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www.thadandmary.com

Safari Tent Living - Zambia Style

Thad and Mary May are moving to Zambia in 2011. Yes we are! We want to finish our productive career years working in Africa doing relief and development work. Our first step in this big transition was to quit our jobs. So last summer we resigned from our professional positions in Engineering and Nursing to make time for the training we knew we’d need. This fall we completed training with All Nations, a missionary training center based in Kansas City. We also traveled to Florida for training at ECHO in tropical agriculture and appropriate technologies for developing countries. The first year we’ll be doing an 8-month internship from February-September. We’ll be returning home for the last 3 months of 2011.

It's a love story, really. View our short video that tells our story.

Why Zambia?

It seems Zambia chose us, actually. We have a shared family history with this African nation of 10 million people. Mary lived there in the summer of 1972 with her parents while her father was on a teaching sabbatical. In 1991-1992 we lived there for 14-months on Thad’s engineering assignment, along with our 4 kids. More recently, we’ve led 3 short-term teams of college students to Zambia, working with local missions that serve school children, widows and AIDS orphans. We’ve traveled throughout much of southern Africa, but Zambia has always held a special place in our hearts. It feels like home.

We’re joining an existing mission team from All Nations. One thing we know for sure: we don’t want to go this alone. That’s why we’re joining a team of 4 long-term volunteers that have also trained with All Nations. They started working in Singanga village in Southern Province, Zambia in 2009. This village of ~150 people is right on the bank of the Zambezi river, 30 miles upstream from Victoria Falls. The team’s focus is church planting together with community development and orphan care. Personally, we envision ourselves as trainers who will train others in home health care, sanitation, and agriculture. When we train the nationals to be trainers, we enable a movement

We’ll be living in the village learning the language.

We’re committed to learning the local language. The best way to do that is to live with the people. So we’re buying a safari tent to live in the village. The tribal language spoken in this region is called Lozi. Language learning will be our priority in the first 2 years, and also our biggest challenge. Without knowing the language we will miss the mark. To really understand the culture requires listening to their stories in their language. We have lots to learn.

Current situation in Zambia. Zambia is one of the poorest nations, ranked 79^th out of 103 developing nations behind Haiti (76^th) and Kenya (75^th) based on the WHO (2010). It also has one of the highest orphan rates in the world, largely due to AIDS. The average life expectancy has been reduced to 45 years. One out of 7 people are HIV positive, and that number increases to 1 out of 4 in the urban areas. 64% of the people live on less than $1.25 per day (Unicef, 2008). The poverty is even more pronounced in the rural areas.

Expenses and Contributions. First we want to say “Thank you”. Any support given for this cause is so appreciated. We pledge to be good stewards of your donations. Our assignment with All Nations is a volunteer position; for our internship we are covering our basic living expenses out of our savings. We estimate $4,000 in one-time start-up expenses to live in Africa. This includes a safari tent ($1200), construction of thatched roof frame for the tent ($500), portable tent furniture ($200), solar Panel and batteries ($300), water filter ($60), 2 mosquito nets ($40), GPS ($200), 2 mountain bikes ($400), basic medical supplies ($100), agricultural hand tools ($200), and irrigation treadle pump + piping + tank ($800).

Tax-deductible donations can be given to us through All Nations. 100% of the proceeds are directed to our account; be sure to include a post-it note with the check, indicating "Suggested donation for Thad and Mary May". Do not write our names anywhere on the check. All Nations is a not-for-profit 501c(3) organization.

Make checks payable to All Nations, mailed to the following address:

All Nations

c/o Walsh Washburn LLC

5360 College Boulevard, Suite 100

Overland Park, KS 66211

Our shared email is thad_may@hotmamil.com.

Count down to Zambia ...and what else am I forgetting?

Christmas with all 4 of our children was wonderful. We leave Kansas City February 4th for a 12-day road trip before flying out Feb 17.

NOTE TO SELF: Remember to pack all the things I can't think of right now: Passports (check), Visas (check), mosquito nets (check), order safari tent (check), water purification tablets (check), anit-malarial medicine (check), chocolate (check-check), 101 other things (semi-check).

OK, So what am I forgetting?

Everyone loves A Love Story

Our our once and future history with Zambia.

THAD: This story started 40 years ago with a thought while I sat beside a pretty girl named Mary in my high school English class: “Thad May may marry Mary.

The rest of the story… is history. Our present story starts with a question: “What does it look like when a guy in his 50’s has a mid-life crisis?” Quits his job? Finds a beautiful blonde? Runs off to some exotic place? Well, in my case...all of the above. Only…that beautiful blonde also happens to be the love of my life for 35 years, she also quit her job, and she wants to go to the same exotic place I do: Zambia! Yes, the Mays are moving to Zambia in early 2011.

MARY: Actually, there’s a story behind this. My husband woke up the day before Christmas last year muttering words that Jesus once spoke to Peter, “Launch out into deep water, and let down your nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4). What may look like a mid-life crisis I actually believe is a calling we both share.

THAD: We’ve been to Southern Africa now 7 times: Great stories, good times, but short. Now, as empty nesters, it seems we’ve being invited to come out into deep waters.

MARY: After working 15 years as a hospital nurse, giving some of the best years of my career, I wondered, “Is this what I still want to be doing in 5 or 10 years?” No, actually. I want to teach village health care to the poorest of the poor. My heart wants to be in Africa.

THAD: And as a civil engineer for the last 30 years, I realized I’m still waiting to do what I really want to do with my professional skills – help develop clean water and sanitation projects in places where this fundamental health need is desperately needed.

We want to finish our productive career years serving in Africa.

MARY: We have a history with Zambia. I first lived there in the summer of 1972 with my Mother and Father. I volunteered in a hospital, went safari camping on weekends, and even turned down a few marriage proposals! Nineteen years later I returned to the same city, this time to follow Thad’s engineering assignment for a year, arriving in Zambia with 4 kids, 6 carry-ons, and 18 bags in tow. That was a spectacle!

THAD: More recently we’ve led short-term teams of college students to Zambia. It seems we always leave a piece of our hearts there after each visit. We now believe Zambia is part of our future. People ask us, “How did you choose Zambia?” Actually…Zambia chose us. It’s part of our story.

MARY: We did our missions training with All Nations and plan to join an All Nations team that began working with the Lozi people in 2009.

THAD: Long-term, our goal is to serve a church planting movement among the indigenousness villages: Simple churches that reproduce simple churches. This will happen hand-in-hand with community development: Assistance and training in practical skills our team can offer.

MARY: Short-term, it’s all about learning the local language – Lozi. We’ll be using the LAMP method. Coming as learners, we make friends in the process, learn about their culture, and discover the stories God is already doing in their culture.

THAD: The challenges in Zambia are massive:

- Extreme poverty

- Illiteracy

- 80% unemployment

- 20% HIV infection rate

- Highest orphan rate in Africa

But real, sustainable development that transforms communities out of poverty starts with their story. The transformational development story belongs to the community. It will be their story long after we leave. Learning the language is a key to discovering that story. This can make sustainable development possible.

MARY: I get life from one-on-one, compassionate caring. So the natural way I respond to our calling is to connect with Zambians at a heart level. That’s why learning the local language is exciting for me. Mother Teresa says, “The miracle is not that we do this work, it’s that we do it with joy.”

THAD: And me? I’m just blessed to be doing what I love, where I love doing it, with the person I love most. A calling? As one friend put it, “It’s really a love story: A love story between Thad and Mary; A love story between you and God, and a love story between the Mays and Zambia

MARY: But in the end, this story is not about us. It’s really about God’s love story over Zambia. We want to be a part of that. We’ve been invited to step into this story, launch out into deep waters, and follow Jesus in Zambia.

THAD: This love story is still being written. Many of the villagers we’ll be working with are illiterate; It’s an oral, story-telling culture. Storying will be a primary means of communicating God’s story.

MARY: We still call Kansas City our home, and will travel each year to connect with friends and family, from one heartland to another.

THAD: We invite you be a part of God’s love story over Zambia. Make a difference in someone else’s life…and change your life along the way. Thanks for listening.

THAD: Oh, one more thing. Check out the blog to learn about different ways you can partner with us to serve the poor Zambia. But we’re limiting it to only two (2) kinds of people actually: Artists… and Non-Artists :-)

MARY: So, if that’s you…consider yourself invited!

Love,

Thad & Mary May

Email: Thad_may@hotmail.com