Monday, our family went to Livingston for a couple of days of vacation and fun. We arrived around 3:00 and got settled at our lodge and then went out to do a game drive until 6:30. We almost didn't go because of the time of year(rainy season) the grass was so tall. We were thinking we wouldn't see many animals. Well, we were wrong. We saw a lot of animals and it was so much fun especially for Hannah. It has been so long since she had seen animals so it was almost like her first time. Because of time I'm going to have to break up our trip into different blog posts so stay tuned for more.
Almost as soon as we drove in we saw this croc. sitting up on the road.
Isn't this precious of a mother and its baby?
Those are hippos out in the water.
I love Giraffe. They are my favorite African animal.
This elephant was trying to hide in the bushes.
This Giraffe walked right in front of our vehicle and crossed to the other side. I have it on video but it is too long for me to put on here.
Here is another hippo we saw. One funny thing happened as we were leaving the game park. We were rushing to get out by 6:30 so we were kind of going a little faster than you should and we came around a corner and there was a huge hippo in the road. We scared it half to death I imagine and it ran into the water. Let me tell you, hippos are big but they can move!! By the time I got my camera out and ready I just got a pic. of the splash.
Sunday after going to a beautiful Easter service at Chisomo Baptist Church, Hannah and her friends took turns hiding easter eggs. They had so much fun. Hannah even put some candy in a few of the eggs.
Mapalo opening up one of his eggs to see if there was a surprise in it.
Good Friday is always celebrated the Friday before Easter Sunday. On this day, Christians remember the suffering and death on the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection can be found in the Bible in several different places: Matthew 27:27-28:8, Mark 15:16-16:19, Luke 23:26-24:35, and John 19:16-20:30. Take time this weekend to reflect on all that Jesus has done for you! He sacrificed everything for you!
This weekend, Christians all over the world will be blessed by reading the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. It is a time of reflection and celebration. But for billions of people who don't know about Jesus and cannot read the Bible for themselves there is no celebration, only a deafening silence. I believe that Jesus wants everyone to be able to hear the gospel, to believe in Him and know Him in a personal way. Let us pray for all those in this world who do not know Jesus. That someone would go and share in a way that they can understand in their language the truth of the gospel and that their hearts would be receptive to receive Jesus.
"..and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."
Last week at the women's meeting I taught on two goals that every Christian parent should have for their children(see post below). This week I taught that parents have the job of teaching their children. Many things come along in life that can pull our children away from following God such as: temptations of the world, bad friends, their own desires, or lies from Satan. We have to make sure that we teach our children the Word of God so that when they are faced with these things they will know how to handle them. I think that in the verse above it doesn't just mean that we should teach our children 4 times a day. I think that it is saying that we should take every opportunity that we have throughout the day to teach our children. Eli, in 1 Sam. 2-3, was a priest. He himself was a good man. He also raised Samuel well. But Eli's own sons were very sinful. It says in 1 Sam. 3:13 "I am about to punish his house for ever. For the iniquity which he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them." God judged Eli for not teaching and punishing his sons. It was not enough for Eli to work well for God. God wanted Eli to raise his own sons well. We, as Christian parents, need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to teach our children the way to live and follow God. So many times here in Zambia children are just left to do whatever they want to do during the day. The parents will not even start disciplining their children until they are around the age of 5. As you can imagine by that time it is too late. Often their form of disciplining is to beat their children to teach them and I'm not talking about spanking. Please pray for Zambians to begin to take an interest in their children and desire for them to follow God and live for Him. Pray that they will take opportunities to teach their children the Word of God.
I got this email today that had this story in it and thought I would share it with you. I don't know who this girl is that wrote this but I thought it was interesting that she lives in Raleigh, NC which is where we stay on furloughs. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed your April Fools Day. Our family had a fun time with it. Probably not the best idea to start off the day saying the house was on fire! But it sure was funny to watch people run! Justin did reprimand me for this because if there really is a fire one day no one will believe me. That is so true so I have learned my lesson but I think part of it too for him was that I woke him up. It is so much fun having our boys here!
April Fools April Fool's Day is held on April 1st of each year. It started in France when King Charles the IX changed the calendar in 1564. Because March 21st - April 1st had been the original New Year's celebration date, some French traditionalists chose to continue to celebrate it then. They were called "April fools." The holiday then grew into a day when pranks are played on family members and friends. In France, they call those who are tricked an "April fish," and in Scotland they call them an "April gowk."
There are hundreds of jokes to play on April Fool's Day. It is more fun, however, if you can think of your own prank to play on a friend instead of using someone else's. However, sometimes it is hard to think of one yourself, especially if you have been using one every year. Here are some ideas that you may find useful.
A classic joke is to change the clocks. For example, you could set them one hour ahead of the actual time when nobody is looking and watch everyone's distressed faces and exclamations of "Where did the time go!" Make sure if you do this that you change every clock, not just one, or your trick may be found out immediately. Also, don't set the clocks too far ahead or the suspicious ones who know it is April Fool's Day will know what you did!
Another option is to switch the salt and sugar. This is very risky, though, and is not necessarily recommended. However, if you don't intend to eat whatever dessert the cook of your family makes out of salt, it may not be that bad of an idea.
My father has been the victim of many food tricks. Probably the funniest prank we have ever played was when we put red food coloring into my father's glass of water and told him it was cranberry juice. The look on his face was tremendously hilarious! Once we were performing a science experiment where we put salt on cucumbers. My father did not know anything unusual was on them and walked into the kitchen and ate some of them. "What in the world is wrong with these cucumbers?" he asked. "What did you do to them?" We thought that was funny, but we were slightly upset that he had eaten our science experiment. Another time we made gingerbread Christmas ornaments out of applesauce and cinnamon. Dad came in and tried to eat one, but he said he had to spit it out. "I thought they were cookies," he explained. By now I do not think he will trust us on April Fool's Day if we try to give him anything edible.
Try editing some pictures. For example, put a friend on the roof of the house, give your brother a fluffy wig, or give your little sister glasses. Make an impossible scene, like you sitting on the White House or flying in the sky.
One trick my siblings and I played several years ago was to hide when our dad came home, leaving a sign on the door reading "Gone to Iraq. Will be back at 4:00 a.m." Unfortunately, he never saw the sign.
Have you ever seen a quarter glued to the road in bubblegum? When I first saw one, it looked easy to get at, but I soon found that it was impossible. Try sticking money to the road outside your house. Count how many people try to rescue it!
There are plenty more pranks you can play on April Fool's Day, so get ideas and change or combine them into the best joke ever! Just make sure that you never re-use tricks on the same people.
Whatever you do, think before you act. Remember never to do something to someone that you would not want them to do to you. Do not do something that you think is funny that they will not laugh over. Before you play a prank on someone, think to yourself, "Would my friend really want me to do this to them, or would it make them sad or embarrass them?" Think about other people's feelings. Put yourself in their place. And if you do trick them, don't make fun of them and laugh at them for a long time. Sure, a little is okay, but if you go on and on about how dumb they looked and how funny it was and how they sure were stupid, you may hurt their feelings. It is better not to make someone laugh than it is to risk hurting them. Also, make sure you don't do anything dangerous. For example, don't start any fires or make any explosions. Don't give anybody a heart attack.
April Fool's Day is designed to make people laugh, not cry, so be considerate. But do not hesitate to play a friendly joke and have a good time.
Molly Fox Molly is a 13-year-old eighth grader living with her family in Raleigh, North Carolina.
"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." Psalm 127:3
Children can bring their parents much joy. They are a special blessing which God usually gives to marriage. If God does not give this blessing, the marriage can still be complete. If he does give this blessing, we should remember that children are a gift from God. God gives us our children, but he wants them to serve him. God does not give them so we can keep them for ourselves to use. He gives them to us to raise for his glory. Yesterday, I taught on this subject at my women's meeting that I went to. Our children really belong to God. Of course, we want them to be healthy, to learn well, and work well with others. I think most people would agree with those goals. But as Christians God wants us to have two goals for them. 1-to recieve Christ as Savior, and 2- to follow God's plan for their lives.
In some tribes parents think of their children as their own riches. They think of what they will receive from their children. They send their children to school so they will get money from them later. Their goal is that their children bring riches to their parents one day. That is why many Africans will have lots of children because they know that some will die and some will not be rich but then some will have enough and help provide for the parents as they get older.
Please pray that Zambians, who are believers, would raise their children to receive Christ and to follow Him.
I am so excited because my two sons, Zach and Justin, are coming home from boarding school tomorrow! Kevin will get home tomorrow night. So we will all be together as a family under one roof for a while!
When Hannah and I got up this morning we found a big branch from our avocado tree had broken off during the night. I'm not sure why it happened, there wasn't even a storm. What is amazing to me is that I never heard this happen. You would think that it would have made a loud noise but I just slept through it evidently. We are so thankful that it didn't fall on our house or the rondoval.
This is where it broke off.
The kids enjoyed picking all the avocado's off the tree branch that fell. In all, there were 50 from this one big branch. They are excited about going out to sell them today.
Today I had a first time experience for me. I carried a deceased person in the back of my truck to the mortuary plus had a few more stops along the way. As a imb missionary we are here to plant churches, disciple, and lead others to Christ. However, because we live in Africa relationships with others is very important. To be a part of the community is essential. Sometimes we are called upon to do things which aren't pleasant but necessary so we can be part of the community. There are also many benefits to being part of a community but today was one of those days when I was asked to do something kind of weird and unpleasant for me but necessary. Kevin has done this type of transportation many times and it has always been difficult for me to just hear about it afterwards. He has been out of the country this week at a meeting. So today when our friend came and told me that one of his relatives had died during the night I knew that I would need to help and do something for the family. His request though was for me to go to the village and pick up the person who had died and take him to the mortuary. I think my friend could tell by the look on my face that I was surprised because he quickly added that I could just stay in the truck the whole time and wouldn't have to look. So as I start off on this first time experience I began to pray that God would help me with this task. I get to the village and I just couldn't just sit in the truck. I got out and greeted everyone and sat and waited for them to prepare the body for transport. Then they brought out this man wrapped in blankets and put him in the back of the truck. Well, they left the tailgate down and the back window open and several people climbed behind with the body. I asked my friend, "aren't you going to close the tailgate?" He said, "no he was too tall and we can't." Well, all I can picture is this man falling out of the back of my truck as I'm driving down the road. Can you imagine??!! He assured me that this man would not fall out. So we start off. However, when we get into Chongwe we first have to go to the police station because a report has to be filled out since this person died at home. If he had died at the clinic we would not have needed this report. Then we proceeded to the clinic to get a doctor to check him out and make sure he was really dead. He also had to sign a paper saying as such. (Sidenote-it was kind of humorous to me to watch in the rearview mirror this doctor climb up in the back of my truck and get out his stethoscope and listen for a heartbeat on this man-but I guess it was necessary) We then proceeded to the mortuary where we dropped the deceased off. It was such a small building maybe just the size of my den and kitchen. They don't embalm people here. The mortuary is just the place they take the bodies to keep them cool until the family can come and cleanse the body and prepare it for burial. The family comes to do that on the burial day. After they have prepared the body they then take it to the church or to wherever the person will be buried. Anyway, after leaving the mortuary I took all the family that had ridden with me back to the village. I quickly made my way home and ate a quick lunch so I could head out to teach this afternoon. I'll write about that tomorrow. As I have reflected on the events of this day and this first time experience I see that it was good for me to do this. Yeah, it was a strange experience but it made me feel good that I could help a family in their time of need.
Almost as soon as we drove in we saw this croc. sitting up on the road.
Isn't this precious of a mother and its baby?
Those are hippos out in the water.
I love Giraffe. They are my favorite African animal. 
This elephant was trying to hide in the bushes.
This Giraffe walked right in front of our vehicle and crossed to the other side. I have it on video but it is too long for me to put on here. 
Here is another hippo we saw. One funny thing happened as we were leaving the game park. We were rushing to get out by 6:30 so we were kind of going a little faster than you should and we came around a corner and there was a huge hippo in the road. We scared it half to death I imagine and it ran into the water. Let me tell you, hippos are big but they can move!! By the time I got my camera out and ready I just got a pic. of the splash.
Cape Buffalo
Warthog 
