A Special Weekend

This last weekend was the Chichewa (The native language spoken here) District Convention. Our village Petauke hosted this event. (If looking at a map Petauke is 400km east of Lusaka, Zambia, and 200 km west of Chipata. Near the Mozambique border). The Convention was held at the local Assembly Hall. A slightly inclined hill outside a Kingdom Hall, with a brick fence to one side and a wooden on the other, with a stage at the bottom. They planted a few trees for shade for during the all day events.
Up to two weeks before the convention started, there was Brothers arriving ahead of their families to make grass shelters in a nearby field. Most consist of 4 walls of grass. 4-5 feet tall; a few brothers have built a grass roof. Others are wood frames with plastic bags or a tarp as shelter. Most families came the Wednesday or Thursday before the program started.

The Wednesday night before the Convention, it had rained and was surprisingly cold-leaving most of the families clothes, blankets, and other packed belongings wet. We couldn't even imagine what it was like to sleep outside during the rain,especially for the ones without roofs!  The uncalled for cold and rain seemed much like home, Oregon weather.


The convention started 8:20am Friday morning.  Brothers bring chairs, reed mats, and blankets to sit on in the grassy area.  The brothers have put up a few shaded areas around the border of the property, for some to sit under.  Many bring umbrellas and other items to shade themselves from the intense sun.

Sunday we made a brief visit to take pictures and see part of the drama. There were over 10,000 in attendance! We are more than anxious to attend our congregation's English convention in Lusaka September 14-16!

For more pictures go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/terrellmk/