Last Day at Care and Share

Yesterday was our last day to be at the Care and Share location in Lwana and it was probably the best day yet. A number of our team members had been there all week, but for those of us who had not been to Africa yet, we ended the week there after a couple of days on the Safari. Yesterday continued with classes on baking bread, sewing and clothes designing as well as the jewelry making. With Dad and I not having too much to offer on that front, we had a tremendous opportunity to accompany the Director of Care and Share, Robert, and his brother Nelson out into the village to visit some of the locals they are trying to reach with their ministry as well as some of their members who are now to ill or elderly to attend. It is somewhat humbling stepping into the homes of so many as we visited probably ten homes. As soon as we would step foot on their property, the family members would scramble to get four seats set up for us to allow us to sit and be formally greeted by the family members. The eldest female of the group would wait until we were all seated and then come spread a mat in front of us to sit on. Then each member would come by and kneel on both knees to hold our hand and offer their traditional greeting to which we would respond Belungi which means, "I am good." This happened at every home we visited. The hospitality and cultural consistency was emotional, humbling and quite impressive. Many of these villagers had not seen a white person or if they had, it isn't something that happens too often as we were "in the bush" and not out in the city. I could talk all day about this part of the day, but after ministering to the locals we made our way back to Care and Share and closed out the week of training. There was a ceremony of sorts by the Lwana women as a word of thanks, to which I was fortunate enough to respond on behalf of our group. It was during this gathering that the ladies received the news that we brought funds for a new oven - they were quite thrilled. I will close with the verse I shared with the ladies when I said, "you might ask why we came to Lwana." Proverbs 3:5-6 says to trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths. I trust our group has done just this and will continue to do today as we visit the orphanage. One last thing I forgot to mention. I have some great pics to come showing the young kids in Lwana having a blast on the iPad - it was hilarious.