Preaching in Zambia

          Today I received an invitation to preach at the Friday, June 14 chapel service at Justo Mwale Theological University College.  The invitation came from the college chaplain, via the Dean of Studies Dr. Lameck Banda, via Dustin.  Dustin had mentioned the possibility to the chaplain a while back, but just heard from Dr. Banda today.  This is quite an honor.
          The college has three chapel services each week, two of which are led by students.  The Friday chapel service apparently is led by faculty and administration.  Dustin tells me the school's theme for the year is the person and work of the pastor, and that I am free to choose any relevant text and develop my focus as I like.

 

 

          Here is your Greek lesson for today.  Read Philippians 4:4!

 







US Dollars and Zambian Kwacha

          The Zambian currency is the kwacha.

 

 

 

        As of 5/27/13 (it's already Monday in Zambia), the exchange rate for one U.S. dollar is about 5200 kwacha.  That means the coin pictured above is worth about 20 cents.





        Sherri tells me the best way to handle my money is to use a debit or credit card in an ATM in Lusaka.  Apparently the banks there charge high service fees.

         Dustin said I won't need much money while I'm on campus.  The school is providing food and lodging.  He did say I might want to have some money on hand to pay somebody to iron my clothes each week!

          Here is your Greek lesson for the day.  First, second, third person/masculine, feminine, neuter, singular/plural personal pronouns:

       

Greek 3

        Yesterday I completed the syllabus for my Greek 3 class and sent it to Dustin for his critique.  He made some good suggestions.  This morning I edited the syllabus and sent it to Dr. Lameck Banda, who is the Dean of Studies at JMTUC.  Completing the syllabus gives me a sense of relief and encouragement.  I can now begin to plan more carefully how to present the content of the chapters in the Greek grammar.  Dustin tells me I will have twelve students in my class.

       Here is some information from the class syllabus:

Course Description

            Greek 3 builds upon Greek 1 & 2 and focuses on the vocabulary, morphology, and syntax of Hellenistic Greek.  With Greek 1 & 2, the course is designed to equip the student with skills necessary for reading the text of the Greek New Testament.

 3.  Objectives

            At the end of Greek 1-3, the student has basic knowledge of New Testament Greek grammar and vocabulary.  The student is able to discern grammatical and lexical aspects of New Testament texts, and to translate these texts into English.  Students will gain perspective on the use of Greek for teaching and preaching from Scripture.  These objectives are linked with the following JMTUC objectives:

1)      To develop and maintain academic programmes of respectable and recognizable quality;

2)      To equip students with professional skills necessary for ministries in church and society.

 

Here is your Greek lesson for today:

 

For a translation, read John 1:1-5

News from Zambia

          Dustin and I have been e-mailing a lot recently, as I have many questions for him.  He has been very helpful and encouraging.
          Many people have asked me where I will be staying and what I will be eating.  Dustin has told me I will be staying in a one bedroom apartment on campus that is used for visiting instructors and other guests.  He said the school would provide food in the apartment kitchen, but he didn't say what kind of food!  Dustin also said that faculty families would invite me to eat with them on occasion.
          The JMTUC campus is 25 acres surrounded by a security wall.  Although I won't be housed very near the Ellingtons, it shouldn't be a problem seeing them regularly.

          Here is the latest update from the Ellingtons.  They had a harrowing experience with their son, Clayton.  Give thanks to God that he is OK.

May 18, 2013

Dear friends,

We have a story of thanksgiving to share with you…mostly a story of deep thanksgiving, though with lessons learned, as well.

In early April our family was in the Cape Town area to attend a gathering of Presbyterian Church (USA) mission co-workers who minister in sub-Saharan Africa. Expecting it to be a busy week, we arrived a couple of days early to explore and enjoy the area a bit, and on the day the conference was to begin, we really crammed it in: hiked up some mountains behind the town, with Clayton and a couple friends going up one of the taller, steeper ones; pestered the kayak rental place on the lagoon until they opened up and rented us some boats; and went to the beach…a special treat for us, since Zambia is a land-locked country.

It was the first sunny day we’d had, and the boys and I (Sherri) had been itching to swim. After flirting with the cold water awhile, never going in beyond his waist, Clayton decided he needed a goal. With my encouragement, he braved the cold water to swim out parallel to some rocks a moderate distance out. 

At first everything looked fine. My first clue that something was wrong was when a local mom approached me and asked if we were familiar with this beach. She told me there was a strong rip current, and that if my son looked back again I should motion him to swim parallel along the shore to get out of it. Meanwhile, Clayton swam ahead, continuing in the rip current, not realizing he was in it.

When Clayton reached his “goal” distance and didn’t quickly return, we knew something was, indeed, wrong. Dustin, who had run down to the beach, leaving his fish & chips lunch, camera, etc. on a restaurant table, immediately called an emergency number. (We hadn’t realized it, but there were no lifeguards this day; their seasonal contract had just ended.) South African strangers gathered on shore, praying, calling their prayer chains in other towns, pointing out glimpses of Clayton’s head whenever a swell lifted him higher than the waves in the foreground. Other than prayer, we felt helpless. One woman on shore prayed with me that if Clayton got tired, God would send angels to lift him up. This was a good prayer, especially since Clayton had climbed the mountain earlier that morning and had kayaked for an hour and a half, paddling hard in a family race at the end. Even though Clayton is strong and athletic, I didn’t know how cold he might be getting, or how well he was keeping his head vs. struggling directly against the forceful current.

When we first realized it was taking the emergency help awhile to arrive, I told Dustin that if he could get me two life jackets from the kayak rental place, I would swim them out and give Clayton one, to help keep him afloat if he was tiring. I thought it was a great idea, but didn’t think Dustin or the bystanders I had also asked had acted on it. Then, suddenly, Dustin showed up with two life jackets plus a paddle board. I put both life vests on, lay down on the paddle board, and headed out, trusting the same rip current would lead me to Clayton. (Dustin sent me because I am a strong swimmer, have more ocean experience, and was trained as a life guard…25 years ago…and for pools, not rip currents…)

When I got out to the stronger waves and higher swells, I became concerned with how I would spot Clayton. I didn’t know how high his head would still be in the water at this point. I didn’t know whether he would be to my right or to my left. I feared passing him without seeing him, and then being unable to fight the current back to him. I lost the paddle board when a large wave thrashed me.

Finally, I looked to my right, and saw…TWO heads? The first thought that came to my mind was the woman’s prayer back on shore, that if Clayton got tired, God would send an angel to lift him up. Indeed, God had sent a human angel – named Duncan.

Duncan, a Christian man, was not “supposed” to be there that day. He and his wife had lived in that town, Kleinmond, for 12 years but recently moved inland with their young family, and had sold their Kleinmond home that weekend. However, when they got home they realized that they had not turned over their set of house keys. Ugh…they would have to return to Kleinmond the next day…which turned out to be the day of Clayton’s rip current situation. After apologetically giving the keys to the new owners, Duncan and his wife went along with their kids’ request to go see the ocean one last time. After all, it was a nice, sunny day. They drove to the beach and parked in the parking lot over the rocks. Then Duncan saw something not right: a youth far out in the water. He exchanged his jeans for the shorts of another bystander, and jumped in. He knew the current would be too strong for him to actually bring the kid to safety, but chose to jump into the cold water anyhow, to tread water with and encourage the boy. That is where the second head in the water came from.

Who knows to what extent, and in what ways, Duncan’s presence helped keep Clayton alive. We have since learned that Clayton was, indeed, tiring, and had decided, rather than continuing to swim parallel to shore away from the rocks, to try to swim toward a rock and grab hold of it, for a rest. The thought of this makes me cringe more than almost any of the rest of it, as I know how powerful those swells were. I don’t think that even a robust person, let alone a tired one, could have held onto one of those sharp rocks when a wave swelled. The swell would have undone Clayton’s grasp, lifted him up, then dashed him back down, likely either knocking him out so he could no longer tread water or giving him a gash that would have drawn blood and attracted sharks. Our family is deeply indebted to Duncan for risking his own life to tread water with and encourage Clayton, and to God for orchestrating things just right to send Duncan to the beach on that day and at that time.

When I finally arrived to Clayton and Duncan, the double life jackets were so tight on my back that I couldn’t get one off for Clayton, so Duncan helped with that, too, and with getting it on Clayton. Then the three of us treaded water and waited for a rescue boat to arrive.

When the rescue vehicle came – it was a jet ski – Clayton could hardly climb on. Part of this was cold and exhaustion, but he was also busy using what energy he did have to yell out at the top of his lungs: “THANK YOU… GOD!!! THANK YOU…GOD!!!” over and over. I guess he did this the whole jet ski ride to shore; Dustin said he was still yelling it when he arrived on the beach, and that it even continued to pop out sporadically on the ambulance ride to the hospital 40 km away.

The resolution to the story is that in the hospital Clayton was treated for hypothermia with warm IV fluid in his veins and a blowdrier-like contraption under the blankets. Meanwhile, a stranger who had seen everything drove me and Christopher to our guest house to get passports, insurance cards, and a credit card, then drove me the 40 km to join Clayton and Dustin at the hospital. She waited there for us, bought us yogurt drinks and granola bars, and drove us all home again….and all this while tending to her own disabled and autistic child in the car. (She also left us care packages on the doorstep of our room every afternoon during our conference that week, and still prays for us even now that we are back in Zambia.)

We are extremely thankful to God for orchestrating things to save Clayton’s life, despite his being far off shore, for 45 minutes or so, in very cold water. It could so easily have gone the other way…and had, we learned, for someone just a month earlier, who died in that same spot. In addition to the amazing “coincidence” of Duncan being there on a day when he wasn’t “supposed” to be, there was the fact of the kayak rental place being open so we could borrow the life jackets. (It was only open because our family had phoned and asked them to open earlier in the day; they had been closed the previous two days whenever we had phoned and tried to kayak.) There was the fact that the rescue jet ski, when it finally arrived, worked – a year earlier, we learned, a lifeguard had been swimming for fun after work and had drowned when the jet ski wouldn’t start. And many other things went right as well. We actually have a whole list called Things That Went Right.

Mostly this is just a note to fill you, our partners, in on this major experience our family went through last month, so you can celebrate with us how God orchestrated things to save Clayton. We also want to thank those of you who pray for us regularly for our family’s safety, among other things. God once again has answered such prayers.

Finally, we wanted to share this story with you because we think parts of it illustrate what we as Christians are called to do for others, and even how we as Western Christians are called to partner with others globally. When we see people who are struggling in their lives, even drowning, or when we see the overwhelming problems people face in a certain region of the world (such as in Africa, or in the Middle East, or even in parts of the United States itself) sometimes the problems seem too much to face. Like some men told me on the beach when I asked them to run and get me life jackets: “No one can go out there. [Other than rescue workers who hadn’t yet arrived.] No one can.” And yet when I got out there I saw that someone HAD, and the difference that person made may have been the difference between life and death for my son. The men on the beach were right in the sense that Duncan wouldn’t have been able to bring our son in. But treading water alongside Clayton, to encourage him? That he could do.  

Who might God be calling you to tread water with today?

Thank you for your prayer support and financial support, both of which enable us to “tread water” with our friends and partners here in Africa and to be part of an organized effort – Justo Mwale Theological University College – of training more well-prepared Christian leaders for the church in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and South Africa. If you would like to give toward our financial support, more information is available below. We also have some prayer requests (also below). And we will soon be heading to the USA on “Interpretation Assignment” – sharing with the U.S. church about God’s work in Zambia and southern Africa. If your church would like to invite us to speak sometime between August 2013 and July 2014, please be in touch! 

Prayer requests:

1. Students – That their training at Justo Mwale will truly help their love to abound in knowledge and all depth of insight (Philippians 1:9)

2. Visiting professors – Dr. Marty Soards, from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and Dr. Phil Gladden, from Wallace Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, will be teaching intensive courses at Justo Mwale for the last three weeks of June. Pray for their adjustments to Zambia and their ministries of teaching and encouraging the students.

3. Limited weeks and days -- We have less than seven weeks left before we return to the United States for a whole year, and we need a lot of wisdom to know how to prioritize the little time we have left, as well as daily strength to make the most of this time.

4. Water issues – Our campus often has water and electricity issues. The water situation has gotten quite bad lately. Fortunately, funds have been donated to fix it (by National Presbyterian Church in D.C.). Pray for wisdom to understand and fix the root problem(s) in addition to patching up the emergencies.

Financial support:
If you are interested in giving financially to support our ministry in Zambia, gifts (either one-time or recurring) can be made at: www.presbyterianmission.org/give/E200478/

Thank you for being our partners in ministry.
Sincerely,
Sherri and Dustin Ellington

 

Newspaper photo of Duncan treading water with Clayton

 

 

Duncan

 

 

Clayton with paramedics

 

 

 

Three Weeks and Counting!

          Three weeks from today I head out on my Zambian adventure.  I fly from Wilmington to Dulles International in D.C.  The flight from Dulles to Heathrow in London will take from 10:30 p.m. - 10:30 a.m. (London time).  I will have a nine hour layover at Heathrow.  The flight from London to Lusaka is from 7:30 p.m. - 6:30 a.m. (Lusaka time).  Lusaka is six hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

           I continue to think about how best to teach the Greek grammar to the students at JMTUC.  It's quite a challenge trying to come up with lesson plans since I don't really know much about their ability level with the language.  My main goal right now is to get a syllabus completed and then work on lesson plans.

           I am using Philippians 1:6 as an inspiration as I prepare for this Zambian adventure:  "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ."

           Here's a picture of a Greek manuscript.  Fortunately, it's easier to read Greek from a 21st century Greek grammar and Bible!

Teaching Greek in Zambia

         Rev. Dr. L. Banda, Dean of Studies at JMTUC, officially invited me to teach the Greek 3 course in the Bachelor of Theology Programme from June 10 to June 27 during the second term of the academic year 2013.  The course description says, "The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to New Testament Greek in order to read and exegete the biblical text."
          I am scheduled to teach from 10:45 a.m. - 12:35 p.m. (two periods of 50 minutes each per day for five days).  Between now and June 10 (the first day of class), I need to prepare the syllabus and study guide.  I have about fifty different grammatical topics to cover in fifteen days!
         

            I am excited to teach Greek again.  When I was working on my doctorate, I had the opportunity to lead Greek exegetical sections at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, VA for the "Paul and Acts" course for three years.  There's nothing like teaching Greek to help you learn it better yourself!
            I will be interested to find out at what level these students operate with their Greek.  Typically, the final chapters of a Greek grammar contain somewhat harder concepts, building on what the students have learned earlier.  Many times, irregular forms are introduced, which makes it a little bit harder to learn the concepts.  Fortunately, many of the irregular forms occur rather infrequently in the New Testament.
           
         

Bikes for Zambia

     A couple of years ago, we designated our Christmas St. Nicholas Project as "Bikes for Zambia."  The money we collected was used to buy bicycles for the graduates of the Justo Mwale Theological University College.  Each graduate is given a new bicycle to use in his ministry.  At Christmas 2011, we collected money once again for bicycles for graduating seniors.
       Traditionally, graudation at JMTUC has been held in November.  This year, graduation was held on Saturday, May 11.  We purchased bikes for the nineteen graduates of the bachelor's program.  Here are the pictures Dustin sent me of some of the graduates receiving their bikes.  Dustin said he wished we could have all seen the students' reactions, and that WPC is making a difference in the church in Zambia.  To see more pictures and to read about Saturday's graduation, visit www.justomwale.net.



Duke Travel Clinic

          If you're going on an out-of-country trip, check out the Duke Travel Clinic.  It's housed in the Duke Urgent Care South on Fayetteville Road in Durham.  I filled out a preliminary application with information about my upcoming trip to Zambia, my medical history, and shot record.  I faxed the information a couple of weeks ago.  When I arrived for my appointment today, a packet was waiting for me with travel information and suggested vaccinations.
           A doctor and a P.A. met with me and very carefully explained what shots and medicines I would need.  A nurse then administered two shots (Hepatitis A & B and a polio booster).  I was also given some pills for typhoid and prescriptions for Cipro (for traveler's stomach) and an Epi-pen.
           The information packet is very helpful, although a little overwhelming.  It informs about ALL risks involved in traveling to Zambia and how to take precautions.
            Other than a couple of sore arms tonight, everything's OK after the travel clinic visit.  I have to have two more Hepatitis A & B shots before I leave.

          This is today's Greek lesson:  John 3:16!

Correction!

             I just noticed a mistake in yesterday's blog.
             Chalk it up to my being a Greek nerd, I suppose, but the name "Christ" is misspelled in the Greek quotation.
              I cut and pasted the quotation and didn't even notice the mistake.
              The second letter of "Christ" in Greek should be a "rho" (which sounds like our "r").  The quotation has a "pi" (which sounds like our "p").
             I guess this is the kind of thing I notice after translating Greek sentences into English for three hours!

"rho" is the next to the last letter on the 3rd line.

"pi" is the letter just before "rho."