Tamlyn Collins

                       more information on the work and Zambia

Read the latest e-mail update from Tamlyn:

 

Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 11:49 AM
Subject: September Zambia Mission Update

Dearest Family and Friends,
 

The first water purification system is running in Kamilulu Community, and we are shifting our focus to building Kwama United Methodist Church.  So, there is cause for celebration. In honor of the joyful news I have attached my five funniest Zambian moments as a September Update.  God is good and brings us joy in the morning....all the time. 

 

Blessings,
Tamlyn
 

Top Five Funniest Moments in Zambia

I have a Zambian helper named Susan who comes to my home to sweep and mop once a week.  This is important to do as the dust here during dry season is thick.  Also, Susan really appreciates the work.  One day Susan was sweeping my bedroom and came running out the door screaming with her hands in the air.  I ran to her, thinking she might have seen a snake.  She was pointing to my bedroom saying, “I dusted it, and it talked.  I’m sorry.”   It took me a moment to spot the card sitting on the desk.  It is one of those cards that have an audio recording that plays when you open it.  This card is from my friend, Rita. When Susan dusted the card, the recording came on.  Susan thought the card was some sort of voodoo and ran in terror.  I explained the card to her and assured her that the card only reminded me that I am loved.  Susan was very relieved.

During a recent work team, one of the American visitors was struggling with the word “Mwashibukeni” meaning “good morning”.  His eleven year old grandson, Arthur, was also on the trip. In an attempt to help his grandfather pronounce the word, Arthur suggested that his grandfather simply say “Wash your bikini.”   The grandfather took the suggestion and was heard to say, “Wash your bikini” to many Zambians during his visit. 
 

Dorothy was one of the first Zambian visitors to come to my home for lunch.  She travelled a great distance, and was really dressed up when she arrived.  I invited her in and gave her a brief tour of my home during which I showed her the bathroom.  I wanted her to feel comfortable while she was visiting, and I asked her if she would like to use the bathroom. She nodded yes.  I noticed that my new friend was taking quite a while in the bathroom, and I started to be concerned that she was not feeling well.  Soon, however, I heard the shower start.  I waited awhile longer and Dorothy came down the hall barefoot, glistening and looking refreshed after her nice shower.  She had indeed enjoyed the bathroom.  Since that time I am careful to have fresh towels, soap and shampoo in the shower before I invite anyone to use the bathroom. 
 

Worship is always a great experience in Zambia.  One never knows who will be preaching or if there will be dancing accompanied by drums or simply clapping with the music.  At a recent youth service I was enjoying the drums, the dancing and the singing when I saw a tiny little girl quietly coming toward me.  She looked up at me and smiled, and I smiled back at her.  The next thing I know she took my hand and started stroking it.  I continued to smile at her and was startled when she started licking my hand.  I guess my aloe vera hand cream smelled good enough to eat!
 

Finally, I think it is only fair that I tell on myself.  My good friend, Moses, made a slingshot for me.  In Zambia they call them catapults.  I was so excited when Moses gave me the slingshot that I started shooting rocks over the wall right away.  I should have paused long enough to receive instructions from Moses, but my impetuous nature got the best of me.  The next thing I knew, I had shot myself in the finger, and my thumb started turning purple.  I may be the only friend you have who actually shot herself with a catapult. 
 

May God bless your day with smiles and laughter as you have blessed my life in so many ways. 
 

 

Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 8:05 AM
Subject: Update from Zambia

 

This week those of you in the U.S. are probably being bombarded advertisements about Valentine's Day.  I am happy to report that Zambians remain blissfully distant from these ads, but they continue to hear the real message of love that comes from God through Christ Jesus.  Today, I am thanking God for the love you have shown to me as well as to complete strangers here in Zambia.

 

During the last month, you have helped approximately 170 disadvantaged and orphaned children know that God loves them.  Truly, I have seen God at work once again as I have been blessed to serve at a not-for-profit school, Lifesong, that teaches children reading, writing and arithmetic as well as teaching them about Christ. Lifesong does not require tuition and is consistently caring for children who are in need.  Can you imagine, these children actually pray out loud several times a day?  They sing songs like "Jesus Loves Me" and "Deep and Wide".  At Lifesong, I am not only allowed, but am encouraged to go to the clinic and pray for little children who are sick.  What a pleasure it is to hold a crying child in my arms while singing "Jesus Loves the Little Children".  Soon the crying stops, and I feel the child's body relax and snuggle in a little closer.
After a while that child drifts off to sleep or runs off happily to play or joins the class in reciting the alphabet.

 

My weekly shopping trip, an adventure that I will share with you at another time, was particularly rewarding this week as I found toothbrushes in individual cases for 10 cents a piece. Hopefully you won't mind that I spent some of your donation money to buy 40 toothbrushes to teach "The Baby Class", technically 4 and 5 year olds, how to brush their teeth. Admittedly, it is the first time I have joyfully encouraged children to spit!  And yes, they all passed that test with flying colors.

 

Lest you think I am leaving the adults out, I am excited to report that my first adult English student is now praying in English and is writing compound English sentences with correct punctuation.  She probably knows more about semi-colons than I do. Her intention is to help me with the larger group of students soon.

 

Please keep praying for Missionaries Delbert and Sandy Groves and their family.  As you may recall, I came to Zambia to join the Groves, but they were called back to the U.S. in early January as Delbert's mother was critically ill.  Delbert and Sandy will remain in the U.S. until Delbert's mother goes to be with Jesus.

 

Please pray for me that I will persist in my efforts to cut through the enormous bureaucracy associated with bringing 100,000 anti-malaria nets to the Kitwe area.  When this happens, all the glory will go to God as He is the only one who can cut through red tape this thick!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  Literally, I would not be healthy, protected and "fat" as some of my Zambian friends say about me, if you were not praying for me.

 

Be blessed,

 

Tamlyn

Rev. Tamlyn Collins
United Methodist Church
On Mission in Kitwe, Zambia
with The Mission Society

 

 

Another of her previous messages:

 

Dearest Family and Friends,

Maybe it was Dickens who said, "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." That is the way I would describe the Christmas holiday in Namibia. I was truly blessed to be able to travel with missionaries Delbert and Sandy Groves to Namibia for 8 days. During our travels I saw one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Victoria Falls, which borders Zambia and Zimbabwe. There was just the right amount of rain to make it beautiful. In the game park I saw a hippo very close up as it almost sat on our car while scratching it's back on a bush. Sandy took one of my favorite pictures here, a zebra sticking its tongue out at us.

Namibia is amazing. I highly recommend you drop in there next time you are in the neighborhood. The U.S. dollar does very well there, and I won't upset you by telling you how little we paid for gas! The dirt roads are well maintained...uh, I won't compare them to Zambian roads. There are less than 2 million people in the entire country, so we were never in a crowd. The landscape in Namibia is varied. We stayed at one location along the river that I loved. My hut was on stilts overlooking the river, and actually had one side (and the shower) open to the river. However, maybe some of you are not quite that adventurous and would prefer another sort of accommodation. The birds were great here, and a beautiful brilliant blue Kingfisher sat on the branch of the tree that came through the deck on the hut where I was staying. The hippos with their "ho,ho,hos, were the closest I got to Santa there.

 

Next, we moved on to the desert pan (a big white sandy area) of Etosha. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at a lovely place overlooking a watering hole. There is nothing like being away from all the distractions of the world to bring you close to God at Christmas. If only each of you were with me, it would have been perfect. At dinner on Christmas Eve a beautiful choir
dressed in all white (reminding me of angels) sang to the Glory of God. On Christmas night I was sitting at the watering hole watching the sunset and a huge rhino came ambling along and stopped right in front of me. I guess you could say that I was glad there was a small rock wall between us.

 

From Etosha, we went to the Waterberg Plateau. The scenery changed there once again as the rocks went from white to red, reminding me of Georgia red clay. Two highlights here were seeing
Cheetas,close up and personal, and chasing a rhino family through the bush...in a jeep, of course.

Here is where "the worst of times" part comes in. Delbert received word that his mother was critically ill in the U.S. He and Sandy were needed immediately. We headed back towards Zambia but were unable to avoid hitting a dog during the trip. The dog was killed instantly and so was the car radiator. We were in the middle of nowhere, and after hitching back to the last village we passed through, finding a mechanic, having the car towed, etc, we discovered the radiator was not repairable. They had to have the car towed 5 hours to the capital city of Lusaka where we were stuck on New Year's Eve. Everything was closed on New Year's Day. On the 2nd Delbert and Sandy were able to book a flight back to the U.S., and I was headed back up to Kitwe on a flight that took less than an hour. Just a note... they give you food on short Zambian flights unlike U.S. flights.

 

So, I am back at New Life Center with my friends, some wonderful Christian Zambians. I am well and am practicing driving on the left side of the road, sitting on the right side of the car and shifting gears with my left hand. So far...so good. Today, I taught English. I am so proud of my students. Tomorrow, I will help out at a school where children who have lost one or more parents attend. Who knows what next weeks brings?

What I do know is that God is good all the time. My students have learned to say this with great
passion, and I believe it. Happy New Year!

 

Tamlyn