A weekend of extremes

This past weekend has been a weekend with very different experiences.

The first one was that on Saturday morning we were informed that Gary, Michelle and Peter were stuck in London due to heavy snow at Heathrow airport. Unlike at Pearson airport they don't have the kind of equipment in London to deal with snow. They were hoping to get on the next flight to Lusaka (leaving Sunday evening) but that one was already full and so was the one leaving on Tuesday evening. The first available flight would be leaving Thursday evening, getting them to Lusaka on Friday morning. With a planned return on Monday morning next week that would mean that they would only have a couple of days here. So they decided to look for other ways to get here and they found a flight on Emirates through Dubai that got them here on Sunday afternoon. So they finally made it to Lusaka that afternoon but unfortunately their luggage didn't and no word yet as to when it might show up. So it is great that they have arrived but it is a pain that their luggage is still somewhere "en route". We might have to do some more shopping.

Saturday was very hot and muggy. The whole day it felt as if it could start thundering any moment but in the end it didn't rain. On Sunday it felt much cooler and there was a nice breeze in the air that kept things nice and refreshing almost. In the evening we could hear a thunderstorm in the distance and saw a lot of lightning but we didn't get much rain. The rain and thunderstorms are very local

Saturday we spent some time at the house to clean a bit more. We also got the curtains that we took over from the neighbors that are moving out so we started hanging them in some of the rooms. It really starts to look quite nice with some furniture in as well as some curtains and paintings on the walls. It starts to look like a place that we can call home! Very are very grateful for how things have gone with the house so far.

The water supply at the office is different than what we are used to in Canada. The water is turned off by the city around 9:30pm and turned back on again around 5:30am. So if you go to bed too late, you can't flush the toilet, brush your teeth, etc. Something you definitely have to get used to. On Friday morning the water went off altogether. We were hoping to get it back on Saturday morning but at that time there was still no water. The people in the office started using rain water to flush the toilets and water they kept in buckets but at the end of the day, most of it was used. Luckily, on Saturday evening the water came back on round 7:00pm to be turned off again at 9:30pm. This morning we all took a shower, but the water was "refreshing". As it turned out, the staff had turned off the geyser to protect it from overheating, something we found out Sunday night. Something to keep in mind for the future.

On Sunday morning we decided to go to the Dutch Reformed Church (we are Dutch after all). They have two services, one at 8:30am in English and one at 10:00am in Afrikaans. We decided for the service in English so it was a bit of an early start today (with a cold shower). It was a much smaller church than the Lusaka Baptist Church that we visited last week but it felt more like home. They sang a number of contemporary songs as well as some hymns that we knew and after the service they have coffee outside in the shade of some trees. As it turns out, the pastor was a visiting pastor from the Reformed Church of Zambia, reverend John Phiri. He had been a missionary in Sierra Leone for 6 years and just returned to Zambia. He worked for the Christian Reformed Church in Sierra Leone with the help and support of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. As it turned out, he even had visited the CRCNA office in Burlington. What a small world! 

But it gets even better. Back in Canada we had been talking with World Missions about maybe getting involved in teaching and training lay pastors. One of the organizations specializing in that is the Timothy Leadership Training Institute (TLT). We tried to find a connection for Zambia but were not able to. Well, as it turns out, reverend Phiri is a Master trainer for TLT in Zambia! Who could have imagined that, that on our second Sunday in Zambia we would connect with probably the best person for TLT in Zambia and that while he was visiting another church. God is clearly at work and we thank Him for His guidance and provisioning.

So this weekend we had late arriving visitors without luggage, no water for almost 2 days, a very hot and muggy Saturday and a cold shower. But we also had a great meeting with reverend John Phiri, a nice breezy Sunday and made good progress with the house. Overall it was a good weekend and it showed us again to trust in God and Him alone. We can plan and try to do things on our own but without His hand in it, it will be in vain.

Have a blessed week.