Our oldest daughter, Kanah, turned 8 on December 5! Given that Kanah has always had a tender heart for animals, we decided to celebrate as a family with a trip to a nearby farm. This 10,000 acre farm, located approximately 45 minutes drive from Macha, has been owned by the Bruce-Miller family, a white Zambian family of British descent, for several generations. Their farm contains hundreds of cattle, along with wildebeest, zebra, ostriches and numerous species of indigenous antelope (e.g. impala, bush buck and puku). It is also a bird-watcher’s paradise! Oh, and don’t forget the 13 dogs who act like they’re part of the family! Despite all of these enticing reasons to visit, the highlight of our visit would be the 7 horses who call this farm home!
Our weekend was spent on game drives (scouting out the various animals and searching the bush for an abandoned nest of ostrich eggs), horseback riding lessons for the girls, bird hunting (for Daddy!), eating wonderful, local food and chatting with the very welcoming and friendly Bruce-Miller family.
There never seems to be a dull moment at the Bruce-Miller farm – anything can happen! One evening, as we were sitting down to dinner, our host apologized and explained that very shortly she’d need to excuse herself from dinner. A neighbouring farmer was bringing over her dog who had just been gored by a wild bush pig. The Bruce-Millers are very experienced at caring for injured animals and they were prepared to clean and stitch the wound. About 5 minutes later, as the neighbours arrived carrying their injured Dalmatian, the scene suddenly became chaotic as the dog warned them of a spitting cobra slithering around the veranda, just outside the dinning room. The injured dog would have to wait! The door to the dining room was quickly closed as two of the adults donned eye goggles, grabbed whips and hoes and proceeded to corner and kill the deadly snake! (We had a front row seat to the action from the dining room window!) Now it was time to care for the injured dog. Kanah was completely intrigued by the entire procedure and held the flashlight as they shaved, cleaned and eventually stitched the gaping wound. Perhaps we have a budding veterinarian on our hands?!?!
The next morning, before the second round of horseback riding lessons were to begin, the girls got to bottle-feed and play with an infant duiker (one of the many species of antelope native to Zambia) that the had been brought to the family. It had been abandoned by its mother. The Bruce-Miller family will raise it and then release it back into the wild.
As we drove away from the farm, Kanah exclaimed, “This was my best birthday ever!”
I would, however, be remiss if I only gave an account of what we did for her birthday and left out how special this little blondie is to us. While she inherited her mom’s beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin, her personality closely resembles mine… silly, confident, outspoken and a whole lot of fun! I see so much of myself in her (although she’s got her mom’s brains!). She loves to read and do anything “crafty”. (Some days she says she’s going to be an artist like Uncle Benj or Aunt Shel.) She also has an incredible heart for others!
It’s been an amazing year watching her jump in with reckless abandon to a culture so completely different from her own. From the moment we arrived in Macha, she was making friends, eager to attend her new school, speaking “Zamspeak” (the word we use to describe the accent of Zambian English) and taking full advantage of her new freedom to roam the area surrounding us!
Kanah has a zeal for life that, while at times can exasperate her parents, is going to give her the desire and confidence to pursue her dreams. She’s one smart and talented girl and we’re excited to see her dreams come true!
So while it may be more than a month past her birthday, I’ll use this moment to publicly declare how proud we are of Kanah and how much we love her! Kanah, we’re SOOO thankful for the miracle God gave us in YOU! 
Please Note: This video uses language that focuses on funds given by The Meeting House, because it was created specifically for their use and to demonstrate where a significant portion of their funding to MCC has been used. However, the same holds true of all monies donated to MCC – it all makes a difference in peoples’ lives here in Southern Africa.
Well, I last posted on this blog in October. And now it’s January! Maybe you were probably wondering if we fell over the edge of the earth (it is flat, isn’t it?). Or perhaps we were eaten by a lion? Or more probable – internet access has been extremely limited lately (wow, now that’s a boring explanation!). But enough is enough… it’s time to post a thing or two.
First, some highlights…
November began with Arja and I heading off for two weeks to work on a couple video projects. One week was spent in Johannesburg, South Africa, collecting footage about several peace and reconciliation projects that MCC has been involved in. One of the most fascinating pieces of the story involves a man named Modiegi, a black South African, who was part of the armed struggle during the years of Apartheid. Due to a pilot program offered by one of MCC’s partners, he is now employed as a community facilitator in the areas of skills training, trauma counselling and peace building. A lot of his work is with fellow ex-combatants as he tries to help them successfully integrate into the current South Africa. His story is amazing… from freedom fighter to peace builder! (More on his story and more peace builders in a video to come!)
Following our week in Johannesburg, we travelled to Zimbabwe, to shoot video for an update on several MCC partners who have benefitted specifically from funds donated by The Meeting House. Mtshabezi Mission Hospital and Thembilihle House were two of the places that immediately captured our hearts during our first visit to Africa in 2007. It was good to be back and to see their increased capacity to care for the sick and vulnerable in their respective communities. We were also privileged to visit an home for abandoned babies (Arja wanted to stay!) and a parent-initiated and run program for severely handicapped children in Bulawayo. Both of these organizations are doing incredible work with extremely limited resources. It is our hope to be able to return to Bulawayo one day and capture their stories on video, too!
Zimbabwe has certainly had its share of bad press over the past couple of years. Among other tragedies, its collapsed economy threw the country into a tailspin. Slowly, however, this is changing. In the past year, the hyper-inflated Zimbabwean dollar has been taken out of circulation and replaced with the US Dollar and South African Rand. This introduction of “hard currency” has introduced some stability into an otherwise destroyed economy. Supplies are once again available in the stores and, very slowly, life is starting to return to this once prosperous country.
December was a time for strengthening ties with our family and our MCC colleagues. We had a great time celebrating Kanah’s 8th birthday (more to come in a a separate post)! A week following, the MCC Zambia team gathered for our annual retreat on the beautiful shores of Zambia’s Lake Kariba. Shortly after that, we enjoyed a very HOT, low key and quiet Christmas Day in Macha. The following day, we drove 11 hours north to spend a few days visiting our friends, Peter and Cheryl Smith and their 2 sons, Brendan and Jason, who work with MCC in Kitwe, Zambia.
And now, it’s 2010! In 20 days, we will celebrate Arja’s birthday and 1 year of living in Zambia! Right now, we’re busy finalizing details for the learning tour we will be hosting from The Meeting House in early February. We’re looking forward to introducing these team members to MCC and its partners in Zambia!
We hope that you enjoyed special times with family and friends as you celebrated the birth of our Saviour! May you experience His presence throughout 2010!
One of the ways in which MCC provides aid and creates opportunities for people in North America to connect with people around the world is through their Material Resource Department. The following explanation is taken from mcc.org…
As followers of Jesus Christ, members of the Mennonite, Brethren in Christ and Amish congregations are aware of the importance of standing with those who are suffering and caring for their needs. Sharing resources is one concrete way to signal this awareness and desire to respond. The response is rooted in thankfulness and obedience to Christ. The underlying principles of compassion, mutual respect, partnership, and search for peace and justice for all people applies equally to the utilization of all MCC resources: people, money, food and material resources.
Material Resources responds to people who are in the midst of conflict, disaster, or poverty. Collecting and shipping material aid such as school and health kits, newborn and refugee kits, blankets and other materials provides a tangible way to share God’s love with those in need.
Recently, MCC Zambia received a shipping container from MCC Material Resources filled with AIDS kits, school kits, blankets and other supplies. The majority of these resources are being distributed through the Brethren In Christ (BIC) Church in Zambia, MCC Zambia’s largest partner. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had opportunity to witness the distribution of some of these materials. I watched as students excitedly and gratefully received school kits. Each kit including notebooks, pencils, erasers and a hand-sewn drawstring bag. I was also present at Macha Mission Hospital to witness staff making beds with new handmade blankets. It’s encouraging to know that many people, thousands of miles away, gave generously and worked hard to assemble all of these materials! If you’ve been a part of this effort currently or in the past… THANK YOU! 
PS. Yes, there can be some drawbacks to giving material handouts, such as creating a system of dependency and negatively affecting the local economy. Thankfully, MCC is very cognizant of these issues and works hard to ensure that materials are distributed responsibly and appropriately. MCC works closely with its partners to seek to distribute resources to those who have the greatest need and are most vulnerable.