We're Back!

Hope with Ms Bingham, Nurse Practitioner who lead medical missions in Zambia, Tanzania, & Uganda

Donna Habegger, friend of family with Hope and Ms Bingham just off the plane in Memphis

Hope was surprised by the Rice family from our home congregation when she arrived on Harding's campus. What a treat to see unexpected family!

Dearest friends and family of HIZ 2012,

We're back! All of our travel went smoothly from Entebbe to Memphis (through AMS and ATL), and we drove back through some rain from Memphis to Searcy. Harding had the lighting ceremony for their campus wide Christmas lights on Monday evening, so we came back to a well lit and beautiful campus. Some students left yesterday evening; the rest are leaving today, tomorrow, or through the end of this week as everyone heads home for a 6-week-long Christmas break. 

HIZ is the only of HU's international programs that consistently starts and ends in Searcy. We took advantage of entire day in Searcy together at the end of a long trip by celebrating a Thanksgiving feast, discussing the challenges of re-entry after 3 months in another culture, and praying together as a group. We're thankful for the memories and experiences behind us; we're expectant for what is still to come. Much of the learning and growth happens in the months after such an experience, and we look forward to challenge of translating the experience into our context in the US.

Back in January of this year we were asked to prepare a chapel program for the 27th of November, the day after our return to campus. We were humbled by the request and intimated with the task of presenting even just a slice of our experience to an audience of several thousand Harding students. After an entire semester of trying to speak, sing, and help in Zambian ways, we were at a loss for how we might do that very same task, but to our HU audience. How do you contextualize a message to an American audience, a message gleaned from an African context after an entire semester of intentional, round-the-clock learning? 

Well, we still aren't really sure what the correct answer is to that question.

But we did our best. After a semester of informal conversation, several group-wide brainstorming sessions, and a handful of committee-style focused meetings, we decided on a message and a medium and went for it. If you were in chapel yesterday, we'd love to get your feedback. If you didn't get a chance to be there, here is the link to the 10:00 chapel program which Harding has stored on iTunes U. We wonder if you get from it the message we were trying to get across:

Having just come back from Zambia, Tanzania, and Uganda, our message was not "Everyone must go to Africa." Instead, having just experienced a host of incredible stories, we felt a burden to call Harding students to finding good stories, both in Searcy and at home over Christmas break. It's been said before that the stories that communicate best are about extraordinary people doing ordinary things, or about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We are all living out a part in a bigger story of an extraordinary God who has worked with, without, and in spite of, ordinary people. At the apex of human history, God became ordinary, he became human. And because of that humanity, the ordinary (humans) participates in the extraordinary.

All semester, we were confronted with ordinary people doing extraordinary things, as part of God's mission and story. We chose to give three snapshots of stories we found in Zambia, and wanted to challenge the chapel audience not only to live a good story themselves (an individual task) but to find good stories (a task that fosters community) in the context of His story, history. 

When someone made in the image of God meets someone else made in the image of God, there is something to be learned about God and the world. This is why I believe International Programs at Harding is such a worthy endeavor. Not that one may only encounter people and learn about God and the world outside of the US. But being with people so radically different than us forces us to broaden our view of the world and reality and ask questions about a global God. This causes us not only to want to learn more about other places and cultures, but to return to our own culture, our own homes, and dedicate ourselves to finding good stories here, stories of the lives of ordinary people that reflect the image of an extraordinary God. 

This semester, we met some incredible Zambian students, teachers, administrators, medical providers, ministers, infant caregivers, night watchmen, and shopkeepers. Through them, we learned something about the God of the nations. We gained a greater perspective on the kingdom of God. And we return home, burdened to make time in our own, busy American lives to find those same stories of people in our families, churches, and schools. These stories were there before we left, we just couldn't see them. Now that we're back, we crave the stories, and we understand that God is honored in each recounting. 

In short, we are all part of God's bigger story. So find an ordinary story that honors God, and find your place in His story.

We hope some of that communicated. And more than anything, we hope this chapel program will function as a springboard for conversation. It is in the conversation, in the search, that learning happens. 

Always learners,

Jeremy Daggett and HIZ 2012

Beginning the trip home...

Hey Everyone,

We've had a great East Africa tour, and learned a ton here in Jinja. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we were guided by some of the Ugandans who work with Kibo Work into the village to observe their community development projects in villages 2-4 hours away from Jinja. This past Thursday we went to an island in the Nile River to celebrate Thanksgiving and spend some time slack-lining, swimming, and playing ultimate Frisbee. We spent all day yesterday on the Nile, rafting a series of 8 rapids, and really enjoyed doing that with the entire group. 

Today is our last day in Uganda. We're heading to our last village church this morning, after which we'll be heading out toward a restaurant by the airport. We'll hang out there for a good part of the afternoon before going into the airport, checking in, and heading back stateside!

I will try to update the HIZ twitter feed as we travel with any updates. If you haven't already, you should get our travel itinerary from your son or daughter. If all goes well with our two connections, we should get in to Memphis at 4:40pm, and Jeremy Sivia will be there to pick us up with the Harding bus. 

Looking forward to being back and seeing everyone. We can't wait to share some of what God has been doing in our lives and also to hear what God has been doing in the lives of our friends and family in the states. 

Grace and peace and see you soon,

Jeremy Daggett

HIZ 2012 Field Director

Visiting Zambian Schools & Villages

On Tuesday 10/30/2012 Kaitlyn, Lauren, Kaitlin Plache, Hope, and Aubrey were able to go and visit three schools within the Kalomo district and see how they are run, and to compare and contrast government schools to those of mission schools. The woman who brought us is named Ruth Mbumwae and she has an incredible story! She was originally from Peru where she grew up as a runner. She ran in the Olympics for Peru and won bronze for the 10,000 Meter. Eventually she was asked to run at Abilene Christian University in Texas, which she chose because she wanted to run for America. She strictly came to America to run, but certain things fell through and she was not able to run anymore in the Olympics because of a broken Achilles. God completely changed her heart around while in America, after putting her through a lot of pain and suffering, and soon she was no longer interested in running as she once was. She was led to Zambia through a professor at ACU and she has lived in Zambia since 1996 where she married her Zambian husband. Her and her husband, since have had 3 kids and then have worked closely with 65 different churches and 15 schools.

Ruth has a heart for the schools in Zambia. We visited a variety of schools: one was a school on the Seven Fountains mission, one was a government school (Nalubumba), and the third was Good Hope- a technology school. She wanted us to see the difference in teachers and the student’s knowledge from a government school and a mission school. Zambia has a law that in order for every seventh grader to move on to the eighth grade, he must pass the 7^th grade exam. This is a week of testing and most schools do not have classes for any other grade. At Nalubumba, there were classes going on, (the principle was very proud of this), however there were no teachers anywhere to be found. There were 100+ second and third graders crammed into a room where they hadn’t learned anything in the past 4 days.

When it came to working with the preschoolers, many students of the government schools could not write their names even though this is expected of them. When Ruth spoke to the students, it went like this: “Good Morning class!” “Fine, thank you, and how are you?” “Very, very sick.” “Thank you”. It went to show that they don’t know what they say in English. They only know Tonga because it is expected for 1^st graders to still be learning in Tonga. Government curriculum does not start teaching how to read until Grade 3. So when Ruth would ask these questions, it was not expected for the students to know these answers.
In contrast, Ruth showed us that the mission school, Seven Fountains. These first graders were reading from books, and knew a lot of English. Also they were making up books that were filled with words that they knew how to spell and could put into context. It was a vast and very large difference between the two schools- a very shocking difference.

Ruth says the government schools do not require any accountability from the teachers. Teachers are paid whether the students learn or not. Ruth wants all students to have a chance at education, and that is why she firmly supports mission schools. Also, when children experience education from a mission school they are more motivated to come back and be a teacher to give the others the same opportunities they were given.

The following pictures were taken when we visited villages for Outreach.

Hope and Kaitie Wood are kindly demostrating how we sit on the very skinny logs that hurt your bee-hind tremendously. There were around 10 rows of these, and yup. that was the church benches.

Here are Christy, Kaitie W., Molly, and Hope sleeping, while Katie Daggett is wide awake, ready for the day of church! Here we slept, out in the open!

Here is Lauren sleeping, while the women are in the back, already preparing our breakfast for us around the fire. This was on the Outreach. As you can see, we are very public sleepers

Serengeti

At the edge of the Serengeti near Jinji, Uganda. Hope is the one in the yellow shirt top left of picture.

Off to the Serengeti

Hey everyone!

We had a great last few days with the Mwanza and Geita teams. (Hope was with the Mwanza team.) Evertt Huffard and Janice Bingham stayed with 13 students in Mwanza and Katie and I went to Geita with 13 students. I think both groups really enjoyed their time in Mwanza and Geita, and now we're thankful to be back together and get to share with one another what we experienced. In the task of learning, there is so much value in spending time with people who have made another place and culture their home. Though we were only in Geita or Mwanza for a few days, the Americans here modeled the learning process for us through their years of experience, Swahili learning, cultural knowledge, etc. After 2 and a half months at Namwianga learning about culture and mission, this time in Tanzania and our upcoming time in Jinja offer the same learning experience, but in an accelerated manner. 

For the next three days and nights we'll be heading through the Serengeti, to the Ngorongoro Crater, and on to Kilimanjaro before heading to Jinja, Uganda. I am not confident we'll have cell reception every minute of the drive, but I think we'll have cell reception (and/or data) at the places we stay in the evenings. I'll try to send updates as frequently as I can. You can get shorter but more frequent updates on twitter (twitter.com/HIZambia)

Grace and peace,

Jeremy Daggett

HIZ 2012 Field Director

Zitenge

Zitenge

by Hope Stanger

Munife sitenge nibinele mulena aka, Munife sitenge nibinele mulena aka, Wanifa moya wamahala ndante ni kamulumbeka na, Wanifa moya wamahala ndante ni kamulumbeka na
(Give me a sitenge¹, I will dance for my Lord He gives me free life, I will praise Him)

In every culture, certain objects come to symbolize important aspects of their specific society. One such important emblem for Zambia is the chitenge (or zitenge, plural). A chitenge is a long piece of cloth that is usually used as a tie-around skirt. Yet its influence reaches far beyond a simple fashion statement or article of clothing. They can be seen all over and are even mentioned in praise songs to God (as seen above). The chitenge has become such an integral part of Zambian culture that it symbolizes respect, decency, and humility.
It is hard to pinpoint the exact origins of the chitenge because its use was a gradual thing. Traditionally, Zambians wore animal skins and beaded skirts. In modern times, as western influences arrived, fabric became available. Zitenge were not popular at first because they came mostly from neighboring countries. Shortly after Independence though, the Mulungushi Textiles and the Cofuie Textiles opened factories in Zambia. Since then, zitenge have become ever more pervasive. Now they are considered a national dress that all women and older girls wear.²
First and foremost, zitenge represent decency. In Zambia the exposed thigh is considered immoral. Thighs are reserved for the husband only because Zambians believe men become attracted to thighs too quickly. Pants on women are even discouraged because they show the shape of that area too well. Thus zitenge are used to cover that area. Practically, zitenge are stiffer than other skirts so they allow women to work more freely around the house since they don’t reveal anything as easily. Also, on a windy day, a woman will wrap a chitenge around another skirt to stay decent. The same principle applies to when women sit on mats then have to bend to get up and when they must maneuver on a journey. All of these examples show how a chitenge provides coverage for the sensitive area of the thighs.
Zitenge also symbolize respect. Respect includes observing all of society’s morals. If you rebel against society, society as a whole is affected. Zambians show respect in many ways, such as kneeling and clapping. It is not supposed to be bothersome; instead it becomes part of you. This is how the wearing of zitenge has become. Everyone knows that when you are wearing a chitenge, you are showing humility and deference. Thus, wearing a chitenge is almost mandatory for a church service, in order to demonstrate respect for God.
Finally, zitenge are an integral part of a good reputation and the model of being truly cultured. Women are supposed to teach their children the importance of wearing a chitenge by example. If someone doesn’t wear them, they are perceived as immoral. It can even become very difficult to get married if you are known for not wearing a chitenge because it shows you do not respect the culture and are not from a good family.
The many diverse colors and patterns do not symbolize anything special like the Nigerian long dress does. However, some organizations use the chitenge to promote themselves. For example, every political party in Zambia has their emblems and colors on zitenge. Some churches such as the Catholic Church also put icons and religious writing on zitenge. Sometimes a church on Sunday will be filled with similar colors and patterns because of the affiliation attached to the clothing.
Lastly, zitenge are utilized in dancing. Traditionally, dancing is used to attract the opposite sex.³ It is a way for society to bring couples together. The tied nature of the chitenge shows the flexibility of the body movements. Many times a boy who is not married will see a woman dancing and then decide to marry her. Dance is also used to praise God though. It is said to be in the blood of an African to show joy through dancing so one way to praise Him is to dance. Yet it must still be respectful so a chitenge must be worn.
Zitenge truly embody a part of Zambian culture and hold an important place in society. Although its history is relatively short, a chitenge captures many rich symbolisms. It has become so pervasive that it is used in so many ways for all the people. It is rich in culture and is important as it exemplifies the values of Zambia.

---

1. Sitenge is the Lozi word for the tie-around skirt; the Tonga people use the word chitenge. ↩
2. Zitenge are used in a plethora of different ways. They are mainly used as skirts for women, but they can also be made into women’s dresses and suits or men’s shirts. They are employed as baby carriers and bags when they are tied around the back to hold something. Many people even carry an extra one to use as a rain coat during the rainy season to wrap around themselves if the weather changes. Basically, because of the tailors in town, zitenge can be made into anything for any purpose. ↩
3. This is not the dancing that we think of in America. Men and women do not dance facing each other and they usually dance apart, in different groups. Instead, it is a way to express gladness, and a social structure for innocent attraction. ↩

Message from Hope

Yesterday we received what might be our last communication directly with Hope until her return to the States on 11/26/12. She emailed that she was leaving  with mixed emotions: she loves Zambia and all the people that have captured her heart.in Namiwianga. Not knowing if she will ever see these people again until she gets to Heaven is very sad for her. On the other hand she is very excited to experience her last 3 weeks in Africa: visiting missionaries in Tanzania and Uganda, learning of their work and hoping to encourage them; going for a safari through the Serengeti on her final days there.

She said she has taken her final exams for the semester but still has to give two speeches and write three papers. The papers must be turned in by 12/1 so she'll have a few days on Harding's campus to hopefully complete all her work.

During the remainder of her time in Africa, we will not have definite contact with her. There may be an internet service somewhere along the way, but we're not assured of this. This is hard for us but God has taught us so much about trusting our children in His care during Hope's semester away.

Hope wants you to know--and we all agree--that your prayers mean so much to her during this time. God has opened a whole new world to her through this experience. She will never be the same! Thank you for your encouragement.

the Stanger family

Leaving Zambia for Tanzania

The last two and a half weeks since we got back from Mumena have flow by. We knew they would, but nevertheless, here we are incredibly surprised to be loading up and pulling out today after lunch. I hope that you'll be able to continue to get a picture of the things we've been doing and experiencing as more and more blog posts come through over the next few days (students are writing them, I'm just slow in posting them). Meanwhile, we're getting ready to visit missionaries in Tanzania and Uganda, to learn from them, their families, and their work, and to give us something with which we may compare our time at Namwianga. We're sad to leave the place we've called home since August 22, but we're excited for the learning opportunities ahead. 

Here's a quick rundown of the next few days of our travel:

Today after lunch, we'll drive to a place just outside of Lusaka to spend the night. Tomorrow, we'll get up, eat breakfast, and make our way to the airport to catch our early afternoon flight. After a short layover in Dar, we make the rest of our way to Mwanza, where we'll be greeted by members of the Mwanza team and Geita team. On Thursday, half of our group will stay in Mwanza, while the other half will go to Geita (about a two hour trip, including a ferry across Lake Victoria). We'll spend the weekend split into two groups to maximize the learning potential of those few days, before we come back together on Monday and leave for our drive through the Serengeti on Tuesday. 

En route to Jinja, Uganda, we'll be driving through the Serengeti, to the Ngorongoro crater, and on to the base of Mt Kilimanjaro, from which we'll fly to Entebbe. We fly out on Friday, and arrive midday to Entebbe. We'll be met at the airport by Bobby Garner who will escort us on to Jinja that day. 

If you are a parent of one of the students, I'll send you an email with specific flight information. 

If you're interested in the work we'll be seeing over the next few days, you can check out the websites for the Mwanza and Geita teams, as well as Bobby and Candice's work in Jinja:

http://missionmwanza.org/

http://missiongeita.org/blog/

http://bobandcan.wordpress.com/

Grace and peace,

Jeremy Daggett

HIZ 2012 Field Director

Reflections in the Glass

I do not know Luke, but reading his posting below makes me feel so connected to him.He is a Harding student participating in the Harding In Zambia program this semester. Luke writes of struggling with introversion and great doubts of why God chose him to experience this 'once in a life time' adventure. I greatly appreciate his honesty and transparency. I think the majority of us feel overwhelmed at times when we consider how and why God would use us, consider us, even desire us in His Kingdom. I hope I get to meet Luke when I visit the Harding campus later in the year. He speaks my language.

Nora

Reflections in the Glass

by Luke Larsen

I have a tiny shard of glass in my toe. A glass bottle broke in my room nearly a month ago, sending glass everywhere, and three weeks ago as I was running my feet over the rug like the dummy I am, I felt a shooting pain in my left big toe. I knew immediately what I had done, but after massaging my toe ever so gently I was sure that nothing had been left under the skin. I went about my day as normal, but I would occasionally have a sharp pain in that same toe. As any reasonable person would do, I diagnosed myself as having a glass splinter that would not decompose for millions of years securely secured under my skin. I took the necessary steps (e.g., not wearing my Chacos because they irritate my toe, learning to walk with that toe raised off the ground, and not walking barefoot in my room anymore, among other things) to learn to cope with this glass in my toe. Although I’ll occasionally jump and wince when I accidentally rub the toe wrong, I find that I can function almost as well as a Non-glass Toe (as we in the glass-in-toe community call people without glass splinters in their toe).

I also have a glass shard in my brain, in my thoughts, a shard much larger and much more intrusive than any physical glass shard in any toe. Like the splinter in my toe, I have learned to cope with this megashard that permeates every aspect of my life, every social interaction I have, every decision I make. This shard is the shard of doubt, the doubt of myself, of my abilities, and specifically here in the HIZ program it is manifested through my rather severe introversion.¹

The glass shard in my head talks to me. It says, “Luke, you’re an introvert in a program designed at its core for extraverts. Why are you here? Why are you robbing a much sought after spot from someone who would use his time much more wisely than you? Why do you take naps several times a week? Why do you sometimes miss out on a great opportunity for outreach by staying back at Namwianga when everyone else leaves?”

In addition, other people talk to me, not directly, but their words speak to me. They say, “Don’t ever miss out on an opportunity to go to the Havens/clinic/outreach/Havens/Havens/Havens. If you feel tired, suck it up. You can sleep when you’re dead. If you don’t feel well, suck it up. You’ll never have an opportunity like this again.” And this feeds my doubt. Deep inside I know that I can’t keep up such a sprint for very long. Yet at the same time I feel guilty whenever I go to my room to read or to nap or just to listen to some music, because I know that I truly am missing out.

However, as guilty as I feel temporarily isolating myself from the group (often at inopportune times) in order to preserve my already worn-thin sanity, it’s the normal introvert response to overwhelming involvement. The fact of the matter is that no matter how hard I try, if I over-involve myself, I will literally have a mental breakdown.

The first question, the question I ask myself daily, “Why are you even here if you can’t handle the pace?” still rings incessantly in my mind. I’m unsure of the answer. In a program so designed around going and going and going and going, in a culture so designed around community and people and being around people and doing things with people and participating in rituals and programs with people, it can certainly feel like there is no place for the introvert in HIZ. But one third of Americans are introverts, and that brings me comfort. Out of the twenty-six HIZers, statistically eight and two-thirds of us are introverts to some extent.

This doubt is what causes me to feel and to ask these things. Being an introvert has nothing to do with it. If there was no doubt in my mind about my place in HIZ, I wouldn’t even think twice about my introversion. Alternatively, if I were an extravert, the doubt would find something else to feed off of. The doubt is simply there and causes me to look for an excuse, a scapegoat, and the lot falls on my introversion, just as it could have fallen on any one of my other traits.

Eventually, hopefully, the glass shard will work its way out of my toe. I’ll be able to wear Chacos again, walk completely normally, and share stories of “a mighty piece of glass that pierced my toe so violently that I feared I would never walk again.” Without the constant reminder of what glass pieces can do to a man, I’ll begin to walk barefoot on the floor of my room once more. When I’m an old battle-worn grandpa, I’ll harken back to the good ole days where walking to and from school uphill both ways with glass shards in my toe was the norm. And eventually, when I’m very old, I’ll forget all about my glass splinter, and my life will be peaceful.

Likewise, the glass shard in my mind, the doubt that tells me I’m somehow not good enough to be used by God, will likely eventually come loose. Here’s the thing: Everyone has a glass shard in their mind, an insecurity of sorts, whether that’s low self-image, pride, lust, overwhelming sorrow, or a multitude of other possibilities. While these are all terrible and can in turn cause questions and other insecurities to arise, they all have the potential to work their way out of one’s life, and in the process of removing the shard from one’s life, lessons and principles and knowledge are gained. Transformation is a real thing. It happens. I’ve seen it happen. We’ve all likely seen it happen.

The glass shard in my mind says one thing, but the mind in which it lives says something else. The shard says, “Don’t put yourself through this program that is obviously ill-fit for you,” but the mind says, “Luke, you is kind; you is smart; you is important. You have a place here; you just can’t quite see it in its entirety yet.” It’s true that right now I don’t see it clearly, but I’m confident it’s there, and I’m always looking for it. Even at HIZ, the introverted doubter, the boastful extravert with low self-worth, and everyone in between have value. I know it.

---

1. For fear of sounding melodramatic or whiny, let me qualify some things. First of all, I will be writing from my perspective because that’s the only perspective I know well enough; I’m not saying that these issues are solely my own. Second, the Western world is designed around extraverts. This is fact. When the West says, “Be outgoing and full of energy” in order to get and secure your position in a good job, in order to participate in all the programs possible at school, in order to easily make friends, the extraverts of the world are ready to meet those challenges, and indeed they’re not really challenges at all if that’s how you get your kicks. The West rarely says, “Take time for you in order to recharge” because how does that benefit the world? How does that progress technology? How does that further relationships? It doesn’t, so it’s often shunned. It’s hard to measure, but allegedly one third of Americans are introverts. One third of Americans are living in a world ill-designed for them. Third, lest anyone think I’m inherently against introversion, I am not and I can’t even imagine being any other way. ↩

Pictures we didn't know existed...

The group at Victoria Falls (Hope--back row, middle right, pink shirt-1 month ago)




Phillip Habeggar, childhood friend, leading sermon on Solomon (1 month ago)


Namwianga Clinic


Mosquitto net covered bed with additional visitor. This is how Hope sleeps :)


Group having devotional in the morning. Hope is the girl in the green shirt in the right lower corner


Decorations for the George Benson Christian College graduation ceremony

Today four of our students and myself piled into a truck with two other Zambian medical providers to finish off the national measles campaign week. Every day we have sent four or five students out into surrounding villages to administer the measles vaccine to all kids between the ages of 6 months and 14 years old. Over the course of this week around 4,000 shots have been given. Our students are now very experienced in giving shots. What a blessing to work alongside the Zambian nurses and clinical officers and learn from them. They have been great this week to teach our students how to give a record number of shots in record amount of time…safely. (posted about a month ago)

holding class outside because there was no electricity (about a month ago)


additional hospital they worked at (about a month ago)





Every Thursday night the girls get together for Bible study and to share their lives. Hope is the 3rd from left in back row. Posted 2 weeks ago


Clinic day

Walking to the villages

We want to give our students the most immersive experience possible, but some things hinder that…fans, electricity, flushing toilets, electric ovens, american food, motored transportation…just to name a few. So we made it possible for students to spend a night out in a village with a Zambian. They went out in groups of 3-7, depending on how many the Zambian family could host. The girls all got to stay with one of the aunties from the Havens. The boys all stayed with Patrick, one of the night watchmen.
The experience began with out students walking out to their village while carrying their food and water for the next 24 hours (walks varied from 25 minutes to 2 hours). Once at the village, they learned to cook, went and got water from the nearest pump, played with children, sang around camp fires, ate nsima for every meal and hunted snakes.
They spent the night in the hut, and woke the next morning early enough to bathe, cook breakfast, eat, and make the walk back in to the Havens by 7:00 am, when the aunties begin their shift.

Every Friday night that we have been at Namwianga we have spent it at the Merritt’s singing. This past Friday night, instead of going to their house we went out to “The Rock” and had a campfire, ice cream, popcorn, singing, and star gazing. (about 2 weeks ago)

Saturday was a free day. The students were able to sleep in, we had a relaxing breakfast, and then after packing a sack lunch, we loaded up and drove to Chris’s Farm. A group of our students came upon this farm a couple weeks back and described it as “Heaven on Earth.” So, we did our research and turns out that the Calder’s know Chris. We were able to convince them that a group of 26 college students and 5 adults would be great guest for them to host at their pool. And that is just what we did. We spend the day swimming, ultimate frisbee, picnic lunch, bellyflop contest, and relaxing. It was a great getaway for our students to have a no pressure day to rest before we make a long trip to north Zambia next week. (about 2 weeks ago)

Hello from the Northern Zambia

(originally written 10/16/2012 by a Harding student)

We’re still in Northern Zambia for a few more days and we finally have Internet connection. Our trip here has been awesome so far, but I wanted to post about something from home in Namwianga last week. So this is from last week.

This is a unique year for George Benson in that a second student passed away last week. They’ve never had two students die in one semester. (I mentioned briefly that a boy in second year died about a month ago). I didn’t know Rachel, but I saw in chapel and at choir how much the students were affected by her death. Clifford, one of the students in third year, prayed in chapel the day after she died. I don’t remember everything he said, but it was so touching. I cried just listening to the sweet, honest prayer. He said,

God, our hearts hurt. You answered our prayer, but this is not the answer we asked for. Open our eyes to understand. She was not yet yet stable. She did not yet have a family and yet you took her anyway.

So we were really saddened by that. Also, we took a trip to Choma the other day. It’s about double the size of Kalomo and about 70 km away. Since its significantly bigger than Kalomo, it’s not as much of a novelty to see makuas (white people). Unlike in our hometown, no one followed us around or hassled us everywhere we went.

My two favorite things about our outing were #1 the citenges and jerseys were so cheap! Usually, people jack up prices because of our skin color. But each time I asked “maalinzi eci?” (how much is this?) I was told just 10,000 Kwacha ($2). So that was exciting. And #2… people got so excited each time we spoke Tonga. I’m not saying my vocabulary spans past 25 or so words (well, my useful vocabulary anyway. Yes, I know words like zebra, elephant, buffalo, and giraffe… but none of those are likely to help me in the market), but everyone loved when we’d greet them and ask about their days. I loved seeing the face of one elderly woman light up to reveal her toothless smile when I bent down lower than her, shook her hand and asked “Mwabukabuti” then smiled and said “Twaluma meningi, umbubo!” (thank you very much, bye!). As we’d walk, we heard people exclaiming “Makua…. Citonga!” we were glad to defy a small part of the stereotype white people have.

Jeremy said he got similar reactions as he carried mealie meal (cornmeal made from white corn that is needed for making nsima and porridge) over his shoulder through town.

God's Family

by River Campbell
I barely have time to fit all my activities in a day. Running from one event to the next, my day full to the brim, when do I actually see God? In Zambia, I’m away from my busy, exhausting life. One of the joys of being here is that living in another culture opens my eyes to the previously unappreciated. I am actually able to slow down, see God, and appreciate seeing His presence in the people around me.
I found myself sitting in a chair on the porch looking at someone I have never met and know nothing about. She is a Zambian and a student at George Benson Christian College. After introducing ourselves and spending time in small talk, we found common ground. She was a tutor for a girl in last year’s HIZ group. Then, her next statement caught me off guard. She said, “Oh, I have prayed for you and hoped that God would send me a dear friend that I could grow closer to and have a spiritual relationship with.” Wow. That was not what I was expecting! In that moment, I saw God because He was the common ground.
I walked into a house belonging to someone I have never met. There were plenty of people I didn’t know and I was quite intimidated to meet them. I was not prepared for what was about to happen. A song was led and voices rang out in praise, both Zambian and American, young and old. That moment of discomfort quickly vanished, and I couldn’t have felt happier and closer to these beautiful people. I soon met them after a night of singing, making me feel even closer to God. I felt at ease with people I had only met a few hours before. They made me feel welcomed and poured out their hearts to God with me. I saw God in that time of fellowship.
After worship one Sunday morning, I ducked my head and walked out of the dim hut. The line had already started forming long before it was my turn to greet every single person that had worshipped at church that morning. I looked into the faces of each and every person; it brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes. Although we could not get past a simple “hello” and “how are you,” I still felt joy, like I had known them for years. When I got to the end of the line, I turned around and saw some ladies singing and dancing. I joined in, and they taught us what they were singing. The joy and closeness I felt with these sisters just swept me away. Once again, I could see God in the faces and hearts of my brothers and sisters rejoicing in God.
After all of these moments, I realized that the same God I worship is the same God they worship. We are thousands of miles from home, yet I feel at home because we are bound together in the Lord. This is my family. Seeing Christ takes on a whole new meaning to me. It matters because God’s family extends past my family and my church family back home. It covers continents and oceans that I have never seen or crossed. Through all of the fellowship and experiences I have encountered in my short time here in Zambia, I have seen God in my Family.

A Glimpse

by Kaitie Wood
Cecilia Mukonbwe is an auntie at haven three. She works three nights and three days each week with Thursdays off. On her most recent free day, she allowed four college students to accompany her back to her home for 24 hours. She had spent the whole night prior taking care of the babies in haven 3. She scrubbed the walls and floors, cooked food, washed bottles, washed/folded laundry, and attended to the needs of the babies throughout the entire night. I was lucky enough to be one of those joining her after her long night.¹ We met her at 10 hours (that is, 10:00 a.m.) at the havens and began our 7 km trek to her home in Mutala. It was an easy walk, but very tiring. I couldn’t help thinking about how the woman leading us walks this path two times every day, and many times after a night without sleep. The morning we left with her was one of those sleep-deprived walks.
Upon arriving, Cece quickly introduced us to all of her children, nieces, and nephews and then began to cook what would be our lunch.² She cooked for hours only stopping to help us communicate with the kids when we were having trouble. The nsima, chicken, and chips (French fries) were delicious. After lunch, we traveled with our host to her garden about a mile away. Her garden is right next to the community water pump. We pumped water into our many buckets and watered her expansive garden. It was clear that she is a skillful gardener. Her plants are well cared for and intelligently protected. The minute we returned to her home with our water-filled containers, which we carried with our hands and she carried perfectly balanced on her head, she began to cook our dinner. She served us in her living room as she had done before and left us to enjoy our meal. While we ate, she cooked and served dinner to all of the kids outside.
After providing food for everyone around her, she finally ate for herself. While she ate, however, she continued to think about us. She roasted groundnuts (peanuts) as a snack for the four of us. We ate and talked and sang around the fire until we all needed to get some rest. Cecilia offered her bed and extra mattress (laid out on the floor) to her guests. Even though we opposed, wanting her to sleep in her own comfortable bed after a long night and day, she was adamant that we had to sleep more comfortably because we were visitors. Up before the sun Friday morning, she cooked our porridge and prepared our bath water. We ate and promptly splashed ourselves clean so that we would leave soon enough for her to get to work on time. Back at her place of work, she continued to put others before herself.
Never once did Cecilia stop thinking of others. She truly lives out selflessness like that from Philippians 2:3-4.³ She never stops working whether at work or at home. Being made in God’s image, she resembles Him through her love and concern and care for others. 1 John 4:12 explains that no one has ever seen God, but when we love we are making His love complete.⁴ I was able to see God in the life of Cecilia in such a short time. I believe that she shines his light so brightly because of her devotion to him. When I asked her about her favorite passage of scripture she quickly responded, “Ephesians 6 verses 10 through 20.⁵ I think of it every morning.” I only saw a tiny amount of this auntie’s life, but in that glimpse I was able to see a piece of the church, the love of Christ, and the beautiful determination of a woman working hard for others. She is wearing the armor of God and uses it for Him every day. The work of all the aunties here at Namwianga is inspiring. They are amazing, strong women and we could all learn so much about the art of selfless love from them.

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1. The opportunity to be even more immersed in the Zambian culture by staying with an Auntie is something that has not been done by any HIZ group prior. It is an amazing way to get to understand the home life of many women in this area of the world. Even though she would have to cook for us and provide a place for us to sleep, she was willing to do this. We were blessed to get to do this. ↩
2. In Cece’s village, everyone she lives with is related to her. All over Zambia there is a mindset of community and family with those that you live with/near, but in this instance everyone around were her actual family members. ↩
3. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (NIV) ↩
4. “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and love is made complete in us.” (NIV) ↩
5. “Finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.” (NIV) ↩

A Few Days in Mumena

Dearest friends and family of the 2012 HIZ group,

I hope you are resting well. The sun just rose here in the North-Western Province of Zambia, and in a couple hours the group will be eating breakfast and getting ready to take split up into four groups to visit four different churches in this area. 

We are in Mumena, Zambia, in the North-Western province, fairly close to the border of the Congo. In two days we drove from Namwianga to Mumena, and got here late Thursday evening. The point of this trip is to see a different style of mission, we're hosted by missionaries who are doing church planting and development work in this area in cooperation with the local chief (who we got to meet!) and church leaders throughout the area. We're being hosted by Rick and Karen Love and Sam and Ellie Rodriguez here at the Mumena Christian Outreach Center through tonight. We leave tomorrow morning..

On Friday morning, we heard from Sam and Rick about their team's strategy for this area (as developed originally by Brian Davis and others on the team) and the story of their work here. Then Rick taught about how he and his team have dealt with witchcraft and other animist beliefs here in the area. After lunch we had free time, which we spent with the families. Before dinner, Rick and Karen shared some of their story with the group and and answered questions specifically related to "Families on the Mission Field," i.e. what is it like to have kids and raise a family in Zambia. 

As dinner was about to get started Friday night, Chief Mumena, the leader (by heritage/descendants) of this area, came by to welcome us to his chiefdom. He spoke some about how British colonialism had come in and worked with, through, and around the historical kingdoms in Zambia, and after Zambia gained independence, how the area chiefs work together with the elected officials to govern. It was fascinating to hear his story, a Christian who was chosen by the tribal matriarchs to be chief, but because of his refusal to believe in the ancestors' protection was told he wouldn't last a day on "the throne". He has used his position as chief to share his story and faith in Jesus throughout Zambia. He has even been to Abilene to share some of this story with the church who supports the work (along with others who attend the benefit dinner). We sang some songs with the chief and his wife before calling it a night.

Yesterday morning we had an early breakfast and hit the road for a two hour drive to Meheba Refugee camp. This camp has a long history, and, by land mass, is one of the largest in the world. It is so big that, as you drive through it, it looks like you are driving in any other part of the bush in Zambia, with different small collections of mud huts and other small shelters. 

We went to visit one of the churches at the camp who had set up a "gospel meeting" with singing, preaching, and praying. Three of our guys preached (and were translated into Swahili) and our whole group performed about ten songs, some in Tonga (which isn't spoken as much in this province), one in Ubale (more common up here), one in French (spoken some by those who speak swahili), and English. It was a lot of fun, this group of students is incredible. Kaitlin Plachy taught us "Lord, Reign in Me" in French as we drove up to the camp, and a few lessons in French phonetics later, we were performing it. When I get the chance I'll post part of the video I took of us singing.

While it was similar to other meetings we've been to so far, the differences are profound. When we start to ask questions of why people have ended up where they are, the refugees have completely different answers. While we didn't get to hear many of their stories, we did get to eat, sing, pray, and read with them, and all the while think and ask questions about systemic injustice and a Christian's place in all of this.

We got back to the Mumena Mission yesterday evening and completely shifted gears. We ate dinner, celebrated River's birthday with a delicious cake,  and got dressed up to help the American kids celebrate Halloween. All of our students got dressed up and had candy to give out, and the kids came by and "Trick-or-Treat"-ed. After visiting all of the student rooms, they walked over to their playground that had been set up as a "Spooky Playground" and had fun being led through that. 

We closed last night with some singing before showering and going to sleep. 

This morning we're splitting up into four groups to visit 4 different churches in this area. Even though we'll be in smaller groups, the "Harding Chorus" will likely be asked to perform in each location, so we're splitting up our guys and girls as best we can to perform songs. I love hearing our group sing and hearing our guys preach; it will be impossible this morning to hear it in every place, but you can be proud of your students who are doing an admirable job of encouraging both American missionaries, refugees from the Congo, Rwanda, Angola, and Burundi, and Zambian Christians wherever they go.

Well, that's the best I can do for now. Hopefully I'll have a chance to send out another update before we make it back to Namwianga on Thursday. You can probably look for some pictures in the next few days as I'm sure students will be posting things once we get somewhere with an internet connection. 

Grace and peace,

Jeremy Daggett

HIZ 2012 Field Director

Heading North: learn from missionaries & visit refugee camp

Dear Family and Friends,

Time is flying as we're now well into October. We have less than a month left in Zambia before our travel through Tanzania and Uganda. We're constantly reevaluating what we're trying to accomplish individually and collectively so that we can make the most of every opportunity while we're here. 

We ask for prayers for Petra Malmquist and her family. She had to go home on Monday morning because of a family emergency. While I can't go into detail here, I simply ask that you pray for God's peace on her as she has left our tight-knit group and returned early. 

This morning we leave Namwianga for the NorthWestern province where we'll visit the missionaries in Mumena. The purpose of this trip is to visit the missionaries who live there (http://www.mumenamissions.org/) and learn from them, seeing a different missions model from what we're used to seeing here at Namwianga. We leave this morning at 07:30 and will travel all the way through to the other side of Lusaka, and stay in a hotel tonight. As we go through Lusaka, we'll pick up Evertt Huffard, Dean/VP of Harding School of Theology; he is the final faculty member for HIZ2012. He'll be with us through the end of the HIZ program. The group actually took my Missionary Anthropology final yesterday afternoon as we've met 4-5 times a week for the first half of the semester so that we could give the time necessary to a missions class Dr Huffard will be offering during his time here. 

Tomorrow is our long day of travel. We'll leave at about 07:30 again and hope to get to Mumena before dark. We'll make some stops for fuel and for bathrooms but our goal is just to make it to Mumena as soon as possible. 

At Mumena we'll be taking a few classes with the missionaries who work there, we'll be dressing up for an early trick-or-treating with the American kids, and visiting some of the churches in different villages. We visit one of the world's largest refugee camps while we're there and will meet and worship with the Congolese Christians. 

After several days in Mumena, we'll take our time coming back, staying the night at 3 different places and enjoying some time of relaxation before we get back to Namwianga to finish off the semester of classes. We plan to arrive back at Namwianga sometime on Thursday, the 18th of October. 

Most of the group will be out of contact (by phone or email) during much of this trip, but you may always contact me should you need to speak with any of the students. I'll be checking email regularly and will have my phone. 

As a reminder, my phone number is 011 260 965 942 697

My wife, Katie's number is 011 260 972 076 911

Janice Bingham's number is 011 260 965 942 699

While we're on the road our cell reception will be spottier, but when we're in Mumena and at our hotels/lodges along the way, you should be able to reach me without any problem.

Grace and peace,

Jeremy Daggett

HIZ 2012 Field Director 

HIZ 2012 students

How Beautiful the Feet

by Holly Sullivan

I’ve heard the metaphor of the church being like the actual body of Christ my whole life. Since I can remember, I’ve been taught that each person has something to contribute to the Kingdom of God. Some are good listeners while others are better encouragers. Some have the ability to meekly serve, drawing people to Christ, while others speak with boldness proclaiming the wonders of God’s goodness. Our group of 27 students proves this metaphor to be spot-on. We have quiet servants and those ready to initiate conversations; we have people who speak the truth of God into the lives of others and those who lead by their love.

One particular portion of this metaphor has shown itself to me more and more as the days keep progressing: the feet. Something so unkempt, but so necessary. Feet. The part of the body that takes the Word and the power of God to people across every border.

Our group has encountered so many people here who perform the duty of the feet: Meagan Hawley, a woman who has just moved back to the Namwianga Mission indefinitely so that she can give her whole being to the children at the Havens. Fighting day and night for the orphans’ lives. Roy and Kathy Merritt, servants who have dedicated years upon years of their life to the boys of Eric’s House and prison ministries. In their sixties they are still serving the youth of Namwianga. Not to mention the countless Zambians here at Namwianga who have been touched in some way by Jesus Christ, and are taking it upon themselves to spread what they know to their companions and families. It is remarkable to meet people who have been raised in an incredibly different context, whose upbringing, struggles, and experiences are so foreign to what I know. To see them act in a way that truly represents the transformational power of the Good News is a challenge. It causes me to look inward and see what it is that I am doing for the Kingdom.

If I had heard the stories of these people about a month ago from a blog like many of you are reading, it probably wouldn’t impact me very much. In fact, it would almost seem like a lifestyle that is not only unlikely, but unrealistic for me to be a part of. But that was a month ago.

Being here at the Mission, seeing, listening, touching these people through whom God is doing incredible things, has made the feet come alive to me in ways I thought were fiction. The missionaries and the Zambian people that are working together here in Kalomo are common people. When I met them there weren’t any beams of light coming off of the crowns of their head or any background music. They are people like me. Meagan laughs at the same things I do. Mr. and Mrs. Merritt love to sing like I do. The Zambian people love to play sports and get excited when they make a new friend just as much as I do. These aren’t artificial robots living in a whimsical African world. These are real life people like me doing things that frighten them, just like it would frighten me. I am witnessing the church in action. Seeing people actually doing what the Bible talks about. And I’m realizing that I am also capable of doing it.

Having all of these observations and realizations makes me question and reassess what body part I actually am. Am I a foot? Is this kind of life that the Lord has in mind for me? I’m starting to notice characteristics in myself that would fit perfectly into this kind of living. I love my family more than life itself but I don’t find myself becoming weary with homesickness. I love my friends and the life I have back home, but I don’t find myself dying to keep in constant communication. I feel fulfillment and purpose when there are 6 toddlers crawling and drooling all over my legs. After having several conversations with a few of the people here I feel like I’ve found bonds I’ve been looking for my whole life. This is not to say the people here are better or that friends from home lack anything. It is simply the culture of relationship taking precedence over time. It allows connections to flourish the way they were meant to.

So have I encountered these people to confirm my calling? Was God’s purpose for me coming on this trip to show me what I wished I could do, I actually can do? There are so many of these kinds of questions and uncertainties from a number of people in our group and we are scrambling to try and keep all of our thoughts together. If this is the part of the body some of us are supposed to be, how will God let us know? What will tell us if this is right or if we would better serve as something else?

I wish I knew the answer, but with two months left I’m still on the journey. I haven’t figured out what or where or how long. And although I don’t know right now, if I keep searching to know the heart of God and figuring out who He is, maybe I can learn what it is He expects from me. I am supposed to be a representation of Him. So to know Him more intimately will give me insight on what it is I am supposed to be. And whether it is a mouth or an ear or a foot, in Africa or back home, I pray that I will have the courage to contribute everything I have to offer to the work of His body.