Sunday, June 13

Today was another adventurous day in Zambia. Ba Leonard invited us to the Kasimi Church of Christ. It was a challenging drive and we finally made it at 10:00. The Kasimi Singers came to meet us when we arrived and escorted us into the building. Will Pipkin preached and I led the Lord’s Supper, all with a Tongan interpreter. Following the service, Leonard invited us back to his village and hosted us for lunch. Ba Leonard’s wife poured water over our hands as we entered the house (a local custom) and Ba Leonard served us wonderful roast chicken, rice, relish and cabbage, followed, of course, with a “Welcome to Kasimi Church of Christ” cake. After lunch, we headed out to hear the Kasimi band and dance. I have wonderful photos. It was a wonderful day, even if that was the end. However, the best was yet to come.

Ian has been talking to me a lot since we arrived in Zambia and he is seeing how fragile life really is. He had made a decision to be baptized at services last night. Unfortunately, the power went out about 18:30 so there was some doubt whether there would even be a service. They put lanterns around and started, but the process was disrupted. They had singing groups and skits but no real opportunity to respond so we announced to Ellie and the gang that I would baptism Ian in the water trough behind the Hamby House. Word started spreading and we probably had a hundred people come. Before it was over I had baptized Ian, his friend David and four other people. It was a wonderful day here at Namwianga.