With grateful hearts (and tired bodies), we are so happy to say, "We have arrived in Zambia!!!" Although the flights were long, they ended up going smoothly enough. We flew from Vancouver to Toronto, Toronto to Ethiopia, and Ethiopia to N'dola (Zambia), and have been told by a few people that it is the most direct way to get here. We were greeted by a number of lovely people from Grace, and were off our way "home"! There were many eager children greeting us as we came out of the van! When we went inside to put some luggage away and sort out some things, we had many peeping faces through the windows :) It made us laugh at how unabashedly they did this! Dave and Shannon graciously cooked dinner for us (which was downright delicious after a bunch of questionable airplane meals), and we all crashed into bed at 7:30 pm. Four of us were awake in the middle of the night, but ended up falling back asleep. Austin and Ivy both slept through the night until 10:40 a.m. (!!!), when we woke them up so they will get adjusted to the time change. (We are 9 hours ahead of B.C. time here.)
Here is Ivy, by our front window. You can see all the finger marks from the kids' peeking!
Dave is the Construction Manager here, and him and Shannon are from Chilliwack. Dave gave us a little tour of some of the work he has done in his 4+ years living here.
Jon was asking some kids if they knew where we were from, and he was showing them a map of where exactly in Canada our home is.
Shannon (such an incredible soul!) took us grocery shopping this afternoon. The sights are truly mind blowing! I'm sure I will dive in to that more on a different post, but here are a couple of typical sights as you drive down the road - carrying things on their heads…
"shops" on the side of the road! This it the local tire shop.
Because of covid, anyone entering the gate must get their temperature checked, and wash their hands.
This afternoon we got the farm tour from Evan. He is the current Farm Manager whom Jon will be taking over from. They are in the process of adopting a sweet girl from Grace, so their timeline for heading home to Alberta is in the hands of the adopting process, which is going incredibly slowly. I'm sure they would appreciate any and every prayer about this! In the mean time, I have no doubt that Evan will thoroughly teach Jon the ins and outs, and that they will work so well together! The farm is extensive, and so interesting to walk through!
Our favorite was seeing all the animals. The baby goats were especially cute!
Thank you for all your prayers and well wishes.
We'd love to answer any questions you might have, so send them our way!
With love, Jon and Renae