This photo is not the Christmas pageant, but it was a farewell dinner for the Louthans (standing). They will be enjoying Christmas this year in their home, in Moab, Utah. The other two couples, Skidmores, Humpherys were invited by the Lyles on the right to the "City of Hope" school for a Christmas Pageant.
The school is about 10 km south of Lusaka. It now has an enrollment of close to 900 students. I believe these round buildings are used for dorms for the students that live on campus (most do not). Some were also used as classrooms.
Elder and Sister Lyle are working with the school to improve their water supply. Since they started and gave them more vision for growing their own food, a larger portion of their 35 acres is now under cultivation. They feed the children one meal a day. Their goal is to be able to serve two meals a day.
This are the new classrooms that have just been completed.
The school is Catholic and is mostly supported by citizens of Czech Republic.
Elder Lyle was given a warm welcome, as we all were.
The program was full and I thought, oh, this chair is going to get mighty hard.
I couldn't have been more wrong. The program was utterly delightful and moved along quickly without a hitch.
The hall was very festive with balloons that said "happy 80th and 90th birthday" on them.
(Probably not a big seller).
The two choral groups did a great job and you could see the words of each song had great meaning to them. The red shirts all said, "Hope for hearts, spaghetti dinner."
The Christmas story was beautifully told from the arrival of Gabriel, the innkeeper, and arrival of heavenly angels ...
The shepards couldn't find their sheep so each brought in a bleating goat on his shoulders.
The star arrived and was placed in the heavens ...
Three very wise men followed it, bearing gifts.
Mary took a turn and showed off baby Jesus. Apparently, this baby Jesus is a girl and had the same role this year. She looked like she had already been to Egypt and back.
The "drummer boy" was a real hit as he never missed a beat walking in banging on his plastic milk carton. Here he is on his way out.
Afterwards, everyone posed for photos.
The all of a sudden a sort of strange, white, Santa appeared.
Everybody loved him.
These shepherds had lost their goats but were happy to pose for me.
I was finally in the Christmas spirit. The best thing was that I was invited to attend next year.
I will be there and I will find a seat where I can watch the goats a little closer.
Merry Christmas to all!
