Delayed Post from June 23rd.

June 23

This was written before we left for Livingstone and I forgot to post it.  Here it is!!  By the way I now have a Tonga name.  It is Sikutanta (pronounced "see koo tontuh") which means He who climbs.  I climb the water tower every evening to watch the sunset you might say religiously!!  Thanks Blu for the name and the ride home today!!

               First some housekeeping.  Those of you who are on the ball will have noticed that the dates on my blog entries were a day off.  Fortunately Blogger date stamps them, so if you were paying attention you were not confused.  Today is Sunday, June 23, 2013.  There are only 6 hours difference between Zambia and LaGrange.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.

It is 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning here at NDO.  If this were a week day, the children would be out playing or on their way to breakfast by now.  The only sounds are our chickens who are laying eggs and our Tom Turkey gobbling. If you have ever heard the term “deathly quiet”, it would fit here.  Church is a 9 a.m., 1 ½ hours away.  Lynne is finishing milking Martha as I type. 

After the Kid’s Club yesterday, I was on the water tower with a few folks from the team to watch the sun set and listen to the children disperse out through the savanna.  One of them asked, “Do ya’ll do this every Saturday?”  Two parts of that question are interesting.  The first part is “ya’ll” indicating they see me as part of staff here.  The second part has a simple answer; “Yes, we do it every Saturday.”  Last Saturday we had 125, this Saturday we had 150.  It is a chance every week to bring these children into a Christian environment, let them play, feed them on the Gospel and feed them a good meal.  For some of them this is the best meal they have all week, and here they can come back for seconds.  One of the team members commented, “That explains why it is so quiet around here on Saturday mornings.”  Yes it does.  We work hard Monday through Friday and Saturday afternoon.  Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons are times to rest, reflect and refresh.

Here is an update on the Jesus film.  Lynne spoke with Darbi and found out that there were salvations beyond the three children from New Day, but we are unsure of the exact number.   Toby and Sam shared the Gospel with a young boy they met at the river when they were digging river sand to bring back to NDO.  The little boy was hunting birds for food, and had taken a break to eat his lunch.  Sam and Toby shared with him and he prayed to receive Christ.

You might remember that I have been discipling Kalenga, the NDO cook, musician, translator, etc.  Lynne and I usually eat in the NDO dining hall on Monday (nshima, cabbage with tomatoes and onnions, meatballs) and Friday (fried chicken and crisps).  I was telling Kalenga that Lynne and I would not be here Monday night to eat because we are going to Livingstone.  He had a quizzical look and said, “You to Livingstone and then woosh (made a motion with his hand like a plane taking off)!”  I told him no!  You can’t get rid of me that fast, we will return to NDO Wednesday with Laurie and Wes.  Kalenga came over and hugged me and said, “Thank God!  I see you Wednesday!”   In 16 days we will leave NDO for Lusaka to fly out of Africa on June 11.  I now know how difficult it will be to leave Zambia.  As much as I am looking forward to coming home, part of my heart will remain here with my daughters Hilda, Elizabeth and Abby, and my brothers Mulanga and Kalenga, and the children of New Day.

We are off to Livingstone tomorrow morning at 6 am.  It is only a two hour drive, so we can probably have breakfast there and a full day of shopping.  Tuesday we are all taking the land/water safari all day in Botswana.  The safari should be very interesting.  Wednesday the Rosemont Team flies out of Livingstone to Johannesburg.  Lynne and I will return to New Day with Wes and Laurie.  We hope to stop either in Livingstone or Choma for groceries.  Things are getting tight.  When we return on Wednesday we will have exactly two weeks left at NDO.  Unfortunately/fortunately it will go quickly!!!  Carpe diem!!!