Wednesday 7 March 2007

March 3 to 7

Saturday March 3 - we were a little tired after our long trip to Lusaka and back and probably feeling the effects of our big trip over starting to catch up so it was a slow morning. We had to go into Kabwe - 50km each way from the farm - as we needed diesel for the vehicle and propane for the stove in the kitchen. (Couldn't get the latter as the only place in town was closed for the day.) While in town we contacted Dan and Tina Moyer who have been in Kabwe as missionaries for about ten years. One of their personal outreaches has been to the local farmers and so Tony and Debbie-Lynn had got to know them well and Tony suggested that we connect. They were just on their way out towards the farm to visit another farming family so they stopped by here later in the afternoon when we were back and on their way back to Kabwe. They are in their late thirties and work for Grace Ministries International based out of USA. They are involved in a variety of projects in Zambia and Malawi so have a lot of experience and are very happy to help us in any way they can. We had a very short visit as they had to get back to town but on Sunday we went back to Kabwe to attend the English language service that they have each week at their downtown facility. Very similar service to what we are used to at the Alliance church - great worship to start, a couple of personal testimonies and then a sermon. The message was given by Dan's father - Carl - who has been on the mission field in Africa all his life as his father before him was also a missionary ! (We later learnt that Carl did his missionary training at Prairie Bible College in Three Hills so was familiar with our neck of the woods !) After that service we went with Dan to one of the Grace churches in a suburb of Kabwe to experience a local African service, which was really amazing. Beautiful singing by a couple of their choirs in the local language and then a very fiery sermon - given in the local language but translated into English for the benefit of those who preferred that. After the service the entire congregation filed out in a single line with the first person out forming a "receiving" line to shake hands with the next person in line who then joined the line and so it continued. We were about half way so had to shake about 50 hands before joining the end of the line and waiting to shake the hands of about 50 people behind us - what an experience and a wonderful way to greet each other in the name of the Lord. (We need to try that at our churches sometime !!!) We were then invited to the senior Moyer's house for a late lunch - it was 1:00 pm by this time. Quite a crowd there as they live next door to Dan and Tina who were there with their three kids and then several others on their mission team whom we had met at the earlier service. Lots of interesting discussion about the whole area of foreign aid/assistance in Zambia and we garnered a lot of useful information from several people. Delicious lunch of chicken stew, rice and vegetables around a large table seating 12 people. There was a huge thunder storm right after the meal so we stayed a bit longer until that had passed before returning to the farm.

Above - Grace Church which we attended
Below - some of the kids who gathered around us after the service.
Note the ball of string and rags which serves as their soccer ball !




Gordon and Carl Moyer chat in the back yard before lunch

Monday March 5 - we did our first tour of the area stopping in at the school, clinic and a couple of the churches to touch base with people and let them know that we were around. Everyone very pleased to see us again and we were able to plan some further meetings and activities over the coming weeks. In the late afternoon when we returned to the farm we went for a long walk followed by a refreshing swim. The temperature has been hovering around 27-28C during the day and we have had rain most days in the late afternoon or evening as is typical for this time of year. The work on the farm is hectic with lots of reaping, curing and grading of the tobacco crop so we see all that activity around us as we move about.

Tuesday March 6 - we went into Kabwe as we needed some supplies for the house and farm. We also stopped in at the Dan and Tina's place to see if I could use their internet connection to send and receive e-mails but unfortunately that did not work. However we hung out there for a couple of hours and had some more interesting discussion from which we learned a great deal. When we got back to the farm the manager had to head over to a neighbouring farm to get the exhaust pipe for the generator welded as it was broken so Milt went along with him for the ride. They were back well after it got dark so I had already lit a whole bunch of candles to see my way round the house before the generator started working again.

Wednesday March 7 - We were at the school by 8:00 am to attend the grade 9 English class being taught by the headmaster/principal. 44 students in the class crammed three to a desk and only one text book at each desk. Today's lesson was about adverbs and he did a great job. An interesting experience and amazing what they can accomplish under the conditions. We spent a bit more time at the school talking about issues and touring the grounds. Next was a meeting with the Senior Headman who had been away in Lusaka until yesterday and we had a couple of hours of good discussion with him. After lunch we had to go into Kapiri Mposhi - 20 km North of the farm - to fill up the truck with diesel. Stopped in at their local supermarket to check out supplies and prices - would only go there in a great emergency as the choices are limited and prices high. On the way back we had a meeting with the head nurse at the clinic - who happens to be a Zimbabwean born in Gwanda which is near my former home town ! She is a very dynamic lady and again we had excellent discussions about the issues surrounding health care in the community. Our late afternoon walk had to be cut short due to a big storm which blew in very quickly.

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