Impacting Mpanshya

One of our team mates, Van Thompson, had this to say about the distribution of the buckets:

"My part of the distribution focused on Aids sufferers within the Mpanshya area, including a visit to the patients in the hospice at the local hospital. Those to whom we ministered were enrolled in a home based care program and thus will continue to be monitored. Although it is difficult for me to remember all of the details of each individual who received one of the "buckets of blessings," the overall ministry experience is one that I will never forget.

Perhaps it is just best if I share some general impressions/observations. Aids not only impacts individuals, but also touches entire family units - and often in unexpected ways. For example, there was the grandmother who was entrusted with the care of her 15 year old grand-daughter. Since the medicines the young teenager is taking are so strong, they are supposed to be taken with food. The grandmother sometimes goes without eating so that the grand-daughter has the food for her time of taking the medicine.

In our two days of distribution we saw that disease is no respecter of persons. We ministered to the 8 year old little orphan (who looked to be 80) and to older grandparents, to male and female, to individual sufferers and whole family units, and to the poor and the poorer.

Will our "supplies" extend the life of an individual? My answer would be "perhaps." Will the "buckets of blessings" improve the quality of life? My answer would be "undoubtedly." Some were so overjoyed beyond measure with that which they received that their whole body spoke of thankfulness. Some were so caught up in the grips of their disease that the best that they could offer was a simple "thank you." All were touched by the love of their brothers and sisters in America and were thrilled to know that you care about their suffering - and most especially they were thrilled with this reminder that God cares for them."

These two pictures were taken at the local hospital.

Van Thompson ministering to those who have AIDS.

Luke Mwila, local baptist and home based care worker, explains what is in each of the buckets to the patients.

Patient testing out the lotion.

Many times we had to walk some distances to get to the homes of the patients.
What a small sacrifice on our part to be able to help so many.

This woman's children were looking on, eager to see all that was in that bucket.

Kevin's Experience

I have witnessed to a lot of people in my life in a lot of different situations. As a Christian I try to be as intentional as possible and take advantage of opportunities the Lord gives me to share the gospel, however as a missionary it often just comes with the territory. This was the case for this "Buckets of Love" project. We had designed the project so half the time of each visit would be spent explaining the bucket and half the time would be spent sharing the gospel with the patients and caregivers. I was overwhelmed at the response of people as we witnessed to them. People here are often responsive to the gospel, but they don't always seem broken. What surprised me the most was how in each sharing of the gospel, the patients especially, seemed to hang on my every word. Often times they seemed more interested in the gospel presentation than in the bucket itself. Many of them prayed to receive Christ, but the thing that struck me the most was how eager they were to do it. I tried to make sure they understood the commitment involved, and made it clear that they should not pray just to please me or because they had received a bucket. However, on more than one occasion they answered, "No I want to receive Jesus because I don't know if I will be here tomorrow or not... this is my last chance." Of course that is true for all of us, but I was overwhelmed when I realized that these people lived with the certainty of the sentence each and every day. Even those who are HIV positive and are doing well because of ARVs, know that it has only bought them some time and quality of life. They know that eventually their time will run out. I have never sensed such utter hopelessness and despair, and yet such a desire in someone to cling to the hope of Jesus alone. If only I could live my life with such brokenness, and cling to Jesus alone as my only source of hope and strength.

Day 2-Buckets of Love

Today, my little team of 5 went out to deliver some buckets of love. Pastor Daka and 3 home based care workers went with me in the Kamilulu area. Kevin went in the area of Chimusanya and Van went to Mpanshya. We were able to make 3 visits but talked to 7 patients plus family members. It really isn't that hard to draw a crowd when a white woman is walking through the bush. We had a good day ministering to those in need. Pastor Daka shared some encouraging words from the Bible. Then I shared the story of the Prodigal Son and shared my testimony. Miriam expained everything in the bucket and how to use it. Then we took turns praying for the patient. At our last home we visited with a husband and wife who both were HIV positive. The husband said, "This morning I prayed that God would help us today in some way. Now, you have come and brought us these things and encouraged us. We are so thankful that God heard our prayer." As I reflected on what that man said I shared with everyone sitting under this little hut that God Knows All. God knew many months ago while the churches in America were putting these buckets together that Bambo Sakala was going to cry out for help on Jan. 30th, 2009. He also knew how long the shipment was going to take to get here and how long it was going to be held in customs. He also knew how long it would take us to plan this event. It was no mistake that we went there on this day, on the very day that he had prayed. God heard this mans prayer and orchestrated the events of the five of us to bring us to his house on this day. God is truely AWESOME!

This is Dorine who also received a bucket of love.

This is Dorine's son. When I came walking up to their home he ran out and wrapped his little arms around my legs. Then when I was leaving he didn't want me to go. This was a first for me because most often out in the rural areas the children are not used to seeing white people and they cry if you even look at them for longer than 3 sec.

The woman in the yellow shirt, Violet, was the patient at this home. She is also pregnant and has several other children running around. Pray for good health during her last couple of months of pregnancy. Pray also that the virus will not be passed down to her baby.

This was our team that went out together.

Buckets of Love -first visit

Our first visit out with the home based caregivers was to the home of Rafael Mumba who is HIV positive. After greeting him and sitting down the whole family came to sit with us and see why we were there. Rafael was thankful for all the supplies in the bucket. They will really help him in the days ahead as he deals with this disease. Luke Mwila explained everything that was in the bucket so that the family would know how to use everything properly. Then Kevin shared the gospel using Creation to Christ. Then Pastor Daka shared some more from the Word of God and gave Rafael the opportunity to pray. He wanted to pray to receive Christ right there with us. Rafael and his family say "thank you" to all those in America that helped put the buckets together and then have them shipped here for those in need. It was great to be a part of not only helping him to receive Christ but to also be able to help him physically with everything in the bucket.
Please continue to pray for Rafael as he suffers with this disease. Pray that he will grow in his new relationship with Christ. Pray for our team as we continue to give these buckets to the many that are suffering.
If you are interested in giving to BGR or even knowing more about them, there is a link on the right side of this blog.

Rafael Mumba with his BGR bucket.

Luke Mwila explaining things in the bucket.

These are some of the children there.

The family all listening to everything.

Our group leaving.

This is the Mumbas home.

Buckets of Love

Baptist churches in three states; Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee recently helped pack 1,378 “In-Home Care Kits” or “Buckets of Love.” The items in the buckets will be a tremendous blessing to families that must care for terminally ill relatives at home because access to health care is so limited. And although there are more than 22.5 million s and children in Sub-Saharan Africa who are living with the HIV virus, the need extends beyond even those families. Thousands of people in the region die at home each year from sicknesses like cancer, tuberculosis, malaria, and other life-ending diseases. In-home care is all the care they will receive.

The buckets include a wide range of everyday supplies needed by a caregiver – from lotions, ointments, and vitamins to bedding, bandages, and thermometers. The “Buckets of Love,” which were packed in five-gallon plastic buckets – were delivered to the Baptist Fellowship of Zambia’s human needs program in December. Our team is going out over the next couple of days to deliver some of these buckets to families that have terminally ill patients in the Manenekela area. Pray that the use of these items by loving caregivers will show the love and compassion Jesus Christ has for the terminally ill. Pray that they would come to know the True Hope that comes from a personal relationship with Him.

Today we met with some of the home based care people in our area to show them the buckets and discuss the distribution. In these two pictures, Kevin is explaining what each item is and how to use it. Today, we were able to make one visit and I'll write about that later. Tomorrow and Saturday our team will split up into two groups and give out these buckets. Since we saw one of my patients today I only need to go and visit 6 tomorrow. Kevin and Van have many more to see over the next couple of days. Please pray for our team as we go out, to be able to reach each location without problems(because of rain/mud), be a light for Jesus, that we will share hope to the hurting, and that we would be an encouragement to all we come in contact with.

Construction in Chongwe

For the last couple of weeks there has been some road construction in our little boma town, Chongwe. They have been making roads where roads have never been before or where there were just paths. Yesterday, we were surprised when we got home to find that they are also doing the road in front of our house. They just did one side of the road, knocking down everything that was in its path. This included our beautiful hedge, a small mango tree, and another tree. They then left all of this mess in front of our gate. Thankfully, it did not rain during the night and they came back today and did the other side of the road. The supervisor said that they will pave these roads next year. Well, I will believe it when I see it. I'm afraid that when it rains there will be a big mess coming down this hill in front of our house, sure hope not though. We have always felt like we were in the bush but with all this road construction and new houses going up everywhere we are losing that bush feeling. Lots of people were out just watching this big contraption going down the road. We heard that in one place a woman started throwing stones at the driver because he had knocked down all of her plants. I didn't throw rocks but I sure wasn't happy either.

Hannah took this pic. of Dorcas and Mapalo out in front of our gate. I thought she did a good job with this picture.

Cooking 101

Girls, do you remember when you were little and you would watch your mama stir something really fast and be amazed that it didn't spill out of the bowl? Sometimes, Mom's make things look so easy. Today, Hannah wanted me to oversee her making scrambled eggs. When she was stirring the eggs in the bowl before putting them in the pan she tried to stir fast like me. She said, "Mama, how do you stir so fast?" I showed her how to do it but told her that in time she would get faster also. I remember having that same conversation with my mom when I was little and I did get faster with time and so will Hannah. By the way, the eggs turned out great. She added a little cheddar cheese and bacon bits-our favorite!

Driving Slow....

Yesterday afternoon I went out with two of my ministry friends Amai Mwachamota and Amai Betty. We wanted to go visit our friend Amai Banda who has diabetes and her leg had to be cut off at the knee(I have written about her before). She is doing great and has even gotten an artificial leg that she can take on and off to help her get around better. She is even going back to church which is about 1-2 kms. from her home and climbing the stairs to get there. Isn't that amazing? Amai Mwachamota shared some scripture with her to encourage her and then I prayed for her. It was a great visit and we came away encouraged also.
On our way out Amai Banda's son asked if him and his second wife and baby could have a ride with us back to Chongwe. Yes, I did say second wife. His first wife was this woman's sister who also has a young baby. We all piled in the car and almost immediately Amai Mwachamota and Amai Betty started witnessing to him and sharing their testimonies. They were telling him the Truth, let me tell ya. I just smiled, prayed, and drove slow so that they could get it all in. What should have taken about 15 min. to get home took me 30. Oh well, this man and woman got to hear the gospel. He said he would go home and look up some of those scriptures. Pray for this couple to come to Know and Believe in God. Pray also for my friends to continue to be a light in this dark world. I was so proud of them both!