I’m home

Just in case anyone’s wondering why I haven’t put up a update in a while, it’s because I’m finally home. I left Zambia on the 3rd of may and arrived in Jacksonville at 11:00 pm on the 4th. It was a very exhausting flight!

My last week and a half in Zambia was spent in Livingstone. There was another Maranatha open team project that took place, so we went down to build some more One-day Churches.

Michael and myself had been planning all of the things that we needed to do before leaving Zambia. Our time was running out and there were so many things yet to be experienced! Things like:

1. Becoming craft salesman and selling at the local craft maket

2. Buying some Zambian clothes

3. Purchasing cell phone cards and trying to resell them to locals

These became some of our favorite activities in the following days. We also discovered the joy in yelling random greetings out of the Land Cruiser and seeing all of the different reactions. Another fun thing to do was scaring children. We would be driving on a road when all of the sudden we would spot some children. We would slam on the brakes and just stare at them. They would all freeze and stare back. Then one of us would just out of the door like we were going to chase them down on foot. They would all go screaming in terror into their various hiding places. Then we would start laughing and they would know were were joking. It was so fun!

Another great experience we had was ministering to some of the local craft salesmen. We crossed over into Zimbabwe one day to visit the craft markets. We found a corner stall, and after some negotiating, we had our own crafts shop. But after the guys found out we were Adventists, they started asking questions about the sabbath and health. We were able to study the Bible with them for about an hour. I was especially thankful to God because a couple of the versus I used, I had just read in the last week!

So now that my experience is over, I can look back on the year and feel proud. God lead me to step out and do something I never would do on my own. I faced something I was scared to death to do! I feel that I really matured a lot and learned a lot. I was able to help others, and it felt good.

So what am I doing now? Now I’m back to glorious life of Calculus 2, attempting to find a summer job, and having to pay car insurance. It’s fun.

I would like to thank those that took the time to read this blog, those that donated money and items for my trip, those that have sent letters, and those that have been praying for me.

This summer I am planning to make a DVD with all of my video footage I got while in Zambia. It will also have a lot of me just telling stories and stuff like that. I plan to have it finished by August or September, so if anyone would like a copy, just keep looking at this blog to see when it gets finished and how I can get everyone a copy.

Thanks again,

Adam Young

April 13

Yesterday marked three weeks until I leave Zambia. And in one week I will be leaving Riverside for Livingston. It amazes me to think my time here is nearly over. Sometimes I stop and think about my whole situation. I think to myself: “Hmm. I’m in Zambia, and I’m doing okay. I’m not dying of homesickness, and I get along well with the locals. I never thought I would be here a couple of years ago. I guess this has been a good year!” It still doesn’t seem real, even after seven months!

So what have I been up to lately? A lot. On Wednesday, March 24, we left Riverside for Kibidula Farm Institute in Tanzania. It took two days to arrive, and immediately I noticed many differences. For instance, people have more money. The majority have iron sheets on there houses, whereas most Zambians have thatched roofs. Also there was the language barrier. I had to take a crash course in Swahili. It kind of made me wish I had tried to learn Tonga, the local Zambian language. It was really nice to get a break and experience another country.

After leaving Kibidula on March 29, we headed for Lake Malawi. We first stopped on the Tanzanian side at a place called Muteme Beach (or something like that). We enjoyed a day of snorkeling, swimming, canoeing, and wind surfing. They have about five species of tropical looking fish. The water is about as clear as the ocean, so snorkeling was nice.

Next we headed for Malawi. We stayed at Nkhata Bay. The lodge we stayed at had rooms right on the water (the front porch was a dock) for about $10 a night. The snorkeling was great just ten yards from my bed! Overall the trip was great.

Another interesting experience I had occurred two this last Sunday night. I was in Lusaka on the way back from building One-day churches with Wiemar Academy at Itezhi Tezhi and was in a shopping center parking lot. As I often do when I’m bored in a parking lot, I struck up a very confusing and entertaining conversation with a drunk guy. I was somewhere in between trying to make him believe we were in Zimbabwe and getting him to find a wife for me when Alan said a burly looking South African guy wanted to give me something. He long hair and was driving a new Toyota Hilux. I was quite nervous as I went over to the side of his truck. He placed some wadded up pieces of paper into my hand and said, “Here you go man, enjoy.”

At first I was like: “This guys trying to be funny and giving me a handful of trash.” I said okay and walked away. A further inspection and a sniff from biggie confirmed the guy had just given me a handful of Marijuana.

Having heard that there is a prison sentence for possession, I immediately threw it to the ground and started rubbing it in the dirt. Before I could get it destroyed though, the drunk guy yelled in protest and started picking it off the ground. Then he ran off. It was a nerve wrecking experience. Looking back on it I should have just asked the guy what it was before I took it. He was just being nice, and I could have turned him down right away, and the drunk guy wouldn’t have been able to get it. At least it got rid of the drunk guy!

March 21

About three months ago, Michael, Linda, and I decided to take a trip to Malawi. We were all quite sick of Riverside. Allan went to visit his son in Kenya and left Michael and I to chop trees down on the property line using machetes and axes. Those days were not fun, so we decided to go to Malawi. But unfortunately, Michael broke his ankle on the eve of our departure. The reason: I told him to do something cool for the camera.

It just so happens Michael always hurts himself when I do that. A few months back I told him to shimmy up a Papaya tree for my video camera. The branch ended up breaking and he reopened a gash in his knee that put him back in bed for a week.

So back to Malawi. We’re finally going! I’ve known about it for some time but I figured I’d write about it now since nothing exciting has happened lately. This Wednesday we’re leaving for Kibidula Farm Institute, in Tanzania. You can read about it at this link:

http://www.kibidula.org/

If all goes according to plan, we will swing by Lake Malawi for some relaxation and snorkeling. If you’ve never heard of Lake Malawi, search for some pictures online. BBC’s Planet Earth also covers it, featuring it’s electric fish and enormous fly storms.

In other news, I’ve been doing quite a bit of CAD (Computer-aided Drawing). I’ve had to draw a couple of special One-day Church trusses and a the new trailer that we will take when we build One-day Churches. I never thought I would need those skills here.

I hope that everything is going well for whoever is reading this blog. I still need prayer, I’m still experiencing new things everyday, I’m still enjoying Africa, and yet I’m still looking forward to coming home!

March 19

So as of now, we have built a One-day Banana Shed, One-day Block Shed, One-day Church, One-day School, One Day Community Center, One-day Office, One-day Slaughter House, and now, a One-day Junk shed!

We just got back yesterday from visiting a new project called Kidz 4 Him. Kidz 4 Him is a project started by Rob Moody and his wife. They are both from Australia and a working hard to erect a clinic, orphanage, house, and other buildings in their Area.

The project is upstream from Riverside on the Kafue River, and takes about seven hours to get there. They are currently living in an old military truck while building a small house to live in.

We visited to build a One-day Church that will help accommodate mission trips in the near future. Once better facilities are built, the One-day Church will be used as a shop or storage, hence my nickname “Junk Shed.”

March 9

On Sunday, February 28, the Riverside One-day Church crew headed Southeast, for Mukuyu Outreach in… I can’t remember the name. But I can tell you it is a mission directed by Hein and Melissa, and that they are originally from South Africa. The mission was started by his brother, Yohan, but after he was mauled by an elephant in 2005, Hein came and took over.

The mission is located right on the Zambezi River. Their house is only about twenty yards from the bank, and their bathroom is probably the coolest bathroom I’ve ever been in. It is open on the side facing the river, so there is a great view and cool breeze while you do your business. They also have four Jack Russells that are pretty cool.

There is also a lot of wildlife in the area. There are tons of hippos in the river, and they are constantly grunting, snorting, and mooing. At dusk you can hear lions roaring across the river, and at night you can hear hyenas howling. I didn’t even mention the monkeys, which are everywhere, constantly looking for mukuyu figs to eat.

While we were there, we put up five One-day Churches. One will be a office/slaughter house/freezing room for Hein (to support the mission, he raises and sells sheep), two more are churches, one is a school, and the last a community center for the elderly.

Unfortunately the rainy season is still here. Since Hein’s place is so close to the river, there was mud everywhere. To get up the hill descending to Hein’s, we usually had to get the tractor to pull up the Land Cruiser, then block the wheels of the Cruiser and winch up the trailer. By that time, the tractor would be stuck, and then we would half to winch it out as well.

Overall it was a great trip. We even got a chance to take a boat out and do some fishing (I hung three fish, but all of them got off. Those tiger fish are tough!). We also got to go see Lake Kariba, two crocodile farms, and the dam (twice).

I would also like to ask for you prayers concerning a the school building we put up. Half way through the building process some guy showed up claiming that it was his land, and wanted us to take down the building. Therefore Hein has some work ahead of him to try and get that worked out. Hopefully we won’t have to deconstruct our first One-day church!

February 26

Before I left, Uncle Robert suggested I list the things I miss most about the states, so here goes.

1. Hot Showers
2. Mom and Grandma’s Cooking
3. Family
4. Friends (that understand my humor)
5. Americans
6. Fast Internet
7. Not Having to Do Currency Conversions in My Head
8. The South
9. A.M. and P.M. (Military time here)
10. Washing Machines and Dryers
11. Air Conditioning
12. Proper Usage of the English Language
13. Knowing that I’m missing out on fun experiences my friends are having back home
14. The Abundance of Grocery Stores
15. Watching Orlando Magic games
16. Smooth, paved roads
17. No Internet Restrictions
18. Being able to drive where I want, when I want
19. Sleeping In (Birds wake me up at 5:30 here, whether I’m tired or not)
20. Lack of litter
21. Owning a Mac Computer

There are Many more, I just can’t remember them right now.

February 12

It’s been a long time since I last posted a blog, so I have a lot of stories. Five to be exact.

Story #1

One-day Church in Nanduba (January 18-19)

Nanduba is a village located about three miles from Riverside. The main church was starting to overflow, so the members requested a One-day Church.

On Monday, January 18, Alan and myself hooked up an enormous trailer (the usual one was being used) to the back of his Land Cruiser and loaded a One-day Church. Since Alan and I were the only experienced ones with drills, we decided it would be better to do the church in two days. The first day we put in the stakes, side-wall studs, trusses, and bracing. Biggie and Michael were gone, so we had to have locals helping us screw. It made things so much slower!

The following day, I went alone. Going alone meant driving on the tar road. I’ve driven Alan’s Land Cruiser many times around the Riverside campus, but never on main roads. The scary part is driving on the left side of the road, but since it was only a couple of miles and only a few vehicles, I survived with only a few casualties.

The only thing left to do was the roofing, ridge-cap, steeple, and sign. What should have taken one and a half hours with the regular crew took us four and a half hours. Despite how frustrated I may have got, I was still happy to be doing a One-day Church, and didn’t let any anger show. When finished, Bornface (a Riverside worker helping me) and myself headed back to Riverside for a lunch of cookies (we missed lunch). It felt so good to be building One-day Churches again after such a dry spell!

Story #2

Livingstone (January 20 – February 8)

One January 20, Michael and myself hopped on a bus and headed for Livingstone. For some reason known to no man, Nigerian movies are popular in Zambia. I’m surprised they are popular in Nigeria! They’re terrible! The bus line played The Journalist. It was the worst movie I have ever seen in my life. It was filmed on digital equipment and was about a mentally retarded man who was trying to be a freelance journalist. During his adventures he happens to film a shooting, and it’s up to him to get the bad guys using his footage.

After six hours of misery, we arrived at the bus station in Livingston. We took a taxi to Faulty Towers, a popular backpackers lodge in Livingston. We were pleased to find that a brand new Shoprite had just opened right across the road. It became our personal caterer for the next week.

During the following week, we reported to Garwin McNeilus. I think that I mentioned Garwin in one of my earlier blogs. I believe he is somewhere in his seventies. He once owned the largest cement truck company in the U.S. He is also in the wind energy business. He is the man that produced the One-day Church and is making it possible for so many to be put up in Zambia and Africa.

Remember how I said I was scared to drive on the left side of the road? I got used to it real fast. Garwin gave us a Toyota Corolla for us to drive around in. He only wanted me driving it. I guess because I’m the oldest. We drove around to all the different One-day Church sites in it. The muffler was dragging most of the way because of all of the weight. Every time the shocks bottomed out, the local workers would say, “Ma Shocks!”

The Americans arrived a week later; 170 of them. 90% of which being over the age of fifty. The One-day Church split into two groups. We would have had more, but there weren’t enough able bodied people to have more. During our stay, we finished twenty-eight One-day Churches. It was nice eating American food and hanging out with Americans. Garwin also hooked us up with a microlight flight over Victoria Falls, which was really nice.

Story #3

Visiting the Chief (February 3)

On Wednesday, February 3, the One-day Church crew leaders were sent to roof a large church near the Botswana border. When we were finished, the elder said that we needed to meet the chief, and that we needed a gift. We weren’t expecting the meet the chief that day and we had no gift. What we did have was a twelve-pack of specially printed Maranatha water bottles and a king sized Tootsie Roll.

As we arrived at the chiefs “palace”, the elder explained the routine. We walked up the the steps of the chiefs house. We then knelt down on one knee, and clapped our hands three times in unison, then three times again. We rose and were seated in 4 chairs facing the chief. The chief sat across from us in a chair behind a small table. He was wearing normal westernized clothing, and was balding. His son sat at his right on the floor.

Caleb (Alan’s son) spoke for all five of us. He has a perfect Zambian accent after growing up here, and every Zambian can understand him. Even the chief spoke English, the church elder translated. He found it funny that I was the first man because my name is Adam. He also was very pleased with his gifts of power-giving Maranatha water and the American energy food, Tootsie Roll. Whenever the chief or Caleb said something we would all clap our hands quietly a few times to show respect.

When it came time to leave, the chief entered his house. We then walked off of the porch and kneeled again, clapped the appropriate amount of claps, and left.

Story #4

Christmas Late (February 9)

Christmas came late this year. I arrived back at Riverside to find four packages awaiting me. Three of them were Christmas packages. One from Lemmy, Scott, and Nathan, another from Brandon, Jordan, and Mark, and the third from Chris Hudson. It literally felt like Christmas morning! Nathan even sent me a Christmas C.D.

Aside from the rotting cheese (see the picture of the inflated cheese package), everything was awesome. My most prized possessions include two packs of double-stuffed Oreos, some trail mix, Taco Bell mild sauce, and of course, prunes.

The fourth package was from Mom. It was great as well. I’ve never had Nutella, but it is pretty good stuff!

Ever since getting my packages, I have been fighting off the ant population, spreading poison across my food shelf. I’m especially protective of my Oreos. I’ve found the best defense is running. I put the Oreos in a box and I move the box a couple times a day to confuse the ants. So far I have evaded them.

Wednesday we went to Cimilonga to finish a One-day Church and to do a clinic. When we finished the church, we were waiting for the clinic people to finish. Alan found an ugly looking gecko, and the fun began.

After subduing the reptile, we soon found that Zambians are scared to death of them.

“Their is no medicine for it,” they say.

I was trying to convince some of the kids to touch it, when Michael told me to run after a young man standing nearby while holding it out at him. I told Alan to start filming and I turned and sprinted at the man. The man let out a scream of terror and went taking off as fast as his legs would carry him, leaping into the bush with nos sign of stopping. He finally realized that no one was chasing him, and returned. It’s all on video, and I can’t wait to show everyone! I think that day was the best I’ve had in Zambia!

There are many more stories from this last month I could tell, but I am tired of typing. Once I get home I can tell everyone all my stories and experiences. In the meantime, I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support. Keep praying for me and Riverside, because we really need it and it really helps! Only two and a half more months!

January 1

It’s New Years today, although nothing here is new. Just the same old, same old here at Riverside.

Lately we’ve been chopping trees on the property line to let the locals know where it is. The goal is to be able to see from each stake to the next, 100 meters away. For some reason it seems that every termite mound, large tree, and thicket happen to be situated right on the property line!

Last night I chose not to stay up for New Years, but for some reason I woke up at about 11:30. I never wake up in the middle of the night, but last night I was awake for about two hours. This allowed me to have my own little count down looking at my watch. I watched the date change from “DEC 31,” to “JAN 1.” It wasn’t very exciting.

The original plan was to be sitting on a beach on Lake Malawi today, but Michael broke his ankle the day before we were scheduled to leave on a bus, so we decided to stay. The ticket was only thirty dollars so we didn’t lose much. The greater loss is being stuck here with nothing to do but cut trees with axes and machetes until Alan returns on the 4^th. I’m sure he has a chainsaw, but I forgot to inquire about it before he left for Kenya to visit his son 2 weeks ago.

So for New Years day I guess I’ll just celebrate by posting some pictures. Included are some pictures of two more fish I caught, pictures of Michael and I clearing the property line, a bird Andrew Marsh caught, the One-day Church shed, and some scenery around Riverside.

Pictures (Click them to see enlarged versions)

December 17, 2009

So far being stuck at Riverside hasn’t been all that bad. I thought it would be boring, but the work has been good and there is usually something to do.

Lately the work around here has consisted of hiking around Riverside’s property line with a G.P.S., a large blue pipe, and a bundle of steaks. You might call it surveying. Alan gets at the top of a mountain and lines himself up with the property line using his transit. The rest of us walk around with the big pipe and he tells us where to put the stakes. All Alan sees is the tip of a flexible pipe waving around above the trees. We hammer in a stake once every 100 meters. Once the stake is in, we record its position on the G.P.S.

After two weeks of this, I am glad to say that I did not run across any poisonous snakes. Andrew Marsh was hoping that we would, but I was praying that we wouldn’t, so I spoiled his plans. From what it sounds like, the only snake to worry about is the black mamba. If you get bit by one, you are basically dead, unless you cut off the part of the body that was bitten real fast or you are minutes from the anti-venom. All the other snake bites are dangerous, but are more slow to react, giving you time to get to a hospital.

The other day I woke up early, got in the boat here at Riverside, and paddled into the Kafue River. I fished for a little while with a silver spoon (The only bait I had at the time). I noticed a lump of weeds floating on the water about 70 yards away. I thought nothing of it until I saw it open its mouth and expose its large tusk-like teeth. I grabbed my binoculars and watched the hippo for a while. I didn’t catch any fish, but it was still a good morning.

Lately we have all been getting real tired of the food in the cafe. The most flavorful part is flicking roaches off of the table at breakfast. I am really tired of stale whole-wheat buns. I’ve now decided to diversify my diet a bit, so I bought some granola at Shoprite. Thanks to Mom for sending me some powdered soy-milk!