5 Aug Wed Chris hangin' with the Mapalo Vineyard worship team...
(my new friend Peter is kneeling... more about him later...)
Hey, friends! It's been a couple of wild days here in Zambia... good, but wild.
Sunday was the off-the-hook church service at the church in Mapalo ( a sector of Ndola, Zambia). The real cool thing is that the one leader (they have many) named Peter is a real go-for-it guy who has had the Lord pour out on him a gift of writing new worship songs in the language and structure of Bemba, the regional dialect. The cool thing (besides these songs are like the great music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo live...) is that Bemba is truely the 'heart-language' of the people here... so when they worship in Bemba, their faces are beaming and tears in their eyes and hands lifted to God... I've had a couple of times talking with Peter, and he stumbled into my playing some guitar in the Seeds of Hope office (a guitar was just sitting there)... so he and I are talking alot about the prohetic in worship, and how God gives us new songs... Peter promises that he and I will continue to dialouge and hang out, and he wants to do a song-writing session next week together (now, would that be the bomb or what??!!)
Monday was a national holiday, so I spent the time reviewing some child survival literature. Plus, the SHIP directors Kirk and Denise had me move into their home, which is a few blocks down from the SHIP office (thanks, you guys!!)
Tues and today was the Community Health workers training. Evans and Blessed, the two SHIP facilitators were hoping for 25... and 39 people showed up!! The room is packed, and these people are from some hard-hit villages with extreme helath issues... and they want to help change things for the better!! What an honor and priviledge to be with these guys. I was definitely the afternoon entertainment at lunch on Tuesday, with Nshema and beef relish as the dish... and the 'white guy' trying to pose as a Zambian... Nshema is a pasty white goo made from corn mealie meal and used to scoop the relish (like a stew) from a plate... no utensils... such fun!!
Thurs and Fri are the continued health classes. I am getting so plugged in, it's definitely the right gig!
Prayer requests: the anti-malarials have played a bit of havoc with my system, and the terrible smoke from the local burning triggered a real sinus issue for me... please PRAY the Lord to touch my body!! Also, pray for the SHIP drill rig, since their main drill is seriously wedged into some rock, with 18 meters of sand above it... brings the well drilling to a scraping halt... also pray for my new friend Obby, who is really feeling God move on his heart to work in health ministry and plant churches in Zambia.
'Nuff fer now.
your bro,
Chris
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