Church, Food, and More Food

Yesterday was a great ending to a fun-filled weekend! We started off our morning with a church service at Good Shepherd. Kelsi, Molly, and I agreed after the service that our favorite part was when the choir (really just a quartet) sang. The lead singer was AMAZING. I was in awe; I thought she sounded just like Beyonce! The other three singers harmonized in the background, and I found myself wishing that she would perform a concert for us after they finished. We attended Margie Wendland's Bible class for women after church, and as always, it was an uplifting and edifying experience. Margie is extremely knowledgeable about God's Word, and she leads interesting discussions every week. It has been a blessing to study with her and the other women in the congregation during our time here.


We went swimming at Susan’s school after Bible class, and after splashing around for about ten minutes, I laid by the side of the pool to catch some sun. What a wimp! (The pool water was quite chilly, in my defense.) The others swam for just a bit longer, because Lisa had arrived to take us to the International Food Fair at the Intercontinental Hotel. An event centered on food?? We were all on board!


The Intercontinental Hotel is one of the fanciest places I've seen in Lusaka, and it reminded me of a very nice hotel in America (though the decorations were African sculptures and paintings). We walked outside to the "backyard" area, complete with a large pool and a bar. A lot of people were already there when we arrived, including gobs of children jumping like maniacs in a bounce house. (The bounce house was NOT an option for us after snacking for a couple hours....puke city!)


We spent about fifteen minutes walking among the various stands and surveying their selections. Some countries that were represented included Egypt, Angola, Italy, Palestine (they had fantastic falafel and hummus), Senegal, Zimbabwe, Greece, Ethiopia, Ireland, and Mali, among others. So many new foods to try and not enough stomach space! Anyone who knows me knows how much I love food, so I had way too much fun at this event. After a couple of hours of browsing and sharing food (lasagna, chicken skewers, quail eggs, salads with peanut sauce, eggplant, stir fry, cake, and several items with names I've forgotten) among each other, we headed home - stuffed and happy.


Kelsi and I cannot believe that our days left in Africa are in the 20s! As excited as we are to see our friends and families, we are so blessed and thankful every day to be here, spending time with the wonderful people we've met here. God is good!