The latest from Lushomo

There are a few things about the trip to Zimbabwe that I forgot to write about last time (actually, I'm sure there are more than a few but hey...).

When I was at the border, about to go into Zimbabwe, I got proposed to! Some random guy was sitting there and asked me if I liked Zambia. I said yes, and he then asked if I'd like to stay in Zambia and genrously offered to marry me so that I could stay. How thoughtful of him! I'm sure it was my citizenship he was thinking of too... Anywho, I never even caught the guys name, much to my mom's dismay.

Then, while at the orphanage in Zimbabwe I picked up a little todler named Mary-Belle. She sat in my arms just staring at my hair. So, I pulled a little bit out from behind my ear for her to see. Her face lit up! She started running her little fingers through it and her big brown eyes just danced. It was the cutest thing.

Anywho, I haven't been out visiting since I got back from Zim because our translator has been busy over at the place where the crusade will be setting things up there. Also, there were some meetings held at Lushomo for a long weekend. Liz and I got asked to teach some classes. So, we taught on Health Evangelism. Basically talking about the importance of Medical Missionaries and how you can use that to reach people, then going into the basics like water, cleanliness, diet, some hydrotherapy, etc.

We were scheduled to talk at 10:30 last Friday morning. So, we were happy to be able to sleep in a bit, then make our lesson plans that morning. So I got up at 7:45, went out to wash my face and get a drink and whatnot. Then, when I came back into the house I met a frantic Liz who told me that Godfrey had just come and asked if we could speak at 8:00 instread of 10:30. It was exactly 8:00 when he came to the door! Ai ai ai! So, we grabbed our stuff and ran down to the classroom.... Stress! Kinda scary... so the rest of the weekend we were constantly on the lookout for Godrey to come ask us last minute (and overly prepared, just in case...)

Pathfinder Sabbath was a couple weeks ago and we had about 70 kids in our Sabbath School class because of it! It was kinda crazy. I started handing out stickers as a reward when kids answered questions correctly and nearly lost my life. Seriously, I almost died. These kids love stickers. It was cute though.

Last Sabbath we had some baptisms in the afternoon. 21 baptisms to be exact. Abishy and his wife Eunice were among them. They are a couple we had been giving Bible studies to. If we had been able to go out more often, Godfrey says we would have had more baptized but whatever... its not about numbers anyhow. So yeah, it was cute. Here, when you are baptized you fold your hands on your chest. So, she folder her hands on her chest, and he wrapped his arms around her and they were dunked together. It was sweet. Also, Chile, the youngest son of the family we live with, was baptized. So was Sarah, the wife of their oldest son and Rita, a local girl that sometimes helps out at the house. It was a good day. Abishy had mentioned he would like to have an English Bible because the Tonga translation can be a bit rough at times. So, I was able to give him an old Bible of my mom's. He was super excited about that one.

Other than all of that, we've mostly just been painting, hanging out with Chile, studying, and baking. There are some great places to swim out in Lushomo. One of them is at the base of the waterfall, and you can actually climb up part of the waterfall and sit on the ledge with the water crashing down on your shoulders. Good times. I've been experimenting with baking. I really want to get my hands on a good whole wheat bread recipe. In the meantime, I've been experimenting with cookies, coffee cake, made a loaf of banana bread... pretty successful attempts actually. We've also made pancakes a couple of times. The ingredients are a tad different from those in America but hey, they are wonderful.

I've also found myself to be Ernest and Christine's secretary. They have had a lot of reports they have needed typed up to send of to the higher powers, and for the board meeting that Ernest is here for tomorrow. It's funny, they are in awe of how fast I can type. Liz and I had to explain how in America computers are used for everything, and they start you early etc... Its been interesting.

Liz leaves a week from monday for Kenya, and a week from Sunday I head out to the crusade. I have to do home visits and give health talks in the evenings at the crusade. I may also get roped into helping with the kids corner, although I really don't think I'm the person for that job. Anywho, good news... there are four americans coming April 2nd. They will be helping with the crusade, then taking over at Lushomo. This makes me happy. I hated to start visiting then stop because Riverside needed me. So, this works out great. And, they have been through an Evangelistic training school. Meaning: they know what they are doing. So, this works out perfectly!

Anywho, I'm just in for a few days. Hopefully my Student Permit has come in, we'll be checking on that Monday or Tuesday. If it doesn't come by the middle of next month I'll have to leave the country, so hopefully it is here.

One last thought that occurred to me as I sat in church today. Metal roofs are wonderful, they really are... especially if you get a good quality one like the ones my dad sells (yup, just let me know if you want to get in touch with him... ) They last forever, they hold up better than shingles, no leaking... I'm sure if I were my dad I could go on and on. But, if you are using it on a church in Zambia where there is a rainy season that lasts for several months consisting of many a torrential downpour, and the church doesn't have a sound system, please insulate it so the congregation can hear the speaker... There you go, my thought for the day.

Well, I may write more later before heading back to the bush, who knows. But TTFN, Ta ta for now! :)