Untukmu Para Pengunjung

This morning I went to our local shop to buy: tea, coffee, sugar, milk and bread. The shop opens at 7:00am, so I got there by 7:15am. The hunt began. No coffee, so I got a instant coffee "substitute." Tea was no problem. No sugar, milk or bread in the shop (note: this is the only shop of its kind in the neighbourhood - the whole community uses it). But I met a lady I know and she heard a rumour that milk was coming, so to wait by the back door. I did so, and eventually a guy came in wheeling a cart of bags of milk. He saw me and told me I better take what I needed before the crowds saw the milk. I was thankful. Then I heard another rumour that bread was coming. So, I stationed myself near where they usually store it. There were lots of other people hovering about these shelves too. Eventually a big tray of fresh loaves came out and there was a mad scramble. It was insane. People were pushing, shoving, elbowing, grabbing at these loaves. It took about 30 seconds for the 50 loaves to be dispersed, and I was victorious - 2 for the McAlisters! I asked a few people about sugar. One guy said that he heard about one shop that has it in one of the wealthier neighbourhoods. Two guys gave me their addresses and suggested I come by their houses and check with them later on today. It's all so covert and mysterious. Grocery shopping is an interesting experience here!

Friday night we went to a Christmas concert. It was so nice! These kids from Waterfalls put on this amazing drama, and sang so exuberantly. It helped put us in the spirit a bit. Yesterday we spent most of the day at The Salvation Army's Territorial Thanksgiving Ingathering. It was less Christmasey, although we did sing "Silent Night" at about 2:00pm in the bright sunshine! Our territory raised over $53million to support its operating budget. Our territory is working hard to become self-sufficient. They also announced how many soldiers and junior soldiers had been enrolled in the last 6 months. I was amazed at one division (Harare East) - 347 senior soldiers and 101 junior soldiers. That's a lot of new Salvation Army members!