8-30-2001

7:15 PM

I just talked to Rich who asked me to play lead for Junar on Saturday and to run sound for the KW band. Kinda weird, but it's not my call. The Zambian folks have billed this Saturday as “Junar and the Vineyard Worship Leadership” and “The King’s Way Group”. More or less creating a top billing kind of scenario, slightly divisive in nature. Since we do not have a Vineyard Worship Team here, and we have been billed as 2 separate bands, Rich wants me to front with Junar and he and Billy won’t play, then the second band will be the band without me and Junar. Billy is opposed, but again, it is not up to me.

I’m here to do whatever I need to and it’s not about much past that. I would love to play with Billy, but if I’m not supposed to or Rich doesn’t want me to because he feels I will be of better use at the board, then that’s it. I think Max has been doing a very good job, though I have only heard his mix once, at Pastor Flemings church compound, and it was pretty dang good for a live mix.

I’ve been trying out a couple of the computer games I brought from home, ones I can’t use on our system because it’s so inefficient, and I have come to understand that I suck at computer games. I need much practice which I really don’t have time for in real life…

Dr. T came in today and gave me a watch he bought at the mall. He knew I was on the lookout for a watch and was being really cheap about it…Francis was teasing him about wanting a watch because wherever Dr. T goes, he buys a watch from the visit…he’s got waaaay too many watches and Francis said he should buy him one, joking of course because we rag on Francis for his timing and that fact that he doesn’t wear a watch. Dr. T bought him one and told Francis he should give it to me because I don’t have and my timings pretty good anyway, it would be even better with a watch and we all know that Francis’ timing won’t change with his new watch…so it was very cool for Dr. T to bring me one.

Just about everyone here who can afford one, have cell phones or use pay phones. The pay phones are paid at the end of the call at $2000 Kwacha per minute ($.55 per minute). An important note here is that this is a coin-less society and everything is done with paper. That’s pretty cool on the one hand, but awkward on the other since we are used to using coins for phone calls and soda machines and the like, things that often do not require an attendant to change the money. Not so here.

The money conversion is $1.00 US = $3,650.00

The cell phones are sold with a certain number of “units” or minutes, paid for in advance and then you can use them. Once they are used up, you can receive calls but cannot call out and must purchase more units again. Just about everything is paid for up-front or paid with a deposit up-front and balance due once the product or service is on site. Credit is not an option here. There are an incredible number of homes and buildings part way built and appear to be abandoned, which is because they paid up front what they could afford and when the money ran out, the building stopped. So the folks here are not in debt, they just have no money, which we equate with debt. Having no money is not the same as being in debt. These folks don’t owe anyone, they just can’t afford much of anything and thus they live that way. We can’t afford it either but we can borrow and appear that we can afford it, which we do not do for the appearance, but it’s no wonder other countries see us as rich and spoiled and loaded with money and happiness. Most of our country is none of the above. I’m not sure which is better, if one in fact is. I guess I’d prefer the American façade if my choice is between that and living under these conditions. There is an imbalance either way; we think in America that people don’t appreciate what they have, and I expect that the majority probably do appreciate what they have because the majority of the country does not live in luxury. Those who do live in luxury know that they like it and thus do not want to live any other way, so to some extent, there is a twisted appreciation for what they have, based in the fear of losing it. What we don’t have as a country is a general appreciation for the difference in what we have versus many other countries, like Zambia. More of an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of thing and a lack of genuine interest in that difference for fear of the sense of responsibility that will accompany our learning of it.

We can always change the channels when the ads come on showing Third and Fourth World children starving in gutters and playing in sewage and trash piles. I’ve seen both here and all I can do, as an option, is to physically close my eyes to the suffering. Sounds pretty convicting, no? That was and is the only option of “sparing myself” witnessing the reality of this world. I wasn’t flown this many miles to shut my eyes.

I’ve always heard from folks who went on missions’ trips about the sufferings and that once you see it you’ll be changed forever. I suppose, that can’t be anything but correct, but it doesn’t mean that you will pack your bags and hit the road to save the world or sell everything you own or have and give it away either. You have to search inside to hear what God is calling you to do about it, whether on the front line with the missionaries in the field or with the supply and support teams on the home front. I would suggest that you would undoubtedly find a place in the chain somewhere because I doubt God gave you the opportunity to view this aspect of the world and not ask you to feed or help tend His sheep, whether at home or in the field.

An army in battle must have a supply line which supplies food, clothing and ammunition to the warriors on the front lines, and in that army, those firing the weapons are no more important than those who bring the ammunition to them and those who brought it from the home front or supply depot. In fact, without the supply line in some way shape or form, the front line warriors would certainly perish without Heavenly intervention. We can all find a place in the supply line, closer or further from the front as God leads, but the point is to be in the line someplace so those who ARE called to front line activity can have what they need, when they need it.

Well, I guess that’s what is in my head at the moment, maybe more later, but it’s 8:43 PM now and I’m not certain how much later I plan to stay awake.

I miss you more each day, hour, minute and second.
I can’t wait to be home with you.
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