What a difference a week makes

It has been a week since we arrived in Zambia. Looking back it feels on one hand like much longer while on the other it feels like yesterday that we left from Pearson International airport in still freezing conditions with snow on the ground. Here in Lusaka the rains are coming down almost every day and the temperature is around 27C (80F). And often when it rains, it really rains. Some of the roads that we travel on regularly are often flooded after a thunderstorm and it gets pretty muddy.

The difference in weather is amazing and at the same time assuring since we are on opposite sides of the equator and we need the different seasons. Yesterday we showed some pictures of the fall colours around our place to some of the staff and they thought it were flowers on trees that were blooming. For them it is hard to understand that "dying leaves" can have such a beauty. Here they have the rainy season which is predominantly green and after that the dry season which is mostly brown of dried grass and leaves. God's creation is an amazingly well-balanced system with an astonishing diversity.

This past Sunday we went to Lusaka Baptist Church which was a bigger church than we expected. At the moment the pastor was praising God for the rains that had finally come (about a month and a half late) is started pouring again and the noise of the rain on the roof forced him almost to interrupt his prayer. It was as if God at that moment wanted to make it clear to everyone that He is in control. It also made us realize how dependent the people are on the rains. Without the rains there is no new growth of grass, fruits and crops and also the water supply runs low in many areas. In Canada we are more removed from the immediate impact of the weather and nature on our daily lives. If anything, we complain about the snow and the havoc it creates on our commute to work. Here the people praise God for the rains, even when they get soaking wet.

In the afternoon we visited the local crafts market at the Arcades and bought some paintings for the house. Machteld did her usual bartering again and got away with some pretty descent deals. We also ran into Kevin and Tina DeKam with their kids and Kevin's parents and grandmother. It was nice to catch up with them briefly. We're sure that we will see each other much more in the coming weeks and months.

Monday and Tuesday we spent mostly looking for furniture for our house. We ended up buying some couches for the living room and a bed for Lucinda. The bed sizes here are different than in North America. The beds a quite a bit shorter here (only 188cm) and with Gert being 190cm we are looking for a longer bed. There are beds that are 200cm long but they have to order them from South Africa and it takes about 4 weeks for it to arrive. So we'll probably look around a little more to see whether we can find an "extra long" bed in one of the stores around town.

Today they will deliver the first furniture for the house and we hope that in the next few weeks we will be able to find enough so that we can move into our new place. Right now we still have most of our stuff in our suitcases which is fine for a little while but it gets a bit annoying when you need something that happens to be on the bottom of the suitcase. We might bring some of the more general things to the new house tomorrow as well and create some more space in our suitcases.

Driving on the "wrong" side of the road is something you get used to fairly quickly. It turns out to be not as strange as expected. The only thing you really have to get used to is the fairly aggressive driving style of some people. Some drivers are really careless and will cut you off at any moment just to get ahead a little faster. A defensive driving style is certainly something that will keep you on the road longer. Also the priority rules are not as clear as we are used to. It sort of seems that whoever is the most daring just goes first. I am sure that there are rules but we haven't been able to figure them out yet. And as in many other countries the bus drivers are the worst. They drive as if they have all the rights and that everyone has to get out of the way for them. Often they have Christian sayings on their bus, but you wonder what they really mean by it.

We know that God is in control and that he has a plan for each and everyone of us. We just have to take the time to listen to Him and seek His guidance. In the busyness of our world we often forget to take enough time to listen. The Zambian certainly is more in tune with trying to listen to God and find His ways for their lives and their work. It is something that we can learn from them and make sure that we take the time to listen.

We want to thank everyone for their continued prayer support. We are thankful that everything has gone amazingly well so far. God has been good, very good to us. Greetings from all three of us.