Sunday

Breakfast was served this morning at 8—a whole extra hour to sleep or read or just listen to the birds. We met up with Chris and Marlys and the Dutch students to walk to the Macha Church for their service at 10:30. It felt wonderful to be among a community of people and we were warmly welcomed. The congregation sang for a while together and then many different groups of people sang special musical selections for the rest of us. All the visitors were asked to come to the front and introduce themselves. Wanda received special notice as the pastor explained to any who didn’t know that she is, in reality, Zambian, since she was born here in a house in Macha. Erica shared greetings from her parents and the response was clearly one of pleasure.

Pastor Moonsaka introduced the scripture reading for the morning—Joshua 5:1-12 – and said, “This is what I will be preaching on this morning and this afternoon”! We weren’t quite sure how long then we would be there, but it was an engaging sermon and we watched him work with a skilled translator who kept up very well. Most of the sermon was delivered in English and translated into Tonga. He encouraged us to move into the future with courage, because God’s blessing is there for us. And he talked about how often our real enemies are the obstacles of fear, pride and sin which are harbored in our own hearts.

Following the service, all the visitors were invited to a small room where we were greeted by the pastor and deacons of the church. They served biscuits and juice to refresh us, and we chatted a bit before heading back to MIAM but not before Wanda and I had a chance to reconnect with Sarah, a woman I had met in 2006 when I was here, and a woman who remembers when Wanda was born!

Allowing for the long church service, lunches on Sunday are at 14:00 (2 p.m.). I’m not too ashamed to say that I took a long Sunday afternoon nap. The girls will have to tell you what they did! Late afternoon, Chris led the hike to the water tower. Everyone gathered whatever courage it took for them, and we climbed the high ladder to the top where we were rewarded with a wide view in every direction. The clouds were beautiful, as were the village children who waved and called to us from the paths below. It was a wonderful opportunity for some stunning photography, but my camera battery died before we made our descent.