Since it is Sunday we arose a little earlier today than yesterday to get ready to go to church here in Lusaka. We went to a Wesleyan church called Kabwata Pilgrim Wesleyan Church which was started in 1962 by the Wesleyan denomination and from this church there have been many church plants that have happened in other provinces of Zambia. We left our compound at around 9:00am to head to the church and upon our arrival we figured out that we were the first people there besides the worship team and the leadership (pastors, Sunday school teachers, etc.). After about 15 minutes of getting seated and just chatting with our team, the Sunday school teacher came to the front and began to conduct class. About five minutes into this whole experience, two of our leaders, Bud & Judy (the elderly couple that are with us throughout our time here) came to us and asked that half of us go to the youth Sunday school class and about 3-4 go to be with the children. I jumped at this chance. One of my favorite things to do when I have spent time in other countries in the past has been to go to their church services and experience the way that they worship the Lord. It is so amazing to me to think of how cool it is that God made us so that we can all praise and glorify His name. He is so big that He can understand and receive the prayers, praises, and glory give to His name in English, Tonga, Spanish, and any other language around the world. That is one of the biggest things that I have taken away from today—catching a glimpse at the magnitude of the God that we serve.
Sunday school was such a wonderful experience. I was given the opportunity to sit in on the youth service which I would consider more of a young adult class as there were many people who were age 20 and older. These Zambian people take the Word of God so much more serious than we do in America I felt like today. We spent time studying Romans 2:12-29 which talks about how we are no longer under the old Law but we have been given a new covenant with God. During the class, the teacher posed questions to the class in a way of expressing his own lack of understanding on the topic which allowed for a much better chance of discussion occurring in the group. I really enjoyed that whole time to spent getting to experience interactions with the Zambians on a much more personal level. After Sunday school we attended the church service which lasted probably close to 2 hours. It was a great time of worship and I just loved experience how they praise the Lord Almighty with every fiber of their beings. One thing that was definitely different than that of the U.S. was the way that the pastor preached. Let me just say, if I had had ear plugs and stuck them in, I would still feel like I was standing next to a jet engine taking off…that to say, I was a little thankful when the service was over so I could regain my thought processes. But, nonetheless, the people of this church were amazing. They were so welcoming and happy and just wonderful to spend the morning with. After church the pastor invited our team into his office to share a coke with him. It was so great to be able to converse more with him and learn more about the church and his family.
After lunch, we went to the arcade (the mall) to grab some yummy, yummy lunch and go to the market that was set up in the parking lot. We went to a restaurant called “Mike’s Restaurant” and I had something called Sweet and Sour Pork…all I really wanted was to have tons of vegetables and my plate not to look like one blob of carbohydrates…and let me tell you, they hit the nail on the head. It was seriously the best dish I’ve had in a few weeks both this side of the Atlantic and in the U.S. If I could take one thing back to the U.S. when I go home in a few months it would be this recipe. It was wonderful to chat with some of the girls on the team while we ate lunch and talk about things we’ve been doing and experiencing as well as just fellowshipping together. The market that we went to was awesome! I loved it. It is always a little overwhelming to walk around a place where people are constantly attacking you to buy their items…think of when you go to a department store and that really annoying sales lady comes up to try to get you to buy stuff and will NOT leave you alone...but I was able to get some really neat items already! I bought a tote bag made of pieces of many chitenges (shi-tang-gay) which is the fabric that most women here in Zambia use as skirts. Overall, I loved the market experience and spending time outdoors.
I really don’t want to bore anyone who is reading this so I will spare most of the details from the rest of the day but after slipping into a nice coma when we came back to the guest house, we had a guest lecture from a Zambian doctor who specializes in cardiac care about Zambian health practices. This was SO interesting and although we sat through a 3 hour lecture, I seriously feel like I could have sat there for hours picking his brain on everything involved in the Zambian health care system.
I am already falling in love with this place and these people. Today, even though it is the second day here, I am finding myself already really really missing my family and friends. I cannot imagine what it was like when you could only write letters to people as a form of communication…to wait for a response is like torture. We are not given much internet time so all our emails and blog updates are written in Word documents then copied into our email or other sites. Then the emails that we receive we copy onto our computer and read them after we get off of the internet. I think this will be one of the most challenging parts of this trip and an area that I would really love prayer for.
No comments:
Post a Comment