In Zambia

Thanks to Lauren for sharing some of the information that we were able to text her using one of the global phones acquired by a few members of our team (thanks Carol and Sherri!).  We thought we had the phones set up to post directly, but all attempts have failed.

Now that we have internet access (and I don't know how long it will be available) I wanted to download many of the great pictures we have taken since we began our journey Monday morning at the Montgomery Regional Airport, but... our internet access here is very slow and pictures just are not downloading.  So, I will try to give you all an idea of the wonderful things we have been a part of so far.

Our flights went without delay, except for a brief thunderstorm at Dulles while we were on the tarmac awaiting our turn at departure.  We did think we might lose Carla at one point, but God worked that all out, too.  I will wait and let her fill you all in on that part of the adventure.

When we arrived in Zambia last night (20 minutes ahead of schedule!), we were met by Alfred and Muumbe Kalembo along with Muumbe's sister, Mweembe and several members of their church.  All but 2 of our twenty bags made it (and the other two were picked up today).  A beautiful ladies trio from Alfred's church welcomed us in song.  We arrived back at the Kalembo farm around 10:30 pm.

This morning, Barbara stayed at the house to work with the ladies in the kitchen to learn how to make the Zambian staple food Nshima.  Bob and Rudy began their maintenance assignment with the installation of transom windows and frosted panes in the restrooms.  They also installed television cables to one of the rooms.  Craig and Alfred met with leaders in Kanyama while Dan, Lisha, Will, Carol, Carla, and Sherri began the first day of the Children's Bible Conference at the Kanyama Pilgrim Wesleyan Church.  The group at Kanyama returned to the farm for a delicious meal of Nshima with soup, sauteed rape, sandwiches and crudites.  Barb learned the fine art of Nshima cooking and is determined to recreate it when we get back home.

After lunch, we all headed to the US Embassy in Lusaka where we gave the consulate notification that we were in the country and shared with the Assistant Consular about our activities.  He thanked us for our efforts in Zambia.  This evening, we worshiped with the congregation at the John Howard Pilgrim Wesleyan Church and they heard the Word from our own pastor, as they call him, the Reverend Dr. Craig Carter.  We really enjoyed the worship team and their passionate singing and dancing.  And, yes, I did say dancing! :)

We are now back at the farm preparing for another wonderful day of ministering to the sweet people here in Lusaka.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  I do not know how long we will have internet access, so I will give you a brief rundown of our upcoming schedule:

Thursday:  Craig will have another Pastor's Conference, and we will hold our second day of the Children's Bible Conference.  We will hold one in the morning for children that attend school in the afternoon and in the afternoon for children who attend school in the morning.

Friday:  Last day of Pastor's Conference for Craig and another two-a-day Children's Conference.  Craig and Alfred will leave that afternoon to the Bible College in Jembo (they will meet up with us Saturday evening).  Barb will lead a Women's Conference with the help of Carol and Carla.

Saturday:  Last day of Children's Bible Conference -- just a short morning session with all the children together since they have no school that day.  We will end with a celebration "block party" sponsored by our Mission Team.  We will provide a chicken and Nshima luncheon with a surprise dessert.  The remaining team members will leave and meet Craig and Alfred in Monze.

Sunday:  We depart for Nkandela village where we will teach Sunday School lessons and Craig will preach during the morning worship service.  After lunch, we will dedicate the well that the Mulder Church gave to Nkandela village via our Advent Conspiracy offerings last Christmas.  We will then depart for Choma where we will spend the night enroute to Livingstone.

Monday:  We will travel to Livingston and view the Victoria Falls and visit a Game Reserve park.

Tuesday:  We will return to Lusaka, stopping over at the Choma Museum enroute.

Wednesday:  We will depart Lusaka heading home around 1:30 pm Lusaka time.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we serve God's people in Zambia.