The End

Well this is it. I will no longer be posting on this blog. It has served it's purpose (to tell of my adventures in Zambia) and is no longer needed.

That being said, however, I have started a new blog called The Face of Love.

Thanks for reading...


The End.

Life As Usual

I've been back in Canada for three and a half weeks now and life is back to normal. I have been busy spending my time getting together with people and sharing some stories from Zambia. In the last few weeks I have done quite a few things (I've spoken at church and at the Navigators, I've been to debriefing at Crossroads, I've spent lots of time with my family and some how I've managed to apply to some jobs).

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is. I think it has something to do with me speaking at church (which was great!!) and the fact that Claudia's birthday was two days ago. On Thursday night, I went to West Flamborough to visit Vanessa (who spent seven months in Ghana), Jeanette, Jackie and Nick. While we were there, we had a cake and kind of celebrated Claudia's birthday (ok, so I made the cake and we just put a candle in it and took a picture). It was a lot of fun. The cake was lemon poppyseed, in honour of Claudia!!

The only other thing I was going to try to do was put my sermon on here but I don't think I can attach sound files to a post. So if you want to hear it, let me know. I can either e-mail it or burn it on a cd. I certainly enjoyed speaking and people seemed to enjoy listening to me.

Hmmm, well I think that's it for now. I'm sure my blog isn't as exciting as Claudia's but hopefully things will pick up.

I am really glad I went to Zambia and I would do it again in an instant (of course with Claudia this time!!)

Back in Canada

As many of you know, I have indeed returned to Canada. My time in Africa is over (for now). After finishing in Zambia, I travelled to Kenya for five days and then spent two weeks in Tanzania with Claudia. We had a wonderful time and it was certainly great to see where Claudia has been living and working (and going to the beach was fun too!)

Now that I am back in Canada I would love to see people and catch up on life. I have to finish some things up at Crossroads and then I will hopefully be starting a new job (as soon as I can find someone that wants to hire me). That also means I will likely not be adding posts on a regular basis. So if you're expecting me to continue, sorry!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and is healthy. I must say that it really is great to be back in Canada and I look forward to seeing everyone.

Someone asked me when I got home if I would do it again, if I had to go back and make the decision again if I would still go.

My answer: Yup!

The End Is Near

This Wednesday morning is the last morning I will wake up in Zambia before returning to Canada. I leave for Nairobi, Kenya that day to visit another project similar to the Lazarus Project. I will be there until March 6, when I will fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to visit Claudia. I have the opportunity to spend two weeks relaxing before I fly back to Nairobi on March 20 and then on to London and then Toronto. I will be back on Canadian soil March 21 in the evening. I must say I am looking forward to seeing everyone again and catching up with how you are doing.

My time here has been great, an adventure I won't soon forget. I still remember when I got off the plane the first time I arrived here. The airport is one of the smallest international airports I have ever seen.

I would like to take some time to remember some of the highlights from my experience here. The same week arrived, I had the chance to meet the first lady of Germany with UNICEF. Since then I've been stranded with the truck for three and a half hours with two drums of diesel in the middle of a fuel crisis, I've played countless games of football, Claudia came and we say Victoria Falls, we went to South Africa, I've fixed a tractor, I've plowed a field, I've planted a field (and it's still alive!), I've joined a choir (as the sound technician), I've had two attempted robberies, and I helped put in an electric fence.

If you had asked me at the beginning what I wanted to accomplish here, the list would have been much longer. Although there was much more I wanted to do, I can only imagine all of the 'unwritten' things I have done. For five and half months, I have been a co-worker and a friend for Paul and Nchimunya. During this time, I have become an uncle and brother to so many boys that just need to be loved. If that is all I accomplish here, then it is enough. I am so glad Claudia was here to witness my most memorable moment at the project. We had come back from Livingstone and just got back to the project when little Lazarus saw me and came running. He yelled out "Uncle Dan!!" and gave me a big hug.

In that moment, what was previously unseen became seen, heaven came to earth to remind us what it feels like to be loved...and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In the words of Five Iron Frenzy...

"Only You can make every new day seem so new."

So long and farewell from Zambia.

The End Is Here

The Beginning of The End

Tomorrow marks the beginning of my last full week in Zambia (that's if you start the week with Sunday, if you start it with Monday then you're behind!) In case you were wondering, I leave for Nairobi, Kenya on March 1 to visit another project similar to the Lazarus Project. I will be there until March 6, when I will fly to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to visit Claudia. I have the opportunity to spend two weeks relaxing before I fly back to Nairobi on March 20 and then on to London and then Toronto. I will be back on Canadian soil March 21 in the evening. I must say I am looking forward to seeing everyone again and catching up with how you are doing.

Over the past week, we finally received the contents of the container of donations sent over by Crossroads. It had arrived in Dar es Salaam in early January but was waiting for clearance for some of the items that were shipped. Needless to say, I am happy that it has arrived. In it, Dave (my supervisor in Canada) sent a fridge and a few other small appliances for me/other Canadians who come to the project. There is also a washing machine for the project but I don't think it will be set up before I leave. Looks like I will have to wait until I leave here to do launry with a machine.

This week, we also got our truck back from the garage. Not having the truck has probably been the biggest hinderance to getting things done on the farm. It is very difficult to buy supplies and sell vegetables without transportation. But now it's here, and it's working!

Next week, Mike, an intern from Canada working with Crossroads in Kenya, is coming to visit. He will be here on Wednesday and we'll spend the week in Lusaka. Then I'm off to see where he works.

I suppose there's not a whole lot of other exciting news, just that I have enough work to last me about two months and I have to fit it into a week. I guess that's what God is for!!

Anyway, I hope everyone is enjoying the 'wonderful' weather in Canada. I hear it's been really cold and snowy! I am looking forward to catching at least the end of winter (or maybe just spring). Have a wonderful week!!