This will be our first WELS blog so we think it will be good to start at the beginning, and talk about how we got here.  Dave and I were living in Englewood, FL working and planning on doing evangelism work in our retirement years, about 7 years down the road.  As a crew member for an electrical company, Dave was sent to where the work was and that was away from home a lot.  We couldn’t figure out what God had in mind for us at the time, but I decided to get some evangelism training on my own, while Dave was away.  I called the WELS Kingdom Worker office and found out about a 2-day “Senior Burst” evangelism training that was coming up in October of last year, and being held in Milwaukee.  Long story short, I attended and heard about the request for a lay-couple to assist at the Lutheran Mission in Zambia. The skills needed fit Dave and me to a tee. After finding out what the actual details that the 3-year commitment included, we were hustling to get all of the documents and immunizations finished!

We arrived in Zambia on May 5th to a large group of the Mission families and LCCA Pastors.  We were escorted back to the Mission property and shown to the house that would be our home for the next three years. They treated us to a nice lunch and we all got to know each other a little. The first couple of days we unpacked and got through our jet-lag.  That very Sunday, Pastor Phil Birner took us about 2 hours out of town to one of the bush churches.  It seemed to me to be about the roughest road I could imagine, not anymore, but I am glad there was a roll bar inside for me to hold onto.  I am certain I caught air several times.  We arrived at the church before anyone else.  Phil kindly told me that the circular stand, made from very tall dry grass, out in the field, was the bathroom.  I went inside to find a hole dug in the middle of the dirt. With all of the jostling around from the drive out, I was in no condition to get particular then![slideshow=82]

After that the members started arriving.  Some of them put on the brightest choir robes I have ever seen, bright aqua and red.  Dave and I sat on different sides of the church, with a section of about 25 children in the middle.  I sat down about half way up of the wooden benches on the women’s side.  It wasn’t long before I was surrounded by curious women.  The 16 member choir started singing with so much enthusiasm and emotion you would have thought there were 50 singers!  It was just beautiful!  The ladies had paperback hymnals to follow the service with.  In their own language, but Phil made it clear to us where we were in the service.  When the hymns started I think I made some friends, just by humming along.  The children behaved so well, with no adults sitting with them I was amazed.  Only one little fellow became unruly and he got picked up by the male choir director and placed on his lap.  That calmed him down.  After the choir sang once more and danced up and down the center aisle the service ended.  We were invited to stay for lunch.   That consisted of rice and meat (we thought beef but maybe goat), either way it was appreciated.

Pastor Birner took a little detour on our way back and drove to the Blue Lagoon National Park.  We drove out on a very narrow causeway that had water and marshes on both sides.  We saw lechwe, zebra, water monitors, many different birds and plants. We got an idea of how people live out in the bush on our way back.  We ended up getting back at about 1800 hours.  (That’s 6 p.m.)

It really was a wonderful day and a totally new experience for either Dave or I.  It will always be a favorite memory as the first excursion to a bush church in Zambia, Africa.