Today has been interesting to say the least! :) One thing that we have learned as a group in Africa is to expect the unexpected. Last week we finished all of our meetings and orientations with World Hope International Zambia and now we are finally on our own. We began classes last Tuesday and this week we have picked up a the final 2 classes: History of Zambia and Professional Transitions. Today was to be our first day in the villages! We had planned on distributing food (mainly mealy-meal, or a base to make nshima--the staple food of Zambia) to over 20 Zambian villages. However, Zambians do not go by schedules, but rather by which event is the most important. Therefore, since an emergency WHIZ meeting was planned, we had to push our distribution days back to Thursday and Friday. The remainder of the day was spent in class, so that we could prepare for Thursday and Friday of this week.
:) We did have an interesting event that happened earlier this afternoon. I was studying in one of the common rooms and Janna yelled my name, so I ran back to see why she was frantic. When we met up she said she saw something scurry behind the door and that it was big and had a long tail...so I opened the door to see what it was....and we happened to find an African muskrat. (gross!) Well....Alyssa lives on a farm and is used to dealing with these situations....so I got her a sheet and she wrapped the muskrat in a sheet and took it outside to release it. (None of us were planning on getting anywhere near that thing!) About 6 of us went outside to release the muskrat with Alyssa. As soon as the muskrat was released we all noticed something big and black moving around to the right side of us. We all turned around.....Estie screamed :).....and we saw a gigantic turkey. Estie didn't know what it was at first so she yelled, "What is going on right now?" .....And...I am not exaggerating when I say that this was one of the biggest and weirdest looking turkeys I have ever seen! Then the main cook in the guest house walked by and told us that that was Friday's dinner and he would show us how he prepares the chicken if we wanted to watch. (No thank you! :) ) Oh goodness! If we only had a video camera at the time! :)
Speaking of videos....I have some of the most beautiful videos of some of the pre-teen girls singing some worship songs for us! The missionaries who live with us, David a
nd Beth, invited the pre-teen girls over for a bonfire where we roasted marshmallows and sang praise songs! It was too much fun! I tried to upload the pictures, however, the internet is moving way too slow to do so. When it begins to move faster I will try to send them again. The girls had never had a marshmallow before. So David roasted the marshmallows over the bonfire and the girls tried them one by one. We played a game where they could only chew the marshmallow one time and they had to say "chubby bunny." (Which you can't say with your mouth full.) They just laughed and laughed and laughed. Then we played with glow sticks, which they had also never seen before.
I switched churches and I really enjoyed the service this last Sunday. Our Pastor is one of the best preachers I have ever heard! He is extremely passionate about what he preaches! And everyone danced during praise and worship! It was a lot of fun! During the Bible study at the beginning of the service I got to answer one of the questions and one of the me
mbers of the church referred to me as his 'sister'. It is the best feeling when two different cultures can share in worshipping the same wonderful God.
Before I go.....thank you again for your thoughts and your prayers! You have no idea how much they are helping us here! :)
~Alivia
:) We did have an interesting event that happened earlier this afternoon. I was studying in one of the common rooms and Janna yelled my name, so I ran back to see why she was frantic. When we met up she said she saw something scurry behind the door and that it was big and had a long tail...so I opened the door to see what it was....and we happened to find an African muskrat. (gross!) Well....Alyssa lives on a farm and is used to dealing with these situations....so I got her a sheet and she wrapped the muskrat in a sheet and took it outside to release it. (None of us were planning on getting anywhere near that thing!) About 6 of us went outside to release the muskrat with Alyssa. As soon as the muskrat was released we all noticed something big and black moving around to the right side of us. We all turned around.....Estie screamed :).....and we saw a gigantic turkey. Estie didn't know what it was at first so she yelled, "What is going on right now?" .....And...I am not exaggerating when I say that this was one of the biggest and weirdest looking turkeys I have ever seen! Then the main cook in the guest house walked by and told us that that was Friday's dinner and he would show us how he prepares the chicken if we wanted to watch. (No thank you! :) ) Oh goodness! If we only had a video camera at the time! :)
Speaking of videos....I have some of the most beautiful videos of some of the pre-teen girls singing some worship songs for us! The missionaries who live with us, David a
nd Beth, invited the pre-teen girls over for a bonfire where we roasted marshmallows and sang praise songs! It was too much fun! I tried to upload the pictures, however, the internet is moving way too slow to do so. When it begins to move faster I will try to send them again. The girls had never had a marshmallow before. So David roasted the marshmallows over the bonfire and the girls tried them one by one. We played a game where they could only chew the marshmallow one time and they had to say "chubby bunny." (Which you can't say with your mouth full.) They just laughed and laughed and laughed. Then we played with glow sticks, which they had also never seen before.I switched churches and I really enjoyed the service this last Sunday. Our Pastor is one of the best preachers I have ever heard! He is extremely passionate about what he preaches! And everyone danced during praise and worship! It was a lot of fun! During the Bible study at the beginning of the service I got to answer one of the questions and one of the me
mbers of the church referred to me as his 'sister'. It is the best feeling when two different cultures can share in worshipping the same wonderful God.Before I go.....thank you again for your thoughts and your prayers! You have no idea how much they are helping us here! :)
~Alivia
Alivia-
ReplyDeleteI love reading your blog. Thanks so much for the updates. I can see the God is stretching you and using you in every situation there. I am praying that He continues to reveal to you His plan and purpose for your life. And by the way, I understand everything you write about...worshipping with different cultures to our one Lord is amazing...it's a glimpses of heaven. I miss Africa when I read your blogs, and of course, I miss you and Marianna. Love you girls!