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Banachimbusa (Our Aunties)
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Our “Aunties”, as we affectionately call them, are a group of women in a local township. They are all part of a poultry association that they formed years ago. Back in 2003 we were asked to come and teach this group of women about HIV/AIDS. We arranged a five week long series of lessons and really enjoyed our time with them.
What you don’t realize is that I had been praying for the Lord to give me a relationship with a banachimbusa. That would be a Zambian woman who is a professional at training young ladies how to be proper Zambian wives. I knew that learning their teachings would be the best way to learn about the culture – bar none. After the second session with these women, I was pulled aside and told that 25 of the 40 women were banafimbusa! I was ecstatic!
By the end of our five weeks we were all friends. Then the eldest woman spoke up and said, “We trust you and want to teach you what we teach.” I agreed to go through the teachings with the promise that I would never publish or document what I learned. I have kept that promise to this day. After going through their teachings, I felt led by the Lord to discuss a few of the things they do and how they are not glorifying to God. I was terrified to raise these issues, but knew I had to do it.
After listing and discussing these things, there was absolute quiet. Soon, the eldest woman spoke. She said, “You are right, we don’t know the Bible to know that what we are teaching is wrong. Would you continue coming back to teach us?” It was at that point that we began a twice-monthly Bible study with these wonderful women.
The Bible studies continued for three and a half years with several of the women coming to know the Lord as their Savior. What a joy it was to teach them and to continually learn from them too. Times have changed and various projects have moved ahead that presently prevent us from continuing this Bible study. We are hopeful that one day it will be started once again – in the Lord’s timing and with His leading.
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