Weddings, Wildfires, and Wailing

As I sit here looking back on what I have experienced over the past week, I can’t help but be flooded with emotions. 

Saturday morning we had a sun day of going to town and shopping for specific items. We had to use the Tonga which we’ve been learning in our class that starts at 6:30 morning! After we found our items, the girls proceed to chitenge shopping for the wedding. I went a little overboard and bought 4 and it looks like I will be buying plenty more while I’m here. They are so comfortable! 

Sunday was a day of rejoicing and pure happiness. Early in the morning, our group loaded up to take a 3 hour drive out to a village church. Our men did a wonderful job of leading the worship service. We thought we would be the only ones there along with about 3 Zambians, but slowly the people started trickling in. By the end of our service, we had a total of 102 people jam-packed in the tiny little church building. We again were asked to sing some songs. The Zambian people are such happy folks! They just love the fact that we are trying to embrace their culture and language. Once the service concluded, everyone filed out and greeted one another. We then headed out to the village to attend the wedding! We were greeted by hooping and hollering and smiles! They immediately invited us to dance. They broke out the drums and started dancing and singing a song which we later found out was about an adulterous woman that was a part of their village. The singing and dancing went on for 20 straight minutes and was interrupted by a wildfire. That was probably one of the scariest/most helpless moments I’ve ever witnessed in my life. God was definitely watching over us. After we all calmed down we stood around for a while before the music started back up and the actual wedding began. The “wedding party” was made up of younger boys and girls. They formed two lines and danced to get the groom and his best man and then back to get the bride and her maid of honor and then to the place in which the ceremony would take place. There was so much joy on all of the faces around us except for the bride and groom. This is because the bride is showing that she is sad to leave her family and the groom is showing respect to her family. The actual ceremony only last a few minutes and then the gift giving began. It was an experience I will never forget. 

The rest of the week was full of classes and homework/reading assignments with some fun thrown in there every now and then. I spent a bunch of time at the Havens this week. I spent time with Marisa and Tim and I even got to help Meagan a bit with language class at Haven 2. I had a breakthrough with Tim with the help of Holly. He walked all by himself! And on top  of that, he was babbling and laughing!! The most he’s ever done! I’m so proud of that boy. He’s doing great. He’s just so perfect. Marisa developed a cold and was not the happiest little girl that I know her to be. I hated to see her so unhappy. I got to go to Zimba with Meagan and several others to take Caleb and Paula to get their feet casted to help their clubbed feet. That was so interesting! Wednesday night a few girls and I climbed up on the storage containers to look up at the African stars. The sky is so clear here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many stars in my life. God’s creation is so incredible! Friday night Holly and I got to spend the night at the Havens. We helped with folding laundry, feeding and changing babies, washing bottles, clothes, and dirty nappies. I also got to have a Bible study with auntie Betty. What an incredible/exhausting night.

Thursday was not the best day for getting news. After breakfast we were told that Adam, a baby in Haven 3 passed away. It all hit us pretty hard considering how quickly everything happened. One day he’s running around with yogurt all over his face, saying “HALLO!!”, and pulling cushions off of chairs and couches, and the next he’s gone. It’s still so hard to believe that when I go to the Havens, he won’t be there. None of us saw it coming. We attended the funeral today. I’ve never, in my life, witnessed something like that. The aunties that I saw the day Adam died, going on like nothing had happened, were expressing so much emotion. Emotions I have never seen before. Wailing. Wailing for the hurt caused by the loss of their dear Adam. He had been through so much, they all had grown attached to him. He was so loved by those aunties. Seeing that little body lying in that tiny coffin is a sight I never thought I would be seeing. I knew coming here that this was definitely a possibility, but never once did I think is was actually become reality. This child, this boy, loved by so many didn’t even get to live his life. He didn’t get to go to school, raise a family, and whatever else he might have gotten to do. On the other hand, he never got the chance to mess up. He lived his short innocent life and is now sitting on Jesus’ lap. That happy child will never have to go to another clinic or hospital, have another test run, get anymore blood drawn or shots. He’s home. He’s spending eternity with our Lord and Savior. When I think about this, I can’t be sad. I’m so jealous of him, actually. While we do miss him, it’s only selfish to want him back here with us. 

God is still good. Even through this suffering, he is still so good! He is faithful when we are faithless. He’s always with us no matter what. He is the ultimate comforter, and while we mourn the loss of this precious child, we have the hope of believers that we will be reunited with him in Heaven.