First Week in Mumena

Well, it’s been almost a week since we left the US and we have had little communication since.  The internet is very slow here and emails, pictures, facebook, etc. are going to be more difficult than we expected so please be patient with us as we try to work a good system out.  We will hopefully be updating at least once a week.  After a nervous and stressful departure with all the weather issues in Atlanta, 8 hours later we landed in London.  Then an 8 hour layover in London prepared us for the 10 hour flight to Lusaka, Zambia, the capital city.  Miraculously we made it through immigration and were joyously greeted by all of our luggage!  Once we exited the airport we were greeted with jumping and excited cousins, Noah and Bryson, along with our Uncle Brian and Aunt Sondra.  We loaded up the trucks and after another 9 hour drive we finally arrived in Mumena.

The last several days have been dedicated to nest building.  We are settling into our mud hut with a tin roof, which is amazing a night as we are serenaded by the rainfall.  The rainy season is gorgeous.  Everything is so lush and green.  There are wild flowers everywhere.  The trees are tall and expand widely at the top.  Birds fly around and chirp all day long. 

Living is different here.  The electricity has gone out three times in the few days that we’ve been here. It is very muddy everywhere we walk as it rains almost everyday.  The real blessing has been having family and other teammates here that have helped us get set up.  We’ve already been to the market to get all our foods and necessities for a while.  Let me just say, it is not like BILO.  The road in town is full of people on either side.  Driving can be difficult and dangerous.  The market is dusty and crowded, but is a great cultural experience.  We do have a Shoprite that works as a supermarket, but you never know what they will and will not have.  For instance, there were no eggs in the entire store.  It is also somewhat scary when you check out and the cash register reads 1.5 million kwacha(Zambian currency).  The exchange rate is 4500 to 1 US dollar. 

So far the highlight of us being here is reuniting with old friends and seeing the church that I originally worked with 4 years ago doing very well.  I wanted to show you a short clip of the singing inside of the mud-bricked church.  However, video uploading is not going to work at the moment.  I will post something soon though. There were 89 members there that morning.  It was completely lead by the Zambians, but of course I was informed that I would be leading the communion thoughts shortly before we had communion.  But a phrase that you will learn in living here is TIA- “This is Africa”  Well that’s all for now.  Hopefully we will be writing again soon. 

Blessings and thank you all for all your prayers, we have truly felt God’s presence this week.

Jeremy and Whitney