This is the first thing I saw when I woke up and walked out of my room the other morning. I have no idea how he got up there.

So goes another month.........

Let me first start off by saying that I typed out a prayer letter/update not long ago and sent it out to everyone. A few days went by and I was actually a little sad because only 2 people had responded to it. But as it turns out, the internet was to blame. A couple of days ago I got an email stating that my prayer letter was not sent to nearly everyone on my list. All of the addresses that failed to deliver were hotmail addresses…so if you have a hotmail account, sorry.


Last month we took Stephanie's brother to see the falls and to go on a game drive. We were very disappointed near the end because we had not seen the elephants. As we are driving out we look out our window and see these guys. Talk about feeling a little intimidated!!


Me and Steph



Linus and Chikulu. Aren't our kitties cute!



A boy from Shantumbu.


This week I began many new ministries. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I will be teaching CBS in a new area. It is just a few kilometers past State Lodge Baptist Church (where I taught last time). Viniya is helping me again by translating. To get to our location, I have to drive through a farm, and in one stretch of the drive I have to drive through a herd of cows. When I went on Monday I was laughing hysterically at the situation. I was creeping on along and honking my horn to get the cows to move. It was a wonderful time to have a camera handy (and wouldn’t you know I did not have one). Actually the place I am teaching is behind Veniya’s home in a building that used to be a chicken house but has been converted into a church. On Tuesdays I am teaching a religious education class to six 8th graders at a new school in town. I am hoping this little stint will answer a question of mine, “Do I want to be a teacher when I get back?” And on Thursdays I am teaching a Bible club at Lusaka International Community School (LICS). I went there today and had a great time! Helen Neely is helping me. The kids at that school are too adorable! I am excited to see what the Lord will do there. Today was our first day and we only had 4 signed up to attend. When the children were leaving for their activities, there were 3 of the cutest boys (about 1st grade) left standing quietly in a line looking lost and scared to death. They had signed up to play board games but board games got cancelled due to little interest. So the man in charge of activities told the boys to come to Bible club (I think it is only because we were standing right there…but we’ll take ‘em however we can get ‘em!). Lucky us! So our attendance ended up being 7 children.


Bible club @ LICS. We were coloring our pictures of creation.


A couple of weeks ago I had my wallet stolen along with my passport and bank card. I have to admit that I was a little upset with the situation. I was pick-pocketed (and I think I know exactly when it happened). We were at a craft market that we go to on the last Saturday of the month. It is a good thing Stephanie was there with all her smarts. I could not really think straight or focus. So she took me to a police station to file a report. Surprisingly, the whole police ordeal was relatively painless. Praise the Lord!



Last month Steph and I helped with a volunteer group who came through to work in orphanages. This is a picture of the big event we would throw for the kids at the end of the week. It was like a field day. The children seemed to really enjoy themselves. There were about 5 orphanges on this Friday.


At the beginning of the month we said goodbye to our friend and fellow journeyman, Tommy Knighten. His term was up and he was headed back to his home of Shreveport, La. He even went to Tech. Too bad we had to go to Africa to meet each other. We all miss ole Tommy, but we probably do not miss him as much as Stephanie. You see, Stephanie and Tommy are what you call “getting’ hitched”. Yep, that’s right, friends, Stephanie and Tommy are engaged and will be getting married in May 2004. Stephanie will finish her term here on October 9, and go back home to Richmond, Va. I’ll be sad when Steph leaves but I will also be happy for her as she returns home and prepares for the future.


This was early in the morning. I was helping Tommy cook breakfast for Stephanie.


This is the lion that lives in our backyard. He is somewhat domestic, he only scratches and doesn't bite. Okay, so maybe he lives at the zoo and not in our yard.

For all of you who are familiar with The Commission magazine, the August 2003 edition features Zambia. Now I did not make the cut for the article, but Stephanie’s ankles did! They appear in the corner of a picture. The article focuses on the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, specifically Zambia. If you are unable to obtain of copy of it for yourself, you can read it online at www.tconline.com (although I am not sure if it is up yet).


Me and Stephanie eating lunch during our most recent trip out to Shantumbu. We are sharing nshima and rape (like collard greens). Actually Steph is pulling the weight of the team and taking up my slack. The last time we came to Shantumbu I got incredibly sick...so i could not bring myself to eat here again, at least not without having flashbacks of that miserable night spent hanging over the toilet. So i was just taking my nshima and rolling it around and pretending.

The Baptist Mission of Zambia now has a website (thanks to mastermind Tommy Knighten). So you can get to know our different teams and check out everything that is going on in the different areas of Zambia. My team is the Greater Lusaka Area Team (GLAT). The address is www.bmoz.org . The site is brand new so there might not be much information up yet but keep checking it!



Sleeping beauties. Sweet baby Linus! He is definitely a cuddler.