Mushingashi Church and Lubenda Ceremony

Jeremy and I have a weekly Bible study out at Mushingashi church. It is about a 35 minute drive from our village, and an hour bike ride. Jeremy occasionally will ride his bike out there, but for church or Bible study we usually drive. I have heard A LOT about the "bike trail" to Mushingashi. It is straight through the heart of the bush, on a tiny little, rigorous trail. I finally decided it was time for me to be the wife I've always wanted to be and take on this trail by bike with my husband. He was impressed and excited that I was going. I was pretty nervous, but actually ended up enjoying it so much. It was tough--really tough in some places. It is a really rough trail with lots of pot holes and brush. It was an amazing bushy sight. We crossed over a little stream that dips down in between two hills. There were a couple of women at the stream doing their laundry, and they greeted us, as their naked babies waved to us on the side of the trail, waiting for their clothes to be finished. We were in the middle of the forest the whole time, and I loved that. It was a successful ride, and we made it in an hour to Mushingashi. We were then greeted by our sweet, old friend, Ezron, one of the oldest church leaders. I have not met many that could hold more faith than he does. It was a great day!
On Monday, Jeremy and I will be going in to town to grocery shop and run our errands. We will post pictures then of our experience at the Lubenda Ceremony this past week. The Lubenda Ceremony is an annual celebration of the Chief, also a time where the Kaonde pay their taxes. Chief Mumena and his wife sit up on an elevated throne, and the villagers come forward with gifts and dancing to present to him. Most ceremonies in Zambia can get out of control quickly. There is usually a lot of drunkenness and inappropriate behavior. However, Cheif Mumena is a Christian and is trying to change all of that to good things with keeping up tradition. It was a strange experience. It wasn't bad, just different. It reminded me of a county fair, but African style. People were selling food and crafts. Most of the people were huddled around watching those who were celebrating Chief Mumena through dance, speeches or a stunt where a man climbed up two tall trees. That is hard to describe, but we will show pictures on Monday! Needless to say, it was another avenue to get to know this culture better and to support our Chief.