Gazed upon by angels in flight

Elder and Sister Wright, the Area Security Couple, have been trying to meet up with us in Zambia to do a security analysis of our chapels and boardings. We had it tentatively planned a few times but our crazy schedule kept interfering! The last cancellation, however, was due to a sobering event, being that the Wrights had to go immediately to Mozambique where Elder Nelson and his companions had been attacked by armed robbers . Elder Wright is retired from the FBI, and from anti-terrorism work, so he is very qualified do the security investigation and report of such a serious incident. And sister Wright's steady sincerity is a proportionate blessing in such a time.
Last Tuesday, Elder and Sister Wright finally made it to Zambia. They stayed with us for two days and nights in our boarding and we took them around to all of the boardings and chapels for inspections. The missionaries were quite impressed to have "the FBI" inspecting their boardings, so their places were in top shape and they all earned their candy bars! We think the Wrights enjoyed meeting the Elders. It was Elder Etefia's birthday so we took him a cake and he insisted on serving us some of it. We got quite a kick out of the Elders trying to be good little hosts, as we sat as welcomed visitors on the edge of their well-made beds, overhung with mosquito nets, in their living room. It was most delightful, and Rand finally got to have some of the chocolate cake that he always longingly watches me give away after the single candle is blown out (can't find candles) and the birthday song is sung.
A couple of the definitive recommendations the Wrights will make are that the Sisters be moved from their less-than-secure apartment (hurray, we've been petitioning for that!) and that our mission office should be supplied with a bolted-down safe, and with better window coverings. It was a good eye-opener being briefed by the Wrights for two full days on security precautions and common sense. Then, it was time to play. For a long overdue preparation day, Rand and I decided to take a couple of days to celebrate our anniversary, and we were happy to have the Wrights come along with us. On Thursday, we drove off with our packed lunches and suitcases for an 8 hour road trip to Livingstone Zambia where Victoria Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, showers forth its thunderous proof that God's splendor is upon African. The roads however, manifest none of the glory of God, or of man for that matter (horseback would have been easier), belying the fact that such roads could possibly lead to one of the world's wonders. But at last, our eyes beheld a huge plume of what appeared to be billowing smoke, so voluminous as to look like the smoke of Yellowstone's great fire. It was the up-spray of the great falls. By 3PM (1500 hrs Zambia time) we were checked into the lovely Zambezi Sun Hotel, situated at the edge of the falls. In spite of needing chiropractic care from the journey, we were on a river cruise within one half hour of arrival. A small jet boat carried us along the Zambezi river where elephants, giraffes, crocodiles, hippos, and a beautiful array of birds were in awesome view along the banks of the serenely flowing river. One would never guess that its gentle meander would, within a few hundred yards, abruptly plummet over a 5600ft wide cliff, falling from 262ft to 360ft, making it the biggest curtain of water in the world. The only visible sign that something so amazing lay just ahead was the splendid, rainbow-colored curtain of spray in the distance. Early the next morning, we saw it.

"The first impression was unmistakable; immense power, the raw energy unleashed when the entire Zambezi leaps wildly into a black two kilometer wide abyss. The scale is massive, the spectacle spellbinding and perpetually changing. The falls hiss and roar as if possessed, they rumble and crash like thunder. Vast clouds spew and billow out from the seething cauldron of its dark impenetrable depths. The moving water creates a magnetism that sucks you closer, so that you recoil in horror to quench a subliminal sacrificial urge." (Jumbo Williams, Zambezi, River of Africa. 1988)

This is how Livingstone, the famous explorer of Africa who first encountered the falls, described his first vision of "Mosi-0a-Tunya The Smoke That Thunders":

" Creeping with awe to the verge, I peered down into a large rent which had been made from bank to bank of the broad Zambezi,and saw that a stream of a thousand yards broad leaped down a hundred feet and then became suddenly compressed into a space of fifteen to twenty yards....the most wonderful sight I had witnessed in Africa. No one can imagine the beauty of the view from anything witnessed in England. It had never been seen before by European eyes, but scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels intheir flight" (Livingstone 1857)

And I include this description because of the ever-present rainbows, double rainbows, the most brilliant rainbows we've ever seen:

"At whatever part one looks, the rays of the sun shining on the descending masses of foam, form a double zone of prismatic colors,of whose depth and brilliancy no one who has only seen the faint tints of an ordinary rainbow can form any conception. Such are the Victoria Falls - One of, if not the most
transcendentally beautiful natural phenomenon on this side of Paradise" (F.C. Selous,1881)

Exorbitant spray drenches the surrounding area continuously, turning the craggy mountainsides and valleys into a thriving rain forest with foliage that is not known anywhere else in Africa except in that specific biosphere. It must be said that such a spectacle of nature can make you feel quite insignificant, but basically I just felt reverence and gratitude to be numbered among God's creations, one who has been remarkably blessed to see what billions of God's children have never been so fortunate to see. Overall, it is one of those rare sights and overall sensations which holds the power, when brought into recall, to pacify pain, to amend anguish and to fortify faith. Rand and I are thankful to have such a splendid memory.
After our morning on the path of the falls, we talked to a woman who said she had been on a marvelous day-safari to Chobe National Forest in Botswana. It had been arranged for them thru our hotel. After listening to her enrapturing tales, we started considering staying another day and taking that little safari. We went about our day, going to a traditional village which sponsors a large craft market, and then on to a crocodile farm where we had a remarkable tour guide. Did you know that if a crocodile looses a foot or part of its tail, it always heals itself? Their powerful antibiotic system does not allow for infection. These antibodies are stored in their fat and the fat is used in traditional African healings for their antibiotic powers. No wonder crocs can live to be 140. Because our guide told us that crocs don't attack on land (they are the fastest predators in water), Rand and Elder Wright got right next to a huge crocodile, who, though he was reputed to be harmless laying there on dry ground, suddenly whipped his head up, opened his massive tooth-filled mouth, and roared. Rand also roared (or kinda screamed), and jumped faster and higher than any senior missionary on record. (See attached photo) Elder Wright wasn't quite so flappable, but of course the FBI is trained for scary crocodile encounters.
By the end of that fun day, we had decided to turn off our phones and stay through Saturday to go on the day safari. We were thrilled that the Wrights were able to change their airline tickets (they flew back to Joburg out of Livingstone) and so we booked the safari and another night's hotel stay. Happy day!
My writing deadline is up now; mission life is calling. I will write more later about our Botswana wildlife safari and our wild ride home--the latter being the wildest of the two.
Love to you all.