Speechless

I know it seems impossible for a preacher to be speechless but the past 10 days have left us all in that condition: some because of scratchy, sore throats and coughs; others because the things we have seen and experienced have left us not knowing what really to say. The intense poverty and need in Lusaka has been transposed with plush, luxurious accomodations at the Zambezi Sun Resort near Victoria Falls. The press of people, the squalor and the ubiquitous dust of Kabanana have become the majesty and beauty of the African Plain and the amazing variety of living things in the Chobe Game reserve. The simple meals of nsima, boiled cabbage and the occasional piece of chicken have been replaced by exquisite, culinary delights too numerous to mention. And the commitment to serving others, particularly vulnerable orphans and widows, seems remotely foreign from the current surroundings where we have been waited on hand and foot by men and women who no doubt have come to Livingstone to work and escape the very conditions we witnessed while in the neighborhoods of Kabanana. We will spend a long time trying to process the juxtaposition of these contrasts. We are grateful for all of the experiences we have had. It's just hard to put what is in our hearts into words. So I will end this post here and send more from South Africa which will be our home away from home for the next four nights before the long plane trip back to Seattle. Wishing you "mouka muili buengi" - Good day - and all of God's marvelous Grace. As they say in the Bemba dialect - lesa muzuma; eyonce. GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME. ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD.