My suitcase came this afternoon, which was a relief. Among other things, it contained my souvenirs. A couple of these I had bought myself – I love haggling in the marketplace. In Blantyre I purchased a carved ebony goblet. The seller asked for 2500 Kwacha, and I said 250; he then said 900, I said 400, he said 600 and we agreed on 500. Which works out to about four Australian dollars.
We also received gifts from the church in Zambia. The Zambia Synod of the CCAP gave us all brightly coloured shirts, while the Midlands Presbytery (which is located in and around Lusaka) gave each student a pair of painted wooden giraffes, mother and baby. The Presbytery Clerk explained their significance as being that the giraffe can look up and see a great distance. In the same way, when we become ministers next year, our vision should be a global one, extending beyond our own parishes to include Africa as well. Similarly, just as the mother giraffe cares for her young, so we ought to care for the weak. This also means stronger churches caring for weaker ones. This raises the question of the comparative strength of the PCV as opposed to the CCAP – something I hope to explore in a later post.
And of course, it's important for Christians in Africa to be global Christians as well – so when I preached in Lusaka last Sunday, I urged upon the congregation the necessity of praying for Christians in other countries who are suffering persecution. Actually, I have more to say about that sermon, but that must also wait.
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