Congratulations to my great friends Nick and Lisa who clock up five years of marriage today. They are great couple and have helped and loved me alot in times of need, shared much of my journey and encouraged us so much. Big it up for the Hanovers!

However what I remember most is the opening remarks by Ian Davis (capt.) at their wedding ceremony, which incidently coincided with the commencement of the 2002 World Cup. Here is a roughly paraphrase;

This is a great day, a day we have waited for with anticipation, a day which has brought us happiness, a day we though would never come...... and wasn't it a surprise to see Senegal beat France in the opening game.

I guess you had to be there but I still chuckle at that to this day.

It’s been an interesting two weeks. We have been fortunate and blessed to have a group of Nursing students from a Trinity Western University in Canada and this has been an extremely uplifting experience for me. They have been overwhelmingly positive in there view of the work of the hospital and this has been a timely remainder for us that, despite struggles, the Big Man’s work is work for the good. TWU is a Christian institution and the students really epitomized why nursing is a vocation and not a career. (In Zambia because of the abysmal lack of employment, nursing has become a sought after profession). They integrated so well with our own students and staff and it was so nice to see the care and compassion they showed on the wards.

Most of all what has been encouraging is that they have really grasped they idea of mission. Of course our mission is to serve the poor and they have financially supported the hospital and nursing school and for that we are so grateful. But they’ve realized that mission extends beyond that. Mother Theresa observed once that you would never alleviate poverty just by giving money to the poor. She had a point. In the vehicle coming back from Mukwela, these young students were talking about how they could help Chikankata. They were talking about praying constantly and mobilizing their churches to do the same. They talked about restrictive trade laws, about generic and brand name drugs which hike up prices and lobbying their politicians about these issues. They talked about lots of things and I sat there thinking – they’ve grasped what it’s all about. I’ve realized over the last year that Making Poverty History is not just about marching or campaigning once a year – Making Poverty History is a lifestyle choice. It’s a big commitment that will make you unpopular and political.

I’m reading Intelligent Church by Steve Chalke at the moment. He encourages churches to be political. Not in a party political way but in fighting for things that matter; “A political church is a church that understands its mission must move beyond social action to the quest for social justice”. I believe the Christian Church is beginning to re-awaken to this but I was encouraged by these young ladies.

Chalke writes also: "A political church is a church with a mission to help people find answers to the problems and challenges they face, but also help them deal with the reasons those problems and challenges exist in the first place." The reasons many of these problems exist is because we don’t do anything but fight the symptoms rather than the cause.

Thank you Trinity Western University for inspiring us and making me think.

Good day yesterday for three reasons!

1. I met with our local Member of Parliament. I was very impressed by him. He's a local man and I really sensed his heart was for the people of the Chikankata Constituency. I got into a little bit of trouble at the start from the local Councillor who accompanied him (apparently you're not supposed to phone the MP at home in the evening - there are protocols to be followed - oops!). However, we had a very constructive meeting together and I felt he really listened to me

2. Spent the evening in the village in Nanzele with the Canadian Nursing students and some of our own Nursing Students. I felt very old. We watched the sun go down and then waited as the sky began to light up with millions of stars. Chikankata in the night is a beautiful site. At the end of a great time of fellowship, it was very poignant and fitting that we were able to sing these words;

O Lord my God, when I in aweson wonder, Consider all the worlds thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed:
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to thee: How Great Thou art! How Great Thou art!

3. My first true love, the mighty St. Mirren from Paisley managed to avoid relegation from the Scottish Premier League. A magnificant acheivement given the resources available to them. Normally a yo-yo team, (ie they come up and go straight back down) this is the first time in nearly 20 years (now I am feeling very old!) they have managed to survive a season in the Premier League. Along with Partick Thistle, Saints are usually the butt of Scottish football jokes ( yes we know everyone thinks we are called St. Mirren Nil!) so it was a nice feeling. C'mon thi Buddies!

It’s simply impossible! After two years I have finally worked it out. You cannot run a hospital in a developing country without getting grey hairs and losing sleep. You just have to roll with what you have and stay cool. For some reason when I came back after Christmas I thought this year would be easier. It hasn’t been. It’s been harder. Anyway many are the things I cannot understand (cue song!) but I am just going to keep plodding away do the best we can with what we have.

So this week Chikankata Hospital has been in the National news on two occasions. I am not completely sure why but it seems that after the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, Chikankata Hospital attracts much interest than any other hospital around Zambia. Incidentally in the last two weeks Chikankata has also had special reports on ABC in the US and TV1 Nord in Denmark.

Anyway, firstly on Monday there was an article in one of the leading newspapers in hailing the management at Chikankata Hospital for their efforts and results in the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB/Leprosy. Cheers!

Then on Tuesday, national radio reports that Chikankata Hospital was facing a critical shortage of drugs. The source was apparently our local MP. Well, we all rushed to our pharmacy to find that every drug on the Essential Drugs List, which is prescribed (get it!) by the Ministry of Health was in stock because of some recent donations. In fact we were handing out drugs to other neighbouring hospitals who were really struggling. So I am meeting with the MP today to see exactly where he is getting his information from. Not cheers!

Also on Tuesday, a group of student nurses arrived for a couple of weeks from Trinity Western University in Canada. It’s been great to have them around and they seem to be enjoying themselves. As you can imaging 12 young white nurses in the hospital has created much interest.

Finally just to report that just before my parents went we had the 20 week scan. It was a great occasion as my parents and sister were also able to view the moving pictures. Everything seems fine and we managed to see the baby’s heart pumping away. We are having some difficulty choosing the names – for some reason Heidie doesn’t like my sole suggestion of The Fonz. I had even offered a compromise of having Fonzerreli as middle name but to no avail. I am holding out for a first name of “The” like in The Hoff or The Hulk but we’ll just have to keep debating. Happy Days!

On Thursday, my parents, my sister and Susanna flew back to the UK. We had a great time with them but it was extremely sad to say goodbye to them, knowing that this is likely to be the last time we see them for at least a year. That’s the worst thing about being at Chikankata – being so far away from family and friends – especially during important times. Still, we did enjoy a few days in beautiful Cape Town, a weekend safari to the South Luangwa National Park and a very brief jaunt to Victoria Falls. This is not to mention the trip to Chaanga which, if not in distance, was probably the longest trip we made.

During our time in the Vic Falls we were fortunate to witness a Lunar Rainbow. It was a great sight to see these bright beams shining through in the darkness and to hear the roar of the falls at the same time. When we got back to the B&B we ‘googled’ Lunar Rainbow or Moonbow to give it its New Age name, and it turns out that the Vic Falls is only one of a few places in the world where you can see a Lunar Rainbow. It’s a magnificent sight and I feel privileged to have seen one. I wish I was able to post a picture to show you this magnificent spectacle but unfortunately my camera was not good enough to capture it and even it was, the computer system is not good enough to upload photos.

Another topic that we ‘googled’ was the origin of “Piff Paff Poof!” I was adamant it was Tommy Cooper who used the phrase, Susanna was equally adamant that these were the magic words of the The Great Suprendo. It turns out it was The Great Flippin Suprendo! Anyway the reason we had this discussion was because there is a lot of magic and witchcraft taking place around the mission at the moment. I don’t know what is going on. In the last week we have seen someone break into our mortuary during the night and tattoo a dead body, a man set his entirely family’s huts on fire for seemingly no reason and another dead body brought in extremely suspicious circumstances. The police are investigating all these matters but believe it's related to witchcraft and black magic. It is really a spiritual war! I am a glad that I know that I am on the winning side but there is still a battle to be fought. It’s like that verse in the bible (I am not clever enough to know the exact the verse) where there is reference to the devil, who is prowling round like lion. I am really feeling that the devil is prowling around the outskirts of the Mission trying to find a way into our fortress. I may have to call in my friends in the Council of War for spiritual reinforcements. Please pray for us! It may not be what we are usually used to back home as a spritual war but this one is important for the people of Chikankata.

On a lighter note, we had another little visitor to our garden this week. My sister, who is a drama queen at the best of times, discovered a snake. I was in one of the local villages when Heidie phoned me to tell me it was right in front of the house and wouldn’t move. I told her not to worry I would be home in five minutes and I would sort it. Well, as usual, both her and my sister totally ignored my instructions and called a couple of the guys for our Technical Services department. It turn out it was a Cobra and that even the guys were scared of it. Anyway they disposed of it. So I got that one wrong too, although this was maybe a little bit more serious than my Great Suprendo gaff. Must read up on your common garden snakes for next time.