Dear all,
Let me tell you briefly about my morning. I do this, not to emphasize how many miles we're putting on the cruiser driving it around, but rather, to show just how much fun it is to work with this incredible group of students as our days get busier and busier.
Since we start class every day at 06:30, the early risers (both of them) get to the Hamby around 06:00. This means that by 6, two pots of coffee are already brewed and the hot water for tea and hot chocolate is ready.
This particular Friday morning, Addie, Aubrey, Kaitlin P., and Seth, scarfed down a bite of breakfast and packed a lunch while the rest of the group started Tonga class. At 06:45, we left for Namwianga Basic Christian School, where I dropped them off to spend the entire day observing a day of school. Portions of the group have already been to the Basic a couple times and have taught classes, but the goal of these four this morning was to research for a day, so that they can help teach at the Basic in ways that are most helpful. Teaching in Zambian ways.
After I dropped them off at the Basic, I drove over to the orphanage to pick up the four girls who had spent the day Thursday and Thursday night out in the village with one of the aunties. The aunties get one day off a week, and yesterday, River, Molly, Kailey, and Kaitlin W. spent almost 24 hours with one of the aunties, walking 4 miles home with her, cooking, gardening, eating, singing, and sleeping. They woke up early to eat breakfast and walk the 4 miles back to the Havens by 07:00.
Members of our group are at the orphanage daily. Part of our group "helping" there involves not only holding babies, but getting to know the babies' regular caretakers, the aunties. This is the only way we can best help, working within the system that's already in place rather than disrupting it with our presence. Learning to take care of the babies in Zambian ways. Our girls witnessing a day in the life of an auntie is one invaluable, probably immeasurable, experience that is integral to this goal of helping at the orphanage.
We drove back to the Hamby and ate a bite of breakfast, before we loaded up another part of the group to spend the morning at Namwianga Rural Health Center (the clinic). Janice, Louisa, and Katie each model "helping in Zambian ways" as they deal with the joys and frustrations of working at a clinic that is run very differently than clinics in the US. This morning, some of our students will be in the examination rooms seeing patients with them, while others will work with Zambian clinical officers and nurses.
I rushed back from the clinic to attend chapel at George Benson with the rest of our group and the GBCCE college students. As soon as chapel ended, I met with Ba Rogers Namuswa, the head of the Church Planting and Development at Namwianga. On Saturday and Sunday, our group will participate in a gospel meeting not too far away, preaching, teaching, singing, and cooking. Ba Namuswa and I coordinated our schedules so that we can have people in all the right places. Saturday, many of us will be together. Sunday, 5 girls are spending 24 hours in a village with an auntie, some will be at Namwianga, 3 guys with Ba Namuswa with the prison ministry, other girls leading a church service at the havens for the aunties, and still others at a nearby village church.
That's our plan for the next couple days.
I say all this to say, these students are phenomenal. HIZ has been blessed with yet another incredible group and it's an honor to work and learn together with them.
The Global Missions Experience is going on this weekend at Harding University at Takodah (HUT - about 40 minutes away from Searcy). We'd like to think that we represent a small part of the very same Global Missions Experience. It's a learning process, learning how best to use the gifts God has given us, and how appropriately to channel our passion to "help".
Whether this weekend at HUT, this semester in Zambia, or at HUF, HUE, HUA, or HUG, we are all on a lifelong journey of learning our place in this big world. God's Mission transcends us, yet we work and learn and participate in order to find our point of contact with God's global Mission in 2012.
Grace and peace,
Jeremy Daggett
HIZ 2012 Field Director
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