Day 46 Family
Today is a cloudy day so there is no electricity from the solar panels to be had. In the mornings I usually check for messages from my kids and send them too. I have a nice chat with Isaac before I start the day. Today I am so thankful for the family God has blessed me with and amazed at the talents and gifts God has bestowed on them. Even though they are grown I want to be the best example and encouragement of faith that I can be. One day I want us to all walk together in heaven.
Church Family
I am thankful for the Christian family, the church and so thankful I am not in this world alone without them. I regret the times in my life I have missed sharing God’s glory being stuck in my own survival mode of living each day. May I use the opportunities as God brings them my way!
Our family back home is getting ready for bed while we are beginning our day. We are 8 hours ahead of Tennessee. Time to get ready for the day and preserve my battery power until the sun comes out and I can recharge.
Field Day
This is going to be an exciting day! Today is National Field Day. I have been told about this day but have no idea what to expect. Matthew is coming to drive us to the events because our car is still being repaired.
One of the 10 Preacher’s Trained by Raphael Chirwa
Before we were ready to go one of the area preachers stopped by to greet us. His name is Kings Mumba, Washington’s dad ( a WBS worker we work with). He was one of Raphael Chirwa’s 10 preachers he trained when he moved back to the area from Tanzania. These men were part of the foundation which helped the church to spread and grow in this area. These guys were all supported out of Fort Worth, Texas and so well worth it!
Matthew shows up to take us and it is an amazing journey. Lawrence did not sleep well and decides he must stay home. We stop at area farms and see how well they are doing. Certain fields have been selected as examples of how this deep bed gardening works. A natural gardening method is encouraged. There are lots of people. Cameramen, truckloads of people, area farmers, dignitaries, etc. At each stop, a speech is given and cheering and clapping and we move on to the next one. There are some amazing fields that will soon have a great harvest.
National Field Day becomes International Field Day
The grand finale is held under a big tent on the soccer field. One speech after another is given. People from the Federal Agriculture Department, local agriculture leaders, etc. They come and get us to seat us under the tent with the special guests. We are embarrassed but not surprised. We must stand and greet them and introduce ourselves so they can welcome us. They say from the microphone that National Field Day has now become International Field Day.
Drama a Common Language
After the speeches, a drama group performs. Everyone is ready for a change after so many speeches. Even though I could not understand every word I got the message. The crowd loved the performance. Finally, we can go home!
I prepare our lunch at 3 pm and then Esther, Lawrence and I work on WBS lessons. We are not hungry when dinner time comes around.
Day 47 Stay at Home Day
Today appears to be a stay home day. I heat water for baths. After our bath, I mop the bathhouse as well as the floor of the toilet. I am feeling productive this morning.
More WBS Work
One of our WBS workers came by to pick up some more lessons. Lawrence and I work on getting our WBS caught up and make great progress until our cartridge runs out. We contact Mbwenu to help us order another one which should arrive tomorrow.
Charles is Baptized
Finally, today Charles will be baptized. It is a very hot day. One preacher walks with us down the road to a small body of water where we meet up with one of the elders of the church. ( I find out later that one of the men is a bit afraid of water) so that is why we have two. Urgent, our elder, uses a stick to check the depth of the water and decides it is too deep. The water appears to be about 4 feet deep. I ask if children swim here and they say no they will not come back out. So far I have not discovered anyone who swims.
We walk further to another small body of water and use this one. We pass where our car got stuck last week. Deep ruts are still visible. This is the one we will use. We sing and have a lesson and baptize Charles and he rises a new brother. We are very happy that we were finally able to make this happen. Rejoice! We usually have baptisms immediately but several things prevented that from happening the night Charles asked to be baptized.
Charles Speaks Chichewa
While getting ready for the baptism I made a discovery! Charles’s first language is not Tumbuka but Chichewa! This makes a lot of sense. He is very quiet and doesn’t always understand what we are saying. He also gets someone to help him interpret the English in his WBS lessons. We happen to have a Chichewa Bible for the family,
Pork and Gravy Over Rice
Esther and I prepare a lunch of pork and gravy over rice. After lunch, Lawrence and I work on our WBS lessons. It is hard to keep up at times. We are thankful to have several teachers in the states who help us grade the lessons. We now have over 400 students.
Cleaning Lawrence’s Shoes – an act of kindness
The kids came over to jump rope. It was a lot of fun watching them. They are really enjoying this. I went outside to deliver some WBS lessons and I noticed that our neighbor was cleaning Lawrence’s shoes. We have had so much rain this week and although the ground dries quickly there are still some slippy spots. I didn’t know that Lawrence had fallen earlier so his shoes were a bit muddy. This young man apparently witnessed this and had taken Lawrence’s shoes from the porch to clean them. This reduced me to tears. I went and told Lawrence what was happening and we were both choked up. He put the shoes back nice and clean after he spent some time brushing and cleaning them. This young man is one of our WBS students and a new brother in Christ.
Roasted Corn
Later the same young man brought us some corn he had roasted over charcoal and it was wonderful! I am so touched by his kindness today to me and my husband.
Some of the kids are jumping rope and some are playing cards. There is a lot of laughter ringing through the neighborhood as they all play. I love the sounds!
A car stops and drops off a bag of food. I usually know what is for dinner and start the preparations but today I am not sure. Dinner will contain chopped veggies I am sure so that is where I begin. Wanangwa gets home and quickly finishes our dinner.
Tonight we sing Send the Light in Tumbuka and English! What joy!
I am planning to visit the area school in the next few days. I want to make sure I have enough supplies for the students. Tonight Wanagwa brings us the numbers! Unbelievable how many students are in these classes. Form 3 has 200 students, Form 5 has 176, and Form 7 has 116. Crazy numbers. My supplies will not go very far. I will make a plan.
Day 48
Esther and I start peeling potatoes for breakfast. Today’s breakfast will consist of fried eggs and chips. We try to hurry while Lawrence gets his bath.
The weekly WBS meeting is supposed to be at 9 am. While the workers show up a car pulls up. Gabriel is the driver. He is a local worker for the agriculture department in this district. He also owns a car and makes extra money transporting people. Today he is taking us to Manyamula to do some shopping. I thought I could walk but my host family said no! I am glad I didn’t walk it is certainly further than I remembered.
Transport
Gabriel is a good driver. I found out he ordered his car in December and received it about a month later. Cars are usually shipped from Japan. He told me that he was able to pay for his car with the proceeds from his maize field! That’s a great profit. He told me where he would be and I went to the small shops. I purchased tissue, fabric for a school uniform, sweets, diet Coke, etc. I looked for a bucket and could not find one. Gabriel took us home and charged me 4000K. About $6 US.
Our First School Shirt
I gave the fabric to the tailor to make a school uniform shirt for a young man in our village area. He seems to need some encouragement. Esther wants to take him home! Soon the tailor was back with a nice shirt. I paid him 1500 K (2.25 US).
The Soccer Jerseys Have Arrived
Exciting news. Our printer cartridge has arrived and the soccer jerseys. They are beautiful. The team will be so excited. We are to present them on Sunday. I know that it is a strange thing for missionaries to buy soccer jerseys…There is a reason though. The task force (community group started by the church) I have mentioned them before is working with this soccer team. They will be doing halftime shows at the games teaching about HIV prevention using drama and music. Every team in the district will participate in a class about HIV prevention and have the opportunity to take WBS lessons! This is a HUGE thing! The logo on the front of their shirts is our WBS logo!
We have had a full day. We make scrambled egg sandwiches for dinner.
One exciting thing I forgot to mention is that our great WBS student Kondwani wants to become a preacher. He has already been helping others understand their lessons. We think he will do great.
Day 49 – Portable Toilet
For breakfast, we have chips and avocado with our milk and tea today. Today is market day so Wanangwa will be at the shop today and Mbwenu is dealing with the car.
Raphael is going to take me by motorcycle to the market to look for another bucket for the portable toilet we are trying to make. One of our elders has been having a huge burden. His dad has been ill and apparently has dementia. This brother has been in such distress at how his dad is deteriorating. He cannot walk and so this elder has been carrying him on his back outside to the toilet and back. We are not even sure how that is possible.
Anyway, we decided to try to make a portable toilet. We have a plastic chair and we have one of the men cut a circular hole in the middle of it by heating a large knife in the fire. It works great. We put a bucket beneath it. Later we decide maybe we can insert the bucket in the top. I hope this is a help. This brother certainly needs some assistance.
I also make a stop at the printer and of course, buy some more chitenge and diet Coke. Raphael drives me home. Esther has cooked lunch for us. Rice, soup, and eggs but there are none left. Esther fed some to the neighbor kids which I suspect are often hungry.
Young Moms
Two of the young moms sat on our porch for a while chatting today. I love hanging out with these moms who are nursing their babies and chatting as moms do everywhere. One of the young men, 10-year-old Owen is carrying the less than the 2-month-old baby on his back and she wakes up hungry. Her mom takes her and feeds her. I love that all the moms nurse their babies here!
One of the young moms earns her Bible today for completing her 5th WBS course!
The boys played soccer for a while with a homemade ball. While the older kids were playing soccer I sat with the moms with babies and their toddlers. I gave the toddlers some little plastic dinosaurs I had brought from home. They really like these.
Lawrence and I work on WBS and soon one of our workers comes by with a mistake I had made. One of the students received the wrong lesson! I hope there are no more mistakes! Ugg!