Kitchen Party

Saturday I was invited to go to a Kitchen Party.  This is like a bridal shower in the US.  It was supposed to start at 1:00 but as usual it did not.  The bride to be finally drove up at 4:00!  Thankfully, we did not get there until about 2:30 so we had not been sitting since 1:00 on this very hot day. 

When the bride to be got ready she came out covered with a chitenge(a piece of cloth).  Some of her friends and family led a procession of dancing and singing to bring her out to the party.  You may not be able to see her well.  She is under the white cloth in the middle. 
They took her up to the front and had her sit with the cloth still covering her until her fiance could get there.  When he arrived another similar procession occurred.  However, he was not covered.  The women led him up to where she was.  We couldn't see very good but I was told he kept giving money until he had given enough to uncover her.  Then she escorted him out and he left.
An interesting cultural tidbit:  The bride to be or the fiance did not smile the whole time.  That is the same at the wedding.  So while we were all laughing and having  a good time the bride to be could not appear to be happy.  It's a sign of respect.  
The guest of honor was Mrs. Mwanawasa.  Her husband was the president of Zambia until he died a few years ago.  She got up and spoke about marriage for  a few min.  Then they served a meal to over 200 people plus lots of drinks!  While we ate someone taught more on marriage.  A woman taught the bride how to make a bed properly and how to clean an nshima cooking stick.  Then they started giving gifts.  We watched just for a couple of min. and then left because by this time it was already 6:30 and we needed to get home.  All in all it was a good day. 

left to right: Robyn, me, and Julie

Robyn and Julie had never been to a kitchen party before.  I'm glad they were able to experience this and learn a little bit more about Zambian culture.  It's always fun to learn!

Funny:  When we arrived they took our picture as a group and then each of us individually.  Then they took lots of pictures of us at the table.  While the kitchen party was going on these men went out to get the film developed and came back and tried to sell us the pictures.  He thought he was going to make a lot of money off of us but unfortunately for him I only bought the one of all 3 of us above.  

A new puppy

 A few days ago we got a new little labrador puppy.  It took us a long time to find a name for her but finally decided on Misty.  

 She is such a cutie!

 She likes to hide and sleep behind my flowers.  

Rain!!

It was so hot today!  I came home and found myself complaining about the heat then a marvelous thing happened.  The wind picked up a bit and it got cloudy.  We heard a bit of thunder and then it came.........RAIN!  

Here is Hannah enjoying the feel of rain after not feeling it/seeing it for so many months!

Hebrews 6:7

Verse Concepts

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Rain#sthash.YkBviExt.dpuf

Hebrews 6:7

Verse Concepts

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
- See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Rain#sthash.YkBviExt.dpuf

Trip continues in Moz.

 

After leaving Lichinga we went to Marrupa to visit with our friends David and Janet.  We have really enjoyed their friendship over the years, so we were quite excited to go and see the place where God has called them to now. Above is a picture of their house and their little Jack Russel puppy.

The day after we arrived we went to Musoma and Mecula which was about 2 1/2 hours away from their house.  It wasn't too bad to get to because it was still the dry season and the road had recently been graded.  There isn't any existing Baptist work in this place.  D & J are starting from scratch.

We were able to visit with several people with whom they have made friends.  We even ate lunch twice as we visited with different people. 

 Isaiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"  Please pray this for David and Janet as they try to bring good news among the mostly Muslim people group they are living among.

A family has allowed D & J to build this shelter on their property so that when they come they will have a nice shady spot to set their tent up and also be able to receive visitors.  

 

David even built them a table.

 

 

This is another spot where they want to build a shelter.  

Janet is standing in the spot where the shelter will be built.

We loved this!  It looks like a turtle!

David and Kevin looking at a map of Mozambique.

On our way to Nampula for the prayer retreat we passed this 3 story hut.  We have never seen anything like this before.  David ran and got in front of it so we could take his picture in front of it so you could actually see how big it was.

 

The scenery along the way was incredible!  Mountain after mountain, God showed us his beautiful creation!

 

Psalm 121:1  "I lift up my eyes to the mountains-where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth."

Unexpected beauty

 

One day while visiting with Nancy we traveled to Messumba to visit with a new church about two hours away from Lichinga.  In this area along the lake there are people who speak Nyanja. Nancy has been going about once a month to try to teach and train the believers there.  It was so exciting to be in a Portuguese speaking country but to hear Nyanja being spoke.  One woman even came up to us and greeted us in Bemba, another language spoken in Zambia.

 

This was just an unexpected beauty riding along the lake.

Kevin shared a couple of lessons and then we had lunch.

 

 These little girls asked me to take them with me. 

This is the only baptist church in this area and they are willing and excited about sharing their faith with others.  Pray for this little congregation as they try to be the light of Jesus in this place.  Pray they will have the desire/vision to reach out to the Yao in the future.

Traveling in Moz.

 Lots of flying and driving over the last couple of weeks in Moz.  It really is such a beautiful country as you will see in the pictures below.  

 Our first visit we made was to Lichinga to visit with Nancy who has served in Moz. for many years.  She is also a nurse and has helped us with 40/40 in the past.  It was good to visit with her and see where she lives and meet some of the people she works with. 

She gave Kevin a Yao New Testament which has recently been printed. People are still working on translating the full bible.  Please pray that this project would be completed soon so that the full Word of God could be in the hands of people.

 On our way to Mapudje we passed village after village after village of Yao people.

The Yao are a predominantly Muslim people group of about 2 million spread over three countries; Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The Yao people have a strong cultural identity, which transcend the national borders. The Islam, which they have embraced, is not the orthodox religion, which is found in the countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi-Arabia, ect. but is totally intermingled with their traditional animistic belief system. It is often referred to as "Folk Islam."

 The majority of the Mozambican Yao people are virtually ignorant of who God is, how creation happened and the need for a savior. They need certain knowledge of the Old Testament first in order to help make sense of the New Testament message of Christ.

 In every village we saw flags sticking up out of the huts.  Some of these were political flags because Moz. just had an election.  However, the other flags symbolized where there were young girls and boys who were coming of age and were taking part in ceremony's for that. 

 The people who normally live in Mapudje were out so we visited a little bit with some of the leaders in the C.  

 This is where the C. meets.  It was started several years ago.

 These mountains were just gorgeous!

It's hard to tell in this picture but there is just hut after hut all along the road.  It is overwhelming to think of all these people being lost.  In just about every village we passed Nancy would tell us of how she had been telling stories in that village, but after a short time the people she was meeting with would tell her she could no longer come.  They were fearful for what others would say or do.  

 

 Kevin's little friend.

 We went to one village and visited with a young woman who had a tumor on her face.  It was so big that it distorted her eye, nose, and mouth on one side.  Because she lives so far from the hospital she could not stay and do the treatment, so she left and just went back to her village. 

As we traveled to Marupa we came upon a Yao funeral.  They took up the whole road so we just pulled over and waited until they got to the place they were going to have the burial.  In Yao culture, only the men attend the burial while the women remain at their huts wailing. 

Prayer Retreat

For the last couple of weeks we have been traveling in Mozambique to visit friends serving in this country.  We were also able to attend their prayer retreat and leadership training time as well.  

This is a fine group of people whom the Lord has called to this place at this time.  It was such a joy for us to hear of their work and the people they minister to.  Pray for them as they serve in very difficult places among some hard to reach people groups.

 We like to celebrate years of service.

The Jackson's have served in Moz. for 10 years.

 The Harrell's celebrate 10 years of service.

 John Dina celebrates 25 years in Moz.

 Jeff came and showed people how to use the BGR buckets.

 The youth sharing

 Lots of worship time

 This is the volunteer team who came to teach all the children while the adults met.

 On the last day we helped keep the little ones so that their parents could go buy supplies.

 Uncle Don reading to Kyleigh

watching the movie Frozen with the little ones.