Dispatch No. 1

I have arrived in Mukinge! 3 days of activities in Lusaka included orientation, grocery shopping, cell phone registration and setup and meeting people - lot of people - and remembering a few names. Sorry but after about 4 nights of less than 4 hours sleep my brain really did not start to function again until Wednesday. It also included a number of awesome dinners with some wonderful families. I thought I was going to have `extra’ time but all of the time got consumed (for instance going to a 7:30am bible study at a car repair shop) and the date of my travel to Mukinge arrived. Perhaps a little too early as I had to leave for the airport at 7am. My flight was delayed due to technical difficulties  - not with my plane but another plane being flown up to Mukinge. They experienced problems with the battery so my plane was delayed to make sure they did not need a boost. Mmmm. Does one want to fly in a plane that needs a boost? In the end the problem was solved and both planes took off.

The flight was uneventful -praise the Lord. While I was able to see a few things, I could not see much as there is a haze over the country right now. This time of the year the Zambians burn off scrub and grasses in preparation for the next growing season. Between that and the ever present dust during this dry season, many people are suffering from sore throats and the like. While the grass is all brown this is offset by the numerous trees in bloom right now. The trees and shrubs are lighting up with reds, purples, blues and more. Quite beautiful really. I hope to post a few pictures when the internet decides to give decent speed - or any speed for that matter.

I met a qua-zillion people as I got off the plane. Okay maybe not that many but quite a few and many more as the day went on. I met Janet, the head teacher at Mukinge Hill Academy and my direct supervisor. Unfortunately she was headed out on the return flight due to a dental problem. She was able to give me a heads up on the subjects and grades I will teach and that the start up has been delayed a week so the Academy will be back in sync with the government schools. It didn’t take long to get a feeling that there is always a lot of action here at Mukinge. Many short term, more short term than we are, missionaries are coming and going. Most are related to the hospital as graduating medical students from all over the world come here. The long term missionaries have adapted very well and are constantly making us new comers feel at home and helping us adjust to our new surroundings.

Over the next week I will prepare myself for the first day of school including the lessons to teach although I think the first day will have a good measure of getting to know each other. Hopefully, assuming Janet comes back before too long, I will also get introduced  to the administration requirements such as mark recording and reporting which are likely to be different than I am use to. I will also work on my language learning. My goal there is to become comfortable with the proper greetings for the different situations, eg. Greeting other adults vs. greeting students.

If I had any doubts that this was were we are suppose to come, God arranged a few familiar items to cross my path: eg. The flannel sheets on the bed in the guest house were the same as our girls had when they were young (oh, the flannel sheets were a mistake according the guest house coordinator); the colour of the SIM Zambia main office is the same as our living room and then in Mukinge the dust pan and whisk are the same as the one I had then gave to my daughter a number of years ago.

Prayer requests:
more boldness in language learning
remembering names
adjusting to the new routines - eg. Getting to sleep earlier as the day begins earlier
For both Jennifer and I as we have this time apart

Brian and Jennifer Murrant     Serving in Mission with SIM in Mukinge, Zambia