The Zambia Chronicles is a collection of journal entries I made while on a mission trip to Lusaka, Zambia in August of 2001. They were written, essentially, as individual emails to my wife and children, though I did not send them individually all the time and I also treated the writing as a journalingexercise to vent and let go of the experiences gathering in my head. I tried to chronicle my time there to share with my children when they are old enough to understand and to share with family when I returned from the trip.
Different from standard blogs, this one reads from top to bottom, beginning with the start of the trip just below this entry preface and ending at the bottom of the blog with my return and reflection.
Well, this is my first installment of this “adventure”.
I'm writing from Frankfurt airport as we await possible boarding on Lufthansa to South Africa.
Smoking IS permitted in the airport...*cough*... *cough*…Absolutely nasty.
Well, our trip from SFO to Chicago was in cattle class. Very uncomfortable. Billy sat one row in front of me and we both were given center seats...the squished class.
We watched "Driven" Sylvester Stallone's movie and it was actually pretty good. Found out my E5's will plug into the audio jack on the seat arm, however, because the E5's are so efficient, the lowest volume I could get for the airline sound, was almost too loud for me to listen to. I hadn't anticipated that. (E5's are a type of "In Ear" monitor made by Shure, similar to Walkman ear-buds, but the difference between AM radio mono and DVD digital surround sound, as far as quality and experience goes…)
Once we got to Chicago, Billy basically got us 2 Business Class seats and 2 First Class seats...Bill and I got the First Class seats. :-) First Class from Chicago to Frankfurt is an amazing experience. Prawn appetizers, Filet Mignon for dinner and Ben and Jerry's for dessert. I tried Cognac...bleh! I tried Amaretto...hhhmmmm...a "sippin'" drink.
The seats turn into beds, each "suite" seat has a personal video monitor and video player, prior to the seat maneuvering into a bed, it is the most flexible Lazy Boy you could imagine, including movable lumbar support.
Okay..there was ONE slightly embarrassing moment (thank you Billy)...I had purchased McDonalds before boarding because we supposedly had plenty of time before we'd board...NOT. So I asked Billy if I should ditch the McDonalds stuff before we board, he said "nah.."... ...So...for the next hour, as we sit in the 2 VERY front seats of the 747, I hear from the stewardesses, "I know this won't taste quite like your burger, but you CAN have Filet tonight...if you want to...", "...would you like to keep your McDonalds Diet Coke you one of OUR drinks...?" At one point, I asked the stewardess to throw away my Diet, to which she holds it up in the front of the plane and announces to EVERYONE in First Class that I brought on McDonalds to fly in First Class. Billy, I hate you. Another stewardess came up and announced that I am an executive with McDonalds, of course I brought my own product on and that the other stewardess gave me free advertising. HA!!! At least I have one friend.
Our trips from Frankfurt to Johannesburg and from Johannesburg to Zambia were successful and not hindered, though we were told at both airports that it was not likely that we would get on. God had other plans. I mean, when you think about it, four of us flew stand-by from SFO to Chicago to Frankfurt to Johannesburg to Zambia with no interference or real issue and flew from Chicago to Frankfurt in First Class and Business Class. I could not fly from Vegas to SFO in cattle class via stand-by without GREAT issue and delays.
It’s hard to believe I am here on the other side of the world from you.
Billy is tucking in his bed-netting, which we all have for our beds, the kind that hangs from the ceiling and encases the bed. Kind of weird, but I guess I’ll be getting used to it. The air here smells very different from anything I’ve known, I can’t describe it. The frogs are LOUD and seem to croak in unison and rhythm. It’s good to be with Billy, I take comfort in his company. Ron and Debbie went to the Lusaka Manda Hill mall (yes, there is actually one here with a Radio Shack, no less) and he led someone to the Lord…some things never change, and this is a good thing, specifically.
We are living in the Vineyard compound, in a “better” part of town, however every house/compound has 6 – 8 foot walls of stone or brick which are topped with shards of broken glass, razor wire, barbed wire or 5 rows of electrified fencing (voltage not restrained). Our compound has the broken shards of glass adorning the crest of the wall and when I saw walls without the accoutrements, I asked Francis why not there; “Oh because the owners of those home have guns.” I guess you could say we are staying in a very “gated” community, so to speak.
Pray for us.
I look at the sound system tomorrow, the one we are supposed to have for our “mini-concerts”. I’ll know more tomorrow.
Oh yea, the main road through Zambia used to be bad condition and partially dirt but it is now completely repaved and in good shape…why? Because Muammar al-Qaddafi, is planning on coming through some time in the future and wanted a paved road, so he had it paved. He's pouring large amounts of money into the economy on behalf of the Muslims with intent of purchasing the people away from Christianity. He contributes large sums of money and gifts to non-Christian candidates. Scary, real world scary. More tomorrow. I love you.
I woke up at 5ish this morning, just beginning to show signs of sunrise. Sleeping is quite different, bed netting, pillows stuffed with small pieces of foam, kind of like couch pillows. I’m INCREDIBLY thankful I brought my pillow from home. I lay in bed and worked on the laptop, hoping to create an equipment assignment, but realizing that the only version of the Zambia list was the original one, not the one I had worked on just before leaving. Big drag.
Breakfast was continental, however, I ordered 3 eggs scrambled. Catsup is a good thing.
Billy, Rich and I, along with our driver Douglas, went into downtown Lusaka and checked into our equipment rental…Rich began a merchant process with the owner (Mr. Parmar) while Billy and I talked with the son of the owner (N.J. Parmar, also known as Max E or Nimesh) about the different system specs and needs. Essentially, this is a retailer who saw the market for musical instruments and sound equipment and sells and rents equipment on a first come, first served basis. Even though we had been in dialogue via email, we had apparently put no money down to secure our systems and now we have come to find out that only some of the gear is actually available when we need it. Keep in mind, the store also sells G Strings, thongs, negligees, CD’s, cameras, jewelry and the like. The owner and his son had a copy of my email to Francis, delineating what our needs would be and why, but they appear to have second-guessed us and figured we really didn’t need all the things we stated. Now, combine this with a pastors meeting happening simultaneously as Billy and I are going through systems stuff, Rich has left to attend this pastors meeting, a meeting where the statement was made that the King’s Way band will play anywhere, anytime and is self-sufficient so that all we need is a location and we will come in, plug in and play.
Oh my.
I could list the system inadequacies, but suffice it to say I will be running house sound from the stage (no snake available), what was a 24 channel mixer (16 mic inputs) became a 16 channel mixer (8 mic inputs), the processing (reverb, effects, etc) I brought will be the processing we will use. The mic cables will also have to be ours. I asked for use of whatever they have in stock and their 30’ lengths became 20’ lengths and they asked if 5 or 6 would do…
When in Rome, make lemonade…no, wait…that’s not it…
Security soldiers carry what appear to be AK47’s or AR15’s (wood-stock carbines with curved magazines), street-wide and city-wide. I’m thinking Chinese or Russian AR15 carbines. (I might have these models confused, but to some extent, a carbine is a carbine, is a carbine.)
I just thought you should get a pretty clear picture of what was common place for police and militia in the malls and on the streets in Zambia. I'm pretty sensitive to observing these weapons because I was into them as a youth, but they are VERY different when they are in someone else's hands, in someone else's country. Where my rules do not necessarily apply…
As we were leaving the Bible House, where the pastors meet and confer, a little boy, 7 or 8 years old, came up to our car as we were loading into it, leaving the pastors meeting. He was dressed in a ¾ torn red T-shirt looked me straight in the face and told me of his blind family member who needs any money that I or we can offer. I shook my head in the universal “no” language, but he remained there, staring at me, even as we began to back out of our parking place. It left an impression on me…
This ain’t Kansas, and Toto didn’t make the flight…Come to think of it, I don’t think much of Toto anymore…the dog that is, not the band.
So, less I digress too much further, Rich, Francis Billy and I are to meet after Francis and Rich consume lunch (lunch was spaghetti, with cheddar cheese melted on top, on top of a bowl of minced spiced ground beef with carrots and string beans). Indeed, I am eating some foods I would not otherwise. Considering I am such a food-wimp, I am breaking new ground for food wimps internationally.
Oops. I digressed again. Anyway, we will meet to talk about what we can and cannot do given what we learned today. This will be some challenging conversation.
We just returned from NOT MEETING, instead we (Billy, Frances, Rich and me) got into Frances’ truck and drove back down to the sound store where Francis explained to the owner what would and would not happen. Francis has stroke, so to speak. The complication was that Billy Graham has a pastoral teaching conference this next week, Monday through Friday and the representative for Graham ministries approached the sound company and requested a system. Because it was Billy Graham, the store bumped us in priority, regardless of agreements. Francis informed the storeowner that the Graham ministries are coming in association with the big picture of the Pure Works Brigade as well as the unification of the pastors and that it was one of Francis’s men who will be finalizing the arrangements, so if they want to keep the gigs, they will give us the bigger system and give the mini system to the Graham gig.
We then left the store and went to the fair grounds, where the final concert will take place on the soccer field, to discuss and clarify the stage location, power requirements and logistics therein.
After half an hour, we left there and went to the local mall and met up with some more folks from our San Mateo group. Turns out that our first gig, this Thursday, will take place on the grass field at this mall. This may require a generator or a power tap off one or more of the outer-mall businesses. This is Francis’s deal to negotiate and figure. I explained that power generators in the States are not known for “even” power supplies, meaning that they often transmit spikes and brown-outs during the course of their use, unless you have paid for a reasonably high-end unit which regulates its output. In a Fourth World country (Zambia has been down-graded from Third World), I should not assume and I do not assume that Zambia has access to “high-end” power generators and therefore we must bear this in mind before we subject our equipment to volatile power sources.
Now for a brief tirade… What is it with all of the burning and smoldering that goes on 24/7 here? Makes for a gorgeous and rather toxic sunset. As we drove tonight, it looked as though some light fog as over the road…and I thought Frankfurt airport was bad! I have been increasingly sick to my stomach since breathing this air, at first I found the smell peculiar because I couldn’t place the ingredient…but I know now it is smoke, some from wood and mostly from trash.
I couldn’t eat dinner because of the smoke/motion nausea and the permeating smell, so I plan to partake in a health bar from my wife’s packing.
Well, I just finished lunch, came back to our room to find the power out in our room. I went to ask about it and it is that the power is out to our compound and should be back anytime... Billy scored a room fan last night from Debbie Rezendes' room, since they didn't need it and our room at 8:00 PM was about 88 degrees. Moving the air was wonderful relief and apparently a mosquito deterrent, as they don't stay around moving air like that. Travis brought this sonic unit which is on constantly, a frequency that I can hear, but most apparently don't. Mosquitoes feel it and stay away...I'm thinking about one for home...hhmmm...
I found out about the constant burning, something you may have already thought of, but it is some accidental fires and mostly people cooking and staying warm at night. They burn anything and everything; plastic, rubber, wood, paper, cardboard, cloth, etc. I asked our accompanying resident doctor, Dr. T, what I can do about it for myself and unfortunately, there isn't much, other than some Benadryl he gave me to help with the nausea.
As for this morning, I woke up around 7ish, and got dressed and went to breakfast. One of the women who serves here as a waitress and such, just looked blankly at me when I asked for 3 eggs scrambled, apparently most only eat one...but I'm a growing bald man, not necessarily growing taller, but growing none the less. Actually, I have not eaten much and my quantities of food are smaller so maybe I will come home with a new eating pattern, which will definitely work for me. It's hard to be hungry here, for me anyway, many things are hard here. I digressed again...
Finished breakfast and went to the room and got my clipboard and laptop and went back to the meeting room where we had a devotional led by pastor Monza. I like him. He was in charge of the pastors meeting yesterday, a meeting that is non-denominational which is so very cool. I wish our city would embrace that, let alone our nation. He noted that he purchase a very nice looking suit which he uses as a tool for getting into places and getting necessary attention, because most who own suits are loaded with money, influence and power, so he uses this tool to get help for the needy and such just by visiting them in the hospital or otherwise. People don't know him to be a pastor, they only look on the outside, see his suit and figure they better serve him or he may use his power against them. Very interesting from all angles.
The meeting lasted the morning and during that time we had some worship, pastor Monza spoke, Pastor Tomas spoke, Pastor Ron spoke and Dr. T spoke. We also went around the table and said who we are and why we think we are here...some are certain of their mission, others not so sure, but certain they are to be here. Some of the folks who introduced themselves said they are anxious to get out there and make a difference, to do something...I struggled hearing this because inside of me, I only want to leave to accomplish whatever I need to and then get back to the "safety" of the compound. A phrase I heard while on our way to the Vineyard Lodge from the airport, a phrase that didn't take lightly, was "we are pretty safe here during the day, but bad things happen at night." It sunk in very deep. That's probably all I can say about it.
Actually, in keeping with that, last night our driver, Douglas, cut off another driver in a pickup and the other driver followed us most all the way back to the lodge, tailgating and using his high beams out of anger and frustration. Fortunately, he turned around and chased no more just as we reached the street we had to turn onto. Makes you think of movies where that stuff happens, only this ain't no movie. (Pastor Friday later explained that this driver, had we stopped, would have confronted us and demanded money for his inconvenience, not an experience I wanted to see played out. Pastor Friday said it would not have been good)
Lunch was a local version of mac & cheese, rice, broccoli and carrots and chicken. I had 2 small portions of mac & cheese and rice. Carbs here I come.
Debbie, Ron and Billy and most of the other folks are heading to an orphanage in a few minutes...another education awaits I'm sure.
The power's still out and it's getting warmer.
Turns out, I am probably the only one of the delegation who did not go to the orphanage. God forgive me if I was supposed to go, it is just not a place I personally want to see. The despair and conditions, as I have understood them, are beyond comprehension in most cases and most of the children are losing to AIDS.
Billy just came back in (10 minutes or so after leaving the room to go to the orphanage) to say that Francis and Rich just got back and that Billy and I and Francis or pastor Friday will head over to Bread of Life church where we will be doing the evening services next week, and we will go now to look at the system they have installed there to see if we need to bring any equipment there or not.
Quite the day. We (Billy and I) just got back to our room from what turned out to be a very busy and somewhat confusing day. First off, we understand that all of our Fed Ex stuff will be delivered tomorrow (Thursday) sometime (which is a good thing because our first concert is on Friday…and the medicine shipment has been found and is being cleared. Both of these are rather significant things to see completed, need I say.
Also, our power came back some time this afternoon so we are back in business. WE HAVE FAN!!! And I can charge the laptop, I went through both batteries…
So, that being said, I will capsulate from the point where Billy and I left with Pastor Friday to look at the Bread of Life church in Lusaka.
Pastor Friday picked us up and drove us into town, to where we planned to buy Kwacha currency. When we stopped in the down town, Pastor Friday gave some money to a couple of guys who were standing near where we parked, and as we walked to the money exchange, these to guys stood by the car and guarded it.
Reality check number 3,023.
We were unable to use our traveler's checks; they are not recognized at most Lusaka exchanges…sorry American Express. Billy had some US money that he exchanged so at least we had some operating capital. We then returned to the car, the guys went back to where they had been and we got in and left for the church.
The living and working places we drove past, outside of downtown, are beyond description. It defies Western logic as to how people can survive and operate in such surroundings. The bulk of the population here sometimes goes DAYS without eating, and those who are given supplies usually must defend those supplies or lose them to thieves. This not to say that everyone in Lusaka or Zambia is starving…it is to say that 90% or more will never know what it means to be full. My numbers might be off, but not by much if they are. Better said, I have NOT seen one overweight or “large” Zambian. Everyone is what we perceive as normal to thin in proportion to size.
Pastor Friday explained that Lusaka has no refuse system…at all…so everyone dries the trash outside and then burns it, it is otherwise deemed a health hazard…though the whole smoke issue wasn’t brought up…that’s why all the fires everywhere, and to keep warm at night.
I’m digressing yet again…so we got to the church, which will seat a couple thousand, and looked at their gear. They have only 2 speakers to cover the room. Billy and I hope to help them hang them before Saturday if possible. Currently these 2 speakers are on stands and not high enough to reach the back of the room. Pastor Friday then took us back to the Lodge where a 20 voice youth choir was waiting for all the Americans to return to, so they could sing for us. Eventually, everyone showed up and they sang beautifully. That was something I wish you could have heard.
Billy just told me to go to sleep…it’s almost midnight.
I’m awake to the sound of something gnawing on or in our closet…we did not find the culprit…It’s kind of a bizarre thing to realize.
Yeah, okay…so…uhhh…
So, last night we heard the youth choir sing for us and then went inside and had some worship, prayer and a message from Pastor Mpundu. Allow me to throw some more light onto what we are dealing with. To my knowledge, I believe Francis, who is our main liaison, is basically in some form of political service here in Zambia…and I believe that the next above him is Pastor Mpundu…this could very well be inaccurate, but it is what I have picked up from conversations. It also may only pertain to Pureworks…
Just after Francis came to America this past winter, the political/religious climate changed and one of the government supporters split off from the government and has begun to campaign against the president. This is something that would probably not have happened if Francis had stayed here, so now the pastors of the country are being told to choose a side to support politically. I have understood the following; there have been fist fights among them (the pastors) and apparently just prior to our arrival, Francis has been shot at a few times. It’s all just kind of happening before our eyes. Our Christian Radio contact, who was with us for a while a couple days ago received a call on his cell, which was a trace to find out his location…he shrugged it off as just part of life.
Billy and I just came back from being with Pastor Flemings and looking at the site of our "first" concert. While we were out, he took us to his church compound property where there is a children’s Day Camp going on. During the week, they will minister to over 1,200 kids, teaching them about the principles and Gospel basics. He had us stop and go out to a class that was seated on the ground and we took our picture with them. It is amazing, such a reverse fishbowl, in that we are the ones on view, though it seems like we are viewing them. The children are so beautiful, their faces untouched by Western facades and purposes. What you see is what you get, and they smile and wave genuinely. America, take some notes. The field we will be playing on is dirt and dust, the size of a football field, in the middle of one of the town’s compound townships. We did not prepare for our gigs to be outdoors…no canopy for stage or mix position…power being wired and connected at each site, dust and wind becoming a factor in the use and condition of our instruments and our voices…so much smoke and dust…the breeze is good to get rid of the smoke, but it introduces the dust factor.
Also, there is an assumption here that the opening bands and choirs can use our instruments, which we have, of course, balked at from the start. Problem is, do we not then come across as saying “you are not good enough to touch or use our instruments” but the rented system you can use. We have not come here to make that kind of statement and we must guard against it, but at the price of our guitars…? Maybe these instruments belong more to God than they do to us…? What is the difference of us going to orphanages and townships where disease is prevalent and trusting God to keep us from harm, can we not also trust he will protect our instruments too? I guess I just got my answer. I wonder if Billy, Rich, Matt and Travis will see it the same or similarly…I know that Billy does, we've talked about it.
It puts “Let go, Let God” in a completely different light than I have ever known.
Well, as you can tell by the time stamp, it’s been a VERY long day.
After we returned and I wrote the above notes, Francis and everyone returned from their outing to the Christian Radio Station. Francis got a call to let him know that a township had set up a service tonight and planned for us to come and play…did I mention that our gear still had not arrived? They figured us to use their system and instruments and Francis said we would. That was at 2:00 PM…the service starts at 5:30…there were still 2 other meetings to happen before this…Long story shorter than not, we did our meetings, they ran long, we got back to the Lodge around 5:25 and found that Fed Ex had delivered our shipment! “Billy, go snag our guitars, and let’s tune up" and fly across town. We were in motion. Never in my many years of playing have I seen that kind of action and tuning in mere moments. We stuffed into 3 vehicles and took off for the church. Got to the church by 6:15 or so and walked into a worship service in progress. 105+ dB, more than likely and all that was available was 2nd row seating. No sooner had we moved into our seats then we were asked to go up on stage and be ready to play. We played our first song and the place came unglued with enthusiasm, very cool, but they tapered off during the 2nd and 3rd songs. We did a 4th song and finished. I played lead, Junar and Billy were on acoustics and vocals, Matt on bass and Travis pounding out the drums. There no monitors of any kind and we only knew where we were by Travis. The preacher followed us and that would have been about 6:40…the service concluded at 9:30, after one attempted demon exorcism and 4 or 5 slayings in the Spirit, so to speak. Our demon possessed gal was being restrained by 4 or 5 men, but still managed to ram me, as I was sitting 2nd row, isle seat…lesson learned…no more center seating, window seats only, thank you. She was a kinda big gal too; the men were not having an easy time. Know that I believe that the authenticity of these kinds of manifestations and occurrences is not for me to judge, condemn or call. As uncomfortable as I was, I know the supernatural to be limitless and our minds to be quite limited. A well-known Satanist/Priestess showed up after we had begun loading into our vans and trucks and Francis went and stopped her from reaching us. He kept her at bay until we had loaded and then got in and drove us out.
The enemy is well aware of our presence here.
We got back to the lodge and unpacked the rest of our equipment. I am breathing a sigh of relief for that, at least, but I must admit that inside me someplace I had hoped to hear that the shipment was refused and we would have to cancel and go home…It is difficult for me to keep my head in the game with so many facets happening in so many realms at once. I am somewhat spun, which I shared with the band guys tonight.
Billy apparently killed a spider in our room…a body the size of a silver dollar, legs the size of fingers…(not kidding) before I got to the room…upon hearing this, I shared my innermost feelings using an expletive. Bed netting is a good thing. And I came here willingly…?
Tomorrow, (later today, actually) we play the dust bowl and it appears the sound company has made amendments to the system requirements we had agreed on and we are paying the same price for a system a bit smaller (1/3 the size we requested). We will make do, but it will be tough. 2000 people are expected tomorrow, tonight was a couple hundred, give or take a few demons and such…
Maybe tomorrow morning I will get this off to you and you can send it in this form or abbreviated form to the prayer chain folks and anyone who wants to know what is happening here in Zambia.
It’s 1:52 AM, time to see if I can sleep. I love you.
Oh my, what a day. I’m not certain where to begin…let’s see…we loaded up all of our equipment and Billy, Travis, Matt, Roger (Pierce), Kenny (from King’s Way), our driver Friday and I all loaded into a van and headed for the local mini-mall and bought an ice chest, ice (not consumable), a canopy and a serious amount of Energade (Gatorade-drink) and bottled water. We then left for the dust bowl, it was about 11:00 when we actually left the mini-mall. The stage was to be set up by 9:00 and the sound guys would be there by then as well. The power was to have been dropped by 11:00 so we were right on time… only when we got to the field… there was no stage, no power drop and no sound system… nobody was there.
This is not good.
I asked the driver to take us to Pastor Flemings church compound, very close by, to see if he knew why this would be so, and to use his cell phone to make some needed calls.
When we arrived at the church gate, we honked to be let in and gained entry. The guard at the gate told us that they had been waiting for us, that the concert had been moved to the church compound. The electrician was there, the sound system was there and set up and “Max” the son of the sound storeowner was there as well. He stayed and ran sound for us and I got to play with Billy, Matt and Travis. Never mind the reality that I didn’t know the songs…I got to know them when we played them. I enjoyed the challenge.
The youth choir that came and sang for us the other night also came and opened up for us as well. Very energetic kids with hearts for singing and praising. We let them use our guitars and equipment and they just beamed. Pastor Flemings said that they never have had the opportunity to play on such equipment or instruments. We did the right thing. At one point, after we had been playing, we began a song that the choir knew and they rushed over to the side of the stage where an extra mic was and began to sing along with us, at another point I just gave my mic to them and away they went, singing the song and all. Their style of dance ROCKS! That I may have such rhythm…wow, it was cool.
Anyway, we played for an hour or so and though the rest of the mission team was to have shown up, only Rich showed up during our last song. Everyone else had a very long trip back for the Bush, an hour and a half into the wilderness…75 people came to Christ, but not to the pleasure of the witchdoctors who were exchanging perspectives with Ron and the folks. Ron’s not bashful and Ron’s not shy…an education was had by all, I'm sure.
Rich spent the whole day trying to track down the medicine container and personally seeing it into Zambia, it had been stuck at the border. Unfortunately, the Zambian doctor who ordered the medicine on behalf of PUREWORKS, ordered what he needed in his hospital, not what medical teams needed for street and township clinics…another personal agenda takes its toll.
One person who came to the on-site clinic passed out in line and Dr. T diagnosed him to have acute appendicitis. They immediately loaded him into the bus/van and sped off to a few different clinics to get the right signatures to admit him into a hospital. They successfully got him to the doctors at the hospital who greeted them warmly and they took the man in. His condition was such that he would have definitely died before daybreak, if not shortly after nightfall. Souls and lives were saved, God’s agenda in action.
At one point, they had stopped at a pharmacy to check supplies since the container hadn’t been released. A member of the Zambian CIA, I don’t know what they are called, followed the group from the orphanage to the pharmacy. When Francis saw the man coming, he immediately ducked away from view and got our folks out of the pharmacy before any trouble could start. Clean get a way. This whole scene is surreal…it’s the stuff you hear about or read about (like you’re doing now) but would never had thought to have been caught up in it.
We all came safe and sound, but extremely tired. I re-strung everyone’s guitars tonight (5 in all, including bass) after we returned so we should enjoy our playing that much more. There’s just something about new strings…
Tomorrow, Francis takes Billy, Matt, Travis and me to look at 3 other sites we are supposed to play at next week.
This one will have to be brief. The above-mentioned folks did go to look at sights and that took from 9 until 1:30 to accomplish. We returned for a 20 minute lunch and then loaded into the van for the animal park, which we were denied access to due to scheduling conflict with the park, so we went to the zoo instead. Pretty cool, not very exciting. We left there to the mall and got sandwiches and ice cream and ice. While at the mall, someone called my name out in the parking lot and it was the audio shop family the Parmars, the son called to me. Very cool impact with the son, who likes to be called Max E., short for DJ Max E…he’s 19…anyway he was happy to see us and we talked a little more business and planning before they left for their home and us for our lodge. Came back to the lodge and I have been working on the computer since 8:00.
This was my first chance to journal.
I should mention that while we were surveying the different fields, I inadvertently took a picture of some guys by a tree by the field and one of them demanded I give him the camera…he chased the van for a little ways as we drove away but it was concerning nonetheless.
Sunday morning will be attending a service at Bread of Life church and going to the animal park, AGAIN, to check it out. That should conclude our day.
Wow, do I miss you. It was like my food and drink to hear your voice today. And I felt my spirits rise when I heard Missy say “daddy”. I want to be home with you.
Today was another very long day. Bread of Life church has three services on Sunday morning; 8:00, 9:30 and 12:00. We arrived at 9:28 and the 8:00 service was still underway…a sign of things to come. End result was that we attended a service that was supposed to be the 9:30 which started sometime around 10:30 or so and concluded about 1:15…no air conditioning, 2000 people and hardly any air circulation.
The 70 voice choir was great and have they got some moves and rhythm…I asked Pastor Friday for a video of the service and he said he will get me one. :o)
By the way, when we walked in, I noticed that they had frames welded for the speakers and hung them as I had drawn up for them and they were very pleased with the difference in sound. 2 of their speakers were in a state of repair when we originally visited and they were waiting for the horns to come in to replace the blown ones…they were in, repaired and hung where I had drawn and showed them would be good.
We left there, went back to the lodge and changed out of our very wet sweaty clothes and went back to Manda Hill mall for lunch. After lunch, we went back to the lodge to get ready for leaving to the Animal Park. We saw a fair amount of animals on the drive through the park, I have some video of them of which I will send some still frames to you to see as soon as I can get the video and do some still captures. Did you know that giraffes are MUCH taller when there’s no fence between you and them? I learned that today. There was a family of 7, including 3 very young ones. At one point on the ride, Billy and I were sitting side by side and Matt and Kenny were behind us. Matt grabbed a weed and began brush it on the back of my head like a fly or something and I handed the camera to Billy, turned around, and beat on him. This appeared to inspire Billy to do the same to Kenny, though Kenny hadn’t done anything, at least nothing I was aware of, so maybe this was in retaliation for something we didn't know he did…never mind. It just had to be done J (I think we scared the driver a bit…) Matt and Kenny behaved well following this learning experience…*slight grin*
Tomorrow morning we have to be at Bread of Life at 7:00 AM, so it is going to be an ugly long day…probably up at 5-something. We play at 3 different points tomorrow in the same place, Bread of Life; 8:30, 10:30 and 5:30.
I’m too tired to continue…I love you very, very much.
Did I just write that it’s going to be an ugly day…? How about a seriously ugly day? We were up at 5:00 AM, dressed and eating by 6:15 for our buss to arrive at 6:30 so we could be at the church by 7:00 to set up and play by 8:30… The buss arrived at 8:00, we got there by 8:20 and were playing by 9:00…no sound check, no balance in the monitors and I had begun a reasonably frustrated mood.
The day was supposed to be: 5 – 6:30 Get up, ready and load in the buss for church 7 – 8:30 Stage set up, sound check and run through songs with Pastor Friday 8:30 – 9:00 Worship team 9 – 10 Pastor or Bishop preaches 10 – 10:30 Stage reset 10:30 – 11 Worship Team 11 – 4:15 Our time to lunch, exchange currency, shop & change 4:30 – 5:00 Worship team 7:00 strike
Here’s how the day ended up: 5 – 8 Got up and ready and waited for the buss 8:20 – 9:00 stage set up and cable 9 – 9:20 Worship, Band 9:20 – 11 preaching 11:00 – 11:30 Worship, Band 11:30 – 2:45 Lunch, exchange money, shopping and return to lodge 2:46 – 4:25 track down a pastor who was in possession of money that Pure Works needed and look for our electrician to establish power for tomorrow morning. 4:25 – 6:30 Waited for the 2:00 session to conclude… 7:00 – 7:25 Worship, Band, choir back up band 7:25 – 9:20 Waited for service to conclude, bought dinner sandwiches, choked on smoke from a brush/trash fire that was consuming a street corner, one block away. 9:20 – 9:50 strike and load
It is 11:17 PM.
I will write about the wedding party crash and the dogs therein as well as my shopping spree in the down town rural shopping alley. Chickens in the market place too.
Today was long, hard, dirty and tough. Lots of people claimed to accept Jesus by the end of the day, but that is really up to God, it’s not about numbers, it never has with me, which is not to say it is with others, just my view of me, which I seem to be getting reacquainted with, daily or more so often. There was some conflict today and it was very frustrating. Afterwards, Billy walked me away from it and we talked.
First off, here’s what I wrote this morning:
8:45 AM Well, I'm sitting in a straw hut in the yard of the lodge writing on a laptop in Zambia, Africa...how weird is that? Just writing that sentence reads bizarre. Anyway, the wind is up today, which could mean bad things for our concert today. The open playing areas for us are what the townships use as soccer fields...dirt soccer fields comprised of red dust, broken glass, soda can tops and pieces of metal and debris. Oh, and I may have forgotten to mention that just about everyone plays barefoot, most can't afford new or good shoes. I've seen lots of foot worn thong sandals.
I think most of us, if not all of us (that is every living person), live our lives in a mental time warp, thinking inside of ourselves that we are still a particular age and appearance. You've heard this from me before, but Pastor Monza spoke a number of nights back and referred to our skin and bodies as boxes...appropriate, I think. I think we live in a mental box and forget how others see us, unless they remind us of that by comment or criticism. I'm digressing, but hey, it's my journal!
I've moved from the hut into the lodge for our prayer and info meeting and will be leaving in 13 minutes for the field in the compound. Still very windy and such, but it will be what it will be. At least we know that the electrician is on site and preparing for today and us. What we don't know is that Max E will be there with the sound system if it is, indeed, that windy out there. I guess we'll find out soon.
The medicine is here, but it is for not for our use, more so for the doctor of the hospital who ordered it.
9:22 - signing off.
And now for the scenario that the first part of this alluded to.
Scenario: The morning at the lodge went according to schedule, pretty much, and the band including Junar, went to re-supply at the mall and then out to the outdoor compound. Because of the wind, Billy and I were concerned that the compound did not get watered down last night and that the Parmar’s would not set up the equipment. As it was, when we got there, the stage was under construction, 2 hours late, but under construction. The wind was blowing 15 to 20 miles an hour and the dust and dirt made it look like a dust storm. Friday, our driver was asked to park by the wall and for us to unload the gear. I said that is not a good idea because of the wind and dust blowing. This was rebutted. The result was that we did unload our equipment into the conditions and there were negative results from it. Suffice it to say that this put a strain on the rest of my time there. My fuse was lit; everything that has angered me on this trip became very clear again. I edited out the scene and the participants, but the affect on me was definite.
We stayed there all day, in the sun with no shelter for most of the day, we got so full of dirt, I couldn’t sweat, it just absorbed into the layering on my skin.
The stage got finished, the Parmar’s DID show up with equipment and they stuck it out with us. I won’t go into all the details, but we did have a sound system. I have nothing but frustration on my mind, which of course makes it tough to play creatively.
When we finished, the sun was just going down and it was dusk. We loaded Francis’s truck full of 4 huge bass bin speakers, standing on ends so they could fit in his pick up, the Parmar’s truck with the rest of the sound equipment and the van with our gear and our people. Crammed I’m sure.
Billy told me to ride with him and Francis, Max, Mat and Roger in Francis’s truck. Matt and I hopped into the back of the truck to hold the speakers, as did another guy who came with the Parmar’s to help. Problem was that a group of young adult boys and men came to Francis’s window and demanded money for us to leave the compound…they were not big on our refusal to give them any money and began reaching at us and pinching and pushing the truck from side to side and such. I yelled for the local pastor to come but he couldn’t hear us and Francis stood out his door and said to me that we must pay them or they will make much trouble for us. I told him absolutely not and yelled again for the pastor who then did hear us and came and told the guys to step back. As soon as they did, Francis began to drive and they followed us, chased us all the way to the paved road, jumping on the back, pulling at the speakers. Matt and the other guy pushed them off, most of the time they landed on their feet, sometimes they didn’t, but I was no longer concerned with that aspect.
We were thankful to getaway without it getting more physical, but our next problem presented itself as we drove and came to a Left turn…the speakers are not tied down and occupy 95% of the truck’s floor bed. Matt was hanging over the side of the truck holding onto the speakers and when we took the turn everything tipped his direction. I grabbed him and pulled him to me, which in turn pulled the speakers back too. Once we were straight again I looked under my feet and saw the awning we bought and opened the nylon part of it up, threw it around the back of the speakers and held onto the to ends, tied them together and held the 4 speakers in the truck while holding onto the roll-bar in the back of the truck.
We drove a number of miles that way through town to get to downtown where we unloaded the equipment at the Parmar’s shop. Max was very grateful for our help and what we are doing.
I had hoped everyone else got out all right, and was comforted when we got to the lodge and saw the other vehicles parked inside.
I pulled Billy aside and reiterated what was happening with me and that I am struggling terribly to stay with the program. I do not want a repeat of this day, in any form, other than that many folks accepted Christ when the offer was made from the stage.
I’m not cut for the missions’ field, but I believe I can support them in many ways, but being on site like this and participating, though incredibly mind blowing and life changing in some ways, is not my calling or gift. My hat is off to those who do this for life and a living.
Tomorrow we are supposed to play at the mall, outdoors on the field behind the mall. Francis’s brother manages the Shoprite in the mall and it is against his building that we would be playing from.
I will not risk my gear, the church’s gear, my comrades or myself again like we did today. The mall has security (but they are the ones with automatic weapons…)
When we got back, after these little mini-meetings, Billy and I were told that Pastor Thomas from the Vineyard, the one who spoke today, wanted all of us to meet to discuss what we thought of the day and ask what we got out of it. I wasn’t asked…, Billy was and I don’t know who else, but I wasn’t and the other team member wasn’t there…
I’m trying not to be angry, but it is difficult.
I love you so very much. Thanks for listening to me. 143 me
Yesterday evening, we cut up one of our bed-nets and gaff taped it over the windows in our room so we could have the windows open to reduce the heat in the room. We did 2 layers of netting for added confidence that we would not have any visitors. Unfortunately, all of us woke up with sore throats and headaches. Matt has a 100.3 fever and is lying down on his bed trying to wait out the fever. I’m pretty sure I don’t have a fever, but my throat is quite red. Cool thing about having Doctor T with us, we just walk to his and complain. He diagnoses and goes from there. He gave me a container of Tylenol Sore Throat, which I plan to use because of where I am, meaning, I have been off Tylenol products for years now, but under the circumstances, treatment is treatment.
Side note: Dr. T had his wallet stolen yesterday from inside the lodge. He left it on the table in the large meeting room for just a moment while he attended to one of our party’s knees. $400 in US gone. Pastor Tom took up a collection for him from the rest of the team and the doc ended up with at least $250 - $350. That was pretty cool. Ron was seriously lit that someone had come in and violated our space.
So I was going to tell you about the Market place…
We went to the down town market place which are a series of small shops using common walls, no larger than our bathroom without shower and not that tall. There is only room enough for one person to walk through, between the two row of facing shops (think Laurel St, reduced size buildings, no street between them, but a narrow path.) Everyone sells pretty much the same stuff and calls out to me “Ahlo, ahlo, hey Boss, let me show you, I give you a discount.”
I found some killer stuff and nothing prices. I wanted to buy a chair, Debbie ended up getting it, but I wanted it but have no place to put it. I can draw it for you, the backrest has lions carved and engraved into it, and it was made of 2 pieces of wood.
There was a guy there selling chickens and when someone purchased them he just reached into the cage, took hold of one by its wings and shoved it into a plastic bag, like the bags we get from Safeway. I tripped on that.
I was looking at a carved lion for Josh; they use a stone which looks like jade with black swirls in it. Beautiful stuff. Anyway, I was at the inside corner shop and looking at this carved lion and the men asked me to make an offer. I asked what they were asking for it. We talked Kwacha and US and they wanted $80 US which is $288,000 Kwacha. I told them I would keep looking because my offer would be much too low for them to accept, they kept on me for an offer so I told them I would only spend $20 US or $72,000 Kwacha. I told them I could not be flexible on that, but did buy a couple things from them for their time, so to speak.
As we were packing ourselves into the van to leave, probably half an hour after all of that, these same 2 guys came to us at the van and asked me to reconsider and made a counter offer of $25 US and $50,000 Kwacha. I told them it was not an option for me, that I was basically out of spending money. They then offered $25.00 so I relented and bought it. Probably worth $110.00 to $130 in the US. I may have to get something else for Josh…I really like the lion…I got Missy a dress, size 6…I hope I did alright there…I think it’s cute. Found some stuff for our moms and some stuff for you. I hope you like it.
Now, on to the wedding I was going to tell you about; While we were being driven to the Animal Park the first time, we drove behind a wedding processional that was turning into a HUGE gated home and Francis recognized some of the attendees as from his church. He then figured it was the girl he led to the lord a couple years ago and when we drove by he said that he wanted to stop by on our way back to greet her. So just a little bit after that, 30 minutes or so, we were on our way back from not getting in to the park and we pulled up to the gate and Francis called to the guard to let us in. Francis asked if it was Aida who was getting married, the guard didn’t know and let us in at Francis’s encouraging. As we drove in the front yard was gorgeous and large, green grass, sculpted trees and manicured shrubbery. On our right were two huge Rottweillers chained to the wall with big link chains. Further up the drive way we could see the ceremony or pictures being taken, we’re not sure which but it was then that Francis realized he DID NOT know this girl and said “Oops, we need to get out of here, turn the van around!” At this point the Rotty’s began to bark angrily and were being restrained by the chain’s capacity and length. We made a quick 3 point turn and drove back out. We drove out the driveway, turned Right and this home is the corner plot on this street and the main road to town, so we turned Right again to head back to town and I noticed that this home was 10 to 15 rooms, at least 3 story with major sculpting in the back yard, gardens and such, all of which you can kind of see from the road as you drive, guards walking the yard…apparently not very efficient guards, but guards none the less.
So, here we are on Wednesday morning, 10:49 AM and Billy has gone with some folks to the Mall and plans to come back and pick up Matt and me for the gig this afternoon. I stayed to rest and stay horizontal and monitor Matt who’s asleep. Poor kid. I doubt that he will be participating in today’s gig.
Some of the fun moments from yesterday was watching Matt and Travis play “Catch The Lion” with the kids, which is a local game like tag, but because there were 200 or so kids playing, its point is the person or persons run and have to be caught by multiple kids to be caught and stopped. Most of these kids stand up to the waistline of both Matt and Travis so it was funny to watch these kids call out “Woooooooooooo” as Matt and Travis took off and then they gave chase. The kids were thrilled and Matt was having a great time. I’m really proud of him too.
While Matt and Travis were playing tag with the kids at Chipata Compound, where we were mobbed upon departure, Matt came back to the stage where Billy and I were and handed us a dagger/knife (5” or 6” blade) he had found while running across the field, the filed where everyone plays barefoot and such. Death is everywhere, just more visible in some places than others.
Also, the compound was to have been watered down, but it wasn’t so end result through negotiations was that several women left with large plastic containers balancing on there heads and went to get water from a couple kilometers away, probably a ¼ to ½ mile away. They carried these back and began to throw it and spread it around on the ground where we had asked for it to be done. Matt helped with the process and began throwing the water way up in the air so it fell on all the kids that were continually following him around. They loved it and Matt was again, having a great time.
Well, I’m having a hard time concentrating so I’m going to nap for a little, waiting for the folks to come back.
So here’s the thing. When we woke up this morning, I had a sore throat, headache and general yuckiness and so did Matt and Billy. Matt and I stayed in the room and slept and Billy trouped it to the mall where we were to play today, organizing and dealing with logistics. About 3ish, Billy came back for me and Matt and we loaded up the instruments and headed down to the mall. The stage was set, canopy was set and we set our instruments and cabled. After cabling, while I was waiting for our section of the power to work, I was playing my guitar while sitting in one of the cool chairs that Debbie bought yesterday. Very comfortable for a wooden chair, really. Anyway, power had been supplied to the sound system, but not yet to our equipment. Just as the power was supplied to our equipment, two plug strips, one at the sound board and one just behind me where the amplifiers for the system were, made a “FFFFFFFFFFSSSSSHHHHTTTT” sound and smoked profusely. Internal meltdowns at both locations due to a 300+ voltage surge which, when it hit, took out the plug strips and anything that was powered up via them. QSC System amps gone. Compressors gone and possibly some of the mixing equipment too.
Concert cancelled, except that the youth choir that worked with us at Pastor Flemings’ church compound was there to sing so they went ahead and got on stage and sang while we struck behind them. So we came back to the lodge and went to bed at 6:30ish.
We (Travis and I) just returned from dinner and he’s in bed and I’m writing you. It’s 8:23 PM.
We’ll know tomorrow morning if we will have a system or not for Thursday, Friday and the main concert on Saturday…this system was for all events. So we shall see what comes of this. Rich is planning to take acoustics to the compound gig tomorrow and play acoustically if need be, him and Junar. He asked Billy and me to take tomorrow off to rest…Billy wants to work…I think I’m all right with taking a day, especially since I haven’t had one yet. We’ve been busy and working our butts of each day, one way or another, or so it seems to me right now, anyway.
We are in the count down for us coming home now…it’s Wednesday night and we are to leave Sunday afternoon…let me do the math…89 hours from 6 minutes ago.
Good afternoon. I’m feeling very fatigued and drained, sore throat comes and goes and headache and fever also intermittent. Billy is the same way. It’s like we went from a V8 engine to a 4 cylinder almost over night.
The sound system did fry…I don’t know what we will do now for the big concert on Saturday…what we were using was the bulk of the main system…It’s not in our hands at this point. Billy, Junar, Rich and Travis are heading out to a compound, not the one we originally thought we would be at, to play acoustic guitars and minister that way.
This whole plan of mini-concerts was to be in conjunction with the medical brigade, but the medical brigade was shut down when we found out the manifest of medicines was useless in the field. No brigade has or will take place. The concerts are now the only thing in motion and those have been slowed to a crawl via electronics and sickness.
I’m so tired, it’s hard to keep my eyes open and write. Matt’s playing his Gameboy he brought. I think I will get my CD player and shut my eyes and listen to some music.
I plan to write down my observations on what has happened in me since leaving and things I have now considered. My guitars, my instruments, my skills, how I can help, all of these things. We went to the market place again today, looked in an African clothing store called “YOU & I” which had gorgeous things, full outfits for men and women, traditional from head to toe
I really want to come home to my family. It’s 1:30…chill time.
It’s 2:00…no chilling took place. Just after writing the above, Bonnie ordered some fries for Matt and me and Matt then went to get them. He came back in to say that Francis was here and he overheard Francis telling Rich that Francis’s sister, Francesca, just died from what we believe to be complications from AIDS. Ron, Debbie and Dr. T had been with her last night and taken her from her home to the hospital because she was getting weaker and Francis’ younger sister and brother had been looking after her as best they could, but could no longer taker care of her. I don’t know the details past that.
We had prayer this morning that if God does not bring her healing, that he would take her quietly and quickly, so I guess this is an answer to prayer, though not the one we wanted, but then this trip has been nothing about what we wanted, not even from the beginning, except for having good flights and arrangements therein.
Death surrounds everyone here, in this country. The average maximum age is about 37 and we see children everywhere caring other children, which we thought was siblings caring…10, 11, 12, 13 and up are having children, apparently as soon as the body can, it does. It’s heartbreaking from that standpoint, as well as from several thousand other standpoints. Everyone that we have come in to contact with has lost at least one family member recently and they show little sign of emotional reaction to it, numbed I guess.
Matt’s feeling much better and is heading out to the compound to join the others out there. I’m staying to rest and feel better. I know I could go and play, but I don’t think I’m doing anyone any favors by doing so, but it is a struggle, I feel like if I can navigate, I should, but my strength is reasonably diminished, so here I stay.
I’m going to rest and try to organize my stuff so I know where everything is. Quite a trip. I love you
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. 143 me
Good morning. I woke up feeling better this morning, no real sore throat and the headache was minimal. Stomach is still a little perturbed, but workable.
There will be another acoustic set today at the compound where the guy ran after us because I inadvertently took his picture. I’m staying here, I hope Billy chooses to as well, he needs the rest too.
I’m going to have my jacket and slacks cleaned today for the flight out on Sunday, so if we get a shot at Business or First Class, I’m dressed appropriately. I guess we’ll see how that works out. Once I get to Sunday afternoon, I will probably not be able to write any more, unless we have a long stand-by time frame at one of the airports.
I emailed Kent about taking the rest of the week and he supported me in it. That is a weight off my shoulders. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to pull it off, getting off a plane from Africa and going into to work, where I have to use my mind for the job, not some repetitious manual gig I could get away with.
Matt bought firecrackers yesterday while we were at the market, he got permission to set them off here in the compound…only he didn’t let everyone (me) know he was going to set them off. Scared the wee out of me. Billy was proud of him. I think the family needs some group therapy or something…kidding.
Travis came back in and he’s sleeping right now, most everyone else went to town and the market place. 2:00 is the gig at the last compound today. I hope and pray it goes well without any incident. My acoustic guitar is getting a workout. The hard shell case for it will have to be replaced when I get back. It took a couple of serious hits while out of my control…praise God for hard shell cases, this one has served me well.
You’d be proud of me; I’m resting like I should and not asking for trouble by pushing my limits. I want to come home well. Heck, I just want to come home. Actually, I want both.
Know that I love you and miss you. I got the last of the pictures off to you today, so until I get the video camera from Roger or Rich, I won’t have any more shots to send.
I should state that my only real physical mistake was trying to wrestle Travis in the van. Travis, 6 years of Tae Kwon Do and 2 years of kick boxing (or something like that)…I would have been well advised to have learned these facts first. It ended a draw, but only because I was smart enough to stop. I’ll just pick on Matt and Kenny if need be.
(11:59 AM) Billy just came in to get his camera; apparently there is a Chameleon in the front yard on a rock…I should go see. He’s pretty stoked. Besides, it’s lunch time.
I love you.
It’s 2:43 PM and I’m back in the room, Travis is back in bed after gargling something that smelled like furniture polish…absolutely nasty. He’s got what Matt, Billy and I all dealt with. Billy and I are pretty sure it’s due to being in Chipata Compound all day with no shelter or relief. I am still pretty frustrated with that whole event.
I’m listening to one of the CD’s I burned for the trip, Styx and others, very cool, very inspiring too. While on the planes, I listened to all the CD’s I burned for the trip. They were a good escape for the plane rides here and now just kinda “restocking” if you will.
From an engineer’s standpoint, there is much to be learned from listening to other people’s mixes, tones and styles. How they use effects and pan images and such.
(Praise the Lord for E5’s.)
Once a rocker, always a rocker, with or without hair, I guess. After playing with Billy, Matt and Travis, I really want to play more and especially when I listen to the likes of Styx and such, it reminds me that I have more to express than is currently on tape, shall we say. I have more confidence in my playing now, too. I would like to have more time to learn some other styles of lead and such, I like what I play, but I feel limited when I play on the spot, I revert to some familiar phrases and boxes which I’ve always used.
Billy is so fun to play with because he offers no walls and facades. Same as when we were in SBG, just 100% effort with seriously fun results. Plus he continues to listen to the same music his kids listen to and he stays fresh in his ideas, not be satiated with the same old, same old.
It’s 4:27 and I just got to speak with you! It’s like I can breathe slower now. I hear your voice and visualize your face and the same with Missy. She about broke my heart when she said that when her birthday comes, she’ll send me a postcard…I told her I’ll be there for her birthday and that I’m coming home very soon. She was pretty tired, but I hope she’ll remember I called to talk to her and that I love her and miss her. I’m glad I prepared myself for the extreme of missing you guys because it has been nothing less than that. Now I feel rejuvenated and I want to play. I’ll probably crash and burn if I do, but I want to, nonetheless.
Let’s see: 4:30 PM here…in right about 48 hours, we will be heading for the airport!!! Anxious…? Me?
Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that we used the In Ears for the Chipata Compound gig. We should have had more monitors available to us, but that is behind us now. At any rate, we had 2 floor wedges on the front corners of the stage for the up front leadership and Matt, Trav and I used In Ears, which worked functionally, there was distortion, overdriven type, which means that somewhere in the signal path from the mixer’s Aux send to us, something was being overloaded. That excess or overload of signal causes distortion to become part of the signal path. Matt wasn’t comfortable with it and Trav seemed to survive well, because he is going direct using electric drums. I was going direct too, so I needed something to work from and I was able to do all right with the overloading. I would have been happier if I could have found the offending distortion source and killed it. It was also risky to use them with Max because he’s never engineered anyone using them and doesn’t know how or where to troubleshoot them. The point of monitors is exactly just that; they are for monitoring, not listening. They are to give you reference and point and time as needed, and in the best case scenario, they provide you with a comfortable listening atmosphere, but I expect if you ask most musicians what they commonly think of monitor mixes, they’ll tell you that they work but they are never quite right, and I thinks that’s all right too. When you have the bucks to spend on full scale monitor equipment, separate monitor board and engineer with loaded outboard gear racks, you can reasonably expect that your monitor mix should be equal to or better than your house mix, certainly parallel to the recording, if there is one.
Had I not brought these units, we would have been deeper in the dust (very bad pun…), so to speak, so it was a good thing to do. And had we needed more than the four I brought we would have been dusted as well. That’s not to say that I was something cool to have done it, it is to say that MPPC was able to partake in the blessing of what is happening here in Zambia because of the gear I am fortunate enough to have access to. How cool is that? I over-brought on the one hand, but on the other, I am and was prepared to make whatever adaptations I thought needed…and then I got put on guitar instead of the board…something I did not expect. I can run down the expectations versus the realities: Expectations in bold and the reality follows the colon sign... Dr. T to be treating people daily: Has gone out once to the Bush tribe, treating in house mostly
Ron would be witnessing daily, daily for Billy Graham conf.: Has officially shared 3 times, 1x for Billy Graham, compound sharing. Wade would be sound engineer and technical coordinator: lead guitarist only, no sound control, became expendable
Billy would be worship leader, player: Worship leader, song selector, group coordinator for travels and such
Leadership thought things would go reasonably smoothly: Things did not go reasonably smoothly, some strife from within
There would be a medical brigade: There was no medical brigade
The medicine manifest would be accurate and appropriate: The manifest was inaccurate and contained medicine we could have used.
Our rooms would be like those of a camp lodge or motel: rooms are like rustic camp, bed-netting necessary, nocturnal visitors
Lodge would have air conditioning: nope.
2 people per room at the lodge: 4 of us in a room which should house 1 maybe 2
The beds would be like in a motel or hotel: nope. Single beds, springs pushing through, pillows aren't store bought.
communications would be set up in advance: Only the locals have cell phones, the hired drivers don't
Francis would not lose his job because of working with us: He did.
We would stay healthy: We didn't.
Most of the food would be ethnic and traditional: most of the food is Americanized with an ethnic twist to it
We would not find ourselves in jeopardy of our well-being: there have been multiple time when we were at minor to reasonable risk
The police would not carry automatic weapons: The police carry automatic weapons and watch white people visiting…
Now not all these are as drastic as they appear and some need explanation, but what I wanted to do was to provide kind of an over-view of our expectations, some said, some not, but expectations nonetheless. They are not all questions I would have asked in the past, but I'd be far wiser now about what to ask about and look for. I hope to use this gained knowledge to assist other groups who plan excursions and maybe it can help. Like asking how many phone lines there are at the lodge or place of residence…one phone line is very difficult to navigate among 16 plus people in our group, plus the staff and the other lodgers. Had I asked if, when I look out my room window, I will see a stone wall topped with broken glass shards and electric fencing, I might have thought differently about the trip and where we might be finding ourselves.
Oh yeah, I remembered another story; Francis is (was) building a new home in Lusaka, his current home isn’t safe and he’s been robbed in the past. His new home has the standard wall around it and a guard inside at night, and until the electricity got turned on, his guard was getting robbed and beaten. He got the fencing wired up and turned on and the beatings stopped abruptly. He ran the 3 phase electrical wires along the top of the wall so you can’t see them sticking up, but if you lay your hand on top…zap.
So one night the alarm went off, signaling that someone had tried to climb the wall again. The guard watched 3 men carry a fourth lifeless man and lay him in a pick up truck and speed away. There is no regulation of the power wattage allowed for electrical fencing…these fences are not set to “stun”, they’ll kill you upon the grasping, end of story, no discussion. Most fences are 1 or 2 phase power; Francis installed 3 phase, more juice, so to speak.
Anyway, the guard was quite pleased to know the electrical wall works now and he is safe as well. Francis regrets the man trying to break in, but with his wife expecting and all the political stuff going on, he needs a safe haven and if it takes electrifying a wall to bring the safety, I suppose we would do no different. I would do whatever was in my means to protect my family from known intruders and thieves.
It’s almost 6:00 PM, 9:00AM your time. I wish I could be there with you, but I will be soon.
It’s now 10:25 PM and we got back from dinner about an hour and a half ago. Upon returning, Billy happen to walk through Ron and Rich’s room where a brief discussion was underway that “The Vineyard Band and The King’s Way Group” are to be at a women’s breakfast down town tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM…If Billy had not walked through there…Seems that they printed up tickets and everything so Billy and Junar are going to go and I will organize our stuff for the show tomorrow. I guess I’m amazed but not surprised, you know that I mean?
Dinner was at an Irish restaurant in the Manda Hill Mall. The food was excellent; I had Fish and Chips, which were wonderful and 3 Diet Pepsi(s). It was fun to be out, since I’d been kinda stuck here sick and all. Roger paid for everyone’s dinner…pretty cool thing for him to do. He enjoyed it. We all appreciated it, big time.
I’m on a plane in less than 48 hours! We’re all getting into that place of being ready to go, somewhat like the “home stretch” for the runner. The loneliness actor gets to be tough occasionally; it’s going to be wonderful to be home.
I was just able to log on and send Billy’s email to Sue and checked out the AOL instant messenger web based chat and found Dave Swartz online. That was great, surprised him and was good to chat a moment with him.
It’s now 11:02 and I’m gonna call it for the day.
Tomorrow will be a full day, lots to do and much to accomplish. We’ll be up at 7 and I’ll be going through the gear getting it ready for travel to the Fair Grounds. I plan to write tomorrow night- I love you W
We are at the Lusaka airport and hanging out in a lounge with Jackie and Francis. We just ordered some food, I didn't get breakfast this morning. Last night was a late night, I spent a few hours cleaning up the gear and organizing it, sorting and getting it ready for packaging and shipping.
Yesterday was amazing as well.
The concert was a success, but again, it was not according to our plans or expectations. We arrived early at the show grounds and planned to do an early sound-check. We never got a sound-check, just so you know how this is going to go.
When we arrived, the sound system was getting finished being set up and the stage was done, except for the canvas windbreaker we were going to have across the rear of the stage. All of that came together, but after the power lines were dropped and run to the stage and tested, it turned out to be the same voltage as Manda Hill; Phase 1 was low voltage and Phases 2 & 3 were too high. New power was run form a different poll and a generator was rented and brought over. While this fiasco was underway, a militia troop of 20 to 30 men, fully armed, arrived in a huge truck and parked in the field just behind our stage...
They unloaded all the men and they lined up in formation and stayed there. After a while, a well-decorated man came over to Travis and Matt and told them that his commanding officer wants to talk to them. They called me because I was the only other one of the band on site (Rich had gone to get something and Billy wasn't there yet.) So I told Douglas, one of our drivers, to come with me and we went with the officer to meet his commanding officer. The man we walked up to was bigger than me and never once looked at me, just spoke in my direction, holding his riding crop/baton and explained to me who he is, what he is responsible for and that he has no paper work on our event and that we must give him what he is asking. I told him that as soon as my superior arrives, I will send him to meet him. He said that will be sufficient and excused me. To say I was scared...
I must discontinue for our lunch has arrived here in the Lusaka airport lounge.
We interrupt this journal entry to inform you that we are currently in a South African Airlines 747 in Sal, an island off the coast of Africa, our only stop in transit to New York! "But, you were supposed to go to Frankfurt...yes?" Yes, but when we got to Johannesburg, we found that our tickets would not be honored due to an embargo that was just put in place and God got us on this flight. Had it not been this flight, there was one tomorrow or we would have had to wait until September 9th to get purchase tickets so we could fly out of South Africa on the 10th. So we sit in cattle class, rear of the plane, different rows, different seats. We are just about to depart from Sal for a 6 hour and 40 minute flight. More once we get in the air...We are air born over the Cape Verde Islands, Sal is one of those islands.
I'm very tired and figure to rest the computer and rest myself. It's 6:24 AM Zambia time, 3:24 AM Sal time and 9:24 PM your time. I'm gonna be thrashed when I get home...
It's 10:30 in New York's JFK Airport where we sit now awaiting seats on flight #9 non-stop to SFO which departs at 11:30. We just finished a breakfast here in the airport and we were all refreshed by the familiar cooking and REAL catsup (Heinz).
One of my bags, my large roll-a-round which contains my dirty clothes, and I think it has my medicines, got left in Johannesburg...Though this is not good, AT LEAST WE ARE HERE IN THE USA!!! For this I am prayerfully grateful and thankful. Billy says if the bag was actually stolen, we might do very well monetarily, but that is probably a long shot.
There are certainly more stories to follow, but if we are able to board this flight, I will most likely wait until I am home to collect these writings.
I love you me
I love you and will finish the final concert write up later. 143 me
It is September 14, 2001 and America was attacked this past Tuesday, hitting New York and the Pentagon…
This whole journal seems so unimportant to me now, on the one hand, but the relevance of when we would have flown in to the USA, had we not gotten out when we did…that is something that chills me and has. Billy had made back up arrangements should we not have gotten the flight we did to get out of South Africa and they were to have flown in the night of September 10 and then take the 8:00 AM United flight out from Newark to San Francisco, what would have been Flight 93. There’s not much to be said about that, other than what I just wrote. I called Billy the morning of 9/11 when I heard the details of the flights and before I could go very far into what I thought was our back up plan, he cut me off and said something like ”..Yeah…I know, I know…I don’t even want to think about that.”. We didn’t go over it after that. Maybe we can one day in the future but not now, in this time frame.
Okay, back to the trip conclusion… The concert on the Saturday night was successful and folks gave their life to Christ and some churches were further united and friendships were further solidified with some of the pastors and choir folks who came to sing that day. The soldiers sat on the outside of the area and listened to us, just kind of hanging out, so to speak. Pretty cool.
I'm thankful to my God for allowing me to participate and learn in this experience and for bringing us safely home when He did. Hard to fathom that.
We serve an incredible God who weeps with us and for us over the sins of our own doing and the sins of others, including those who cost the lives of thousands this past Tuesday.
