Easter!

Easter Sunday Service at St. Michael's Anglican Church

We had an excellent Easter!  We spent the morning at St. Michael's Anglican Church in Kitwe, where we were treated to a beautiful and celebratory Resurrection Sunday service!  After church, we went to a potluck Easter gathering at the Smith abode, where we enjoyed an excellent meal, an Easter egg hunt for the kiddies, and even a session of Easter caroling around the piano!

Gathering around the table for our Easter dinner!

The children begin their Easter egg hunt.

Taliesin finds one up in a tree, while Anika and Dolove watch excitedly!

Anika and Dolove show off their Easter eggs

Julu and Brendan show off theirs

It's a race to the finish, as Julu and Brendan try to grab an egg up in the water tower!

Gathered around the Smith living room, chatting

Ryan, Taliesin, Tsunami, and Jason

Singing Easter carols

Julu, Kathleen and Jenny have fun playing with Kathleen's dollies

Preaching Maundy Thursday & Good Friday

We were still in Lusaka, doing a TEEZ tutors training during Holy Week at UCZ St. Bartholomew Congregation. They had prayer services each evening. They asked me (Molly) to preach and serve communion on Maundy Thursday. The lights went out just before I was about to say the words of institution. It was very dramatic. Fortunately, I was at the point in the service where I have the rest memorized. Also, within 30 seconds, the room was full of pinpoints of light from everyone's cellphones. We served everyone (perhaps 600 people or more) by the light of candles and cellphones. Definitely a night to remember!

We had a very good Good Friday- Ryan was invited to preach that morning. We enjoyed the service, Ryan preached a great sermon, and then we said official farewells. They gave us several gifts-- money for fuel and water as we travel back. And they also gave me a necklace & bracelet and earrings! I've been getting lots of gifts like that lately--people like to dress me! in clothes and jewelry. I think Ryan is a little jealous. I asked if he wanted to get a necklace and earrings, he said, "no, but a chitenge shirt would be nice!" :) The church fed us again, lunch after the morning service, then we went to the Lusaka market where I bought Ry some chitenge material to have a shirt made for him. Then we rested the rest of the day, including going to the movies and a nice dinner with Rev. Banda. It was a really nice treat. Saturday we drove back to Kitwe (5+ hours drive, plus stops) just in time for Easter... (coming soon!)

UCZ St. Bartholomew in Lusaka

Ryan preaching at UCZ St. Bartholomew in Lusaka. Rev. Banda is translating.

The congregation listening to Ryan's Good Friday sermon.

Palm Sunday

We began Holy Week in Lusaka. On Palm Sunday we joined hundreds of people from four downtown congregations in a huge processional from the Supreme Court lawn through the streets of Lusaka. The Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Catholic Cathedral of the Child Jesus, Trinity United Church of Zambia, and St. Ignatius Catholic Church began together with an ecumenical prayer service on the Courthouse steps. We read the story of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, choirs from each congregation sang, and then we followed the UCZ Boys Brigade brass band into the streets, waving huge palm branches and singing.

Each congregation’s members peeled off from the group upon reaching their respective places of worship. We worshiped at the Anglican Cathedral, hearing the story of Christ’s passion and sharing communion. We were pleased to be found by Nancy Collins in the procession! She is the PC(USA) Regional Liaison for Southeastern Africa, and lives in Lusaka. We processed together and sat together for worship and then enjoyed a time of fellowship over lunch.

This woman has a tiny little palm for her baby too!

the Boys Brigade leads the procession with their brass band

hundreds of people process from the courthouse (left) out into the street)

Molly with a palm

inside the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross

Ryan with a palm

An offer you can’t refuse…

If you wanted, could you refuse:
an offer of tea and a snack? What if you’d already eaten a big breakfast an hour before?
an offer of a home-cooked meal made especially for you? What if you already had plans to eat elsewhere?
an offer of an extra plate of food? What if you already ate a full plate and are stuffed from lots of food throughout the day?
an invitation to spend the night in someone’s home? What if you had already arranged to stay elsewhere in a lodge that promised to be an oasis with hot water, a working shower, comfortable bed plus satellite TV—not to mention privacy—after very full & exhausting days of work? What if it was for a whole week?
an invitation to preach? What if was to preach the next day, which was a major holy day?

Did your original answers change after considering the “what if”s? These are all offers and situations which we have faced in Zambia. Regularly. Most all of them in the past week, in fact!

Hospitality in Zambia, as in many other places in the world, is taken very seriously. And there are unwritten cultural rules guiding the giving and receiving of hospitality. Fortunately, we have Rev. Banda, the TEEZ Training Officer to help us figure things out. But nevertheless, we are posed with challenging offers. I especially feel conflicted often as to how to respond in a way that is both culturally sensitive toward my host, as well as healthy for me as an individual. Generally, I am very game to try new things, and feel very honored and grateful for the warm welcome we receive. I can sleep pretty much anywhere, and enjoy being with people in their homes. I am an extrovert who gains energy from meeting and talking with folks. I am a new pastor still “cutting my teeth” a bit, so I embrace opportunities to preach and lead communion.

But when it comes to food, I feel much more conflicted. I have dealt with physical, emotional, and psychological ups-and-downs in my relationship to food and eating for practically my whole life. I don’t need more issues to complicate my choices! Already, when in a new place and situation, I tend to want to eat a lot, for this might be my only chance to eat this food, prepared this way. So in that sense I have no problem accepting an extra snack, a home-made meal, an extra portion. And that’s okay if it’s a one-off thing. But now, as we have been on the road conducting TEEZ trainings 3 out of 4 weeks in April, and will continue to do so practically non-stop for our remaining 4 months in Zambia, I have to find a way to eat normally in these extraordinary circumstances.

But often, these feel like offers I can’t refuse. For example, we are given a morning tea break with eggs, and I’ve just had breakfast with eggs. I fear sending a dish back that has obviously not been touched, as that is seen as an insult. So I’m caught between images of cholesterol-clogged arteries on the one hand, and on the other images of the fallen face of a disappointed pastor, or the silent scorn of the church ladies who’ve sacrificed and slaved over a charcoal brazier in the yard to offer the visiting Reverends some nice food. It’s made even worse if Rev. Banda, or Ryan also are not interested in whatever is offered. Usually between the three of us, we can eat enough to both be graciously accepting as well as not too overfed. The problem comes when I feel an obligation to eat! (and to eat a lot, and too much!) Which like I said before, I really don’t need.

No wonder clergy in Zambia tend to be fat! (Which is generally viewed as a positive sign of prestige, comfort, and wealth here). I think Rev. Banda is trying to avoid that, as he seems much more health-conscious and usually eats only a moderate amount. But that makes me even more nervous that our hosts will think it is me and Ryan who don’t like or appreciate the food! Perhaps he’s just learned that there will always be more food, so eat a bit here and a bit there…

Have you faced similar situations? How have you responded?

Football in Kitwe

Our friend Jenny is doing a project in Kamatipa--a very poor compound in Kitwe. She is working with the community to create a play center for kids with volunteers offering organized play every day. Kamatipa also has a football pitch (soccer for us Americans), where Kitwe's Afro-Eagles team plays (in green). This day they were playing the Parmalat team (in blue). Parmalat is a company which produces boxed milk and juice products. These pictures were from last season, which ended before the rainy season. We used to tag along for games every Sunday afternoon that Jenny was going. Sometimes the game is late because teams walk to the game from accross town, or from the neighboring town--what a warm-up!

The Afro-Eagles have been promoted to the all-Copperbelt league this season, and reportedly haven't won as many games so far, being in a better league now. We hope to go to another game soon. The kids in the compound are really great, and very curious about "muzungus."

The Smiths--Jason, Peter & Brendan--watch with interest

This kid made a had out of leaves!

lots of excited kids

Afro-Eagles vs. Parmalat

at half-time, all the kids rush the field and play with a ball made of plastic bags

Jason joins in the game

How do you deal with hiccups?

I (Molly) am not literally talking about the hiccups—though I do get those too, and mine tend to be intense and even a bit painful, and only sometimes cured by Ryan's attempts to scare the bejezzes out of me. I’m talking about the small problems and issues that inevitably arise in daily life in Zambia, especially when we are on the road, conducting trainings with TEEZ.

Often on the first day of training, lunch can be delayed until 2pm, 3pm, even later! This is often due to fact that most participants bring their registration fees and contribution for meals on the first day when they arrive—only then can the women go to the market to buy the vegetables, cooking oil, salt, and chicken…which they then must slaughter, pluck and cook the chicken and everything else. So it is not unusual for us on the first day to continue with all the lessons for the afternoon while waiting on the lunch, then finish the day with lunch at 3:30pm or so. We make sure to eat a good breakfast with some sort of peanut butter or eggs or other protein. And usually we are given something as a “tea break” in the morning, though sometimes it is simply tea and bread.

Other hiccups we experience often are schedule changes. Once, when we arrived in the morning, ready to start a double training (2 running concurrently), we found hardly any students at the place. Instead, the organizing committee asked to talk with us. They explained they had had significant set-backs in preparation for the trainings, especially that some participants were waiting for their church treasurer to release their registration funds. They requested to postpone the program for sometime in the near future, and suggested we could just go back home to Kitwe! Well, we sat down and discussed between ourselves (Molly, Ryan & the Training Officer). We knew if we went home, it would mean no training for this group this year, because we couldn’t really postpone as the program for 2011 is already VERY packed. It also seemed to us that if there were already people selected and planning to attend the trainings, it would be a shame to let the financial hold-up cause the whole thing to be canceled. In the end, we suggested the organizing committee take the rest of the day to gather all the people, and work out the financials during the week. We started the following day, went through till Saturday, but had a VERY good week. The participants were enthusiastic, hard-working, and it was a thoroughly diverse and ecumenical group with 13 congregations represented from 5 denominations. So despite the initial hiccup, it was quite a successful week, and we were very glad we found a solution.

In another case, we prepared to conduct one training, but there was a mistake in the confirmation letter TEEZ sent that confirmed a different training! So we had to figure out what to do. Eventually we decided we needed to honor what was communicated in the letter and what the church had advertised and planned for. So we delayed one day, had the materials for the other course sent by bus, and then started the training the following day.

We also face difficulties with space—when we are doing 2 concurrent trainings, we have to have 2 different meeting rooms. Sometimes there is another group also meeting at the church (which is bigger than us), so we may end up crammed in small office, or in an unfinished building with a dusty, muddy dirt floor.

Ryan teaching in a small room--there are 11 people in there!

And the most common scheduling hiccup of all—just running over time. Lessons end up going long because of great discussion, or because they get started late—after a break people sometimes come slowly back to the classroom. There is also always the possibility of a power cut, which if we are doing the African Indigenous Christian Counseling (AICC) training, which includes 10 sessions with Dr. Gladys Mwiti, a clinical psychologist from Kenya, via DVD…when power cuts, we have to re-set-up using a laptop, which causes further interruption and delay. We try to make up the time in during the breaks, but everyone needs that break time. I find myself using much mental energy to track the time & time adjustments on days like this, which makes me weary and in more need of a break!

Before we left for Zambia, Fred, pastor at MAPC, gave us some advice: he said that we will do well to try to have patience, flexibility, and a sense of humor. I think this is relevant advice for anyone really—and definitely to us here (almost every single day)—though it can be difficult to live out sometimes. But as we exercise our flexibility and problem solving in the face of a variety of hiccups, I find time and again that the situation usually turns out fine and often very successful and fruitful when all is said and done. This encourages me to continue to exercise patience and a sense of humor, rather than frustration, resentment and bad-temper. Although I do still experience the latter emotions, I am learning to relax into the former more and more. There will be a time and place to try to rectify & prevent problems for the future, but in the moment I will…

Now lest you get a poor impression of our training experiences, let me share with you some of the brilliant moments and aspects of late:

This week in Lusaka, we’ve experienced wonderful organization and hospitality. St. Margaret’s UCZ, the host church, is really on top of their hosting of us, the trainers. They booked us a guest house on the campus of Justo Mwale Theological University College, with three bedrooms, sitting room, kitchen, bath. They provided us food to “self-cater” our breakfasts, serve lunch at the church, and deliver dinner to us in the evening! The food is prepared by a woman, Barbara, the Church Treasurer’s daughter, who is also a professional caterer. She is quite talented, setting before us delicious feasts that are also very elegantly presented. The first night, Rev. Banda almost mistook the carved tomato garnish as a real flower! Also, as a sample of the fare, yesterday’s lunch consisted of fried chicken, beef in gravy, rice with vegetables, spaghetti marinara, potato salad, apple coleslaw, and fresh fruit. It was so good and bountiful, we wished we could just keep eating all day! We didn’t, but we did eat enough that we later opted for a simple dinner of tea and the leftover fruit, rather than another feast!

We have thoroughly enjoyed staying at the Justo Mwale campus. First of all, it is beautiful and peaceful (a little less bustling and busy because the students are on a break). It has also afforded us the chance to visit our friends, the Ellington family who are PC(USA) mission co-workers at the College. And as we live more “family style” in the guest house with Rev. Banda, we are able to hang-out with him in a new way. Taking turns in the bathroom, serving one another through food-prep and clean-up, and relaxing in the sitting room together deepens our friendship from that of mere colleagues to something more like family—which is good for us as brothers and sisters in Christ, and as colleagues!

Justo Mwale Theological University College, Lusaka

The participants this week at St. Margaret’s have asked some very good questions and sparked discussions about in-depth theological topics. At one point someone posed a question about the Trinity, and Ryan got to talk about one of his favorite subjects, perichoresis, which is the dance of love and co-existence in the life of the Trinity as each of the three Persons makes room for one another. He ended up doing some “chor-eography” of his own to illustrate the concept. He demonstrated: God the Father says, “after you” (stepping aside and gesturing with his hands), and God the Son says, “after you,” and God the Spirit says, “after you”… and on and on it goes…

I also was given my first gift of clothing. A beautiful purple Zambian-style dress—skirt, blouse and head wrapper. I love the ladies dresses so much, and am constantly complimenting them:“Mwamoneka bwino!” “You look very nice!” And sometimes, this can lead to being given that very dress (if it looks like your size). Or another similar gift. I certainly don’t intend my compliments to be requests, but I can’t help complimenting! The generosity of the people we are meeting can be overwhelming & humbling. I aspire to be able to give with such warmth and joy.

Molly in her new dress, with Rev. Banda at the Guest House where we stayed on Justo Mwale's Campus

Speaking of gifts, last month, in Ndola (fortunately we lost our photos from that week :)), at the end of the training, we were given a live chicken as a parting gift! So in the back of the truck, along with our luggage, flipchart, and boxes of training materials, went our chicken and Rev. Banda’s chicken. Our chicken ended up living on our porch for a couple days, most of the time not even in any cage or box. We originally feared it might run away. But it wasn’t the free-roaming “village chicken” type, but rather raised by the church women as part of an income-generating project—kept in a chicken coop and fed daily. So it didn’t ever think to run away to freedom—not even when dogs and cats and our neighbor’s chickens came to bother it. We had to keep it from coming into the house, since it was used to being inside. After a couple days of this, I wimped out on killing and cleaning it to cook and eat, and tired of cleaning up poop and feathers from the porch, so finally gave it to a very excited and grateful friend.

Last week in Kabwe, I enjoyed in particular our communal lunches during the training. Quite often, we are served separately during tea breaks and lunches. But in this case, there was one central place and the same food for everyone (and the food was really tasty with good variety then too). I treasured eating with the other participants and the opportunity it provided to talk with them less formally. I really believe in the power of table fellowship to build up the body of Christ. There is something sacramental happening every time we break bread together. Also, I think it helps people to feel free with Ryan and me when they see us eating nshima with them. (Nshima is the staple food made of maize meal). And for this purpose, when eating with other Zambians, I always choose nshima if there is a choice between that and rice, for example. I actually quite enjoy eating it. And when others see us breaking off pieces of the white starchy lump, rolling it into a ball, dipping it in vegetable relish and popping it into our mouths, I think it communicates simple yet profound messages: We can eat with our hands. We are glad to join you. We are willing and able and happy to embrace and participate in Zambian culture. We are fully with you.

Molly eating nshima with Elizabeth Chilukuta of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Brookins Chapel Mine Congregation, during Kabwe TEEZ training.

Ryan teaches in Kabwe.

A discussion group in Kabwe--Dr. Gladys Mwiti of the AICC course is on the TV in the background.

Molly passes out the final tests in Kabwe.

The participants at Kabwe: 11 for Tutors, 13 for African Indigenous Christian Counseling

Tutors training participants taking the final test at St. Margaret's UCZ, Lusaka

Molly leads stretching during a break at a training in Kalulushi. (can you see her head just to the right and below the cross?)

Welcome to the world, Daniel Dalitso!

Daniel Dalitso, at 3 weeks old.

Charity, Ryan, and Dalitso

Our friend and "house-help," Charity, has recently had couple new additions to her household. Her husband, Harry's niece, Naomi, came to live with them after her parents died in Malawi. She was pregnant, and gave birth on March 10 to a beautiful baby boy. We were away in Ndola at the time, but when we returned, Charity informed us that the family wanted us to name the baby! It is customary in Zambian culture for friends or family to name a newborn, rather than the parents. We were incredibly honored. We chose to give him a Biblical name and an African name: Daniel Dalitso (dalitso means “blessing” in Chewa, the language Naomi spoke in Malawi).

We didn't have our camera along the first time we met him & gave him his name. Molly also got to give him a bath that evening. So these pictures are from last week, before we departed for Kabwe. Dalitso came to see us off at the filling station! He has very long fingers and big feet--we predict he will be very tall. He also has lots of soft, curly hair. He is already growing very fast and looks like he will soon be growing out of his 0-3 months clothes.

Please keep Dalitso and the whole family in your prayers.

Charity, Molly, Dalitso, and Naomi (Dalitso's mother)

Pix from the Tutors Course Graduation Ceremony at Kamfinsa Prison

Last week, we had a great little graduation ceremony for the 21 new TEEZ Tutors at Kamfinsa State Prison.  Here are some pictures from the celebration afterwards: