The Number Two

What does the number two mean to you? Right now, it means the number of days before our Zambia team heads out on British Air for twelve days of ministry and work in Zambia. Two means the number of carryon items I can take with me which will be a small back pack with a change of clothes, some books, and maybe some snacks. The other will have my computer so I can blog from Lusaka. Two also represents the number of checked bags each of us will be hauling. One will be filled with clothes and personal belongings. The other will be filled with some of the overwhelming number of clothes, toiletries, school supplies and book bags that the people of Enumclaw, Rotary and Calvary have donated to this effort. The response has been so incredible that the piles of items are now spilling over into room number two in our office.

Two is the approximate number of weeks we will be gone. We leave on October 15th and return on October 27th. Two is the number of flights it will take us to get to Lusaka. We leave Seattle and fly over the north pole to London. From London, after a layover, we fly directly to Lusaka.

Two is the number of schools we intend to visit while there. We want to stop at Balm of Gilead (where our team worked last summer)to reconnect with some of the students and teachers there. But most of our time and energy will be spent at school number two - The Healing Place. It is a new school that is just getting started and the money that has been donated by team members, Rotary and other faithful people has enabled us to provide a well for safe water. It also will help us get electricity to the site, buy food and cooking utensils so these children can have nutritious meals at lunch, and provide school supplies for the children. We also will be doing some back breaking digging of trenches that will be used for foundations for the first classroom building on this site.

Two is a small, seemingly insignificant number to most people. My blackberry phone just vibrated twice, signalling me that I have just received an email or a text message but not a phone call; not anything urgent that I need to stop what I am doing to attend to. Two is the number of heaping scoops of ground coffee I have found works best in my French Press travel coffee maker (They mostly have Nescafe instant coffee in Africa so I am taking my own).

Two is more than one but it is less than a few. It is way less than a lot. When I think of how much I have here in my life in the United States, I have more than I need or deserve. That is why I am going back for trip number two. I want to share from my life with others who have even less than most.

This week, I received a special gift from one of my grandsons. Inside were two one dollar bills and a note saying he would be praying for me and that he wanted this money to be used to bless the children in Africa.

You be the judge. Is two too small a number? It two too little to give? Is two, too few a number of times to travel to a place to make a difference? I don't know. But I do know that two represented a very generous and sacrificial gift for a nine year old who likes to keep track of his money. Two US dollars is worth nearly 10,000 Zambian dollars or kwachas. Two dollars will buy enough food to feed several children a couple of meals.

Two - what does it mean to you? More importantly what would be the proportional equivalent for you to share with your church, a mission agency, a relief organization or a local food bank? I am inspired by someone who is willing to part with a significant part of his resources simply to bless others who have nothing.

My prayer is that I will use that $2.00 wisely so that it may indeed be a blessing.

Pray for our team while we are gone. Pray that the Lord would knit us together as a close knit team. Pray for our safety and health.Pray that the Lord would use us to encourage, witness to and be of significant help to the people of Zambia that this trip will be worth it. And keep posted at this site as I hope to be posting several blogs from various places along the way. Thank you all for your prayers, support and encouragement.