Wilderness First Responder is in full swing

6/20 – 6/25

Friday-Wednesday – We started our SOLO Wilderness First Responder (WFR) course. Dr. Frank Hubbell the founder of SOLO came out with Paul Richardson and Overland Missions alumni Rowan. The basis of the WFR course is to equip those going into the backcountry and remote areas with the necessary medical skills to assess, diagnose and treat injuries where a proper medical team would take hours if not days to reach. WFR approaches the course not with a recipe for what to do but teaches one how to diagnose a problem and use common sense to treat the injury. This course teaches physiology of an injury so you can diagnose and treat an injury where an hour might be the difference between life and death when the nearest adequate facility may be a day away.

I took the course three years ago as part of my Adventure Education minor but it is time for the refresher. What a great opportunity to take the course with Dr. Frank, the founder of SOLO. He is a very knowledgeable and intelligent man, with a passion for medicine and training others with his knowledge.

We have class for 8-10 hours a day. The course is for ten days. We’re half way through. We have classroom time where we learn about the physiology of an injury and then we go out and practice what we’ve learned in mock scenarios. We practice as if we were a real life rescue time set out to rescue a person.

So far we’ve learned how to diagnose and treat: head, neck and back injuries; sprains; broken bones; heart conditions; brain conditions; seizures; strokes; diabetes; and wounds. We’ve learned how to monitor a patient over time which is very necessary. Also we’ve learned how to do the correct paperwork associated with documenting an injury.

This is a very enjoyable course and a great refresher. More details to come!

Village Ministry!

6/12 – 6/19

Thursday – We finished the final part of mechanics. In the afternoon we prepared for our ministry trip to the bush, Friday through Sunday. We had to prepare the truck to fit more seats. What a mission! We had to re-drill holes, remove and rearrange the seats, then we had to bolt down the new seats. It took all afternoon and all night.

Friday-Sunday – We went to the Katapazi area of Zambia, about 40 km outside of Livingstone. The road deteriorated to gravel to worse but all things considered, not the most remote places Overland Missions goes. We were in the bush from Friday to Sunday.

- Friday we travelled half the day and then set up camp. We had lunch and then a soccer game. Soccer games are a great ministry tool and a great way to build friendships. We won 2-1. I played in goal and made a couple of good saves.

Friday evening we had a large meeting after the soccer game. There were a couple hundred people there. We had some song and dance and a couple of people gave a message. Then we had an alter call for salvation and time for prayer for those in need. We saw several people pray for salvation and many came forward to be prayed for. We saw some miracles. A man was healed of terrible foot pains and another woman had pain in her jaw that prevented her from speaking and she was able to speak better.

- Saturday we went hut to hut, village to village sharing the word, encouraging believers and praying for those in need. My group was able to minister to five homesteads. Everyone we came across was a believer so we gave a word of encouragement. We answered several questions that they had. At all of the places we prayed a blessing.

In the evening we had another soccer match against a different team. This time we lost 2-1. I played the field for the first half and had several scoring chances. Then second half I played in goal. We may have been able to win 1-0 but no worries. I made several good saves. The Africans were very impressed and the head master even asked if I could be their keeper, he offered to pay me.

After our soccer match we had another large group meeting. There weren’t as many people but it was a great time. We had a time of praise and worship, dancing, a word, a powerful drama and we ended with prayer. There were a few salvations and a few received prayer. Then after the meeting, there was a pastor and elders meeting that some stayed for. It was a time of question and answer on tough theological issues

- Sunday we went to several churches in small ministry groups. My service was particularly interesting. They weren’t very welcoming. They had their whole service and then ended it before we were allowed to speak. The message was on being strong in the Lord and wearing the full armor. I gave a word of encouragement about the full armor of God. I went into detail explaining the spiritual significance of each piece of armor.

Then when we all got done with our services, we drove back to our base.

Monday – We had our mechanics practical skills test with general maintenance including pre-trip checklists, inspecting brakes, removing air locks and other general maintenance. Then in the afternoon we had ministry ethics. We read a couple articles about effective cross-cultural missions.

Tuesday-Wednesday – This marked the half way point of AMT. So we had free time. Some of us went on an overnight whitewater rafting trip down the Zambezi. We ran some class five rapids and several class fours. We went from rapid 14 down to rapid 25. All of us were really worked from all of the paddling. On rapid 16a, we went overboard so I was a long swimmer through rapid 16b, another class five rapid. Another time the whole crew went overboard and I was the only one who remained in the raft. It was a great trip!

Wednesday night all of us went into town as a group for pizza. Then we went to the Victoria Falls in the moonlight. We saw a lunar rainbow. Stunning is an understatement! Check out my pictures!

Today (Thursday) – Today we cleared brush and trees for our new road to the property. Also, this will allow us to have electricity instead of relying on our generator for power.

Thank you everyone for your support! I appreciate all of your prayer and support. It’s such a blessing.

It's been a while...

6/7 - 6/11

Saturday - It's always a blessing to have some of America in Zambia. Well the Pro Beach Volleyball Tour was all that anyone could've hoped for and more! We had some amazing bump, set, spike action. We topped it off with Coke and sweets.

We also worked on Maverick... the center bolt was still messed up and we needed to get the truck ready for Botswana... Diesel is like roughly twice as cheap so driving to Botswana is well worth it to buy fuel.

Sunday - We had church at the base, Ciaran gave the word. Then we played soccer against Nsongwe Village. We lost 1-0. It was unfortunate. There was nothing I could do to stop it. There was a breakdown 10 yards out where it was a 2-0 with only me to beat.

Monday - Wednesday - In the morning we had diesel mechanics and in the afternoons we had cultural studies. Cultural studies is very interesting. We are learning about the many different cultures of the world and specifically Africa Tribal Religions. Then in the evenings we worked on Maverick and got caught up with our loads of homework.

Last night was Ciaran's birthday party. It was a guys night out. We went to a restaurant with small portions and then decided we would stop at another restaurant to top off our stomachs. During our second stop we realized that there were only girls on base... that means terror for Ciaran's tent. We returned to base just before midnight and it's an Overland tradition to soak the person whose birthday it is. Ciaran had his camera and phone on him. I asked to see his photos and then Charlie took a big pitcher of water and dumped it on him. It was very hilarious. A good night all around.

Today we found out that Ciaran went to bed (wet, no less) to see some pranks in his tent... a bed full of beans, tp everywhere, and a few other things...

Mechanics!

6/2 - 6/6

This past week we finished ministry ethics and started cultural studies. This is an overview of worldviews and how to do ministry in these places. Also, we started our diesel mechanics course. We learned about the inner workings of diesel vehicles. A bit of review but there was plenty outside of class opportunities to get our hands greasy.

Outside of our regular class time we worked on one of the Land Rovers. We spent over two hours trying to bleed the fuel line of air. It ended up that a wire got disconnected from the fuel pump of which is belt driven but also has wires going to it. Figure that one out... Also, one of our big Mercedes-Benz 1017 trucks has a rear u-bolt issue. That is a huge fiasco... we have to jack up the rear end (four tons) and then replace the u-bolts... sounds like it should be easy...well it isn't!

Well tomorrow the AMT group is cooking for the entire base in the evening. But, during the day is round two of the PBT Zambia Tour Stop 2! It will be fast paced volleyball action!

Sunday will be my first international cap of the year. I'll be starting in goal for the Musungus! Hopefully we'll pull out a win against the Nsongwe Village Crocodiles. I'll keep you informed. More to come... Also, I added some more pictures.

Are you a professional?

5/29 - 6/1

Friday, we finished with bush cooking. We cooked for the whole base, that's over 40 people. The whole team went into Livingstone to buy the dinner on a shoestring budget of 200,000 kwacha. (That translates into about $60 USD.) The whole AMT group made an amazing chicken stirfry dinner with rice and we even had bread! It was delicious! Note, we cooked everything over an open fire. That was no small task.

I brought my camera with me and got so many questions about whether or not I was a professional photographer! "Andrew, are you a professional photographer..." as I brought out my Nikon D200. So many people thought I was a professional... I humbly replied, "Well I'm an alright photographer, see the pictures for yourself." I went on a photojournalism shoot around Livingstone while everyone purchased the supplies for our feast!

Pastor Vaughn gave a good word of encouragement to the AMTer's. He has been a blessing. When pastor comes in, he serves the purpose of a catalyst. He comes as a fire starter to ignite a passion in the believers.
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Saturday was a free day. We had a great day of rest and relaxation. What do you get when you combine three flat beds worth of sand, two poles and a net? Beach volleyball in the bush! We had the first ever Overland Missions PBV Tour. See my pictures to see some of the action!
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Sunday we went to Temple of Power in Livingstone. Worship in Africa is more vibrant and a wonderful experience. Everyone must visit a church in Africa where the Holy Spirit is moving. The frevernecy of worship is hard to find anywhere else in the world. Pastor Vaughn was the guest speaker. What a wonderful message he gave about how the Church in Livingstone needs to reach out to the poor and in doing so will be blessed!
After church, everyone went out to eat and went shopping for necessities.

After returning to base it was homework, homework, homework. I finally got caught up from being late. I edited some photos and hit the sack!