The Johnny Appleseed of Bibles

Naturally when I thought of this title I had to do a bit of research on Johnny Appleseed. Comparing my Dad with Johnny does hold up to a point. Both men are dedicated to God. Both have product to sell. Both will sell on credit and are not too concerned if they don't get paid, neither are too concerned about profits. Neither care too much about the latest fashion, although Dad doesn't wear rags like Johnny.

The comparison does break down from here on out. Johnny sold apple trees to be used to grow apples to make into cider. Dad would prefer you didn't get drunk. The crop Dad is after is spiritual growth in peoples' lives. For a while the Kaonde Bible was out of print. Within the last year they have become available again and Dad has sold somewhere between 1,800-2,000 Bibles through the house here.

A pastor getting more Bibles

That statement is somewhat misleading. A good number of those Bibles have gone with him to various churches where he has TEE (Theological Education by Extension) classes. Often he will leave Bibles and other Christian literature with either the pastor, an elder or anyone trustworthy who wants to sell, with payment to be collected after sales.  The typical profit for these rural salesmen is about a buck per Bible and Dad makes nothing. Not only does he take out Bibles but some of these guys stop by if they happen to come into town (while he's working at grading students papers) to settle accounts and get more literature. The vast majority of Bibles sold have in fact been sold by other people.

Every year our denomination here has a big district wide conference that starts on Thursday and ends Sunday afternoon. Because most people don't have cars, the churches are built within walking distance so that there may be a church every 10 miles.(That's not what I would consider walking distance but still) So once a year people from all the churches in the district will come to one location and have a time of worship and fellowship. The meetings are held in the dry season once the crop is in, and there is no chance of rain. They build a large enclosure out of elephant grass and each person is responsible for their seating. Hymnals are like Bibles in that you bring your own. At least the one we went to last weekend, outside of the sanctuary enclosure is a courtyard and then small grass rooms that make the walls surrounding the court yard, where people sleep. Each church has a room for men and women and each church supplies their own food.

The main church meeting

The elder in the area where we went asked Dad to bring literature so we sold books off planks set up behind the truck. It was only the second time he had ever done that. All the small books that the Zambian Church prints were a buck or less but, in the rural area we were in it was enough that people had to think about it before buying. We were selling titles like Preparing youth programs, Teaching with power and Leadership in your local church. The books are made in the same way as the CBC phone directory and run about 55 pages. Most were for sale in Kaonde and English. One older lady was looking for one that was out of print to give someone-she had read all we had. Not to worry, Mom led a ladies Bible study and they wanted her notes.

The cooking area with sleeping rooms behind

That has become a book in two languages that is in the proof reading stage with a second in development. I also got to meet the local chief who was an elder in the Solwezi English service church before becoming chief. He was wearing cowboy boots and it turned out has been to Texas 5 times, I think speaking at a christian college and churches but he didn't say. He said they were his favorite shoes-a really sharp and friendly man. Unfortunately he was gone before I thought to ask to take a picture with him.