Farewell to Mansa

We have finished our "work" here in Mansa and will be heading back to Lusaka tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. We are all now in good health and full of joy at all we have experienced here. I am sorry that we cannot post any pictures (Paulette has taken thousands!) but the internet is very slow so it will not work here.

Yesterday there was a change in the closing program (change is the only thing that has been constant on this trip!). Instead of the panel we had a lively and rousing worship session - we have never heard worship quite like the way it is done here - and we heard John Thomsen preach a bit from the Word of God to all tha ladies. After that the TLC team and the Zambian Leadership team prayed and annointed with oil EVERY woman that was at the conference. It was a powerful experience to pray with so many women - many of them we have gotten to know over the last four days. They are so full of love and are so accepting of us.

As we were talking this morning at breakfast - we do not know exactly what God has accomplished through our participation in this conference. Did we teach them anytihng of value? Did we give them hope? Did we encourage and equip? Did we show God's love and speak His truth? Whatever the answers to these questions, we do know that we trust in His purpose for us here in Zambia even if He never reveals it to us. We are priviledged to have been a part of these women's lives for even a few days and they taught us so much about joy in the midst of suffering and worship and true humility and service to God. There were several teary eyes as we said goodbye to the women and the Zambian leadership team.

Yesterday after the conference we went to a nearby fishing village called Samfya which is lovated on a very large lake - and even had a white sand beach. It made us all think of home. Pastor Henry and John also took us to a market in Samfya which defies description - not exactly Costco.

Today we went to a rural home for lunch. First, however we had to stop at the market in Mansa to get the chickens for lunch. They were not found in the frozen foods section - but picked out kicking and squawking from several vendors. We put them in the back of the van inside several tires as we drove to the hut where we had our lunch. The chickens were then "prepared" for cooking with a sharp knife and lots of plucking - a process that I could not watch. Several hours later we were served fresh chicken and rabe and nshima for lunch. Several of us are considering becoming vegetarians now.... However we were all so appreciative of the hard work of the women of the house (and Esther) to work for hours to prepare this meal for us. They work so hard and NEVER complain. We enjoyed visiting with many of the local children as they fixed the lunch.

Thank you for all your prayers. We have all felt the support of them behind us as we have faced challenges and difficulties of various kinds - and as we have experienced an amazing joy at seeing what God is doing in Zambia!