Why Zambia?

Michael getting ready for our adventures in a Kentucky Creek - look out for toads!

Some of you are probably wondering why the three of us are traveling to Zambia?  The reason is because that is where my friend Lynn has been a nurse missionary for over 20 years and I wanted to see for myself the place she has lived and worked and I especially wanted to meet the people she has been faithfully serving. 

I met Lynn in 1984 when Tates Creek Presbyterian Church was meeting as a small Bible study in a basement.  Later the church moved to the Kirklevington Apartment Clubhouse and more people started attending including three sisters (Terri, Gwen and Jackie).  These sisters had grown up in Zambia and were in Kentucky via Asbury .  Their father was a doctor/surgeon at a hospital in Zambia so Lynn and I heard many stories about growing up in Africa.  Lynn was a nurse at Central Baptist Hospital at the time and she had a heart for serving the Lord as a medical missionary.  In 1988 she was sent to Zambia on a short term mission and then in 1992 as a career missionary, commissioned by Tates Creek Presbyterian in Lexington, KY.  She serves through SIM (Serving in Missions) which is an international interdenominational mission organization.  Lynn has served faithfully at Mukinge Hospital, a 208 bed rural hospital in Kasempa, Zambia as a hospital administrator and a part of the surgical team.

Lynn does not get state side very often, so her visits are precious and packed when she does travel across the big pond.   During her last visit a couple of years ago, I asked her if I could come visit and she enthusiastically talked me through some of the logistics – remember she is serving in rural Zambia.  Being one who is easily overwhelmed, I asked for help getting to Mukinge.  One of the people I asked was Maureen Sloan.  There reason I asked Maureen is because she has been traveling frequently to Africa teaching nurses working at CURE hospitals.  Now this is the funny part, Maureen said, as a matter of fact she would not only help me get to Lynn she would go with me so she could teach at the CURE hospital in Lusaka (the capital of Zambia). So we began to make plans to travel together and we will be leaving in 15 days!