The past two weeks have been the best of times and the worst of times in Namibia (and technically, Zambia, too). I have a lot of catching up to do on here, so I hope you have your second cup of tea ready! I’ll start off with the worst of times, which started Sunday, February 22.
The Worst of Times
I found out that weekend that a young man, Charlton, who is in both the Youth Group and Worship Team at my church here was in the hospital with kidney complications. We went to visit, and he seemed pretty healthy, just tired and a bit shaky. The rest of the week, his health went up and down drastically, and we went to visit him two more times in the hospital. Which--I have to add, is incredibly different from any hospital you’d see in the US. In Charlton’s room, there were three other men still in their street clothes and with no monitors or tubes attached. I saw only one nurse peek in the room in the entire three times I was there, and security was very minimal seeing as we just walked right past the front desk and into his room with no questions asked. It’s hard to explain, and maybe hospitals in the US are overdone, but it was hard to imagine being very sick and having that be your last glimmer of hope for treatment. Anyway, to backtrack a little--Monday, me, Lulu, and Stephen were attacked by bees at the Youth Center. At first, it wasn’t that big of a deal. We were outside singing “Shake Another Hand” with the kids, when they all started screaming and running. Bees came swarming, but it was manageable to bat them away or run out of range. (Some kids had stirred up the nest just across the lot). Then we noticed one young girl (13) whose entire face, neck, and head was covered solid in bees. For some reason, they were chasing mainly her and there were hundreds in the air around her and tons on her face. Long story short, me and Lu ran in to dump water on her, which made them start stinging us, so we grabbed her and ran back toward the Center where she ran in to meet Stephen and we kept running to get help/water next door. No adults in the area would help and most ran away or laughed at us when we asked them to call for help and said that we were being stung a lot and that one little girl was being severely attacked. When we got back to the Center, Stephen had been able to get all the bees off the girl and had called for a ride to the hospital. The little girl was so brave, and she ended up being okay, despite being a diabetic who was stung all over by honey bees. Her blood sugar was a little high, to say the least. That night, my eye swelled shut from the stings on my face and my leg was throbbing from another sting. I panicked at 2am, after I woke up from a dream about going blind, only to find my eye burning and swollen so that only a tiny sliver peeked out. Not a fun night. That week, Lulu’s grandpa had triple-bypass heart surgery, and on a less extreme but still sad note, one of our little puppies here, Charlie, had a nasty breakout all over his body of angry red bumps. After arriving home from Zambia yesterday (that is the best of times to come), we found out that Charlton had passed away. He was 19 years-old and had one of the most beautiful smiles. It is so hard to understand that a week before he went into the hospital, he was sitting at our Worship Team party laughing and being a confident, care-free guy. Even when we visited him in the hospital, he was still laughing and smiling even after losing the ability to talk. The week was incredibly hard and I felt as if a dark cloud of fear was drifting around us. So much death and pain and fear just circling and overlapping…I began listening to sermons on spiritual warfare and feel that there is more to come in that area. Would you pray for that and also for Charlton’s family and friends as they mourn and heal?
The Best of Times
By the end of the week, we were all weary and in much need of a break from Rehoboth. We had been planning a trip to Victoria Falls in Zambia for the first week in March since our arrival in Africa. However, the bus we’d booked was leaving Friday evening and by Thursday morning, we still had no news on if our passports were stamped and cleared for pick-up. Suzanne texted us mid-morning, though, saying all systems were a go! We were SO excited. The bus ride took almost 24 hours, and it started raining as soon as we arrived at Jolly Boys (the best hostel in the world!!!). The group had started as me, Lu, Steve, Catherine, Kristen, and Mackenzie but Trisha and Nicole (who are working up north in Rundu) jumped on the bus (literally) and joined us for a few days. Sunday we went to the Falls, and it is SO beautiful! We spent the day getting drenched by the mists that float around the falls, browsing the wood market there (whew--bartering will wear you OUT!), eating crusty P&B sandwiches, and relaxing. As the week progressed, we ended up spending more and more time with three British guys (Charlie, Sam, and Ben) who had ridden the bus with us from Windhoek. We also met a British girl, Allie, who is 18 and traveling around Africa and then India by herself! Good thing she is the farthest thing from shy I’ve ever met (: She ended up with malaria while we were there…Is malaria contagious? Just kidding. That’s what everyone thought and would subtly step away from her when she talked about it. She was a good sport though. Lastly, we met a girl from Chicago, Jessa, who joined the party and by the end of the week, our initial small group of 6 had more than doubled in size! It was so great. I also met people from Norway, Holland, Israel, Australia, South Africa, France, Ireland, Wisconsin (woo!), and of course, Canada. I met a bigger variety of people and cultures in ONE week than in my entire life previous! Wow--it made me realize I might just enjoy traveling the world and living overseas more than I thought before this trip. So, my adventures for the week: I walked with and pet lions, rode African elephants and fed them, bartered at street markets for hours on end, jumped off the side of a cliff into a gorge and freefell before being caught by a swing and then coasting over the tops of trees, watched Stephen bungee jump at Vic Falls, and enjoyed amazing company and delicious food. Overall, the adventures were great, but my favorite part of the entire week was the people we met and spent time with. The British guys cooked us crepes with grated chocolate and freshly squeezed lemon juice to top them; we had a BBQ with cheeseburgers and S’noobs (renamed by Sam after he couldn’t remember the word “s’mores”…apparently, they don’t eat s’mores in the UK! Crazy, huh?); we went out for pizza and ice cream (NOT real ice cream…I have yet to find that here) and went around the table sharing the top 5 things on our Bucket List; we sat up late nights in the Chill Pit answering questions like, “What makes you come alive?” “What would your perfect day be like?” and “What is your biggest fear in life?”; we jumped off cliffs together, and my favorite part--we talked about God and Satan and heaven and hell and everything in between. All of the people we met had different views of God, and we spent one afternoon going through the Soularium cards, using pictures to explain our beliefs. It was so incredible to hear everyone’s thoughts and to hear them share their life with us--even though we were all complete strangers just a few days before! It was a whirlwind of a week, and it will stick in my mind as one of those memories that never fades. One of those times that I’ll always look back on and remember as one of the things I’ve loved about life on this earth. And all the small things that added to it: taking hot showers, eating fresh fruit, sleeping in a bunk bed, treading water, having a warm cookie and hot chocolate, laughing so hard my side hurts as I watched Allie attempt to jump off the cliff, watching Ashley do an Irish jig after dinner, having a car to ride in instead of walking everywhere, hearing a myriad of accents from all over the world, listening to the Canadian guys (I am convinced they are an undercover boy band) play guitar at night, and so much more. What a week! And I am so grateful for God’s timing…That He would give us a week of stillness (for the most part (: ) and restoration after everything that had happened the week before. We’re back home now, and I can’t believe that it’s almost mid-March! A young married couple (Josh and Nicole Wilke) is arriving in Windhoek this Friday and then moving down to Rehoboth next Friday to join our team! I am SO excited to meet them and to have a fresh set of hands and hearts to serve with.
Much more to share…but a break for now.
Prayer requests:
*to readjust with ENERGY and JOY to being back in Rehoboth and working
*for the Wilkes as they travel this week and begin orientation next week
*for Charlton’s family and friends
*for Lulu’s grandpa’s recovery from surgery…It is tough right now
*for wisdom as I explore the idea of spiritual warfare and STRENGTH in Christ
My mind is swirling with Zambian, Namibian, American…from all, goodnight!
Love,Britt
Three of the cutest kids in Africa.
Me, Christy, and Paloma. I love their smiles (:
Hayley all dressed up one morning.
Okie (that's his nickname--his name is Carlito) and our puppie Charlie (who is recovered!) playing. Okie has the MOST incredible, contagious, uplifting, crazy laugh I have EVER heard...I will take a video before I leave. I promise. It's unstoppable.
Ziko, Marthanay (neighbor kids), and Hayley.
Hayley sleeping on my bed.
