The Lusaka Zone of missionaries helped put on a Family Fun Day with the District.
First came the heavy blow-up castle with Elders Ariho and Speakman.
Elder Johnson had his badge, CTR t-shirt and a 4, 3 haircut.
That is a "4 on the top and 3 on the sides" rather than shaved.
(I think that is the number on the clipper setting they tell the barber.)
I think Elder Stewart just found a place to be alone in a crowd.
It was Sister Erickson's first Saturday in Zambia.
Sisters Skidmore, Lyle and Louthan found the tomatoes needed slicing.
Soccer started and never quit all day.
Just arrived, Pres Erickson needed some photos to send his kids proof that he was really there.
The castle was a big hit with shoes everywhere.
Too old for soccer the ol' boys talked about the glory days.
Basketball was minimal as a tournament took most of our floor time. I was told that this is the only wooden floor in all of Zambia.
The Sisters found a spot to wash and cut up lettuce.
The Elders brought order to the castle. Do you think they could queue up closer together?
The girls wanted their own side, as the boys were too rough.
Just a little longer and I get to bounce too.
There was plenty of food. PLENTY!
It was just sometimes someone had to be last.
This scene might look familiar.
I suppose the moral for me is that it is easy to take a photo and make it say whatever you want.
What was the real story in this case? Everyone had 2nds and 3rds and I watched kids put two and three pop bottles in their bags after they had finished lunch. That doesn't mean they weren't hungry or they had a dinner waiting for them that night. The pop could be sold for 3 or 4 hours adult wages. We haven't seen poverty to the point of starvation or desperate hunger. There are too many charity groups around. That doesn't mean that all the donated money makes it to the real need. That is one area the Church can be proud of. It might not be 100 percent of money donated reaching the need, but close to it. If there is any overhead at all it is for shipping and incidentals, no salaries or governing board expenses.
Sister Skidmore is washing more tomatoes in the city water, which is fine to drink. In outlying areas or smaller cities I would pass up the hose.
As you can see there is order and plenty of food toward the end of the day.
Some of the mothers just chatted while the kids played.
One of the most fun events was unplugging the air and playing while the castle collapsed and then inflating it again.
Groups chatted everywhere while the sporting activities were taking place.
The ice cream man showed up. In fact there were three vendors there before we finished for the day.
I wore my California shirt proudly.
Volleyball was popular.
Soccer was king. There was a single elimination for the seven branches.
It took a sudden death goal kicks to determine the final winner.
Lusaka Branch won, just barely, once again and the other teams were certain they had "ringers" on their church ball team.
So "Church Ball" is alive and well all over the world.
