Sunday morning arrived with Theresa and Memory, picking up Phil to go to church with them and some of the other Living Compassion women. You may remember from past blogs that Memory is a young woman (though not so young anymore—we found out today she is 18!!) who was orphaned in Kantolomba and had no close relatives to care for her. Theresa took her in and Memory has become part of her family. Veronica and Josephine met them at church and they all sat as a group. Mrs. Kapenda, Theresa’s mother and Christine another of the Living Compassion team, greeted them at the church but did not sit with them as they needed to sit with their church organization.
The congregation, always welcoming, has the guests stand and greets them warmly. Since the Mass was to be spoken in Bemba, the local language in Ndola, Theresa and Veronica sat Phil between them and gave good prompts as to what to do and when. “Sit. Stand. Kneel…”
The Mass began with the wonderful beat of the Zambian drums, which continued as a choir sang and danced throughout the “usual” Zambian 3-hour Sunday Mass. The whole church rocked and everyone seemed to be having a spiritually good time.
Inside the church.
After the service. Left right: Christine, Veronica, Phil, Theresa.
Back at the guesthouse we worked a bit more on acclimating to the time zone, wrote blogs and readied ourselves for two packed weeks of exciting business ahead! More soon!!