Blessings and Burials
The past few days have brought new opportunities to Paul and I. God sometimes puts us in situations we are not comfortable in but He will be glorified through it. This is one of those times.
It began Tuesday of last week. Our friend Mr Imwaka, the caretaker at the Youth Center, ask us if we could give him a ride to the hospital. His daughter had become very sick recently so they admitted her just a few days before. Mr Imwaka’s wife, Lumba, was there caring for her. He needed to take them some food. He said his daughter had stopped eating and had become very weak with a high fever. The doctors had not yet diagnosed her.
We had not yet been to the hospital in Mongu. I had hoped we wouldn’t have to but Mr Imwaka needed our help so of course we agreed. It’s difficult to describe the conditions there but they are doing the best they can. So as we walked into the ward of about 200 beds, I put my head down and just prayed for the patience and the hospital personnel. We finally got to the daughter’s bed. (We don’t know her name, they call her the daughter). She was so very thin. I had mentioned to someone about a month ago that I thought she was much to thin but they just said she was thin like her mother. Unfortunately I was right. We gave them the food, prayed, and said goodbye. But I had a feeling, something about the look in her eyes…
Then Friday, Mr Imwaka ask us to go again to take food to the hospital. We were busy doing something so we told him we could go in about an hour or so. He graciously said that would be fine. When we got there he told us that visiting hours were over and they might not allow him to enter. We apologized. We were not aware of the visiting hours. We let him out at the gate and he explained to the gate person he had food, thankfully, he let him through.
Lumba came out to the truck to tell us thank you and said the daughter was better. Mr Imwaka said they had diagnosed her and had begun treatment for meningitis. We didn’t think that sounded like good news but he was confident she was on the mend.
Sunday morning, 1:00 a.m., the hospital called and ask us to pick up Lumba and take her home, the daughter had passed away. Paul called a pastor friend of ours, Pastor Lubinda, who pastors the church Mr Imwaka attends, to go with him. Of course, Pastor Lubinda went with Paul.
Monday, we went to the Imwaka’s to bring food, love and prayers. In Zambia when someone dies, all the family comes to your house and you have to feed and house them until after the funeral. We drove up and people were everywhere. It is a great burden to have to care for so many plus how can you properly grieve? We gave Mr Imwaka the food and went into the house and I knelt down to Lumba, who was sitting motionless in floor, gave her a hug and prayed that God would just hold her in His arms. She looked at me but I am not sure she even saw me.
On the way back to the truck, Mr Imwaka ask us to pick the body up at the mortuary and take it to the graveyard Tuesday morning. We opened up the back of our truck and with the tailgate down, we could fit the coffin in the back. We had lots of first, first trip to the hospital, first Zambian burial, and now our first time delivering a body to its final resting place.
So this morning we arrived at the mortuary to pick up the body. The daughter’s body had not been prepared for burial. They were waiting for the family to arrive with the burial soap. Also the coffin was not there either. Someone asked us if we could go pick it up at the coffin shop. When we got back with the coffin strapped in, the family went inside the mortuary and began preparing “the daughter” for burial. Pastor Lubinda said the family always has to prepare the body. How hard that must be! I cannot imagine such a thing. Of course before during and after, there was lots of beautiful singing and then as you can imagine, lots of crying.
The women bring the coffin out and set it in our truck. Then they climbed in the back with her. As we traveled to the burial site, beautiful songs could be heard from the back. The grave yard is on Chisonga road just opposite the Youth Center. The children on that road, know our truck well. They run, waving their little hands, smiling ear to ear, yelling “hello, how are you”. Today, our mission was different. One of grief and sorrow for a young lady who had died way too soon. Someone said she was in her early 20’s.
We arrive at the graveyard and was asked to drive closer to the burial site. Our truck is not four-wheel drive and of course the ground is sand. At first we weren’t sure, but God pulled us right to it with no problem. We were so thankful.
The preacher spoke, prayers were said, songs sang. Of course all of it in Lozi so we didn’t know what was being said exactly. They opened one end of the coffin so the family could view the body. As Lumba tried to pass she had to have people on both sides of her to help her look at her childs face for the last time on earth. They closed the coffin, placed it in the ground, and began covering it with sand. They continued mounting the sand over the grave until it was built up a couple of feet. Then the women who had prepared the body began singing, knelt down around the mound, and began lovingly patting the sand until it was firm. It was so sweet and compassionate. The family had single silk long stem roses and the Pastor would call certain people to place one in the sand, standing up right on her grave. Like I said, we can’t really understand anything being said and all of a sudden we hear the Pastor call, “Bo Paul and Bo Velda”. The Imwaka’s had requested that we have the honor of putting a rose on the grave. How beautiful and humbling. After the funeral was over, Pastor Lubinda said that the Pastor told the family that the love we had shown them in this time of difficulty, was what love is all about. Wow, God, really? How awesome is He that He should use us to show His love to hurting people in such a way. We show the love of God to people and what do we receive, His love ten fold!!! Glory Be to God Forever!!
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