Zambia-
As most of you know, I have been in Zambia for this past month. It has been a very interesting month, but God has provided abundantly.
We knew that going into this month, that it would be difficult. We searched online for many days for a contact in Zambia. An idea came to my mind to type in “Church of God – Zambia” into Google and see what comes up. Much to my surprise, There was actually a contact. (Now, my parents belong to Church of God, so, that is where I got the idea.) I clicked on the link for the Church of God World Missions and Nyamphande Orphanage came up.
On the site, It gave me a phone number for Rev. Siwale. So, I called him from South Africa. He answered and I told him that we are spending the majority of our money to get to Zambia but, God wanted us to come to Zambia. He said that we were welcome to work with them at Nyamphande and that there would be no charge for living with them or the transportation and God would provide. That was such an answer to our prayers. We got to Zambia and called the Reverend and somehow the Bishop answered. We talked to him a while and He said that we were an answer to their prayers and they were excited to have us. We were more than ecstatic.
When we met at the bus station, we knew that we were going to like them. In my mind, Bishop Mambo is like Rafiki from the Lion King. Kind of crazy and weird, but you just are intrigued to listen to him. He tells truths even if they are hard to hear. He told us a story about how he was almost kicked out of the Church of God for telling things the way they were. We stayed at his farm for a couple days and were shocked to hear that he was going to have us interviewed for the newspaper and the television at the headquarters in Lusaka. We weren’t ready for that shock, but we dealt with it. After being secluded from ‘the world’ it was a shock.
After a few days, we went to go to Nyamphande. We were introduced to the 800 children and staff in a meeting once we arrived. Then, they showed us our house. The house is a work in progress, so, we put up our tents inside. J 2 days pass and the school/ orphanage has a closing ceremony and all of the kids leave. So, now we are working at an orphanage with no children…
Another day passes and the headmaster tells us that we will be working with the Choir to get ready for the Church of God National Convention at the end of the month. We thought we would give them some ideas and help them prepare. Come to find out, we were official members of the Zambian Church of God Choir. They taught us about 6 songs AND dances to go with the songs. It was quite interesting to say the least. I will try and find a video or at least pictures to post at a later time. We taught them a few songs and a couple with dance moves… I’ll let your mind run away with that thought. I will say however, White people can’t dance… At least Team Manna can’t dance. J
We had practice just about everyday until the conference. When it was time for the conference, we got up at 4 AM to pack and head to Lusaka. Once we were there, we waited around for a few hours while others spoke and sang. When our turn came, we turned some heads. We got up there with the Choir and people were shocked that we were dancing right along with the choir. Before singing the English songs, they handed me the microphone. I was not ready for that. I was hoping that I could just stand where I was to sing. NOPE! I had to stand in front and sing to thousands of people with the choir behind me singing along. Talk about being nervous. Grant it, I have sang in front of people before, but this was different. I am glad there were only a few words to the song. J (Oh draw me, Lord)
The conference turned out pretty good and we are back at Bishop Mambos until Wednesday when we head back to Johannesburg, South Africa for our debrief. I am so excited to see everyone. It has been since June since we have all been together. I am praying for a time of rejuvenation for the squad as we finish up the last 3 months of the World Race. We head to Romania on September 3rd. Be praying that everything goes well and that we are filled each day so that we can pour our all onto others.
Blessings,
Bekah
