Saying Goodbye

We leave Namwianga in less than half an hour, and we will be without internet connection until Wednesday.  We'd love to come back to emails and posts on the blog.  An emptiness grows in me when I leave my brothers and sisters in Zambia.  I have to be intentional about my attitude of gratitude for the time I get to spend here with these willing servants, instead of mourning my departure.  Our team will spend the next two days processing our time and trying to frame our experiences into the story that God has for us to tell you when we return.  Pray for us.  It is not easy to return to the pace and the misplaced priorities on that side of the water. 

There were at least 7 baptisms yesterday -- one in the river at Chawila and six in the outdoor tank at Namwianga.  God is good -- all the time -- God is good --- That is His nature.

Siablumbe and Mutala

Thursday

We spent our last day at Siabalumbe much like we had the previous two. I co-taught with the Preschool through 4th grade teachers, focusing on phonics, vocabulary, and a little bit of mental math. Sherry and Mary Beth teamed up to read the Bible story to all the grades 1-6. David worked construction and gave the same two Bible lessons back to back, first to the 7-9th graders, and then to the community.

The teachers and headmaster treated us like royalty each day, and served us tea, sweet potatoes and groundnuts during the morning break. On this last day, the community ladies prepared nshima, tomato relish, and fried chicken for us. We shared this feast with the teachers, and then we presented each of them with a gift package which included a Bible.

After the lesson, the whole community sang for us, but the highlight was the farewell song. The women sang and sang and sang as they walked/danced toward our vehicle. 

We had one more stop to make before returning to the guest house, and the sun was already starting to sink in the western sky. Ruhtt had arranged for the Mutala church of Christ to gather at 5 p.m. so we could give them the banner we had made for them. The church building is almost completed, but we will be back in Kansas on the first Sunday that they will meet in it. These gracious people agreed to meet us this late in the day, and they even arranged for their student choir to sing two songs for us. David said some words of encouragement and thanked the people for working so hard to complete this building in such a short time. In response, the church leader said that it was not polite for us to thank them, but that they are thanking us for providing what was needed to make this building possible. Isn’t it great how God brings His people together to do His work?!

Shepherd, the builder, is pounding the last six nails on the roof.

We arrived at the guest house after 7 p.m., and we were so happy for Sue’s meal of sweet and sour pork chops. No one needed to be told to go to bed. We were full physically, emotionally and spiritually.

Thanks for reading, and for your emails and comments.

Siabalumbe

We have 3 stories that we want to share from our two days at Siabalumbe.


The first story details the way that God answered our prayer. This school has a headmaster who is very traditional. I have experienced his resistance to anything but his own mind in the past, and so I was really feeling some trepidation about going to Siabalumbi. I really wanted to spend some time praying about this with the whole team, but a number of interruptions kept getting in the way. Finally, we were riding in the car, and Ruhtt was telling us another story, but I asked her to stop so we could pray. Our prayer was for cooperation and for God to open the hearts of the people, and especially for the welcome of the headmaster and the teachers. God answered our prayer beyond what we could ask or imagine. We have been more than welcomed, we have been embraced by the headmaster, the teachers and the entire community.

The next story is about a child’s name. We have come to know a family named Mono because one of the sons, Mathias, is staying with us at the guest house. The oldest brother, Samuel, is one of the church leaders from Siabalumbi. We had barely arrived at Siabalumbi on Tuesday morning when Mrs. Mono, Mathias and Samuel’s mother greeted us. She introduced us to her sister, and to Samuel’s wife. A small child hid behind her mother’s chitange, and Mrs. Mono told us that this child is Samuel’s youngest child. Mary Beth asked the child’s name. The mother said, “the name is Mapenzi; it means trouble”. Mary Beth said, “oh, no! this child is not trouble, she is precious.” Later in the day, I greeted Mr. Samuel Mono, and I told him that we had met his mother, wife and daughter. He said, “Yes, I know, and you have given her a new name.” He continued to explain to me how he had already told the brothers and sisters to only call her “Precious”, and now the daughter has a new name. What a blessing to know this child will grow up feeling precious rather than trouble.

The final story illustrates salt and light. While Richard cut ginger and garlic for Sue’s secret rice recipe, he told me about how is afternoon plans changed. Richard brought window panes and putty to Siabalumbe, and he planned to give Mr. Munga, the builder, some tips for installing the panes. Richard explained that he was just about to get started, when Mr. Munga said he had to leave right away to get cleaned up for Bible Study. This surprised Richard because he had never seen Mr. Munga at any church service, so he questioned him further. Richard learned that Mr. Munga’s oldest son was a Christian, and Richard suggested to him that if Mr. Munga wanted his children to be Christian that they needed a Christian father. Richard was both surprised and impressed that Mr. Munga was going to Bible Study, even if it meant he would not get to install window panes. I suggested that possibly David had engaged in conversation with Mr. Munga as they worked together on construction. Later, when I told the story to David, he shared that he’d mentioned on both days that he would have to leave early because he was giving the Bible lesson. Tonight, David read from Matthew 5 about salt and light, and I thought it an appropriate scripture since David and Richard had been salt and light for Mr. Munga today.

Our time here is quickly drawing to a close, and we are all feeling that impending end in different ways. Thank you for reading, for praying, for commenting and for emailing – all of these encourage us.

Katakula

Katakula Church of Christ is farther down the road to Kabanga than Katungu, and the trail Ruhtt drove to get us there felt barely large enough for the bicycles that travel back and forth to the main road. She managed to get us there and back again without difficulties. Praise God! We each could tell stories for days about our few hours with this community, so I'll let the pictures speak, and you can ask us for the stories when we return.

This child (20 months) had just been recovered from a small tub of water near the bore hole pump. His mother was washing clothes, and he had fallen in face first. He was in the water for a short time, but was pulled out soon enough, and seemed to be fine.

The women were so happy to see us that they sang and danced and even invited me to join them. You should be able to pick out the only makua in the crowd.

We walked down to the baptistry, which also serves as a river. Ruhtt showed us a place where a snake crawled out of the river right after a baptism. It's appearance caused the people to scatter without properly greeting one another and welcoming the new Christian. I am continually amazed by the faith of these people -- I think faith in God must be very strong to be baptized in a crocodile and snake and bacteria infested body of water.

Ruhtt joined a game of soccer.

I noticed this very thin boy, and he allowed me to take his photograph while he posed with the dilapidated soccer ball.

The church building was almost full when David shared the lesson about Daniel and the lions' den to illustrate that God is supreme and no one can take His place. Everyone listened attentively except the two young ones who fell asleep on their mother.

Mrs. Mbumwae quized the preschool children, and the passed with flying colors. We were all very impressed with the preschool teacher at Katakula.

We shared pencils and sweets with the school children. Each little girl got a new dress, thanks to some generous seamstress in Canada.

We shared bags of jewelry with the women, and you can see how proud they felt to have such a gift.

After we feasted on nshima and chicken and chibwantu, prepared by these gracious ladies, it was time to leave. I met a woman who shared with me that she had suffered a crocodile bite some years ago and now must walk with a cane. Her cane was splitting, and she explained the woes of having to constantly find wood to make a new cane.

Sunday at Katungu

I'm too tired to write, so you'll have to be satisfied with pictures. I'll try to include captions.  We all really appreciated the fellowship we experienced on Sunday as we worshiped with our brothers and sisters at Katungu. 

All the seats in the Izusu were full, so David and Oscar rode in the back. 

Before church, we toured the newly built duplex for the new headmaster and another teacher. The builder graciously posed for me.

Shepherd, and Grandpa "builder" are answering Mary Beth's questions.

These girls are carrying water using the most common method.  I was delighted to learn that a bore hole has been dug for Katungu, so they no longer have to get their water from the river.

We decided that we could use some of our project money to help finish the windows in the two block building that was built by Care International.  It serves the pre-school, first, second and third grades.  The money will go toward window panes, completing the interior parging, painting and decorating the classrooms.  Thank you to all who gave, so we could deliver this valuable gift.David taught the morning Bible Class about the importance of not letting anything get between oneself and God.

After morning services, we each greeted everyone, and later, Mary Beth handed out sweets to the children.  The women sang the entire time.  It was a fantastic experience.

Sherry made a new friend, Charit, (pronounced Charlotte . . . or as close to that as possible for people who confuse the /r/ and /l/ sounds.

The sermon on Sunday emphasized that only Jesus can satisfy.  Amen!

Thanks for reading.  God bless you!

Siamabele -- Mary Beth

This group of people are very far away from anything that we would call civilization. There were many people, but we could not see any huts or lodgings. We had no idea how far anyone had come to be there. There hospitatlity was especially touching as they prepared their best food for us. We were allowed to sit inside on benches while they ate outside on the grass. As they were preparing for lunch, they started a song, and we could tell by their body actions that they were pretending to answer phones and saying, "hello, hello". I asked for a translation from Oscar, our translator, and he said it was a song about how God answers my prayers better than my friends will answer their phones. Then we talked about how, with God, we don't have to worry about signal or recharging the battery. At the end of the day we said goodbye and gave each person, both male and female, the bags of jewelry that we had prepared. We told the men that these gifts were for their wives. The women quickly put on their jewelry and began to sing. They danced with their hand in the air praising God. The women sang as they said goodbye and the sound was so joyful; it is such a beautiful sound. We had to say goodbye to each person at least three times with the special Zambian handshake. We were desperate to get to the main road while there was still daylight, because it would be difficult to find our way in the dark.

Siambele -- Sherry

Being at Siamabele had that same small town feel that being in Alabama has for me. I felt at home and welcome. The people all knew each other and really made me feel like I belonged. I would love to find a way to infect American churches with the enthusiasm that these Christians had for gathering together. I'd been telling Martha for days that I really didn't want to talk to the Ladies. She kept encouraging me, but finally on Friday night, she recognized how worried I was, so she said that if I really didn't want to speak that she would do it. All Friday evening and Saturday morning, I just kept praying. Every time Martha would say that I didn't have to speak, I would get more courage, and I would tell myself, "No, you can do this." On Saturday, just before I had to speak, I started to feel sick; I got really hot, and Martha thought I might have a fever. Mary Beth gave me some Tylenol, and Martha offered one more time to give the lesson, but I decided I would do it. At the beginning, I just kept praying that I wouldn't throw up, but once I got started, I started to feel better. The interpreter was a wonderful, lively woman named Royce, who seemed to know just how to communicate the message God gave me to share with the ladies. The other really faith-building thing that happened at Siamabele -- I ate village nshima right out of the community pot, with my hand! I just did what Ruhtt said and decided to trust God. I didn't get sick or anything . . . although Mary Beth said that I might still get worms a month from now.

That's it for now. --- Sherry