Grand Central Station

This weekend our house felt like Grand Central Station!! It was unusual for us--in the States, we didn't have many people over, mainly because our house was small and I just feel like I'm not a very good hostess. In Zambia, however, you have no choice!!

I invited my friend Hildah and her 4 year old daughter Laurie to spend the weekend with us. They came via bus from a town about 2 hours away, and they were both dressed up and so excited when they got here. Laurie kept telling me, "I'm in my nice clothes!"

It was definitely an interesting weekend...my thoughts are just swirling in my head, so I'll just slow down and describe it all.

I guess I've been struggling with how to minister to people. The Bible says "Freely you have received, freely give." We have so much more, in terms of material things, compared to our Zambian friends. It is hard to come to terms with the fact that I was born in America, and they were born in Zambia, because God wanted it that way. So I've been trying to use what I have been freely given to help others. However, you don't want to "ruin" a Zambian by turning them into an American, making them greedy, or causing them to have difficulty functioning in their own culture, so it's a fine line to walk, and I'm still struggling to walk it. Obviously I can't help everybody, I can't feed everybody, etc. But I feel like watching people who are hungry pass by me on the road while I sit in our air-conditioned truck is not what God had in mind. Yesterday at the music rally our devotion was on how David took Mephibosheth into his house and he got to eat at the king's table. It was a devotion I needed to hear.

So right now, here's what I'm praying. First, that God would give me more love and more compassion for the Tonga people. That this love and compassion would overflow out of me and be so huge that it could only be from God. Secondly, that I would see needs and meet them before I am even asked. That God would show me where I can help and how. Please pray that for me!!

So back to our visitors. We decided to take Hildah out to eat on Friday night, along with our friend Mulenga. We went into this little restaurant, which would be comparable to a small diner back home. Hildah just kept saying over and over again "This is so beautiful. I can't believe how beautiful this place is..." :) To see through the eyes of a Zambian...

It was interesting throwing another 4 year old child into the mix with our kids. They played well together and had a good time. Children, and adults, in Zambia sometimes come off as very rude because of the way they speak English. Instead of saying, "Can I have a banana?" they say "You give me a banana." It's so hard to get used to, as my first instincts are to think "How rude!!! You have no manners!!" when really it's just the way they are used to talking. Bathtime was funny--to see very white Cambree and very black Laurie in there together was hilarious. However, when I went to wash Laurie I noticed that her arms and legs were like sticks, and her belly is huge with a protruding belly button...malnutrition.
Me and Laurie

Zambian children don't really have any rules to follow--they just play and are loud and kinda do whatever they want. Therefore, bedtime at our house was a little crazy. Our kids go to bed at 7:30 or 8, no matter what. Laurie is used to just staying up as late as her mom does and then going to bed with her. That made for an interesting evening!

Ok so now on Saturday...back to Grand Central Station. Our kids LOVE our neighbors...absolutely love every second of playing with them. So they came over on Saturday and stayed for 4 1/2 hours!!! They played in the backyard the whole time and I was busy providing them koolaid, peanuts, and bananas.
A game of Freeze Tag

Then, Hildah and I decided to go visit a friend she knows that lives nearby. We stayed for about an hour and she asked if it was ok for her friend to come back here. I said "Sure! I'm going to start supper preparations while you visit." Well, 2 hours later her friend was still here and supper was ready. Her friend had a 4 year old girl with her as well. So I knew that culturally, I should feed them. Now in America, you would worry "What will I feed them?! Do I have enough food? Will they even like it?? They're Zambian!!" But in Zambia, that doesn't matter. All that matters is that if a guest is there at dinnertime, you feed them. You eat what you have, until it's gone, and that's all that matters. So I fed them all! We had fried potatoes/sausage/onions, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, tortillas, and then some nshima for the Zambians. Luckily there was enough, and then the women cleaned up the kitchen. They all stayed until late playing bowling on the Wii and it was a great time.
Mulenga, Hildah, Bridget, and Bridget's niece Miriam (possibly a budding romance between Mulenga and Bridget!!)

We woke Sunday morning and Blu was VERY sick, probably due to some bad sausage (from a roadside stand) that he ate on Saturday. So he stayed home from church and I went with Caedmon and Cambree.
Cambree and Laurie watching Special Agent Oso while waiting to leave for church

It was a good service, although Cambree loves to misbehave during church so that everyone will look at her and laugh. I sang with the choir again and the men and youth were very surprised. Church was long--from 9:30 to 1pm, and at 1, four of the men announced that since Blu was sick, they were coming to my house with me to visit him. It was 1pm...so once again, I knew that culturally I needed to feed them. It didn't matter what, or how much, but just the gesture of offering food to visitors is what is necessary. So they ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches, chips, grapes, and some cookies. They were all very grateful and Blu enjoyed the visit-they shared Scripture, prayed, and talked. Zambians are BIG into visiting others, especially when they are sick.

About this time, I was ready to take our visitors to the bus station and have our house back to ourselves!! It was a CRAZY weekend, but when it's all over, it felt like we were able to minister to others, to show Christ's love, while still keeping cultural boundaries in place!