Random Blogging

Coby, Austin, and Kelsey climbing a tree at the Tea Garden (where we have lunch occasionally)

No real reason for this blog. I can tell you that the weather here in Zambia is quite unusual for October. Last year when we stepped off the plane on 17 October 2007, we were dripping with sweat. Thankfully, the rains have come early this year, although we haven't had many rains, it has been a whole lot cooler. Today, it is 86 degrees with a nice breeze to keep everyone cool.

Ricky and Justin hanging out at the guest house

Austin playing on my computer just before it CRASHED. The guy brought the laptop back on Friday, and basically he says I need to restore the hard drive. He says I have a corrupted VG card and my network card is also corrupted. I have been backing up all my documents and pictures to the other laptop, so it is still working, but the graphics are just distorted. Thank you for those who were praying that we didn't lose everything. At this point, I am searching for other solutions instead of restoring. If anyone has any clever ideas, please email me at cook@bmoz.org. I have been able to find one website that had this problem happen to someone else, so I am looking into their suggestions.

Croc Farm with 40/40 Kids

Kelsey and Hannah

Coby petting the baby croc

The 40/40 Safari Orientation has begun, and the kids are getting to know some of the new MK's. We were invited to go with them to the Croc Farm in Lusaka. Of course, Austin, Coby, and Kelsey love to go here, so they didn't pass up the chance to go hold some snakes. Austin brought home another snake skin for his collection. Our cat, Isabell, was not too happy to see the new snake skin! We enjoyed our time with the new MK's and the boys enjoyed eating some croc burgers.

Austin and the other boys doing some fishing.

Computer Problems

On Friday last week, our main laptop started giving a blank screen. We began to panic because we had EVERYTHING on this computer, including the guest house reservations and all our pictures and video from our one year in Zambia. The whole day was spent working to get the computer back running and when we finally got it back up on Saturday, we did some backing up before it went out again. We discovered we had a virus and began to get this resolved, but the computer was still not connecting to the internet and it was over-heating which caused it to shutoff several times. Finally, we called someone and they have taken our laptop to try and fix it.



Please pray for everything to be fixed without losing all our important information. This has been the lesson we have learned from this experience... BACK UP ALL IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS EVERY DAY!!!

Welcome to IHOP

This morning we made IHOP pancakes and invited Justin and his parents over for breakfast. Ricky did the cooking and I made the coffee and juice, and set the table. This was Bill & Sondra's last day in Zambia as they leave for the States tomorrow. We enjoyed having them visit at the guesthouse, and we appreciate all the love and encouragement they give to us as we serve in Zambia. I know they enjoyed their visit with Justin and seeing the "Real Africa - Zambia!"

A Busy Day

Today has been a full day in Lusaka, Zambia. Our morning began at 6:30am with breakfast and then school to follow at 7:15am. Sounds pretty normal, right? Well, it gets better!

We had planned for another visit to the World Child Care center in Mutendere East this morning. Matilda helped me prepare the juice to take for the snack, and we loaded the 2 vehicles with all our "stuff". I was taking the Drummons with me to visit the children at the orphan school. Justin Drummons is a missionary in Kaputa, Zambia, and his parents are visiting from Alabama this week. Ricky ended up having to stay at the guest house while me, Coby, Kelsey, and the 3 Drummons went to share at the school. We stopped on the way to pick up Pastor Phiri, who was going with us to the school.

Sondra is getting ready to teach the Bible story. (Sorry, Bill, you didn't make it into the photo...Coby is taking the pictures!)
The school kids were so excited to see us again. It has been almost 3 months since we've seen them, but they remembered Coby - who could forget Coby Cook? Sondra and Bill had never been to a "real" Zambian compound in Lusaka, and I think they came back with a change in their hearts. Sondra told the story of baby Moses, using one of Kelsey's dolls as the baby. In the meantime, Justin and I got the snack ready for the kids. These kids usually come to school without having eaten anything, and they are starving while they are there trying to learn. Imagine trying to fill over 75+ cups of juice and handing out cookies to each child as they lined up outside the doorway. It was such a blessing to see their faces light up with joy after having a drink and snack.

We learned a little more about the school while we were there, and it seems that the landlord is wanting the school to purchase the property they have been renting. The leaders of "Amazing Voices" would like very much to purchase the place so they can expand the school to enable more students to come, but without the funds available, they are forced to remain renting and hope the landlord does not sell the property. Justin and I urged them to find help with a NGO in Zambia that helps schools get the funding needed to complete such a project. Please pray for this school and the funds to be made available for purchasing a permanent place. The majority of the kids are double orphaned, and many cannot afford to go to government schools. If they don't have money to pay for school, they end up spending their time on the streets. World Child Care offers free education to those who are orphaned or vulnerable.
Kelsey is helping to fill the cups.

After returning from the school, Coby & Kelsey got back on their home schooling. Austin arrives home from his school to announce that he has a basketball game in one hour. He rushes to find some lunch and then heads back over to the school to get ready for the game. Ricky then leaves for an errand to the airport while I get the cameras ready and head over to the school to watch the game. Coby is somewhere outside playing with some kids staying at the GH. Kelsey was still finishing her school, so I asked Sondra (a retired school teacher) to come sit with Kelsey as she finished her work. I think Sondra loved it more than Kelsey!

Anyway, I get to the game and (shocker) the game has not started on time. TIA! After 30 minutes, the other team finally shows up and then they have to go change clothes. The game finally started 45 minutes late. I am videoing and taking pictures, AND I was the only parent at the game! I'm texting Ricky every 5 minutes with updates from the game.

Ricky gets back to the GH and finds someone wanting to get into their room because their roommate was not there with the key, and they were sick and needed to get into the room. Oh, the joys of running a guest house! I was waiting for Ricky to come to the game, and by half-time he had not showed up yet. When I called him he told me everything that was going on, so I came back to the house to help with the chaos. Once we got everything under control at the GH, we returned to the game to find it over! Oh, well!

After this, Ricky heads out for another errand and I take Sondra and Bill shopping at the market. I have called this my "gift". I love to shop, and what better way to serve others than to take them shopping for gifts from Zambia. I have made some friends at this market in town, so we go straight to my friends' shops. As soon as we get started shopping, it begins to rain. It was fun to shop in the rain because we didn't have to leave the shop we were in. If we wanted to buy something, we just told them what we wanted, and they went to find it and bring it back to us. Sondra and Bill got some good items for some really good prices - I was the negotiator, they were the shoppers!

We ended our busy day with a nice dinner at the Marlin. Oh so good! Guess what tomorrow is? Our 1 year anniversary of living in Zambia - Yahoo!

The Rains have come!!!

Friday, October 10th marks our first rain in 7 months. This was an unexpected rain, which started out as hail, then turned to blowing hard rain, thunder, and some lightening. The kids had a fun time running in the rain, dancing in the rain, turning cartwheels, etc. They were so excited to finally see some rain. It rained for probably an hour and a half, and that cooled us down for a while. The flame trees were just beginning to bud the red flowers indicating that rains are on their way.

Traffic Police & 2 For 1 Special

This post is about several incidents that have happened over the 1 year we have lived in Lusaka, Zambia. We were telling this story to one of our friends, and he suggested this would be a good blog.

Our first traffic stop occured only minutes from our house on our way home from Livingstone back in January. We did not see the woman waving us down until the last minute, and we were pretty sure we were not speeding (if we were, it was only a few km), so we paid the fine. In Zambia, the police set up speed traps where they stand on the side of the road and shoot an ancient radar gun, and then if they suspect you are speeding, they step out into traffic and hold up their hand to wave you down to pull over. Not sure what they would do if you just kept on going, perhaps get your license tag. Anyway, this was our first experience of getting pulled over (and Ricky was driving). Since that day in January, I (Niki), have been pulled twice, and Ricky has been pulled four times.

I was going to Chongwe with the kids one day, and I had just told the kids that there may be some police up the road where they usually sit, so I was watching my speed very carefully. Lo and behold, the woman steps out in front of me and motions for me to pull over. I did so, and waited in the car. No one came, and I kept wondering what they were waiting on. Finally I see them waving me to get out and come to them, which was across the highway. I did as I was told, and began talking with the officer. First, we did the normal greetings (How are you? I'm fine. How are you?) Then, he wants to know who I am and what I do here in Lusaka. I'm driving a BMOZ vehicle, so that was obvious that I am a missionary. Anyway, I explain to him that I was NOT speeding, and that I knew they were sitting there. This goes on back and forth for a while, and then finally I convinced him that I was being honest, and so he let me go.

The next time that I got pulled, Ricky got pulled also - that's because he was following ME! We pulled over, unsure what speed we were going, and one officer began talking to Ricky while another came over to my vehicle. We were both in BMOZ vehicles as we were taking one of the trucks to the shop for fixing. The officer who was talking to me said I needed to pay her 70,000 kwacha, and since I didn't have that much money with me, I asked her if I could walk over to my husband's vehicle to get some money from him. She laughed, and told me to wait there. In the meantime, another officer was telling Ricky he owed 70,000 kwacha, and when he explained that we were together, the two officers got together and decided they would only charge us one fee of 70,000 kwacha. Yeah, a 2 for 1 special!

The other 2 times that Ricky has been pulled, he knew they were there and he was watching his speed. Now how dangerous is that to be constantly watching your speedometer? They want to charge you even if you are going 1 km over the speed limit. This time when Ricky was pulled, he remained inside the vehicle waiting for the officer to come to the window. Finally, they came and told him he was supposed to get out of the car. Ricky explained that in our country, it's not safe to get out of your car when stopped for police. The officer said he was admitting his guilt when he didn't get out of the car to run over to the radar and check his speed. Go figure! Anyway, Ricky wasn't so lucky this time convincing the officer that he was not speeding, even though one of our workers was riding with him and verified that he was going 10km UNDER the speed limit because someone had flashed their lights warning him they were there. The officer would not give in, so Ricky had to pay the fine anway.

Our worker who was riding with Ricky stated that the police pulled him over because he was white. They knew they could get money from him. We have heard many stories of friends getting pulled over for no good reason, and most of the time they end up paying the fine to get out of an argument. One friend told me she didn't have any money once when she was pulled, and they let her go to the ATM, but when she returned to pay them, they were gone. Ha!

*By the way, this picture was taken from Google Images. I did not take a picture of the police officers.*

Back Home

We are back home in Zambia!!! It is great to be back home, but it sure is HOT here. We left Joburg at 75 degrees and arrived in Lusaka at 94 degrees. Major difference. Yesterday, while in Joburg, we actually saw a few drops of rain. It has been 5 months since we have seen rain. Hopefully, it won't be long until we see some rain in Lusaka.

Thank you for praying for Austin while he saw many doctors during his time in Joburg. Many of you know our situation and so I will not go into detail here, but please continue to pray for him.

It was back to business when I arrived in Lusaka. I am so proud of our housekeeper, Elistina, who took over GH ministry while we were away. This ministry is definitely important to our missionaries here in Zambia, and we are happy to serve them. It's almost time for the next 40/40 orientation to begin, so pray for all the logistics to go well, and for these new missionaries who will be training.

Lion Park in Johannesburg, South Africa

The first thing we did was feed the giraffes and "touch-a-cub". They have 2 giraffes that you can pet and feed. These giraffes would not stop eating! There was also an ostrich trying to eat out of our hands, but it kind of hurt when he went to grab the food out.

Coby's 1st Kiss!
Then we went to pet the lion cubs. These cubs were abandoned by their parents, so they have been brought to this area to survive.

Then we went on a self-drive through the park to view the big lions. Most of them were sleeping! This big boy was still having his dinner from last night.

These are white lions. Each lion camp had a different pride. We also drove past some zebra, springbok, ostrich, and black wildebeest.

Blog Block

Just wanted to write a blog to let you know that we are are ALIVE and WELL. It has been a while since I last posted a blog. This has been due to several reasons, which I will try to explain.

First, on Wednesday, September 17th, Ricky and Austin traveled to South Africa to seek some medical advice on Austin. They have seen several doctors, but have not come to a consensus on a diagnosis.

Secondly, in the absence of Ricky and Austin, myself and the other 2 kids remained in Zambia. We were patiently waiting for our guys to come home. On Saturday, September 27th I took the kids to our gym for a relaxing and fun time at the pool. As we were enjoying a great sunny day, someone stole my wallet from my purse as it sat beside my chair near the poolside. When I realized it was missing, I immediately ran to security and management. They helped me search and ask people who were around if they had seen anything. No one wanted to help, even though one lady said she saw some kids near my things while I was at the pool. So, after filing a police report and cancelling all my credit cards, I phoned Ricky to tell him I was coming to South Africa to join him and Austin. On Sunday, we flew to Johannesburg.

In the meantime, we are still consulting with doctors here in Johannesburg, and obviously, being together as a family has been the greatest reward. Also, we found out by email that someone found my wallet stuffed behind a toilet at the gym. Only the money was gone, but all my credit cards and ID's were amazingly still there. What a relief!

While in Joburg, we have tried to do some fun thigns with the kids. They enjoy shopping at the market, but we also took a short trip to the Lion Park - see next blog for pictures. Hopefully, we all will be returning to Zambia very soon.