by Adam Bruce, Zambia
8 February 2006
I was getting restless, looking at my watch and squirming in my chair. The indoctrination ingrained into my Western mind is time orientated, and it was showing. "Church shouldn't go on this long! It is now a good hour overtime! Way past lunch time, too."

Time is a lot different here in Zambia. People come first, and the pace of life is slower. The event is more important than the time it takes. I come from a culture that is described as "time poor." A recent North and South magazine summarises the life of a Kiwi mum—"So much of our life is a rush that by the end of the week we're all shattered." This was how we were before arriving in Zambia.

There is a buzz in being busy—a rush of adrenaline keeps us going with a sense of value that "busy people are important people." All that has been pulled out from under us here, and we've suffered some withdrawal. In comparison to our life in New Zealand, we have so much time that we feel guilty!

As we adjust to time on our hands, we wonder if it has become socially unacceptable not to be busy. People in ministry often burn out trying to be God instead of being with God. It's an easy trap to fall into.

What can we learn in Zambia where it can take a year to get a phone connected? What can we learn from people who expect us to stop and chat with them in the street and who come to visit without making appointments? What can we learn from people who walk everywhere for hours at a time and yet never seem impatient?

When I was sick and lying on my back for a week, it was a good time to think. It was a reminder to follow God's example. With patience, I need to slow down and enjoy time with our kids, my wife, and with God. I'm a human being, not a human doing. Jesus taught us that ministry comes not out of doing, but out of a relationship with Him.