Namwianga - June, 2013

Mrs. Mukupa's gift of eggs

George and Jason all grown up

David and I have been back in Zambia for three days now:  three amazing, exhausting, and exciting days.  We greet our old friends with hugs, handshakes, and exclamations of joy.  We show off our photos of the grandkids, and our friends laugh and call us “Mudala and Muchambeli” which I think means “old man and old woman” (in a good way).  We marvel at how much the Zambian children have grown and how little our adult friends have changed.  And we feel at home again—our other home.  

    Saturday David’s co-worker Rodgers Namuswa picked him up right after breakfast and took him to a village north of Kalomo to speak at an area-wide men’s leadership meeting.  He was gone all day and came home telling of all the old friends he had met and the wonderful meal of chicken and nshima he enjoyed with them.

George and Jason came over and spent most of Saturday with me.  They are seven years old now and seem so grown up!  We played card games, took walks, read books, and explored the games on my phone-- a little slice of heaven for me.  They still remember Sara, so they dictated e-mail messages to her.  (George and Jason are orphans at Eric’s House and spent a lot of time with us when we lived at Namwianga.) 

   Today (Sunday) we walked the mile or so to the Basic School Church and David preached there.  Once again the singing amazed us, especially the two school choirs that sang at the end.  





 And late this afternoon I had a special visit from Mrs. Mukupa.  During our time at Namwianga, we had several opportunities to help Mrs. Mukupa, an elderly widow who supports several grandchildren.  I wrote an article about her that touched the hearts of some readers in America, and they occasionally sent funds for things like shoes, food, and school fees that we passed on to her. Today she came with two of her granddaughters.  She told me how much she appreciated the things we had done for her, and then she gave me a gift—a precious gift that brought tears to my eyes: s sack of fresh brown eggs from her chickens.  Silver or gold could not have impressed me more.  I’m going to have to think of something very special to do with those eggs!  

    Tomorrow David will be off early with Rodgers Namuswa again to minister at the clinic.  I have meetings set up with groups of sponsored students in the morning and the afternoon, and both David and I will be teaching college classes in the afternoon.  

Men's leadership meeting on Saturday

Singing Group from the high school