Camping, days 13-15: weekend in Chipata, Zambia (and visit to a student's church - 10)

Day 13 - Friday 31 May 2013
Travel from Senga Bay, Malawi to Chipata, Zambia

Our holiday was ended!  We got up, took down our camp, and even had time for everyone to get showered before we  hit the road around 9am.  A nice early start for a not-too-terrible day of driving.

We drove almost due west from Senga Bay to Lilongwe.  It was nice driving through yet another scenic area we'd never been through before.  I didn't successfully get any good photos through the window of our moving vehicle, though!

From Lilongwe (where we stopped briefly to let Elijah use the toilet and so that I could buy bread to make sandwiches in the car for lunch) it was slightly over an hour to reach the border of Zambia!  The border crossing was quicker going out than coming in (as was to be expected).  Crossing on the Malawian side took about 10 minutes and crossing on the Zambian side took a bit longer - but everything went smoothly.

We reached Chipata around 1pm and we were back where we had started!  We set up camp at Mama Rula's for the weekend again, right in the same spot where we had put up our tent before.

Day 14 - Saturday 1 June 2013
Camping at Mama Rula's, Chipata

We didn't do much today!  Just enjoyed being settled in camp at Mama Rula's with nowhere to go.  We took the kids into the swimming pool in the late afternoon.  It was REALLY cold so we didn't stay in long.  :)  Afterwards we had to run into town to get some fuel for the next day's drive to church in Lundazi.

Day 15 - Sunday 2 June 2013
Visit to a student's church (10) - Lundazi, Zambia

This was another big day for us.  Another visit to a student and his church - but this time we would be driving a significant distance north, to the town of Lundazi.  Lundazi is a small town located about 2 hours from Chipata.  It is in a very rural area.  Our student Peter (whom you might remember from this post - during his studies at the College he has planted a church in a nearby village and we have visited him several times) comes from this town where he is supported by a large Pentecostal congregation, and we arranged to visit him in his home church at the end of this trip.

When we contacted Peter he asked us to meet him in Lundazi at 9am.  We didn't know how long the drive would take us (reports of the road conditions were varied) so we left around 6:30am.  In the end it took us just about exactly 2 hours to get there and Peter was already waiting for us when we arrived.  We picked him up and waited a few minutes for his bishop to meet us.  He pulled up in a brand new Toyota Hilux (funnily enough, a newer model than our own).  That was when we realized that this church visit would be unlike any of our previous ones.  :)

The first thing Peter did was introduce us to his 'bishop,' a kind middle-aged man who is the leader of the local sections.  The first thing the bishop did was tell us to follow him in our vehicle while he went to confirm arrangements for our lunch, which would be served at the hotel in town!  We were shocked, but what could we say?  We were given no choice in the matter.  Most churches that we visit will provide a meal after the service - it is a common gesture of courtesy in this culture - but this was the first time that it had been served in a restaurant instead of in someone's home.  The bishop informed us that the local congregation was having a 'prayer and fasting' event so they had made these arrangements for us to be served a meal even though the bishop's family could not host us.  These sorts of situations are very difficult to deal with delicately and with cultural sensitivity!

We followed the bishop's vehicle through town - he stopped briefly at the hotel (more about that later) to confirm lunch and then led us to the church building.  It was a large building on a small hillside.  The name of the church is 'Comforter Ministries' which is a Pentecostal group supported by Pentecostal associations from the West (not sure exactly where).  This church is connected with an NGO (non government organization) which helps orphans and widows.

We were given seats at the front - there were 2 sofas and I chose the one that was not a rainbow of colors.  :)  There were even seats for the children!

We got to the church around 8:45am and the praise team started 'warming up' within a few minutes.  David was in the back of the church meeting with the bishop and I was sitting with the children.  The praise team was alternating between starting to sing choruses, and giving the microphone over to a woman who was leading the gathering congregation in what they called 'intercessions.'  She was talking about prayer - at a feverish pitch - and about God's promise to answer prayer - and then they would morph into a 'chaos prayer' for 5-10 minutes and then she would move on to another item for prayer ('And now we are going to pray that the Lord will, right now, answer every prayer that we ask Him - that before you leave this church you will find that your prayer has been answered, RIGHT NOW!....') and they would morph into chaos prayer.  You get the picture.  This went on for 30-45 minutes...

What made it REALLY difficult is that there were THREE people on the stage with microphones - and all three of them were praying aloud, simultaneously, into the microphones!  Now, basic common sense would indicate that this was a recipe for headache-inducing noise.  But that didn't seem to deter them one bit.  :)  It was... ahem... EXTREMELY loud.  How did this become a way to 'pray'???

After the time of 'intercessions' ended, they transitioned into a time of 'praise and worship.'  This church, unlike others we have visited, not only had an amplifier but also a drum set.  Yes.  So you can imagine it got pretty loud.  It was like a rock concert, honestly. 

They sang choruses - each individual chorus went on for more than 10 minutes.  Literally just repeating over and over again, 'Jesus, you are wonderful...' and so on. 

After close to an hour, the kids were having trouble sitting still, and I couldn't blame them, because half the congregation was wandering up and down the aisles in ecstasy.  So I took them outside to give them some distance from the earsplitting noise.  :)  While I was outside, they transitioned into a time of testimonies - I didn't manage to really catch what was being shared (by various individuals in the congregation who came to the front) because a lot of it was in the local language.  In between the testimonies there was a lot of drum-rolling and excitement and breaking into song randomly!  The time of testimonies lasted close to 30 minutes and then they had more praise and worship - for more than 30 minutes!

They finally welcomed David up to preach - poor man, he shared that every time we are in a congregation with such a loud service, he really struggles to be mentally ready to preach.  His head is just reverberating from the noise!  It takes him about 10 minutes to re-acclimate so that he can pitch his voice correctly (and he gets vibes from the congregation that they can't hear him properly at first, either because they are all half-deafened, too!).

David preaching with student Peter translating

I managed to catch part of the sermon, but my poor hungry, tired children couldn't sit through another hour after what they had already endured... so we ended up finding a shady place to sit outside, part way through the sermon, where Elijah and Ketzia entertained the crowd of children.  Interestingly, this congregation didn't have a single child (except nursing babes) in the worship service.  All the children had a separate 'children's service' outside which lasted until just before the adults' sermon, and then the children were all released and spent the rest of the time goofing off and playing wildly outside the church!  I think quite honestly that the worship service was considered too loud for children!

After the sermon ended, I took the kids back in for the last bit of the service, and then our family was asked to come up front! They prayed for us as a congregation and then presented us with a gift.  This is the first time that we have ever received a monetary gift from a congregation in Zambia! 

 visiting after the service, a church member, Peter, David, and the bishop

our family with the bishop and his wife

After greeting us, the bishop and his wife got into their car and accompanied us (with Peter) to the hotel, where they made sure we were served our food.  And then they left us to enjoy our meal, with Peter's company!  They went back to church for the fasting program.  ;)  Funny things. 

Lundazi Castle Hotel

 This hotel where we ate is 'the' hotel in Lundazi, renowned because it is a castle!  It was built by an Englishman (if I remember correctly) who wanted to have a proper castle in Zambia.  It's seen better days by now, but it still has a lot of character.  It did not seem to have a lot of business - the dining room was very quiet when we were there and we were practically the only people eating.  Tasty lunch of nshima with chicken and cabbage.

didn't get a photo during the meal - but this is Peter with the remnants of our lunch :)

We were very disappointed that we were not given the opportunity to visit Peter's family.  Unfortunately they attend another church, so we didn't even have a chance to meet them during this church visit.  And they live in a village outside Lundazi, so it would have added another hour of driving to our already long day to go out to their home.  We hope that this will be possible in the future.  It was nice to see Peter in his home environment and we pray that the teaching he is receiving in the College would benefit him and his acquaintances as they seek to serve God - we pray with 'reverent fear.' 

Camping, days 8-9: Zomba, Malawi (visit to a student's church - 9)

Day 8 – Saturday 25 May 2013

Travel from Nanchengwa Lodge to Zomba, Malawi

 

After 5 nights of rest and relaxation on the shore of Lake Malawi, we packed up camp on the morning of Saturday the 25th.  We were able to hit the road in a timely manner, by 9:45, heading south to the town of Zomba.  

It was a smooth drive.  It was interesting to see the obvious prevalence of Islam in this part of the country, the southern shore of Lake Malawi.  We saw mosques every 500 meters on some stretches of the road south!  There were Islamic schools and teacher training centers everywhere.

It took us about 3 1/2 hours and we arrived in Zomba around 12:30. Zomba is a large town, with the distinction of being Malawi's University town. We set up camp at a bed and breakfast called Casa Rossa which is located up the mountain, on the road leading to the top of the Zomba Plateau.  Casa Rossa is a new guesthouse in Zomba - only been open about a year - run by a friendly Italian couple.  They have a public restaurant as well, specializing in homemade Italian cuisine.  Mmmm.  A great place to stay!  :)

you can see us eating breakfast on the terrace in this photo

The camping area was terraced out of the hillside and was well equipped, with good toilet facilities, hot showers, big sinks for washing up, and even an electrical socket at each camping pitch!

a view of our camp at Casa Rossa

 The first thing we did when we arrived was eat our packed lunch (peanut butter and jam sandwiches) sitting on the ground in the camping area.  Then we unloaded everything and set up our tent.  It was a relaxing afternoon so we were able to just enjoy our surroundings.  Being located up on the road to the Plateau meant that we were removed from the hustle and bustle of the town streets below, and we had a gorgeous view from the terrace.

 The Casa Rossa restaurant does good business!  We went up to the restaurant for an early dinner.  David had ravioli and I had tortellini, and the children had chicken nuggets and chips.  It was delicious.  As usual, the kids went to bed early.  On our camping trip we found that it was a good schedule to eat dinner earlier than normal (so that we were done eating and cleaning up before it was completely dark) and then move into the tent, to avoid mosquitoes.  Often we would let the kids watch a DVD on their portable DVD player, sitting on Elijah's airbed.  It was a good way to wind down at the end of each day of playing hard outside!  

After the kids were asleep I went back up to the restaurant, finding that the dinner portion was so small that I was still very hungry.  :)   The woes of being a pregnant woman.  I ordered a 'snack' of onion soup and panzerotti (like mini calzones) with a side of chips.  Probably sounds like an odd combination, but at the time I thought the soup would warm me up and the panzerotti would fill me up!  It was cold at night up on the mountainside.

Having reached Zomba successfully, the only difficulty now was contacting Sangwani, the student whose church we would be visiting the following day.  We had his phone number, but our phone calls and text messages (from Zambian phones) weren't going through, although our phones indicated that we had service.  Sangwani tried to phone us before we left Nanchengwa, but David's phone battery died before we were able to receive his call.  So here we were in Zomba, but we had no idea where the church was or what time the service would start the next day!  We just had to trust that Sangwani would find some way to reach us before it was too late.  :)

Day 9- Sunday 26 May 2013

Zomba, Malawi -- visit to a student's church (9)

On Sunday morning we woke up to the reality that we still had not been successfully contacted by Sangwani.  David was supposed to be preaching at his church in Zomba, but we still had no idea where the church was located or what time the service would start!  

So we had our usual morning routine of feeding the children, showers, getting ready for church and hoped that he would contact us soon.  It was really nice to find out that any guests of Casa Rossa, even campers, were offered a complimentary 'tea and toast' breakfast in the restaurant each morning (you could pay to get eggs or something else if you wanted a bigger breakfast).  The coffee was fantastic and we enjoyed having free toast and hot drinks each morning with our bowls of cereal from the campsite.  :)

 We were finally able to reach Sangwani around 8am, and were told that the church service would start at 10am, and given directions to the church.

the back view of the church - they are in the process of building and are meeting in the partially completed office area

Sangwani is a member of the Reformed Baptist congregation in Zomba, and they support him as a student for the ministry.

Sangwani translated for David during the sermon

 I really enjoyed the service, which was simple and reverent, as we have found most of the Reformed Baptist churches to be.  One thing I noticed was that even the young children were joining in singing the hymns - from the book!  That is something you will never find in the poor village churches in Eastern Province.  You hardly ever see a church with any hymnbooks, but even the ones that do have a few books, most people can't read well enough to use them.  You could definitely see the difference, that the education available in Zomba is much better than in our local area.

Elijah and Ketzia did very well during the service, until part way through the sermon when I had to take Elijah out so that he could use the toilet...  Then he didn't want to go back into the church service because he knew he would have to sit still!  He threw such a fit, kicking and howling, that eventually I strapped him into his car seat so that he would calm down, and sat in the car with the kids until the sermon ended. What can you do?  :)  Sometimes, as a mom, you feel like you can never win!  Even if the kids are doing well in church, a simple toilet run can turn into an absolute rebellion!

 

a view of the inside of the church, taken afterwards while people were chatting

After church ended I was so pleased to see that people stayed around chatting - again something you don't really see that often.  Usually people leave pretty quickly, but the fellowship here was good and the congregation was friendly.  David spent a while talking to the men of the church - the pastor, the assistant pastor, and others.

After church Sangwani's wife Betty told me that they were planning to have us to their house for lunch, so we all squished into our 5-seater truck.  Betty's youngest sister Madalitso (called Mado by the family) who lives with them, sat in the front passenger seat.  We took out Ketzia's car seat and she sat on my lap, Elijah sat in his car seat, Betty held 2 1/2 yr old Keziah on her lap, and Siphiwe (5 years old) shared the seat with her mom.  It was tight, but we managed and thankfully they only live a few miles up the road!  Sangwani took the bicycle and arrived at home only a few minutes after we did.

Sangwani and David by the front of the church

 

and again around the back of the church

Sangwani, Betty, Mado, and the girls live in a small house with two bedrooms, a small storage room, and a living room.  Unlike many of the students' homes we've visited, they have electricity, so Betty has an oven and cooker and a refrigerator in the living room.  They welcomed us in, and while Betty and Mado finished preparing the food, the kids had a GREAT time playing together. 

Elijah and Siphiwe chase each other around the front garden

the little girls who share a name visiting together :) - Keziah and Ketzia!

ready to eat lunch together

Betty served us a delicious meal of rice and potatoes cooked with tomatoes and eggs.  It was tasty!

 

We really enjoyed the chance to visit with Sangwani and Betty during this afternoon together, chatting with them about life and culture and all sorts of different things. While Sangwani is our student, we have a different relationship with him -- because he is also our teacher!  Sangwani tutors us in Chichewa language lessons weekly during each term, and we are very thankful for his generosity in giving his time and energy to help us learn.  He has been in our home a lot and we have been greatly blessed by our Christian fellowship with him.  

Keziah, Betty, Mado, Siphiwe, and Sangwani in front of their home

 It was good to get to observe him and his family together in their home.  Think about it! they don't get to be together very often - only twice a year at best during the term holidays!  Sangwani's studies have taken him away from the family for the better part of 3 years now and they are looking forward to his graduation in October, Lord willing.

We visited with them until nearly 3pm, and then headed back to our campsite.  But first we arranged to see them again before we would leave Zomba later in the week!  This wasn't just a weekend visit; we decided to stay a couple of extra days in Zomba since we had traveled so far to see Sangwani and his family...

Camping, days 1 & 2: Weekend in Chipata, Zambia (and visit to a student's church - 8)

On Saturday the 18th of May we finished loading up our camping equipment and stuff into the back of our truck and headed out.We aimed for leaving the house at 8am, but ended up pulling out right at 8:40.  Packing the vehicle took some extra time.  In the end we were loaded 'to the gills'!

We hit the road to Chipata, 2 hours east of where we live.  On our way we received a call from our student, Levy, whose village congregation we would be visiting the next day. He was in Chipata waiting to meet us. So when we arrived, around 10:45, we drove into town and met him by the side of the road to discuss arrangements for the following day’s visit.  Here we found out that another student, Sangwani, would be joining us for the church visit as well.  They would both meet us by the side of the road at the same supermarket at 8:30am the next day so that we could drive to Levy’s village together.  

(Some of you will remember Levy from this post -- during his time at the College he has started a church plant in the nearest village to the College which was without a church.  This was our opportunity to visit him in his home congregation.)

By the time we had finished sorting all the arrangements with Levy and Sangwani, it was after 11am, so we headed a few kilometers out of town to Mama Rulas, a bed & breakfast where we would be camping for the next 2 nights. Then it was time to survey our surroundings and decide where to put up our tent. We have a large 6-person tent, tall enough to stand up in.  We bought it the first year we were here in Zambia, to take a10day camping trip through the north of Zambia with our colleagues, and it has been worth its weight in gold to us!  Camping is by far the most affordable way to travel around Zambia. 

the camping area - showers and toilets on the right, restaurant in the center

 While David was deciding where to put our tent, I walked up to the open-air restaurant, just at the edge of the camping area, and ordered lunch so that it would be ready for us.  We got the tent set up in a shady, grassy area which seemed to be the best spot in the camping pitch.  Lunch was chicken pizza for David and me and cheese toasties for the children.  We got the air mattresses inflated and beds put together, and all went down for an afternoon snooze!  It was a good way to get our holiday started!  

setting up our camp at Mama Rula's (photo taken before we put the rain cover over the tent)

 When we got up from our snooze, we headed back into town to do some shopping for our upcoming travel into Malawi.  We went to the main supermarket and spent almost an hour getting what we needed.  Then it was time for our dinner engagement.  We have never had opportunity to meet any of the other missionary families in Chipata, but recently we met the only other expat family in our area (Petauke) and they gave us a couple of contact details for families with young children in Chipata.  When we texted to say that we would be passing through and would love to meet up, one family responded and invited us for dinner on Saturday night!  So we drove up to their house and had a lovely evening with them.  Kevin & Savannah have two little girls (aged 3 and 9 mos.) and Elijah and Ketzia had a great time playing with them.  Savannah spoiled us with a tasty meal of lasagna, salad, green beans and bread, and homemade icecream (with pumpkin bread that I had brought) for dessert!  It was so tasty, and the fellowship was very enjoyable.  They are southern Baptists working with church planting in the Chipata area. We enjoyed visiting with them until the children’s bedtime.  On the way back to the campsite we filled up our tank with diesel for our big trip on Monday.

the kids enjoying camping :)

Day 2 – Sunday 19 May

Visit to a student's church (8)

This morning we woke up to see monkeys swinging from the trees around the campsite! They didn’t approach our camp, but it was fun to see.  (The dogs keep them mostly in the trees.)  I fixed a breakfast of eggs and bacon, with pumpkin muffins I had baked to use up a pumpkin before we left.  We carry a 2-burner gas stove and a small bottle of cooking gas while we are camping.  This helps cut down on our expenses by cooking our own food when we are able.  This particular campsite was well equipped with toilet and shower facilities (although the showers kept running out of hot water!) and the water from the taps was safe to drink.

We left the campsite around 8:15am to meet Levy and Sangwani in town. They were supposed to meet us at 8:30, but only Sangwani was waiting there when we arrived at the designated spot.  We waited for quite a while for Levy, who finally showed up at 9am!  Unfortunately his wife (who was at our recent women’s conference) had to suddenly travel out of town for her father’s funeral far away in Kitwe, so she wasn’t around for our visit.

Ah well, Levy's late arrival just showed us that the day’s events would be off to a flexible start. :)

We drove back up the road, past the campsite where we were staying, and took the turn-off towards Lundazi which is 2 ½ hours north, up the road.  But we didn’t go that far – we drove maybe 10 kilometers, or maybe a bit more, and then turned off the main road.  And that’s when it got interesting.  :)  The first part of the drive wasn’t bad -- the dirt road was quite good as we wound past villages.  We were driving through a beautiful valley surrounded by very scenic hills with large buttresses of hills made of stone boulders cropping up randomly in the plain.

what parts of the road looked like

 But soon the road became very interesting.  :)  Levy was quite funny because he gave us no warning at all – just suddenly said  very calmly, ‘and now there is a bridge.’ Which we quickly learned did NOT mean there was an actual bridge, only that we would have to cross some form of water – with or without a bridge!  We forded streams something like 5 or 6 times – 3 of which had bridges and the rest didn’t.  The road was EXTREMELY bad – very rutted, very narrow, very bumpy.  We were all bruised afterwards – especially those of us in the back seat because we kept smashing into Elijah’s car seat, which is not very comfortable!  Sangwani was sitting on the left, Elijah was in his car seat in the middle and I was on the right, holding Ketzia on my lap.  Levy was in the front passenger seat directing David.  We drove further and further and further into the bush and the road just kept getting worse and worse!  We kept thinking we must be almost there, but nope… At one point we turned a corner and suddenly came upon a stretch of road which was entirely under water/mud.  The only thing to do is to keep driving, as steadily as possible, always moving forward, and DO NOT STOP so you don’t get stuck!!

the road under water

 Finally we reached Levy’s village, around 9:40 or 9:45 (so it took slightly over an hour to get there).  On the right side of the road were two simple church buildings.  The first one didn’t seem to be in use at all.  I think they told us it is a Roman Catholic building and they have meetings on a different day of the week.  Levy’s church, of course, was empty.  No one was there for church yet.  Levy directed us to park behind his house, which was just across the street from the church, and then welcomed us into his home.  His home is in the process of being renovated, so only 1 ½ rooms are currently livable!  He welcomed us into his ‘living room’ which was a tiny, tiny room with a small table, 4 chairs and a couple of mats on the floor.  There was a small rickety shelf in one corner with some tin dishes on it.  The front door was very low so we had to duck to come inside, and there was no window.  He told us that he had bricked up the window because of thieves who had come before and stolen everything – his T.V. and other possessions.  There was an even smaller doorway into a sleeping room which was also doubling as a storage room.  The front door opened in what was currently a courtyard, because it was without a roof.  Eventually it will be the main living area of the house, but there is no roof, floor, windows, or door at present.  It is always sobering to see the very simple, impoverished living conditions of most of our students, but some of them in particular are in very poor surroundings.

visiting in Levy's house - Levy in center, Sangwani on the right

 Then Levy took us over to see the church, but there was still no one there. So he sent someone to start rounding up the congregation, and meanwhile he took us back to his house and insisted on serving us tea and bread!  The tea was made with milk fresh from the cow – a first experience for us.  Levy had a loaf of bread and some margarine specially for us, and some homemade peanut butter.  It was very kind of him to extend such hospitality to us.

a view of the church building from Levy's house

inside the church

After finishing our snack, we went back over to the church where people were beginning to gather and the service eventually started.  By this time it was 11am!  (Reminiscent of the previous week’s church visit…)  Levy is the pastor of a Pentecostal congregation.  (In his absence, when he is studying at the College, the congregation is under the oversight of an elder.)   

women pounding maize in the village, oblivious to the idea of stopping work to attending church

 They began the service by singing choruses with lots of clapping.  A woman from the congregation came up and led a song which then morphed into a ‘chaos prayer’ – which seems to be in the identifying factor of ‘Pentecostal’ congregations here (although it is also done by other denominations as well).  An offering was taken, there was another time of choruses, another time of chaos prayer.  In the midst of all of this I had to take Elijah to the toilet something like 3 times – back at our truck which was parked at Levy’s house.   

Elijah sitting in the doorway of the church

 Then they had the Scripture reading – from Matt. 28 – and David preached the sermon.  I had to take Elijah out again for another potty break, and basically struggled to keep the kids settled. 

 

 

 

David preaching, with Sangwani translating (Levy seated in the back)

When David was on his last sermon point I had to take them outside.   

 

what the surrounding area looked like

 By that time it was past noon and the kids were exhausted AND hungry.  Ketzia had had no morning nap so… she was crying again, inconsolable.  I couldn’t get her to go to sleep, so we just found a place to sit in the shade by Levy’s house.  Ketzia started chasing the goats and went into the thornbushes, because she wasn’t listening to me, so then I was picking thorns out of her little cardigan.  And then Elijah, for whose sake I had missed large portions of the service on ‘potty runs,’ decided that he was going to MESS IN HIS PANTS during a church outing for the first time since he was potty trained!!  Arrrgh.  So I had to get him cleaned up, and his clothes changed, and by the time we were finished, the service was over.  Sangwani came over to fetch the camera on David’s behalf.  When I got myself and the kids back over to the church, the congregation was outside singing while David was getting a congregational photo.

Then they did something we were NOT expecting – they asked us to come back inside the church.  We sat down, not knowing what the plan was, and then they started singing again. And Levy said something about ‘time for the gift.’  Since nothing happened and everyone kept singing, I started getting worried that he meant that someone was going to claim to have the ‘gift of the Spirit’ and start speaking in tongues or something.  :)  But after a bit of singing suddenly we realized  that they were going to give gifts to us!  People from the congregation started coming forward with parcels—bags of groundnuts (peanuts), huge stalks of sugar cane, huge bunches of green bananas, it was incredible.  They were SO generous.  In the end we had a big pile of huge sugar cane stalks, two big bunches of bananas, 3 or 4 bags of peanuts, a large bag (10 kilos maybe) of sweet potatoes!

Ketzia with the gift from the congregation

 After presenting us with the gift, the congregation carried everything over to our truck and loaded it into the back.  Then we were taken back inside Levy's house for a meal of nshima with chicken, rice, potatoes and veg.

Levy outside the back of his house

After the meal Levy told David that there was a man in the village who was extremely sick and his relatives had asked the visiting preacher to come and pray for him.  So David went along with Levy and Sangwani to the house of the sick man, and I waited with the kids.  While we were waiting, Elijah cut his lip with a stick, and Ketzia was so tired that she literally screamed the entire time David was away until she finally fell asleep in my arms from sheer exhaustion.  :)  David was gone for about 30 minutes.  When he came back he reported that the man he had prayed for looked really, really bad -- he had a huge growth on his neck and looked like he would die at any moment.  When we came back through Chipata 2 weeks later we learned that this man had been taken to the hospital in Lusaka and passed away there.

Then it was time to head back to our camp.  A girl from Chipata asked for a lift back to town, so Sangwani took the front seat and we all squeezed into the back again.  Ketzia still asleep on my lap.  And back down the horrible road we went lurching and bumping.  :) 

 

 

 

 

 

one of the 'bridges' we had to ford

another portion of the road

At last we were back in the town of Chipata, where we dropped off Sangwani and the girl from the village and then headed back to our campsite, tired after a long day full of new experiences.

The end of the story is... remember how I said that the back of our truck was chock-full with camping equipment?  :)  Well, we came back from visiting Levy's church with this huge gift of massive stalks of sugar cane, loads of bananas, etc. and our first concern was 'Where on earth are we going to fit all these things??'  We had absolutely NO space.  So in the end, we asked around at the campsite where we were staying and found out about a local school for deaf and blind children, and donated all the food to them!  It was nice to know that even though we couldn't benefit from the generosity of these villagers ourselves, we could at least pass the blessing on to others who would really appreciate it.

visit to a student's church (7)

with part of the congregation after the service

 On Sunday the 12th we visited a student named Fastem, who is the pastor of a Baptist church in a village close to the main road, only about 10 kilometers from the College.  Fastem told us that the service would start at 10am, so we left the house about 9:40.

We had been told to pick up Alex (whose pentecostal church we visited before- he seems to be joining us on a lot of these church visits because the other students are inviting him around! popular guy!) on the way as he would be joining us.  When we phoned him to say we were leaving he said, 'I'm almost at the place.'  When we reached the main road, where we expected to meet him, he wasn't there so we called him again and he said he was only a couple of hundred yards away.  So we pulled out to meet him, and found that there were 2 men joining us!  Alex was joined by Moses, who is a recent graduate of the College (2011) and who now serves as the College librarian.  Fastem happens to be Moses' uncle, so Moses had been invited along.  So Alex climbed into the bed of the truck and Moses got in the front seat to direct us to the village, and off we went.

Fastem was supposed to meet us by the main road, but we didn't see him anywhere.  Moses and Alex didn't know exactly where the church was, so we asked a couple of passers-by and eventually were headed in the right direction, when Fastem showed up next to the car.  Apparently he had been beside the road, and we just missed him.  There were 3 churches lined up in a row on this road which was apparently "Church Road."  :)  First the Catholic church, then the Reformed Church in Zambia (RCZ) and lastly the Baptist church.

And.... so we pulled up in front of the church at a couple of minutes before 10am.  And the door was locked.  And there was no sign of life.  And we had been told that the service would start at 10!!  Immediately we realized we were in for a wait.  :)  Fastem unlocked the door and welcomed us in.

As you can see the building was constructed of brick with a metal roof, and the seats and floor were of mud.  The kids spent the next while climbing on everything and having a great time.

still waiting....

still waiting....

We waited for a long time.  After 10:30 a few people started trickling in.  The service finally started at.... 11:00am!!  :)

 They greeted everyone and then said, 'Now it's time for Bible study.'  Oh no, I thought, please don't tell me that I've got two bouncy children who have been really unsettled for an hour, and they aren't just starting the service now!!  They introduced Moses as the one who would lead the Bible study.  So I settled in to wait and keep the children as settled as possible.  :)

Moses leading the Bible study - sorry it's blurry

Thankfully Moses kept his Bible study brief and was finished in about 10 minutes!  Then they started the main service.  It was a very simple, reverent service without any dancing or wildness.  :)  They sang hymns from the hymnbook in the local language, had a prayer and offering, welcomed us as visitors, and the choir sang 2 songs from their seats.

Then David was welcomed up to preach.  He asked Moses to read the Scripture passage in the local language and then Alex translated for him during the sermon.  David was re-using a sermon he has preached in other village churches, from Romans 3:23.

Elijah sitting with the choir who were directly in front of me - I was facing the congregation

our student, Fastem, the pastor of the congregation

his wife Mary

Ketzia's turn to sit with the choir

After the service, but before we got up from our seats, the congregation greeted us by introducing their 'leaders'... i.e. their pastor, pastor's wife, congregational secretary, choir leader, etc.  It was a very friendly touch which we appreciated.  Overall we were impressed by their humble yet sincere welcome and gratitude for our visit.

The service ended around 12:30.  After taking a photo and saying goodbye, Fastem and Mary directed us back to their house, which was back out at the main road.  They live in a little brick house with a red door.

Behind their house was a watering hole so you can imagine what a busy area this was - every herd of cows within miles was directed here!  In the photo above you see a group of cowboys.  These young boys are responsible for taking care of the herds of cows.  They don't get to go to school like other children, or even go to church.  They stay with the cows all day long, every day.

 

Ketzia LOVES cows!! All she wanted to do was chase them and touch them (NOT a good idea!)

behind their house- the cooking hut is on the left where they prepared the meal

Ketzia being 'herded' away from the cows again!!

We didn't have to wait long before the food was served -- nshima, chicken, and beans.  It was tasty.

about to eat together - Fastem, a man from church?, Alex, Moses, and David

Their house was very simple and very poorly furnished.  As you can see they don't have much furniture!  I was amused by a tattered picture hanging on the wall from the 'Titanic.'  :)

During the meal we asked Fastem how his harvest was this year.  'Not good,' he replied, 'We will not have much.'  He mentioned how thankful he was for the recent Farming God's Way class taught at the College in the local language for the first time by Jackson, the new Farm Ministry leader.  This class was taught to both the students AND their wives, together, so that they can benefit as couples and know how to work together to apply these Scriptural principles of agriculture and work ethic in their own fields.  Fastem said, 'We were so grateful to learn these things.  And next year, we are going to plant better because now we have learned Farming God's Way.'  It is good to see him with hope for the future!

Not a good photo but you can see what a Zambian kitchen is like - the tub in the middle where she washes dishes, the pots on the right are full of water for use in cooking and cleaning (cooking is done in a separate hut)

After enjoying our meal, it was time to head home.  We got a photo of some of Fastem's family first:

We left around 2:15 and drove Alex and Moses most of the way home so that they wouldn't have to walk all the way back into town.  Elijah and Ketzia fell asleep on the way home, of course, so there was no rest for Mommy and Daddy that afternoon!  :)  We got home around 3pm.

Fastem told us that there were a number of folks missing from church because they were too busy harvesting their crops to honor the Lord's Day.  He seemed very grieved about this and it was good to see a village pastor who has not only an understanding of the Lord's Day but a desire to teach his people to honor it.  Fastem also asked us to come to his village to provide teaching to his congregation.  'They need someone to teach them how to live according to God's Word,' he said.  We hope that the more we visit our students in their homes and churches, the more encouragement and support we can give them in their ministries as they seek to lead their congregations in the truth.