Kalahari Ferrari
“If those things sprout wings and fly, I’m leaving Zambia on the next flight”
Zambia has many seasons. We have avocado season, followed by cold season, followed by hot season, and finally camel spider / rainy season. Currently, we are at the end of hot season, right before camel spider / rainy season.
Our first year here was right after living in North Carolina for the summer and Pennsylvania for the winter. Our first winter here, every day felt like the most amazing Pennsylvania fall day. Just a tad nippy, but overall perfection. All the Zambian staff and missionaries complained about how unreal cold it was, but I laughed at their feeble judgment. Sit through a PA winter and then tell me what cold is.
Then hot season came, and everyone told me that I would die from the heat. But I just came from North Carolina summer, and to be honest, the heat here was just child’s play. In NC, the humidity hovered around 1000 percent every day, and eggs would hard-boil if left in the car too long.
I was feeling pretty tough compared to my more temperature-sensitive fellows, but then camel spider / rainy season started. I don’t know if you have ever seen a camel spider. Imagine having a nightmare where large insects are slowly crawling over you. Now stare at that imagined insect, and it will be half as terrifying as a camel spider. Camel spiders are about the size of a large cockroach and can get about as big as a small mouse. They have large, hairy, leather-like bodies, and on their heads are large, bone-crushing jaws. Oh, and they are ridiculously fast, which has earned them the nickname “Kalahari Ferrari”.
Here is the best part… they live in your house for over a month of the year. They hide under your sofas and beds and only really make appearances at night when you are sleepily walking to the bathroom. A giant fast-moving shadow races across the floor, climbs your wall, and disappears into a crack you will seal the next morning. If these things grew wings, I would leave Zambia tomorrow, full stop.
When you step on them, they make a giant mud puddle that must be cleaned up to prevent a slipping hazard.
I still remember when my Swiss friend first told me about them. We were relaxing after a lovely supper, and I was thinking happy thoughts of how tough I am. Then he burdened me with the realization that giant soul-crushing insects would soon become my bedfellows. After all five stages of grief, I succumbed to being a landlord of nightmare creatures.
After our first season living with mouse-sized arachnids, I can report we are all still alive. Living with insects that can take sizable portions of flesh out of you is not always easy, but little by little they stop becoming your mortal enemy and start becoming a part of the everyday fabric of life. Much like crossing endless Zambian speed bumps, life takes on a rhythm. You wake up covered in mosquito bites, step on a few nightmare bugs, and then ruin your suspension on a speed bump you forgot about.
Yet all of a sudden, all of this becomes “home”. You don’t even realize it happens, but in the blink of an eye, you realize you are home. Makeni Konga, Lusaka, Zambia is home. I have gone on a lot of short-term mission trips, and nowhere has felt like home. Yet one day, when we were driving over a speed bump while getting cut off by a minibus, I looked over at Maria and said, “We are home”, to which she firmly agreed. We have moved 4 times in 6 years, each time leaving friendships and church life, but now we are home.
And the only thing that could change that is if those nightmare bugs grew wings.
Here is what we have been up to since our last newsletter.
MMS was here. MMS came to help us and a sister ministry here for three weeks. They installed some much-needed audio wire upgrades to your airplanes and avionics (fancy screens pilots look at and pretend to understand) in the other mission’s airplane. It was fun having them here, and they helped us greatly in keeping our aging fleet happy. Much like people, old airplanes start to have aches and pains that never go away. But MMS did a pseudo hip replacement to keep our old girls working.
We took a family trip to Victoria Falls. We have been wanting to go on one for a long time, and finally it all worked out. While in Livingstone, we got to tour “Overland Mission“, a cool ministry that we fly occasionally. They offer short-term mission trips throughout Zambia and many other countries. After the tour, we managed to take the required Zambian missionary family photo in front of the falls, almost get attacked by monkeys, and go on a river boat cruise to see bored hippos. The road there is an 8-hour drive full of as many speed bumps as the stars in the Milky Way galaxy and free-roaming cattle that make you feel like you have mistakenly driven into a rodeo. But between the speed bumps, the road was smooth, and driving in the African plains is an experience books can be written about.
Furlough 2027
It’s hard to believe, but we are coming up on our first furlough. We are targeting April-May of 2027, and we’re hoping to eat as much scrapple as possible… and meet as many of you fine folks too. We will be in need of a car big enough for 6 Martins to fit in and that can be driven in PA, OH, and NC. If you know of anyone who has one we can rent, please reach out!
Prayer and Praise
Pray for Maria as she has officially taken on the role of “Guesthouse Manager.” This is a big role and keeps her very busy, but she is handling it with great grit and gusto. She is a homeschooling, guesthouse-managing, sourdough-making momma. Pray that she doesn’t become too overwhelmed, just a little overwhelmed.
Pray for FMZ. We are in the middle of budgeting season here, and with that always comes plans for the future. Pray that we are the best stewards of what God has given us.
Pray for us as we plan and prepare for our upcoming furlough. Many moving pieces still need to be finalized on this side, but we are excited to see family and friends again.
Praise that I am officially LAME! I’m a fully Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME). My children can now proudly say they have a LAME dad. This has been a long process. Many, many hours of study and testing, and after 18 months of work, here we are!!
Praise that we have had safe flying and no surprise maintenance. When running a flight operation, this is always something to praise God for His provision.
Praise that we are all healthy. There are many worms, viruses, and nightmare bugs that all like to hang out with us here, but God has kept us tip-top.
Till next time,
