Last Meeting

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Today would be our last time with the women’s bible study group I attend. Once again, I had been designated the lear, so I decided that we should finish up Acts 10 and go clear through 11.  There is some really good material for discussion in those passages. Because there are so many strange place names in the accounts of Saul’s journeys, I decided we needed a map of the Roman world at that time. I couldn’t find one that was a simple black and white outline map, but MaryLou did and I had 10 copies printed. Then, I took a blue colored pencil and colored in all the seas and lakes on one so one could see the land mass more clearly.

When we arrived at the church, I handed out the maps and several blue pencils and said we were having Sunday School on Thursday. The women quickly got to coloring all the water on their maps, too. They thought the idea of adults coloring was pretty funny, but they also seemed to enjoy it Once we had our maps colored, we spent some time locating the places we had been talking about, and then continued on with the stories in Acts. These women are excellent at discussion, so all I have to do is give a framework and ask a few questions, and they quickly respond. The only time I got funny and made them laugh was when I said that as a child I had loved the verse which says that Herod was eaten by worms and died. They had never really noticed that before. I did not sing the ditty about “The worms go in, and the worms go out. And, the worms play pinochle on his snout.” I have no idea if that’s a reference to Herod’s death or not. Probably not.

Coloring our maps

It’s always sad for me to leave this group of women. They have become true friends. However, even though we won’t have another meeting before I return to the States, I should see some of them the next two Sundays at church.

Good friends forever.

For the potluck meal after our discussion. Miriam brought a big pot of pilau; Atula contributed tasty tuna sandwiches; Grace cooked rice and eggplant stew; and Margaret brought her favorite biscuits (cookies). MaryLou and I went completely American and came with guacamole and potato chips. (Why can’t we find corn chips in a country which grows so much corn?) John was secretly hoping that the women wouldn’t like the guacamole very much so there would be plenty left for him, but they loved it and ate big scoops. Still, there was enough left for John to enjoy when we got back to Kundayo.

Once we were back at the apartments, John and MarLou walked to the sandal workshop to pick up our orders. The place is really very close, but I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to navigate safely on the very rough road. The sandals that MaryLou and John brought back were as lovely as they always have been in the past. John asked Noel what a large order would be for him, and Noel said that he often gets orders for as many as 400 from a merchant who then distributes them to markets in Zambia, Mozambique, and elsewhere. It seems miraculous that those women and men in their small dark rooms can produce that many beautiful sandals.

Guess which ones are for Peri.

For dinner, I made a large pot of beef stew. I had bought bottle of Dodoma red wine out at Njiro and opened it to put some in the stew. It was okay in the stew, but drinking it was not easy. MaryLou helped me out by having two glasses.