Names

I mentioned in an earlier post how impressed I have been with my Dad's ability to remember names. Whether names of people, churches or towns, he is really amazing, especially when you consider some of the names here. My Dad showed me a list of 143 Brethren in Christ Churches, and about forty of them begin with the letter "M" and another 40 with the letter "S". The letters "C" and "K" account for about 20 each, so that leaves the remaining 20 for some others! And once you see some of them, you will be impressed to know that my Dad can pronounce most of them very well! I am slowly getting a few of them in my head, but then you add the names of the pastors to these churches....oh my, this gets very interesting!

Here is a sampling of some BIC churches here in Zambia:
Batoka, Bbombo, Bulebo, Busulubi, Chichinga, Chikanta, Chilala, Chilanga, Chinji, Chisikili, Hamoonde, Hamubbwatu, Hamushinka, Hamuvwanga, Macha, Mbabala, Mboole, Mbowe, Mochipapa, Mpinda, Mufurila, Munyeke, Munzuma, Muyanda, Mwapona, Mweebo, NAHUMBA, Nakeempa, Naluube, Ndola, Nenfwe, Shabulile, Shampande, Siamuleya, Siavonga, Sikalonga, Silukwiya, Simaubi

Here is a sampling of some last names of pastors:
Malawo, Muleya, Moono, Mweene, Mayoba, Mafelomale, Munkombwe, Munzyamba, Munsanje, Mwaalu, Malilwe, Mudenda, Mushanga, Muunga, Muzwanaiheni, Moyo, Munza, Munsaka, Muzelenga, Mwaanga, Munkombwe, Sizimbya, Soko, Sibalwa, Siamaubi, Samboko, Syatambika, Sikwangala, Sikalima, Siapola, Simunene, Kalulu, Hanguma, Haankwa, Hachinda, Haziyu, Chabakola, Cheelo, Chikashi, Choongo, Chidakwa

See what I mean? Now you can be impressed with my Dad, too! I often ask the people to spell their names; then I can pronounce them better!

We have also been intrigued by first names. Many names have significant meanings. For instance, Sibajene means "the Father was absent at birth." When families have a number of sons and then a daughter, or a number of daughters and then a son, that child is often named "Mutinta", which means "different than the others." If they have many of the same sex, they might name that child "Ncimunya", meaning "the same as." I met a husband and wife the other day who had 6-7 children. In English, their names would mean gift, love, joy, peace, faith, and hope. In Tonga, the names, respectively would be Chipego, Luyondo, Lukondo, Luumuno, Lushomo, and Lusyomo. Other first names we have heard are: Nevers, Memory, Luckness, Beauty, Longone, Honest, Innocent, Bright, Auditor, Given, Precious, Mercy, Fair, Fines,
Shaven, Prudence and Promise.

The other night my parents told us a funny story that took place during one of their other visits to Nahumba....one day there was a knock on the door. My mother answered and asked the man his name. My Mother thought he said that he wants to say hi to Dicky. Well, my mother thought this was odd, because no one called my dad "Dickie", and especially not the Zambians! Well, my mother went and told my Dad what he said and when my Dad came to greet the man, he knew right away what happened...his name was Hadinke!

They had a good laugh with that one! I have blotched up my share of names, so I can certainly understand the misunderstandings.

So, if you have lots of spare time on your hands, you can memorize the list of names above. Then again, if you are that bored, you need to come to Africa!

Missing Living Hope Church

I hope everyone loves their home church as much as Matthew and I do! Today I am missing my dear friends and family at Living Hope Church. As I type this post for Sarah, it's now 4:00 (or should I say 16 hours!) here on Sunday afternoon, and my thoughts went to some very dear people who are now beginning to worship the Lord in the auditorium of Susquehanna Middle School in Harrsiburg, PA. I am with you in spirit, dear saints in the Lord! And you are my prayers as you gather together to worship the Lord and hear his Word preached (by my favorite pastor!) I just read an email from Ken's parents, telling me they will be at our church this morning too...oh, just another reason I'd love to be there!

I also just saw the list of who was baptized last night... Carlos, Chelena, Scott, Charity, Elizabeth, Joel, Lydia, Joe and Andrea, Paige, Amanda, Seth and David - Oh, how I wish I could have been there to participate in that significant moment of your Christian life. I hope to hear all about it....hint, hint!! Then a little while ago, I logged on to the church website and I noticed the church picnic is coming up....I know that will be a great time of fun and fellowship for you all, and I will miss not being there.

But don't worry, I am not TOO sad; God has been so faithful to give me joy in the midst of missing my dear family and friends and He continually reminds me of His plan for me this summer, which included this separation from all of you. However, I think I will want every day to be Sunday when I return! Thanks to all of you at Living Hope for your love and prayers. I miss you greatly, and I so appreciate the fellowship we have together. Thanks for how you all feed my soul. Your love for God, your desire to put sin to death in your lives, your pursuit of godliness and humility, and your devotion to family and church, your joy of serving....all these and more makes me love you so much, and it's why you're the best church I know!

A Kitchen Party ... Tradition!

This will be a tough post to keep short! There might be some details I will need to correct in the days ahead, as I talk to Emma and get some questions answered, but I will do my best to give an accurate account! Today Mother and I went to a Kitchen Party (ie. Bridal Shower). The couple is getting married in 2 weeks and Emma, Mother and I are making their wedding cakes...should be fun! We are actually going to a wedding this coming Saturday as well, but that Kitchen Party was too far away, so we couldn't attend. Today's party was for Koyi, who is marrying Edwin, the nephew of Enoch and Lastina Shamapani, very good friends of my parents, who have raised Edwin. Just for a little background, I found out this past week that Koyi was in hiding this week....evidently she was not allowed to be seen anywhere; she needs to stay home the week before the party.

Anyway, the invitation said it would start at 1:30, but Emma, (who knows best), said we could get there between 2 and 2:30 and we wouldn't miss a thing! She was right....It didn't start until 3:00. When we arrived, our gifts were received by some women, but they told us our name had to be written on the outside of the card (I'll let you know why later on!) About 130 women were there. After we sat down, many women started singing, drums started drumming, and a line of women started towards the front, dancing with a step. The most unusual thing about this was that the second lady in line had a chitangi around her, and it was obvious that there was another person walking right behind her, under the chitangi, crouched down a bit,
who could not be seen. This was the bride to be! We thought maybe it was her mother, but it wasn't; it was one of the 2 matrons, who helps plan the wedding. When they got up front, This Matron slowly sat down and carefully removed the chitangi from her back, but made sure Koyi was still covered as she sat on the floor. There was another Matron beside Koyi helping her with every move...even straigtening out her legs as she sat. Koyi was not allowed to do anything herself.

After some songs and dancing, another group of women come in, but this time, Edwin is with them, along with 2 of his men. He normally is a very happy guy, but today, he looked very serious and somber, which I believe is part of the tradition. Edwin proceeded to kneel in front of Koyi and unveiled her. Then he gave her roses, put a necklace around her, and gave her a hug, all while the drums continue to beat. His shirt matched her skirt. Even though Edwin unveiled Koyi, she still looked somber and serious and was not allowed to smile or look up. This shows respect to her family, signifying sadness in leaving her family. Koyi and the matron "walk" slowly on their knees to chairs where Edwin and the 2 men are sitting. She then presents to
him a fruit basket, but still looking down and moving very slowly. In between these "presentations", there are cheers and "whooping yells" that only African women can do well. Edwin leaves, and then Koyi and the Matron slowly walk over to the groom's side, kneels down and presents something to his mother. She then presents something to her Mother, but again, this is all done with her head down, not saying a word.

Then the gifts begin... The Matron dances around with a bag for the guests to put kwacha in..no pressure, but if you dont give right away, the Matron will dance some more, right in front of you! She will eventually move on. Then one by one, gifts are received, and the name of the person giving the gift is called out (remember, we had to write our name on the outside of the card). When your name is called, you are to go up to Koyi, who is sitting on the floor, not looking up and still will not talk. You open the gift, tell her how to use it, and then you either give some more kwacha or you dance! We opted to dance, even though it sure wasn't anything like Emma's dances! When I showed her the gift, she did put her hands together for a little gesture of thanks, but she still did not smile! OK - I am just trying to picture my daughter and daughters-in-law not smiling or talking at their bridal showers....I don't think any of us American ladies have that much self control, especially when it is such a wonderful, happy time! That would be so hard! I am eager to talk to Koyi and ask her what she was thinking about this whole time and if it was hard for her.

They served a paper plate of food to everyone, mostly meat, and also handed out a glass bottle of soft drink. I am eager to get some answers to my many questions in the next few days, and will let you know what I learn! Obvioulsy, there is great respect and honor for families and tradition is very important. The next 2 Saturdays will be very interesting as we attend 2 weddings, one of the most traditional events in Africa. Wish I could get some pictures up on the blog for you, but I guess those will come in the post-trip blog!

Enough for now....

Leza Amulongezye, Beth

A "Somewhat" Typical Day

Now that our lives are somewhat back to "normal" (although my life does not seem normal at all, especially without my husband by my side!), I thought I would let you know what a typical day is like, even though no 2 days are the same here, and there are always people who come by or people we meet that we do not expect.

Early mornings are quiet, usually spent reading and preparing for the day, and most days there is enough water for 2 of us to take a warm bath. Matthew is still slow in getting up in the morning, but he does join us for breakfast, even though he often does not look very alert! A favorite breakfast for all of us is baked oatmeal, so I make that the majority of mornings. The cereal here is expensive, so the only 2 we buy is bran flakes and corn flakes. They actually have Kelloggs in both of those (and maybe 2 more to pick from), but it's a bit more than the "Spar"
brand, so we stick to the off brand name. With the baked oatmeal, we usually have narchies (like our tangerines) or bananas. The juice here is called "Mazoe", which is a concentrate for orange crush. It's a litle different than pure orange juice, but we all like it. After breakfast, I normally spend time with Matthew, and we are now going through the book "Relationships: A Mess Worth Making" by Paul Tripp and Tim Lane. I read it out loud and we discuss it. I am finding it very helpful for us here, where we are all learning to live in a foreign country, in one house together for the glory of God!. By His grace, our hearts desire is to love God and
others more than ourselves :)

Emma works every morning, except Wednesday, so my Mother gives her various jobs to do like baking, laundry, cleaning, and helping out with other odd jobs. She bakes yummy bread! Emma also is primarily in charge with the guest house, which is 2 apartments connected, together having room for 12 people in beds. However, last night, the Overseers and Board Members of BIC churches were at the Guest House due to meetings they have for a few days, and Emma said there were about 20 men in the Guest House! I guess they don't mind sleeping on the floor!

Brent and Mindy with Emma


Often we take a walk to town in the morning, before it gets too hot. The days are definitely warming up! It takes about 25 minutes to get to town, at a brisk pace. Once in town, we usually check the post office for mail, my Dad often stops at the bank, and we usually have something to pick up in town, whether at SPAR, the green market or from road-side sellers. My Dad is the best shopper over here; he remembers where the best places are to buy things. For instance, the green market is the place to buy fresh veggies; so much lower than the street vendors. On our walk to town, we pass a little market that we like to support, where we can get our bananas, narchies and tomatoes. The street sellers have nice apples, but we have to
talk them down....now we know what good prices are, so they can't take advantage of us anymore! We just tell them what we will pay for them, and if they don't want to come down, we politely say, "No thanks" and walk away! We can still get "mobbed" by some of them, but I am learning to be firm, yet gracious if we are not going to buy. They are very persistent, some even follow us to our vehicle, continuing to plead and bargain, and some even stand very close to our van as we are getting in. Even when we close the door, some continue to plead. It's hard not to feel like we are rude, but I just tell them to have a good day, and say, "No thank you."



For lunch we usually have soup or PBJ or PBB (that's PB with Bananas!). Cheese is pretty expensive, so a treat is grilled cheese every now and then. We also have left overs. My Dad usually works in the office in the afternoons and visits with his many visitors. Other than "puttering around", my mother and I sometimes bake, visit with some people, answer knocks at the door or do some odd jobs. I try to take a walk later in the day if I didn't walk to town earlier that day. Matthew often follows Given around, either helping him with his work, helping him at the new house that he is building, where they work in the garden or yard, or they run errands
together. Matthew also has been reading alot. He brought a number of books along to read, and he is on his last one. The other day he found the entire set of C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia here at the house, which he already read quite a few times at home. He started them again! Matthew also plays soccer with the boys here, but I will let him tell you about his life one of these days.

Brent and Mindy with Given


Our suppers usually include rice, tomatoes and onions, some green veggies and sometimes meat. Beef is cheaper than chicken here, so we are eating beef more than we normally do. Although Nshima is the staple here, for some reason, my mother doesn't make it. While our family was here, Emma made some for us. For the past month, we have enjoyed lettuce from Given's garden, which he planted for us once he knew we were coming. That's a treat, because it's hard to get in the stores. Unfortunately, the garden here at Nahumba has not been looked after, so we have not been able to get anything from it. Given used to plant a garden, but he has other
assignments now, and for numerous reasons, the garden has not been tended to. My parents miss it, but Matthew is trying to tend to it and plant some things, so hopefully it will be revived, even if it's after we leave!

Making nshima


If we don't have plans in the evening, we have quiet evenings, inside. Some watch videos and some read and someone writes posts for her blogs!

There you go - a typical day in Beth and Matthew's life! Oh, and for you who care and no one cares more than I do!)....only 25 more days till the wonderful reunion of this wife with her husband...yippe!!

My Wonderful Mother and the Fire

My Mother sure loves Zambia. I enjoy hearing her tell the Zambians how much she loves it here. She describes it as her second home; her home away from home. I also enjoy hearing her tell stories from her former visits to Zambia. They are some of her favorites and so many of them tell of God's faithfulness and love. I think one reason she loves it here is because the people are so relational, and they take time for you. My Mother takes time for people. She loves to serve, she loves to bake, she loves to set a beautiful table, she loves to chat and she is very kind. She has a big heart. Her friendship with Emma is very special and I enjoy seeing them laugh and have fun together. Often I have seen my mother give things away, whether it's food, clothing or other items she brought to give away. She works hard in the kitchen and loves a clean house. Given has given (ha!) her the name "Mrs. Clean" ...and she is quite deserving of it! Since we have been here, she has been trying to extinquish the family of ants that seem to have invited themselves into our kitchen. She is succeeding quite well, and now we are only seeing a few stragglers here and there! The other day during our breakfast my Mother read a devotional excerpt to us that encouraged us to think Big thoughts about God. I am so grateful to have a Mother who trusts in God. Not only is she my Mother; she is also my very dear friend. I thank the Lord for such a wonderful Mother.

Well, I misinformed you a bit about the tall grass burning; tonight Emma set us all straight. The conversation began when Emma came to the door and told us to look outside. Directly opposite our house, the entire field was aflame! The tall grass was burning, all the way along the dirt path that led to the church, and stretching along the lane directly in front of our house. To us Americans, it resembled a forest fire, and we were a bit concerned. Emma then began to tell us that children set the field on fire, and typically that is what happens when we see the tall grass burning. In October or November, before the rains come, some farmers might burn off the stalks of crops, but when fires like this are set, children are playing around, and will seldom get caught. They do it because they like to see the fire, and it starts fairly slowly, so by the time it really is blazing, the children are nowhere around. When my Mother asked if the police would come and look for the kids, my Dad reminded her that most of the police here don't even have cars! "TIA". It will be interesting to see the fields in the morning; this field covered a large area. Emma said that if it would have been done in the daytime, the farmers would have tried to put it out. It will be sad for the cattle; they will have to find another field to graze in, further down by the stream, where the grass is green and would not have
burned. It might be the talk of Nahumba in the morning, but then again, it might not be big news for anyone except these 4 white folks who don't have many answers to things like this....only more questions!

My Wonderful Dad and Tea With Milk

At our home, it is common for someone to say "There's a knock on the door." Whether it is a pastor, teacher, old friend, neighbor, or someone new, most of the knocks are for my Dad. So many people here know him, and I am so impressed with how well he remembers people's names. One of these days, I will post a sampling of the names here and then you too will be impressed that he keeps them all straight! I will have to get the list from him, because I sure do not know how to spell them, let alone pronounce them all correctly or keep them with the right person! The hard part is that they are so similar. I will also give you some examples of first names, but I need to do a little homework first. Names are important here. They mean something and often children are named after someone. Since my parents have
been here numerous times, they each have had a baby named after them. Also, our son Jared's name was chosen for Given's son 8 years ago. Anyway, back to my Dad...he is a hard worker, and we have enjoyed doing some jobs together. I have also really enjoyed our walks to town together. We don't miss too many days! Even when we need to drive to town to buy groceries, we often just walk in to town another time in the day, to get some exercise. It takes about 25-30 minutes, and yesterday, I actually started sweating a bit...the days are warming up, but are still so lovely! I thank the Lord for my wonderful Father; I respect him and love him so much. At age 80, he
still is looking for ways to learn and grow, and doesn't come across like an expert, even though I think he is one in quite a few areas! What a privilege it is to live with my parents again...after 30 years of separation! However, I don't love it enough to keep on living this way....oh, how I miss my bestest friend and sweetheart of over 30 years....only FOUR weeks to go til our wonderful reunion!!!

Tonight I went to a Bible Study in the pastor's home. We sang some choruses together, prayed and discussed Psalm 32, a wonderful passage about the importance of confessing our sins, and joy of being forgiven by God. Once again, I marvel at how unlike God I am. Hallelujah....he does not remember my sin! For refreshments, we had buttered bread and tea. They make their tea with warm milk already added to it, and it was the first time I had milk in my tea. I loved it! Could be a trend I take back home!

Chocolate Chips? ... and Sports

The other morning, my Mother saw some little black things out on the front porch (well, it's the back of the house, so I guess it should be called the back porch, but it's the only door we use). Anyway, Mother asked Emma to come out and look at "these little things that look like chocolate chips". Well, Emma, decided to have some fun, so she went along with Mother's idea and said they do look like chocolate chips. Of course my mother was perplexed how chocolate chips could have gotten out on the porch! (By the way, we do have some of them in the pantry, but my guess is it's only because someone brought them along from the states; I haven't seen any in the stores here yet!) It wasn't long before Emma couldn't keep from laughing, which gave Mother the clue that she was kidding around with her. It was then that Emma informed Mother that a goat must have been visiting the porch during the night and left some trails! It's good Mother can take a joke, because we all had a good laugh out of that one! Funny thing was...Mother said she was planning on baking some chocolate chip cookies that afternoon, but she totally lost her appetite for them! Mother went to bed early that night, so I decided to bake a batch of them for her. When Emma heard I baked them, she asked if Mother had any...Mother confessed that she did have some and they went down just fine, as long as she didn't think about that goat!

This morning we heard singing and lots of noise outside. We looked out and saw more people on the lane in front of our house than my parents have ever seen in their many years here at Nahumba! Cars, buses, and loaded pick-up trucks were packed with singing students, and they kept coming and coming! Never in my life have I seen so many bodies packed into one pick up truck, everyone holding on to someone else, some standing, some sitting and some barely even in the vehicle! They sang songs jubilantly and they waved as they drove down towards the Primary School. In a matter of minutes, we began to see a parade of these students, coming back the other direction, now coming from the Primary School. A group of young cadets marched out in front, with students in colorful sports uniforms carrying their school banners following behind, from Secondary Schools all over the Southern Province of Zambia. Hundreds of students, singing and waving to us as we stood in our front yard, taking pictures! As it turns out, they were marching up to Choma Secondary School for Sporting competitions - the best in their schools to compete with each other in various sports. We walked up to the school to watch and enjoyed watching some relays on the track, everyone running barefoot on the dirt track, starting lines drawn in the sand! The end of the race was great....the students watching would all run to the finish line and gathered ON the track just a few yards away from the finish line, cheering their team on! So much for giving the runners room! Doug, Dar, Mindy and Brent - so sorry this wasn't going on when you were here; you would have loved it! They will continue through Friday, so we plan to go up each day to watch more events.



This evening, we had Dr. Dwight and Carol Thomas (and their crew from Sikalonga) for dinner. They are staying at the Guest House here tonight and are on their way home to the states.
The Guest House ...

It was another beautiful day in Zambia - sun shining and God's mercies abundant. I miss my dear husband, family and friends, but God's grace is evident in so many ways.

I'm still working on Matt posting something...say a prayer for him!

Leza Amulongezye!