Lusaka

You maybe wondering why we go to Lusaka so early for a meeting that doesn’t start until Monday.  So I’ll tell you.

We are driving a vehicle that we don’t own, our mission owns it.  So we have to get “Interpol” on it.  This is a paper giving proof that we have permission to drive the vehicle and to drive it into other countries.  Proof that we haven’t stolen it.  We also needed to get insurance to drive it in Malawi.

So on Thursday morning we left the quest house early to go to a lab and get blood work done.  This is in getting ready to come stateside.  We need to know what our cholesterol levels are.  Steve and I both are eating and will be eating a lot more oatmeal in the next three months.

Steve then dropped us back at the quest house and he went to get Interpol.  He spent the rest of the morning sitting in a queue (line).  At the Interpol office you do all the paperwork in the mornings and then the next day in the afternoon you pick it up.  Steve was getting worried.  He needed to do the paperwork on Thursday morning and pick it up on Friday afternoon.  We were leaving Sunday morning for Malawi. 

His number was never called.  But God took care of us.  Steve was wearing a shirt that had the words “Baptist Mission” on it.  A guy came out of the office, saw his shirt and started up a conversation.  I won’t give the rest of the details, but we got our Interpol.  Next time we will be coming a day earlier.  That was just too close.

The rest of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were spent running here and there shopping.  Pharmacy, grocery stores, and Live Stock Services where we loaded up on dog food.  This is our last trip to Lusaka before we leave to go on Stateside.  Se we needed to get enough dog food for Vern to last him the six months we are gone.

One of the highlights of coming to Lusaka is seeing other missionaries and their kids.  The kids in our mission call the adults Aunt and Uncle.  All the kids consider each other cousins.

Over a year ago in January, our team members the Adairs came to visit us.  We otherwise only see them in Lusaka and at meetings.  There oldest, Hutch, really likes Tobias.  Last April when we arrived in Lusaka to prepare for this yearly meeting he came out of his room at the guest house asking me, “Where are my kids?”  He wanted to know where my children were, he wanted to play with them. 

This year was no different.  We have stayed in the same room at the guest house every time we have come in for the last year.  Hutch saw that we were there and came right up to see us.  He loves teasing Tobias and playing with him.  They spent a good 15 minutes tickling each other and Hutch telling Tobias, “You stink!” He would then pinch his nose shut.  Next time I looked this is what I saw.  I guess Tobias didn’t stink too bad!