Today, we started the day by going to services at Garden Presbyterian Church. The team was greeted literally with open arms upon our arrival. The church members (as with the vast majority of Zambians I have met) are gentle and extremely welcoming people. The service itself was not at all what I had expected. The first two hours of the service was a combination of beautiful African Christian Hymns (mostly in sung Nyanja), and prayers (again mostly spoken in Nyanja). The prayers often had a component where the church members prayed out loud. For many of the members this was done with zeal befitting of an intense, passionate relationship with the Lord, compounded by the reverberation of the concrete floor/walls, brought the church to a series of crescendos. Even though we may have been lost in the procedural, there was no doubt the Holy Spirit was present.
At the end of the second hour the leadership announced us as the visitors, recognizing each team member by name where we were again welcomed by a round of applause.
At the beginning of the third hour of the worship service. The minister, Jane Nyirongo, stepped up to speak. The sermon was on the story of Isaac and Ishmael. Jane is an amazing person and ally with CACZ in their mission to serve the people of Zambia. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet her.
After our three hour service, it was time to eat. We went to a local shopping complex (strip mall) that hosts a local vendor market in the parking lot. The team split up to hit several of the restaurants for lunch and take some time to walk the market. Some keepsakes were acquired and we all piled back on the bus for the ride home.
The rest of the afternoon was not scheduled. Many of the team members went to hold or play with the little ones. Some of the team unpacked more of the donation bags. A couple of the team took a nap.
All in all a good day.
Posted by TJ Hughes
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