Perogie Party!

Friends were up from down south and with Anna Maria visiting we decided to whip up some good ol' Perogies.First one must roll out the dough

...then fill the dough...

...which must first be cut......then seal the perogie to be cooked and enjoyed.

Perogie Pals: Steph, Shannon, and Anna Maria

...and here are the bugs and larva we bothered to pick out of the flour...the rest stayed in the dough and we ate them. African Perogies at their best!

Zambia: Real Africa!

Nothing says "Real Africa" like Subway.

Anna Maria Comes to Visit!

I am honoured by the presence of my friend Anna Maria Enfield (front and centre) who, along with Stephanie Brink (pictured left), were part of the team that I first came to Zambia with in May '04. So it was a half team reunion!

...oh the times we've shared.

I Robot

Maybe Zambia's a little more developed than one would think...
...or we are just really into 80's dance moves here and are advised when and where to do specific moves. Coming soon the signs: "Running Man Ahead", "Moonwalk Ahead", and "Sprinkler Ahead".

The Truth About This Year

Here we are in Sinazongwe, about 4 hours south of Lusaka, where my friends Stephanie Brink and Susan Hundshamer are doing medical ministry. Some paint mysteriously ended up all over the new clinic floor. This is really what I've been doing all year...it's been 12 months and they still have us locked in there trying to get the pain off! You can't cry over spilled milk...but you can (and will) cry over spilled paint.

Just Take a Little Off the Top...

Warning: The following blog may not be suitable for all professional hairdressers. Hairdressing discretion is advised. After about 11 months without a blade to my head I decided it may be appropriate for a trim. So my good pal Stephanie Brink brought out the borrowed sewing scissors and went to town on my dry and damaged locks. I know this is probably horrifying to you hairdressers but it was either that or a trip to this little open air shack called "Neat Cutz" on the side of the road. I opted for Steph's "Kitchen Corral Cutz" instead. Don't worry, I've saved a lock for each of you upon my return.

Christmas in South Africa

Click here for the scenic tour

Walkin' in a Water Wonderland!

This past weekend I took all the kids at Chisomo (the centre for street children that I work with) to this water park here in Lusaka called Adventure City for a little Christmas Shindig. And oh, what an adventure we had! We had a blast!!

click here to view the full album

Here is part of the gang...there were about 44 youth in total.

They have a couple pretty sweet slides

Masters of Flipping!

This picture cracks me up. There was a football field quite a ways from the slides and pools and these tubes are in high demand so out of nowhere I see Danny and Anna walking across the field in their tubes, sure not to loose these precious gems!

The adventure continued as one of our mini buses blew a tire on the way home and we found this pair of glasses in the mud on the side of the road while we were waiting for the tire to be fixed.

There ain't no party like a Chisomo party cause a Chisomo party don't stop!!

Oh Tannenbaum!

Susan found a spectacular 180cm Christmas tree for cheap...we soon realized why so cheap...Shannon in her newest Christmas Sweater, handcrafted in Zambia

Susan, the tree hunter

And here we discover the problem that both parts of the tree have the same sized "trunk" so it couldn't fit together...

A variety of attempt were made to rectify the situation including whittling a stick. Not sure how we thought that skinny little twig would hold up the tree but desperate times called for desperate whittling.

Somethings not quite right

We found an old piece of pipe in the yard that we molded to fit. Ever since then there has been this water leak in the bathroom, I don't know why...

The finishing touch...

Our star was a bit to much for our little tree

And there you have it. Christmas in Zambia.

CROSS Seminar

Right now we have Randolph and Madelin Melville, the parents of Graham Melville here on our team, visiting from their island nation of England. We were honoured to have them teach at our end of semester CROSS Project seminar. The CROSS Project (Churches Ready to Overcome Silence and Stigma) is our HIV/AIDS ministry that trains and equips churches to address this epidemic by training individuals in counseling skills from a biblical perspective. The Sr. Melvilles did a great job and captivated their audiences with their teaching and storytelling.

Thumbs Up For American Thanksgiving!

"Let's all go around the table and say one thing we are thankful for!"
I managed to fandangle my way into our team Thanksgiving festivities...and they even let me sit at the adult table.

Out and About

Here is the gang at Chisomo Drop in Centre where I do a weekly Bible study. As you can see with the two on either side in the front row...once again I have captivated my audience!

Peter on the ol' banjoThis is Grandson (yes, that is his real name...he also has a little brother named Nephew!). I've been helping him with his math homework. I made him some handy dandy flash cards.

This is one of the widows and her family that I visit with regularly out in Kasupe. The expressions in this shot are priceless. We were definitely in need of some of the ol' portrait studio smiling techniques.

The proud photographers of the previous shot