Greetings everyone! My time with Africa for Jesus is coming to a close in the next couple of weeks as the Parent Vision Trip happens followed my a Leadership Development weekend. The PVT is when everyone’s parents are invited to come and join their Racers for a week. It is an awesome time for the parents to see what their kids have been doing the last seven months, and even live it. Unfortunately my parents are not coming, much to my despair, but I’ve seen them before I suppose (I love you Mom and Dad!).
All of the events will take place here in Livingstone, meaning the whole squad will be able to experience the wretched hive of scum and villainy known as the market. I don’t believe I ever told you guys my market story. It was our first day in town and we were all a little wet behind the ears. We visited the market as anyone would on their first day. I would immediately regret that decision. All of the vendors shake your hand and beckon you into their shop. Essentially what happens afterward is they won’t let you leave until you purchase something. You’re handed everything in the store to “look at”, and if you make any comment on the item you’re gonna walk out with 50 less Kwacha and a necklace you don’t want. It’s almost like the Twilight Zone. After my experience I spent close to $100 and ended up with a tribal mask, an overpriced pipe, a drum (I gave that one away as a birthday gift), a wood carved elephant, a bunch of silly necklaces (if I hear the “Yami yami”, which is the sign of the Falls, one more time I’ll scream), and a couple of wood carved hippos (I don’t even like hippos). I will never go to the market ever again! I am scared of it! I find myself kind of excited though to see people make the same mistake, so we can all be poor and broken together. Just kidding!
In other news for the past few Sundays our hosts have had our team split up into four different groups to visit various churches in the area. I have drawn the short straw every time it seems, because I always end up going to some Pentecostal church. The one I went to last week was called H.O.T. Church. Now I am not opposed to any denominations, but with some I just can’t connect with the Lord or worship Him effectively through their way of doing it. Pentecostal churches fall under that column unfortunately. I am a liturgy, organ, and choir guy. I love the smells and the bells! Well, by God’s grace there is an Anglican Church in Livingstone called Saint Andrew’s. I had talked with our hosts before about visiting at some point, but no desire to make it happen was perceived. I accepted that I was gonna have to quit the World Race and go rogue for the remaining couple of months so I could get in that visit (just kidding). That didn’t need to happen though because our hosts approached me on Saturday and said, “You guys can go to the Anglican Church tomorrow. We want you to go.” It felt like Christmas in April! I hugged them both, pulled out my BCP and counted down the hours until we went. It was worth the wait! It was so refreshing to be in the Anglican setting again and to worship the Lord the way I can connect with him through. There were hymns, there was liturgy, and there was even an organ! I was as giddy as a girl meeting Channing Tatum!
I will stop there because my post is too long. I will close with an update though. The Forge will re-form a after PVT and LDW, and we will be staying here in Livingstone for the remainder of our time in Africa. We will be with a new ministry though called J Zone, with our host, Sanderson (great name). We are super pumped for that, but are of course still enjoying our time with Africa for Jesus. Continue to pray for us, especially as some (including myself) find our minds try to focus on going home and post-Race activities. By the way, thank you for letting me lament a little about the market. It feels good to be vulnerable and share my failures (don’t get me started on baboons). I love you all and miss you!
