Blog for Sunday, December 12th

Muli Shani ? (How are you?)

This is Sarah blogging… my first STS blog! I am Johnny’s older sister and I am visiting Johnny in Africa and getting to help with some STS missions as well. On Sunday we traveled to Showers of Blessings Church in Kitwe to worship with their congregation and listen to Dr. Thinus preach. It was my first time in an African church! In typical African style, there was music playing and people came in slowly over the next hour. The choir sang tirelessly for us and was composed of 3 men and 4 women with beautiful voices. They sang from their souls with deep conviction. We swayed along with the music and tried to pick out a few words and sounds to hum along. We were asked to sit in the first pew as guests of honor. Dr. Thinus then preached about the responsibility of believers to encourage each other daily to keep believing in the face of hardship and to reach out to members who have stopped coming to church, from Hebrews 3. Dr. Thinus preached in English but had an interpreter who was as expressive and as sincere as he was. I enjoyed hearing the Bemba language but having to pause after every phrase sometimes interrupted the flow of the message.

After Church we went to lunch at the pastor’s house. The pastor also works at the bank and has a very nicely furnished middle class home. We enjoyed a delicious meal of rice, potatoes, beef stew, cabbage, chicken, Nshima, and gravy.

We visited the souvenir market in Kitwe, which houses about 20 stalls under one roof selling all manner of wooden animals, copper bracelets, printed cloths, native paintings, musical instruments, carvings, jade jewelry, and chess sets. We each picked out gifts for loved ones back home to share the magic of Zambia with them. The price for each item was negotiable and we were forced to learn how to haggle to get a fair price. Tessa went from very nervous about the whole process and not wanting to do it by herself to having the vendors eat out of her hand while she walked away with half their goods for a very good deal!

Sunday evening was bittersweet as we said out goodbyes to Etricia, Andre and Dr. Thinus who were leaving at 3:00am to set off for South Africa.