A Saturday in Pamba

On Friday afternoon I received a wonderful phonecall from my pastor's wife. She was wondering if I could cook with a few ladies on Saturday morning while 13 visitors from the UK came to meet with their sponsor children. Yeah, I was delighted to be a servant again. I really feel like my church friends see me as a member and that makes me so excited.

So on Saturday morning I hopped on my bike and pedalled about 15 minutes to the compound of Pastor George and Teacher Winnie.

The children from Goshen Nursery school put on a few presentations for their sponsors. This one was the local version of a chicken dance. Hilarious!
Here is one of the ladies pounding garlic and spice for the rice pilaf.

This is the kitchen I spent most of the morning in. I chopped a pail full of onions and showed the ladies how to use a carrot peeler and a grater. We ended up making beef/rice pilaf, chicken, greens, and fresh fruits for lunch... for close to 60 people.

Then at 3 o'clock I biked over to the home of my other Pastor. He wanted to get together with me and Moses, one of my Sunday school helpers so that we could visit a few of the families with children and encourage them. Moses rode a bike while he took Pastor Francis on the rack behind him - boda boda style - and I followed on my bike.

First we biked through Pamba town, weaving our bikes around houses on packed dirt that could be a road or a yard. We stopped to visit one family that I have rarely seen in church. We visited with the kids, who sat on grass mats and sang for us. We prayed for the children. I shared a few verses with them and they were so excited for the special visit.

We proceeded then to a more rural community of homes, biking through fields of sorgum (which I thought was corn) and cassava until we found some more children. The kids quickly put together a presentation for us.

The children we so delighted to have visitors come just for them.

Again, we shared God's love with these kids, prayed with them and had a great time.

Upon biking back to Pastor Francis' house, we made a surprise stop at a Pork Joint just beside the Pamba market... amidst the local bar scene. Loud music playing. Men sitting around in circles, drinking some brew from a communal pot. Each person has a super long straw that goes from the pot to their mouth.

But don't worry, I didn't go to the bar, I just sat in a circular hut with Moses, Pastor Francis, and his wife Janet... she had arranged the whole surprise feast for us. Yum Yum.

By 6 pm we arrived back at the pastor's home and I spent a half hour singing and dancing with the praise team that was practising there before raising home to beat the rain and and the darkness. I got home just in time... the skies opened up and started pouring as soon as I got to my front verandah. A long, but amazing day with friends from church!