First Teaching Day and First Nshima Experience

Just returned from the teaching. I believe we had a very good day. The men were very responsive and attentive. The men very much were challenged and humbled by the teaching on being Christ-centered men. They confessed that the culture in Zambia is much too personality oriented and about building their own personal kingdoms that Christ's. One man, whom I ate lunch with, was very moved and determined to live all out for Christ. He said he felt alone but was so encouraged to hear of others who felt as he did and he was tired of the compromised pastors in this city. It really is a shame that the prosperity gospel is so popular here. From what I can gather, the only one's who are prospering are the preachers. These men felt emboldened when they heard someone articulate what they felt was biblical but were somewhat intimidated by the health and wealth guys. TBN and other American TV stations have done immeasurable damage to the cause of Christ worldwide. These men are good men who are sacrificing so much to serve Christ here. Their sincerity and gentleness endears them to you almost immediately. James was surprised how quickly they caught on to my sense of humor!! He said he has not seen anything like that... I don't know if that was a compliment or not!!!

Lunch was a cultural experience. Poor Randy found out the hard way. We lined up for the meal and it looked like we were having chicken, mashed potatoes, spinach, and a gravy. So when Randy was served the potatoes he took the gravy ladle from the lady and poured it on his potatoes. She gave me the oddest look like... "I have never seen that before". I realized something was up so I just did what the Zambians did. You can imagine Randy's dismay when he got to the end of the line and there was no silverware. The reason was that we were not having mashed potatoes; we were having Nshima. It is a corn meal (like grits) but boiled down to be like (although a little more stiffer) mashed potatoes. You roll some in your hand and then use that piece as a scoop to eat the rest of your meal. So Randy's Nshima was very wet to work with. Hence no silverware. Zambians say you have not really eaten until you have had Nshima...so now I have really eaten!!!

Happy Lord's Day from Zambia

Had a good Lord's Day. Went to a reformed/pentecostal church in this morning so I could experience African worship!! It was very good. Felt a lot like a Dominican service. In the evening I preached at Conrad Mwebe church. It is a larger church and it was good. The folks were very appreciative of the ministry. Zambia is a very friendly place. The folks are quiet and kind and generally soft spoken. Being hard of hearing I miss a lot. Have had to ask the folks to speak up. It has been warm and rains a little every day. Very poor here. Seems even more so than the Dominican Republic in some way. Will meet with the pastors tomorrow. Randy Pizzino will take the first 2 hours, which is good because I am losing my voice a little bit...please pray. Very tired now and ready for bed. Tell me how church went. We met for church tonight at the very hour you were in the morning!!! So the leader prayed for the church there!!

Photos from Zambia

Here are some pictures from my day with the children: (For more photos and information go to The Lion of Zambia.)

Settling In, Still Jet Lagged

Getting an update from Greenville makes the distance seem not so great. Slept pretty well last night. Was awake from 3-4 am but got back to sleep. Still feel a little tired. Had some good talks with James and Randy. Megan and her assistant here, Katrin, had the orphan kids they support tested for HIV today. The good news is that only 2 (whom Megan knew about already) were HIV positive. The rest were not. After the test she brought them all back here to have pizza (some for the first time!) and to swim. It was fun to have them here and to get to know them and talk. Tomorrow I preach the evening service at a church here...we are going to visit a pentecostal church to let me experience an "African" church!!! This pastor is a good friend of James. Randy will preach at the church I am going to preach at in the morning. Looking forward to getting going. Once the conference starts will be really busy.

Long Trip to Zambia, Here Safe

I just arrived at James's house in Lusaka, Zambia, Africa and wanted to send along an update. Travelled about 29 hours all together. The long flight went well. The South African airline is one of the nicest I have ever flown on. Amber booked me in one of the front section seats so I had a lot of leg room. Actually slept off and on for about 6 hours. Had a 2 hour conversation on the flight here with a Muslim from India who lives here in Lusaka. We talked about each other's religion and I was able to share the gospel with him. All connections and flights went well. Got through customs fine. Very tired, though, and hope I can get a good night's sleep. Feel like I have been traveling for 3 days!!!