This morning started really early, I was awake at 4:30, went to bed earlier because the power was out, and woke up earlier than I hoped. Today was a mostly overcast and cloudy day, with just a few peaks of sunshine now and then. Still hot, just not as hot as when the sun is beating down on you. And the rains started around 5PM.
It was a good thing I was up early, not that early, but before 7 hours there was a knock on the gate, I thought Siwale must be early this morning, but it wasn’t Siwale it was Clara, bringing some potholders.
As soon as I had finished my breakfast, I baked a chocolate cake for the ladies coffee time, following their prayer time. I had to bake one 9” round at a time, cause I only brought one pan. Just as I had the second pan in the oven, Catherine arrived and was ready to bake zucchini bread on the brazier. First, I needed to send her out for some eggs; we were out, so she walked to the markets at the end of our street and got 7 eggs. Next, she said our brazier was too big, so she borrowed one from our neighbor and Catherine’s good friend, Alice. Then we discovered we were out of charcoal, so she had to buy some from Alice.
Catherine lit the brazier, with some dried leaves, small twigs and sticks and a plastic bag. To get it going once she had a small fire, she picked it up by the handle and began to swing it, to make wind. It wasn’t long and she had a perfect fire going. We began putting the ingredients together, and when we got to the grated zucchini, I had purchased a small round squash, it was much harder than a zucchini, and the only way we had to grate it was with a knife, chopping off small pieces and chopping them up. Catherine stirred and got it nice and smooth. We put it into two loaf pans; we baked one indoors in the oven and one outside on the brazier. Catherine set the bread pan inside of a big pot, and then took the lid and tipped it upside down, on top of the pot, and placed the hot charcoals on the lid. There now we just need to let it bake for one hour. In one hour the loaf in the oven was done, as well as the loaf on the brazier. She was very excited to show me that it worked and she can teach the ladies how to make banana, zucchini and pumpkin breads and bake them on their braziers!
Catherine lighting off the brazier
Sticks, leaves and twigs
It is lit!
Swinging the brazier for more air, gets a hotter fire going
Grating the squash with knives
Friends working side by side
Putting it in the pans- one for the oven, one on the brazier
It's in there! Ready to bake away!
The baked loaf straight from the brazier
While the bread was baking, I organized all the fabrics and put them in the cupboard, in 100 potholder quanities. This should hold the ladies for a little while, but they are workers and they love coming together here at the service center to work and fellowship.
I thought I had made my last trip to Kamwala, but Jan had emailed me an idea last night, and wanted me to see what I could find there. After we were done baking, Siwale and I headed for Kamwala again, I talked to three different shop keepers, and got some information and fabric samples. Then we stopped at the bank. I’ve got the banking system down now, so it was less than a five minute wait, as compared to my hour and a half last week. Brought my card to the teller, and he took it to his machine and it was declined. Do you have another? I did, and that was also declined. He said it wasn’t because of a problem with my card, but a problem between the banks. Come back and try again tomorrow! When I told Siwale, he said no problem, we’ll just go to another bank, it was a VISA card and they don’t work with VISA, next bank the same thing. So it looks like we will be heading back to the bank tomorrow.
We made a quick stop at Melissa’s and I got one last loaf of bread, we thought what we had would last us until we left, but we finished up the ends with our breakfast toast. Grabbed a loaf of bread and some banana’s, so glad I did, because we had PB for lunch and PB for supper, since the power went out before the counselors left this afternoon.
Soon the counselors started arriving, and they were talking and singing, then Catherine called the meeting to begin. She wanted everyone to stand in a circle and sing a song, and then for Stephanie and I to sit in the middle and they wanted to pray over us and send us traveling with God’s blessings on us. It just touched my heart, to know how much we mean to these counselors and how they love us. Then
Catherine dismissed us to our work, and she began praying with the counselors. After they finish their prayer time, Catherine sets out the lesson for the next week, and they talk about it and how to present it to the girls. When they finish, I serve them coffee, tea and the chocolate cake, they felt really special. There were 13 counselors here today, some I hadn’t met before. One was Venta from Pilgrim Wesleyan who works with Annette. About 4:30 we went out in the yard, and took some pictures with all the counselors.
I not sure how it got started, but the ladies were showing us how they can dance and dance and move they can. Joyce from Mtendere PHC, is a riot, she doesn’t look like she’d be funny, but, my oh my, how she had us laughing with her moves. A few of the ladies, left and headed for home, it was thundering and getting very dark. There were those, who just weren’t ready to go yet, Margie from Jesus Army, Precious and Grace from Word of Faith, Venta from Pilgrim Wesleyan, Emely from El Shadai and of course Catherine. They came back in and put all the chairs in a circle and we were still laughing at Joyce’s antics, we learned about how they take brides before their wedding and teach them how to dance for their husbands. Whoa, way out of our league! Too much information! From that we got on to the topic of uncommitted counselors, who come to training just to get stuff and then don’t teach at their churches. How Margie had seen a counselor wearing her GEMS shirt in the market, and that is not right. They are only for when the GEMS club is meeting. She said she almost got into a fight with this counselor telling her she wasn’t supposed to be wearing the t-shirt just as a shirt when she wasn’t in GEMS. While they sat and talked it started to rain, and they began talking of spending the night, oh my! It poured for a while and then it gradually began to taper off and they asked to be to pray one more time for us. Stephanie and I both now have a Zambian name, Steph is Chipo Banda and first I was Feba and then they said no I had to be Chimwemwe Tempo! It was around 6PM when they headed for their homes, with hugs and wishes and God’s blessings on us! What a wonderful group of women, God is blessing GEMS here in Lusaka through these on fire women!
Some of the ladies doing one final dance as they start off!
The ladies laughing so hard, Catherine can't stand up!
Margie and me one last hug before she started off!
Well, supper time, no power……. = PB! Steph really stepped it up and did a PB&B (banana) I just did a banana and a piece of chocolate cake! Great supper! First, chocolate in awhile, savored every bite!
OK, now it isn’t quite 6:30, and its dark and it is hot and I’m sticky, so why not another bath by flashlight! Started writing after my bath until my battery went dead, and it was just after 8PM, so what else go to bed. It is dark and hot, and can’t get to sleep, next thing I know I am sleeping, and I hear something, oh, it’s the phone. It was 9:30 and Jan was calling. Talked for a while and learned how things are unfolding on her end, and then it was time to go back to sleep.
What a great way to spend my last Friday here! Baking with Catherine and praying with the counselors gave me something to reflect on as I sat in the dark and drifted off to sleep! These women have so little but give love with hearts as big as all outdoors! What special relationships are being formed here among the women and across the ocean with the GEMS team. They send their love and prayers for each member of the team!
No comments:
Post a Comment