Grace, Homes and a Hair Blower

Sunday morning we all went to a different church service. It was a Pilgrim Wesleyan service held at Choma Secondary School, and we went to hear Abraham preach. Abraham is in 12th grade at the secondary school and is an orphan who my parents have helped out over the years. Abraham, and his 4 other younger "siblings", all unrelated orphans, have been raised by Grace. What a privilege to hear Abraham speak with boldness, clarity, passion, and a love for God's Word, as he preached to his fellow students, challenging them to be difference makers in their lives. His title was "Changed to Bring Change" and he used the apostle Paul's life as an example. I was grateful to be able to understand Abraham, since sometimes even the Zambians English is difficult to understand if they talk fast. Abraham's Mother, Grace, also attended the service, walking almost an hour to get there. It was a sweet moment when Abraham expressed his love and appreciation to Grace before he preached. When we entered the auditorium for the service, we heard many voices, but there were not many students sitting down. I realized the voices I heard were prayers being raised to God from behind the curtain; how wonderful to hear these students praying to the Lord in their Tonga language and in English. A few minutes before the service began, a young girl came to where we were sitting, welcomed us and then asked me if we could share something; either a spoken word or a song. I agreed, then suggested to Mother and Dad that we sing "To God Be the Glory" and "Amazing Grace". Dad suggested we also ask them to join us in "God is so Good." So after numerous solos and group songs by the students, we were called upon to share our songs of praise to the Lord.

After the service, we invited Grace and all 5 of her children to dinner, and we enjoyed a wonderful time together. The children sang a number of songs for us, which was a real treat. Their beautiful voices harmonized beautifully together. Mother and Dad gave some clothing, pens and book to each of them and I gave little Ruth (about 8) a little stuffed bear. We gave Grace and her younger 2 children a ride home (the other 3 all attend Choma Secondary) and got to see where she lives. When Matthew saw the boy's bedroom, he once again realized that he is blessed and has much to be thankful for. No dressers...just a few nails to hang up the few clothes they have. No shelves...no desk...just a bed. It really makes you think about what is important when you see people happy with so little.

Grace runs a "Tax Shop" out of her home, selling some basic groceries for the neighborhood. One of the interesting things in her shop were little baggies of about one eighth cup of sugar, that sell for 100 Kwcha (less than 2 cents!) She told us that they sell a lot quicker than the 1 kg bags of sugar; so many can only afford the tiny amounts.

As we observe the homes here, it is so interesting to see many concrete or brick homes that are started, but not completed. Given told us that once you buy land, you need to start building, or else it might be taken from you. So many people start, but run out of money! Given has been working on building his own house for 10 years now, and needs money to put the roof on - then he will be able to live there with his family. Many homes are made of concrete because it is cheap. Given actually made all his own concrete bricks for his home. Many of the homes we have seen do not have kitchens, but simply make their food outside over a charcoal pit. The majority of the ones we have been in, have 2-3 very small rooms, with concrete walls and floors, somewhat similar to our garages back home.

This afternoon, Emma had a little tin can with a wire handle on it, and she asked me if I knew what it was. Naturally, I had no clue! Upon closer examination, I saw it had pieces of hot charcoal inside, and tiny holes were poked in the bottom of the can, to let the heat come out. She carried it with a homemade wire handle. I still had no clue what it was! With a smile, she said, "It's a hair blower that I made, to straighten our hair!" She then demonstrated by running it over the hair of a young girl who lives with her. It's designed to take the kinks out of hair and to my surprise, it didn't hurt the girl's head. It's amazing what one can do without electricity! I love the creativity of these Zambians.

By the way, in case you were wondering about the line in the last post about tall grass being burned to the ground, I thought I better explain - During the dry season, as the grass gets high in the fields, many sections will be burned to the ground, to give a head start for new green grass to grow even before the rains come, which will begin in late October. Within days of the buring, new growth can be seen sprouting out. Environmentalists and agriculturists disagree with this process, but it's been going on for so long, it's doubtful that it will change.

Today was wash day...another blue sky, sunny day in beautiful Zambia. Did I mention that we have been here now 6 weeks and every single day we have been blessed with a blue sky? Simply lovely... The days are getting warmer, although I am still wearing my flannel pajamas at night (but no longer with an additional shirt, sweatshirt and warm socks!) The coldest days are behind us, and I must say that July, their coldest month, really wasn't too bad so far!

Tomorrow I will tell you a funny story about chocolate chips....that of course involves my dear Mother, who I love so very much! Oh, by the way, her knee is all healed up and she is back to walking to town every now and then!