Silver Linings

A Letter from Melissa Johnson, serving in Zambia

Summer 2022

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Dear friends,

Our grandson, Max, was born the week Charles and I completed our mission co-worker orientation in 2015. We left the U.S. for Zambia in March 2016 when he was only four months old. We never really had a chance to bond with him until the pandemic when Charles and I had to return from Zambia in March 2022. I’ve tried to find the silver linings in hard times, and being able to be close to our grandkids, Max and Lucy, has been one of the best. Now, a little more than two years after returning to Atlanta from Lundazi, Zambia, I am finally heading back to my life in Lundazi.

As the pandemic has eased, we have all rejoiced in being able to hug our friends and family. But as we all know, technology has been another silver lining during the pandemic when we all had to social distance and stay home to stay safe. Zoom has been a blessing on so many levels, but there is nothing like being able to actually be with your friends, family and loved ones. When I was in Zambia, one of my most common consolations when missing family and friends was, “Thank goodness we have technology these days.”

During the mission co-worker orientation, Charles and I were told that we were becoming “between” people. People who would never fully belong at home or in our country of service.

Today, we never fully leave no matter which direction we’re going. We are able to maintain lives and friendships in both places, but we live with the grief of never fully being with our family, friends and loved ones.

While we were in Zambia over the past several years, Max was never really able to engage in a visit over Facetime or WhatsApp (in the days before Zoom). He might come to the camera for a second and then “zoom” off. While it was wonderful seeing his adorable face, this one-dimensional on-screen time did not really build a relationship or a bond. I have had the same feeling with my friends in Zambia during these two years of working remotely. I have only been able to send WhatsApp or Facebook messages to most of them, and I haven’t even seen their faces. I grieve the parts of their lives that I have not been able to share and experience. While I have been able to meet together virtually with my co-workers, because of the time difference and network challenges they face, it is nowhere close to being there in person.

Charles and I leave Atlanta on August 25 and arrive in Lusaka on August 26. He will stay with me in Lusaka for a couple of weeks to help make sure our vehicle is in good working order and to help me deal with all the insurance, registration and other paperwork. Then he will return to Atlanta, and I will return to Lundazi.

When Charles retired, we returned to Zambia in the middle of the pandemic to retrieve most of his personal belongings and to wrap up his work, but we weren’t really able to visit with our friends and say goodbyes or for him to have any real closure. I am hopeful that he will be able to do that during this trip. We’ve scheduled our trip to coincide with the CCAP Zambia Synod meeting (similar to our General Assembly). When we first went to Zambia in 2016, we were introduced at the synod meeting, and it was a joyous time. I hope that this synod meeting will be similar – joy at reconnecting with friends and co-workers for both of us.

As we do in so much of life, we can mourn and rejoice at the same time. I will rejoice in being back in Zambia to continue the ministry that God has called me to, but I will mourn not being with Charles and our family. Max is old enough now and experienced with Zoom, so I look forward to those video chats with him and his older sister, Lucy. I would really love to have your prayers during this transition back to my life in Lundazi and for Charles as he transitions to a virtual life with me. It will not be easy for any of us, but I know God will give us the strength we need, and I thank God for the silver lining of his gift of technology to keep us all connected.

Melissa