Editorial Note: This entry was originally written by Fenton on February 5, 2017, and distributed to a small group of praying friends at that time. This is Part One of three posts about Fenton's trip to Zambia. Read Part Two here.
by Fenton Rees
It is Sunday afternoon, cold (36F, 2C) and rainy, as I do my final packing for Zambia (Africa). The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is for a few inches of snow! Yikes! That will not help us get to the airport for my early morning flight tomorrow and/or the first flight on United to Washington Dulles in time to meet the second flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. So please pray. A hiccup in Washington Dulles Airport would be a real pain.
And I did recover to about 98% from the “crud” that has been going around and that gave me a sinus infection. So to those who prayed, thanks.
I will be part of a team of about ten engineers of various disciplines under the auspices of Engineering Ministries International (eMi), doing a ten day evaluation of a Salvation Army Hospital in rural Zambia. We will fly into the Capital of Lusaka and out of Livingstone, with the hospital being about half way between those two cities. The weather forecast there is for warm (80F) daytime highs, but with thunderstorms most days and extreme levels of UV when the sun comes out ... hmm ... us fair skinned types will have to be careful. This is after all near mid-summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
A google map of the campus, but in dry season. It was much greener when we were there. Look at all those buildings. Many of the buildings outside my marked areas are dorms and staff housing. Remember, nearly 2000 people live onsite.
This is quite a large campus (100+ buildings) and I will be one of only two electrical engineers, so we might be quite busy. The goals of the trip are really two-fold; (i) identify their existing issues and suggest possible fixes, and (ii) understand their future needs and help them plan how to get them to the next level. In a situation like this, most of what we do could probably be done just as well by any competent engineer, Christian or not. But there is often the last 5%, where the issues are hidden in some way, and we need the insight that only the Lord can give to get it right. So pray that we all are open to His leadings and revealings.
Rumor has it that the internet at this hospital is quite poor, so it is possible that I will not be able to update you when there, but at worst will do so upon my return.
Blessings,
Fenton
PS. Pat will be staying home this time, so pray for her as I’m away.