Sunday, July 4, 2010

We woke up before 5:00am. I tried to say good morning to Zukiswa and Mirriam and realized that my voice was gone; all I could do was whisper. It was easy enough to deal with the sore throat, runny nose, cough, and increased respiratory effort but not having a voice was going to be rather inconvenient. We had morning devotions by flashlight. Panji and I were assigned to breakfast duty; we drew water from the well and started cooking as the blush of dawn lightened the sky. We cooked nshima, soya chunks, and greens for breakfast. After breakfast, we prepared to go out into the village to give Bible studies until noon.

We prayed together and then Panji and I went into the village. As we walked past the first house we stopped to talk to the men standing outside; rather, Panji talked to them in Bemba and I waited for him to summarize the conversation for me in English. He told me that when they heard we were giving Bible studies they asked why we passed their house so we sat and studied the Sabbath with them for close to an hour. One of the men, named Mwaansa, said that he wanted to keep the Sabbath and he asked Panji if he could come with us to give more Bible studies. First, he took us to his mother-in-law and family, they were sitting outside pounding cassava root. Panji and I studied with them and went on to several more houses. All the people we studied with were happy to hear about the Sabbath and had questions about the Bible. The last men we studied with were full of questions. They wanted to know how they could find the true church, they asked if going to a church was necessary, and one wanted to know what happened to Jesus sandals when he was crucified. We were sorry to end our Bible study time but we had to go back to the house to prepare for the health fair at 2:00pm.

Mwaansa came back to the house and talked with us until it was time for the health fair. Muyereka, Panji, and I went to the school, a small group of people had already gathered for treatment. Muyereka was fluent in Bemba and he was able to do a lot for the people who came that afternoon. He dictated notes to me and we sent some people to the hospital at Santa Maria for treatment. We saw patients until the sun set then we returned to the house for dinner.

That evening, the generator would not start. A large crowd had gathered to see the rest of the Jesus film. We decided to go on with the service without the PA system. Nelson and Gift preached a dynamic sermon on the Sabbath; the Lord really blessed their voices. When the service ended, we carried all the equipment back to the house and had evening devotion. It had been a full day. I whispered goodnight to Mirriam and Zukiswa and prayed my voice would be back in the morning.