[telegraph cables hum]

I had to write about life with nationals for my missions internship program. This is a little sample of what we did each day while we were there:

I’ve spent several days with a Zambian family because we’re living
with them while we’re here, so I’ll describe a typical day with them.

They get up around 5:30am and sweep the house with brooms made from
grasses, then go back to bed. We get up around 7:00am and dress/get ready for the day.
Breakfast consists of either cornflakes with “long-life” milk (stored
unrefrigerated in a cardboard box) or toast with marmalade and
sometimes eggs with tomatoes. [This family is well off compared to most
Zambians.] We are involved in some sort of ministry every day because
the father of their family, Mr. Bwalya, is the head of African
Encounter Ministries. These ministries have included working in the
garden to sell vegetables to support the ministry, painting the ministry’s

office building, doing a police ministry, going
to minister at a Youth Conference, teaching the Encounter
team members, going to the Zambian International Trade Fair to
evangelize, and more. On Sunday afternoon we do laundry. I fill a bucket
with hot water, and then scrub soap into each piece of clothing in
this bucket, and finally rinse in another bucket. We hang the clothes
on a line to dry.

It gets dark around 6:30pm (or 18:30 as they say) because it’s
winter here, so everyone is sure to be home by then for safety
reasons. The evening usually is spent with the family around the
house: the women cook, the boys make a fire to burn trash in the
backyard, and the men work on ministry things. We cook both in the
kitchen and over small coal fires outside. Around 7:30 we usually eat
dinner. Dinner normally consists of nshima with either chicken, beef,
fish, sausage, or eggs; rape boiled with tomatoes and onions; a sauce
of tomatoes and onions boiled in oil; slices of cheese; and pumpkin
leaves. We all gather around the table and eat together (9 of us). We
eat with our right hand—no utensils! They sometimes ask me to make
spaghetti for dinner  After dinner, the children clean up the dishes
then we all gather in the living room to watch the World Cup since it
is currently going on in South Africa. Tea is the common drink here,
so we usually sip it in the evenings to keep warm. (Remember, it’s winter and we came expecting 90 degree weather… oops!)
Before bed, we take baths (some take them in the morning, others at
night, since there are so many of us). To bathe, I fill a bucket with
hot water, place it in the bathtub, and stand in the tub while using
water from the bucket to wash. I have to dip my head in the bucket to
wash my hair! My husband thinks this is easy… let me assure you: it’s NOT!

We usually go to bed by 9pm since the days are so busy.

And then get up and do it all over again!