Spelling

This is a little taste of Zambian spelling:

Tiling?  You'll need some Bull Nose Grount!  A very common mistake, adding an 'n' after the final vowell

Space-Age Solutions?

Combination of Zambian and American spelling

Tairoring done here.  Another common error - changing 'l' for 'r' and the other way round

Brown-hooded Kingfisher

Happy New Year Everyone
This is my favourite picture from 2018



Brown-hooded kingfisher leaving its nest hole

School

Firstly, sorry this has taken so long, we've been having some internet issues.

We thought that you might like to see that it's not all birds and bugs, so here are some pictures from school:

Grade 6

Amos in the library, reading with a small group

These were from Careers Day, when the children come to school dressed for their intended profession:

Soldiers

Doctors and Nurses

Grade 7 saying 'Good Bye' to the rest of the school after their exams.

After school chillin'

We're back!!

It's been a long time, sorry.
Since the lunar eclipse we have been back in the UK for a brief visit.  We are now back in Choma.  These are some of the creatures that welcomed us home:  [Pictures especially for Evan]

Hoopoe

Glossy starling

Black-collared barbet

Lilac-breasted roller

Mrs Praying Mantis despatching Mr Praying Mantis

Teeny weeny frog



Roman solifuge.  Apparently NOT a spider (!) but not equally unwelcome!  Uuugh.

Eclipse

The recent lunar eclipse was clearly visible here.  It started just after dark so we went out, wrapped up and with a fire, to sit and watch.  It was still quite chilly so we sat around the fire drinking tea and eating biscuits while the moon did its thing.
These are some of the pictures, not the best that you will see, but we were there!

The moon rose as usual behind the trees.

We sat around the fire, with our friends Amy (R) and Omega (L), and waited.  Quite a long time because 'someone' got the start time wrong!



Until at last the moon began to shrink:

 



Eventually there was the memory of a moon, accompanied by Mars:

 

Visitor

We found this chap while we were moving some of the (tons) of fallen leaves onto the garden for organic matter:

Missionary

People often refer to us as missionaries.  We always say, we're not missionaries, we just live here.  This picture helps to explain why:



Dedicated servant of God to Africa and Zambia for 54 years

Claudie Payton was a missionary in the traditional sense of the word.  She left her native America at the age of 36 to come to Zambia where she stayed until her death at the age of 90.  As far as I can discover, in that time she returned to the States only once for a period of 9 months. 
She remained unmarried, but was 'mother' to 41 orphans, of whom 23 died.
She took the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to the villages of Siachitema district in the Southern Province of Zambia.
She started the Siachitema Mission, which included her orphanage, a school, a Bible College (now  moved to Jembo), a church, and now also includes a hospital.
She died at the age of 90 following a fall resulting in a fractured hip.  She was buried in the spot she chose for herself close to where she had lived and raised her children.  She was mourned at her own request, in the traditional Zambian way.

We are not missionaries in the mould of Claudie Payton, but we strive to serve our Lord where he has put us, whether at work in the UK or teaching English in Zambia. Surely every Christian should strive for an epitaph like Claudie's

Dedicated servant of God