November 1, 2005

  • Freedom

    October 26, 2005

     

    Freedom…….

     

    It doesn’t seem to matter where you live or what people group you are….have you noticed that everyone wants to be free? It must be something inherent in us. Maybe it starts when we are born… "a getting free" so to speak. The Word says that "He who the Son sets free is free indeed!" I’ll leave you chew on that awhile.

     

    Well, Zambia acquired its independence in 1964. Eleven years prior to that in 1953, Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Nyasaland (Malawi) and Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) were joined together to form the Central African Federation. Despite the Federation, Northern Rhodesia actually remained under the control of the British. Further, the administration of the Federation was so biased towards Southern Rhodesia that the revenues of its mines flowed there instead of to Britain. Thus, though the Federation made a lot of promises to Northern Rhodesia, only few were delivered. The Federation broke up in 1963 and Zambia gained its independence on October 24, 1964. Independence Day for the country of Zambia is still celebrated annually on October 24th and it was a very big day of celebration even here on the farm. Up on the hill, they had a soccer tournament (they call it football). They even had some prizes! Now watching them play soccer was interesting….no shin guards, some with cleats, some with just shoes and some with no shoes at all. Remember, the field of play is not astro turf or even grass but they play on a field of dirt and stone and rock….OUCH! Besides the soccer tourney, they had women cooking food over an open fire….a very large pot of "shema" and "rape" (like grits and spinach). When the soccer games were over, the school children did some traditional dances. Joanne and I took four of the older children from the orphanage (the four year olds) up to the hill to witness the celebrations. They walked around wide-eyed taking it all in.