Africa Day 5

Thursday May 13, 2010

Redeemed

I am a redeemed child of God, my future secure. I am writing this a day late, so I may be missing some details. But I woke up around 6:40, and started packing up the tent with Dan. We were the first to finish. We then packed up the truck with all the sleeping stuff. Then we had breakfast, oatmeal. It was delicious with milk, sugar, and syrup. After we ate we headed out passing Tsongwa and some other villages along the way. It was amazing to see the joy on their faces as we passed with nothing more than a smile and a wave. We shouted from the truck “MABUKABUTE” which means good morning. We stopped in town at Shoprite to get some snacks, and got some Hungry Lion for lunch. They had the best chips aka french fries in Zambia. Then we went on our way to Siamondeli. The road there was paved for about 15 percent of the trip. I was almost left behind once. The trucks had stopped, so I got out to go pee. I started writing my name and got to Andy Osbor and the trucks started moving. I didn’t have time to fasten my pants so I ran to catch up. I finally caught up and hopped in the truck. We traveled a little farther to Nyawa central to pick up another translator. While we were stopped we played a little futbol with the kids. They used a wad of plastic bags held together with rope as their soccer ball. Yet they were so happy. Dan, George, and I taught them the game tips. They loved it. From this point we were about 30-45 min drive from our final destination. What happens next starts an epic adventure. So we continue driving when all of a sudden the truck starts to pull hard to the left. STUCK! The truck was sitting at about 30 degrees. We tried digging it out but the drive shaft was stuck on the ground. We try and use the second truck to pull it out, but subsequently that also gets stuck. By this time it was dark so we weren’t going to make it to the village that day. Laura decides that we are going to set up camp right here in the middle of the African bush on the side of the road. She starts clearing some tall grass with her machete to make room for our tents. We start dinner, sloppy joes, around 9:00. During this waiting time George played some worship songs. It hit me that this is what it’s all about. This community we built on the side of the road is glorifying Jesus. Living together Glorifying Jesus. The stars are absolutely breathtaking without city lights or pollution to taint the atmosphere. I literally saw a large portion of the Milky Way. I washed some dishes then went to bed.