Monday, March 10, 2009

Well we have internet about one day out of five and about three minutes out of an hour, so I will posts two entries today if possible.

Brad will be preaching again this Sunday. He and his pastor have become buds. The pastor wanted to take him to Malawi, a neighboring country, so they could be a tag team at a conference. We cannot cross country lines because of our visas without paying and going through several custom officials. Most of the time they just bribe someone to get what they want. It is such a common practice that even Christians do it; otherwise, you would not get your electricity turned on or a building inspected.

Brad is feeling better. The doctor contacted him on Friday and wanted to see him on Monday again, so we went. Brad’s blood pressure was fine and the doctor repeated the malaria test and blood sugar test again. Malaria was negative, but his blood sugar was still borderline. The doctor suggested five meals a day instead of three so we will try that. He has lost 20 pounds.

Brad really enjoyed the visiting professors which eased his stress and gave him time to just talk. Women do not talk more than men. They talked about silly stuff and dumb men movies, but it was good for him so I stayed away.

I started helping with the children’s program at our church a couple of weeks ago. When the children left the service, I left and volunteered my services. The Zambian people are so gracious and humble; they welcomed me in. The teacher told me what the story would be, started, then left. I thought she would be right back so I waited. The children started getting restless so I thought I would review what happened before Pharaoh let the people go. I reviewed the plagues and the teacher finally returned.

This past Sunday I returned and the teacher said, “What are you going to teach?” I told her I did not know I was to teach, but asked what the lesson was. She said whatever story I wanted to tell, so I continued with Moses. They divided the class into two and gave me the older ones and they took the preschoolers outside. We did the manna and the quail.

They have no materials at all. Last week they used the back of bulletins from the States to draw on. They had six pencils that were about four inches long and one container of crayons which they had broken so everyone could have a piece.

This Sunday, I took the 53 pencils which we use for the art program and in my class I had two pencils left. Two more students showed up late, so God provided. The students were so glad to use a pencil with an eraser.

Can you imagine 53 children ages 5-10 in a 10 x 10 room? Plus there were three tables, a stove, three bikes, a wheelbarrow, fencing, and some broken chairs. The students sat on every available item. Children’s Church lasts 90 minutes. Some of the students had infants on their back.

We had a wonderful time acting out the story, reacting out the story, and drawing pictures of people collecting manna and quail. They laughed and laughed at my quail. We played a game and sang songs in Tonga. I found a broken drum and they took turns beating it to the rhythm of the song. I looked at my watch and we still had 20 minutes before the sermon would be over.

We were having so much fun that they sent in all the preschoolers to join us, but no adults. Now I had over 70 children. I picked up the drum and said follow me and out we went. We marched around the church and sang at the top of our voices. Church miraculously ended 10 minutes early.

We continued to sing, but I only let girls beat the drum because it was a holiday, “Women’s Day”. The rest of the church members stared at us as they did the handshake, where you shake everyone’s hand in a big circle (which takes another 20 minutes).

Next week I will be prepared for the whole 90 minutes with activities and supplies.

I know that you are praying for us because God is providing.