter by 15cm hole at the correct level; deep enough not to run dry but not so deep as to suck up sediment. Connect the pump to a poly-pipe water line, running to a 2500 liter water tank which I hade to get up on a stand that was about 15 feet high, then connect the pipe to the house pumping. No sweat, I can handle this, never mind the fact I have never even seen one. After about two days of scorching sun, grunting, pulling, and tugging I was finished, ready to throw the switch and hear the water fill the tank. Believe it or not it actually worked, water was flowing into the storage tank, now the easy part, to allow it to flow into the house, just open the valve.
You would have thought we were watching Old Faithful; there must have been 30 leaks inside the house. Every fixture, every line, had water shooting from it. I spent the next
4 days trying to fix them all and still have yet to overcome three of them. Most of the problem lies in the poor quality of materials we have found to use, but hey few people even have water in their home so life goes on. My next two weeks were a continuation of the same type problems. I suppose God wants to teach me something.
The home in Isoka is almost complete, we will return this month to put in kitchen cabinets and finish a few minor things. It will be a difficult time for us to say good-bye to our many friends. We have experienced so much warmth and kindness and have been received as though we were VIPs.
While were in Isoka it was Independence Day. We were told there would be a celebration and we wouldn’t want to miss it. It would begin with a Miss Independence pageant at a local guest house the evening before. We decided to see what was happening and walked over to the venue. There were several hundred people all gathered trying to get into a room which would accommodate maybe 100. Not long after arriving a policeman approached us, greeted us and asked how he could help us. We told him we just came to see what was going on, he proceeded to take us around the back and in a rear door to be seated with the dignitaries. We graciously accepted, by the way it started an hour and a half late.
The next day Cyndi walked to town to once again see what the celebration had in store. Standing at the back of a crowd of half the town she began to notice the crowd parting. Once again a policeman took her and escorted her thru the crowd, in front of everyone, to seat her with all the town dignitaries to enjoy the celebration.
I share that for several reasons. First to give a picture of the welcome and the love we experience in this place, but I hope you will catch a glimpse of something else. The people here see us as the source of something. It is a different thing for different people. For some it is money, they ask often, for some it is knowledge as they ask what is America like, for some it is to be the friend of the Msungu (white guy) as though it gives them honor or prestige, but for many it is something deeper, something spiritual. They know we are missionaries, they know they have questions which have not been answered to their satisfaction. We live in a very spiritual place in Africa, they are much more aware of the spiritual world around them than those of us in the West. Their dilemma is they lack truth. They visit witch doctors for healing, their children wear charms to protect them, they believe their ancestors haunt them; much of what they are currently taught is from what many would term cults. So they are thirsty for the truth, the truth of a God who loves them, a Savior who died for them, and a Spirit who will indwell them.
John 4:10-15
Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."
"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?"
Jesus replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life."
"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to haul water."
Just as this woman trusted the tradition of her ancestors and failed to understand the truth so are many here. Our goal is not to “change them to be like us in the West” but to share that Jesus is the Living Water, giving eternal life.
Please pray we will be faithful to our calling and that the hearts of those we meet will be receptive to the message that eternal life is found in Christ alone. We also ask you to pray that as we transition to Kaputa we will learn to love the people as we do in Isoka.
In the event you couldn't figure the pictures out, the top is before and the bottom an after.
We left Lusaka at the beginning of October for what would prove to be our longest time in the bush since arriving in Zambia. We began in Isoka. With the knowledge that both of the families whose homes we were working on would arrive October 17th, time has become more of a factor. The problem is in Africa no one wears a watch nor do they concern themselves with time, everything and everyone
is late. That is just life here, you learn to accept it or you go crazy.One of the first tasks I had in Isoka was to hook up the bore-hole. That means set a submersible pump in a 50 meter by 15cm hole at the correct level; deep enough not to run dry but not so deep as to suck up sediment. Connect the pump to a poly-pipe water line, running to a 2500 liter water tank which I hade to get up on a stand that was about 15 feet high, then connect the pipe to the house pumping. No sweat, I can handle this, never mind the fact I have never even seen one. After about two days of scorching sun, grunting, pulling, and tugging I was finished, ready to throw the switch and hear the water fill the tank. Believe it or not it actually worked, water was flowing into the storage tank, now the easy part, to allow it to flow into the house, just open the valve.
You would have thought we were watching Old Faithful; there must have been 30 leaks inside the house. Every fixture, every line, had water shooting from it. I spent the next
4 days trying to fix them all and still have yet to overcome three of them. Most of the problem lies in the poor quality of materials we have found to use, but hey few people even have water in their home so life goes on. My next two weeks were a continuation of the same type problems. I suppose God wants to teach me something.The home in Isoka is almost complete, we will return this month to put in kitchen cabinets and finish a few minor things. It will be a difficult time for us to say good-bye to our many friends. We have experienced so much warmth and kindness and have been received as though we were VIPs.
While were in Isoka it was Independence Day. We were told there would be a celebration and we wouldn’t want to miss it. It would begin with a Miss Independence pageant at a local guest house the evening before. We decided to see what was happening and walked over to the venue. There were several hundred people all gathered trying to get into a room which would accommodate maybe 100. Not long after arriving a policeman approached us, greeted us and asked how he could help us. We told him we just came to see what was going on, he proceeded to take us around the back and in a rear door to be seated with the dignitaries. We graciously accepted, by the way it started an hour and a half late.
The next day Cyndi walked to town to once again see what the celebration had in store. Standing at the back of a crowd of half the town she began to notice the crowd parting. Once again a policeman took her and escorted her thru the crowd, in front of everyone, to seat her with all the town dignitaries to enjoy the celebration.
I share that for several reasons. First to give a picture of the welcome and the love we experience in this place, but I hope you will catch a glimpse of something else. The people here see us as the source of something. It is a different thing for different people. For some it is money, they ask often, for some it is knowledge as they ask what is America like, for some it is to be the friend of the Msungu (white guy) as though it gives them honor or prestige, but for many it is something deeper, something spiritual. They know we are missionaries, they know they have questions which have not been answered to their satisfaction. We live in a very spiritual place in Africa, they are much more aware of the spiritual world around them than those of us in the West. Their dilemma is they lack truth. They visit witch doctors for healing, their children wear charms to protect them, they believe their ancestors haunt them; much of what they are currently taught is from what many would term cults. So they are thirsty for the truth, the truth of a God who loves them, a Savior who died for them, and a Spirit who will indwell them.
John 4:10-15
Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water."
"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she said, "and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water? And besides, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his cattle enjoyed?"
Jesus replied, "People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. But the water I give them takes away thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life."
"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to haul water."
Just as this woman trusted the tradition of her ancestors and failed to understand the truth so are many here. Our goal is not to “change them to be like us in the West” but to share that Jesus is the Living Water, giving eternal life.
Please pray we will be faithful to our calling and that the hearts of those we meet will be receptive to the message that eternal life is found in Christ alone. We also ask you to pray that as we transition to Kaputa we will learn to love the people as we do in Isoka.
In the event you couldn't figure the pictures out, the top is before and the bottom an after.
posted by Tommy and Cyndi at 12:03 AM
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