40/40 Training in Zambia - Part 3 (Petauke)

Halfway through our time in Zambia we took a 6 hours long hot bus ride from the seminary in Lusaka to a bush camp in Petauke.

At the camp, we stayed in tents and our meals were cooked and served from a camp kitchen.

Of course we had long drop potties and our showers were bucket showers using water that we pumped from a bore hole, burr.

Camping was a lot of fun despite some of the creepy crawly critters we encountered.

This time we were partnered together as a couple and had a new Zambian helper, Pastor Amos Mwale. Again each day we were given a Daily Field Assignment and we began by loading up in the back of a big truck and going into the boma (town). Our first DFA was to meet different city officials. Our group met with the District Commissioner. He was a strong Christian and spent most of the time encouraging us. It was a good visit.

Each day we would ride into the boma and met people in the market or in the nearby homes. We usually had a topic for the day that we would discuss with the people we would meet.

One day while we were visiting a family in the town, this little one tried Jeff’s hat on for size.

The second week in Petauke was spent walking to the homes in the nearby villages. We met many different people and heard many interesting stories about their lives in Africa.

One day we met with a retired school headmaster who had started his own business with a granary at his home.

Pastor Amos took us to his home to meet his wife and children. He also gave us a gift of ground nuts that he had grown.

Back at the bush camp we had classes each day about different aspects of African culture. One day the men went and met with the Chief and the ladies invited the Chief’s wife and the District Commissioner’s wife to the camp for tea. Other topics were driving lessons, cooking lessons, health lessons and auto maintenance classes. One day we also had a live demonstration on how to slaughter a chicken and how to slaughter a pig. Both were eaten for dinner.

The roughest part of bush camp was the HEAT! The temperature was over 100 degrees most everyday and got as high as 107. We found the best way to stay cool in the afternoon was to fill our laundry bucket with cold water from the bore hole and just sit with our feet in it. We would sleep with wet wash cloths on our chests.

By far the roughest adventure was the night Jeff passed his first ever kidney stone and had to be driven over an hour down rough bumpy roads to spend a night in the bush hospital. To read Jeff’s version of this experience, click under “Stories and Prayers” on the right. Here's the link: http://jeffandjan-n-africa-prayers.blogspot.com/

One of the beauties of bush camp was waking up each morning to look out the tent at the sun rising through the trees.

Jeff would go out into the fields most every morning and take these beautiful sunrise shots. Despite it’s heat, Zambia is a beautiful country.