MANGOS AND CLABBER MILK

THIS IS A WONDERFUL STORY BY BROTHER FRED.....

MANGOS AND CLABBER MILK

by Fred M. Allen

One day I was visiting with pastor David of Limulunga Baptist Church in Western Province in Zambia, and I asked him, “Are you planning anything special for your church for Christmas this year?” He said with a big smile, “Oh yes, we’re celebrating Christmas with MANGOS AND CLABBER MILK!” I knew that most people liked mangos, but clabber milk? He noticed my surprise and said further, “We have delicious mangos which get ripe this time of the year, and our ladies have learned how to make clabber milk which is our favorite!” I asked if they would be having music and he said, ‘Yes, we always have plenty of music when we get together, but this Christmas, we look forward to mangos and clabber milk!”

David was a wonderful Christian man who had worked for the government in the city until retirement when he moved back to his home area in Western Province, built a nice home there, and he and his wife, Margaret, had started a Bible study in their back yard. When I coordinated a week-long revival crusade in that area, 945 people became Christians in three towns including Limulunga. Eventually, God called Joy and me to serve in Western Province so we could help minister to all those people. David and Margaret were two of our team members who helped us in planting new churches and discipling new Christians. 

One day I was visiting with David and I asked where Margaret was. He said, “She has gone to the forest to fetch firewood to be used in cooking our food.” Shortly she appeared with an ax in one hand and a huge load of wood on her head. The load consisted of about 15 saplings, eight feet long, tied in a bundle. Later I watched how she laid the saplings flat on the ground, arranged like sun rays with the large ends touching where the fire was burning, and the pots and pans were cooking food. Gradually, she would slide each pole a few inches to keep the fire going, and I thought to myself, that is really clever. ! asked what they were planting now that the seasonal rains had started, and he said, “Well, tomorrow we are to plant rice in the flood plains where we have a small plot of land.“ I asked if I could help, and he said, ‘Sure, there is a shade tree nearby where you can sit and watch us work.” I said, “Oh, Brother David, I want to help you work.” I explained that I grew up on a farm in Texas and loved to work in the field. The next day I arrived with my work clothes on (No, I had no overalls), and they found an extra hoe and together we went to the field. David and I dug in the soil while Margaret planted the rice which we then covered over. After a few hours we were finished, and they were so grateful for my help. I returned home to rest my back and take a nap!

On another occasion, while I was visiting with them, they were roasting on the fire many ears of corn which they had just harvested. I asked, “So your corn is ready to harvest?” He said, “No, it needs a few more days to mature properly, but thieves have found our corn and are stealing it each night; so we decided to go ahead and harvest and roast it to be eaten later.” Once while preaching there, their pole and grass building was packed full as more and more people were being added to the church. Their offering that day was equal in American money to fifty cents. In a business meeting, they asked me to help them build a new permanent building. I agreed and said I do have some money available to buy supplies, but you will have to provide the labor. They agreed and we went to work, and in a few months, they completed the first permanent building owned by Baptists in Western Province, a cement block building with a sheet-iron roof. The roof was donated by churches in America. They even built a baptistry in the platform for baptizing new converts. David showed me the neighbor’s garden hose they used to fill the baptistry since they had no running water; then he said, “But after the baptism, we don’t waste the water; we have planted flowers all around the church so the water is used to water them.” I smiled. They had no benches or chairs so I found lumber along the highway which had been cut by hand by the villagers. They had dug a deep hole over which they placed a tree trunk. One worker dropped into the hole, the other balanced himself on the log being cut, and, with a cross-cut saw held vertically, they actually cut planks about 10 feet long to sell for a living. What hard work that must have been. We made small backless benches for the children and full-sized benches with backs for the adults which they really enjoyed.

Another time while visiting with David, he shared with me a sad story of a poor man who had lost his wife. He had no money for a coffin, so he used his only blanket to cover her body for burial. David learned of it and took one of his own blankets to keep him warm at night. I knew David had children and grandchildren and that all their blankets were needed, but because of his compassion, he gave one of them to the man. I told him that I had a small benevolence fund I could use to replace the blanket he gave away. We bought him a new one.

God often brings into our lives special people who become very close to us as brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you, Lord, for the special friendship we enjoyed with David and Margaret, and for their commitment to You in their retirement years. May we learn from their example of faithfulness to God, and may they really enjoy their mangos and clabber milk!