Africa Day 9

Tuesday May 18, 2010

Burdens

We all have burdens. But is it better to hold them in? Of course not, give them to God for His burdens are easy and His yoke is light. We were not made to live this life alone. Rather, live in community. So confide in your brothers or sisters so they will help you out.

This trip has taught me so much about living in community. Not only with my own team, but also the Zambians all live in community sharing each others burdens. They seem much happier and life is so much simpler. By American standards, they were living in poverty, but they had everything they needed. Money can’t buy happiness. Rather, Jesus and community is a perfect recipe for happiness. I am writing this a day late so hopefully I don’t leave out any important details. We woke up a little late, and had some oatmeal. I have grown very fond of oatmeal. We were supposed to leave at 8:00, but didn’t end up leaving until 9:30. We all started down separate paths, but all ended up at the same village. There were only 4 villagers, the rest were in the fields. I spoke on 1John 1:5. It was last minute, but God made it work. I have learned a lot on relying on God, and through we have free will, God really does have a lot of influence whether I realize it or not. It is better to realize it and give God glory than pass it along as coincidence. When we walked to a village about 90 min away we shared with them for about 30 min and prayed for them. Then we opened it up for questions. They had lots of questions on polygamy. The girls got a chance to pray for the women there. Then we started walking for another 90 min back to camp. It was very tiring without water. We got back and had lunch, Tuna salad pasta. It was good. We were scheduled to play at 13:00, but didn’t start until about 15:00. It was probably the best game so far. We went down 1-0, then tied it 1-1. Then they went up 2-1. Then just before half we tied it 2-2. Next we scored and went up 3-2, then they tied it 3-3. Then I scored the winning goal with about 15 min left on a set

piece at the top of the 18. The keeper was leaving far post open so I went for it. Sure enough… GOAL! We ended up winning 4-3. Glory. Then we had a village wide feast. I tried goat, and shima, and pumpkin leafs for the first time. I really only enjoyed the goat. OH the sweet potato chips, YUM I went to bed right after dishes were done. I was wiped out.