Christmas

For Christmas the missionaries who were left in Zimba traveled by bus to Lusaka to spend some time with a missionary we know up there. It was a nice time. We stayed at a couple's house. They were missionaries with Christian Blind Mission. The man was American and the wife was Norwegian. For Christmas Eve dinner there was nine people. 3 Americans, 1 Canadian, 1 Norwegian, 4 Dutch. One of those was born in Indonesia but now living in the Netherlands. Anyway, the talk around the table was unlike I had ever experienced. There were opinions on things from all different points of view. It was an interesting evening. To hear the different views of church, Christmas and whatever else came up was challenging and insightful. Oh yeah the food was fantastic. At 23 hours we went to Church at an Anglican Cathedral. So the service was quite Catholic, but it was neat to see Christmas celebrated in a different place. The service was long and we did not leave to about 01 hours.


Christmas Day was very restful. After sleeping in we just hung out all the rest of the day. We just enjoyed each other's company. We ate, played some games, went swimming in an outdoor pool, and took a nap. The guy whose house we were at wanted to play chess. I know how to move the pieces around so I played. He beat me very bad every time. I will definetly have to brush up on chess strategy. In the evening we went to an American doctor's house and had dessert with him and his family. He is here working for the US government on a malaria project. He was a very interesting guy to talk to. I learned a lot.

I was just struck by the sense of community that was there among all the different people. I have really been stretched to meet new people from all over the world. I was also struck by how there was no hidden agendas, no expectations. We could just be. It was a nice relaxing weekend and a Christmas unlike one I have ever had.