Raindrops, Keep falling on my Head!

Raindrops, Keep Falling on My Head

 Yes, I meant to put a comma in there.  I think the song is written, "Raindrops keep falling on my head."   But yesterday I found myself saying to the few drops that came from the sky for about 4 minutes:  "Raindrops,   keep falling on my head!"

 Zambians are so use to having this extended dry season, not expecting the rains until November, that they really don't want the rain to come until them.  For us, we are so use to having rain almost every week.  So yesterday, as Kimberly and I were driving along, it started to sprinkle.  We got so excited and joyful.  "Raindrops,  keep falling on my head."

 We are preparing the fields for the rains.  We have 2 large fields that have never been cultivated or planted.  Before the farming students can plant the seeds, the ground has to be "ripped" to "break the pan."  We are teaching conservation farming which involves no plowing.  But for the first time, it has to be done with a ripper.

 In order to prepare for our friend to come over with his ripper, we have to be able to make sure that there are no bushes, big holes, or other things that will cause damage to the tractor as it pulls the ripper. 

 It was reluctantly agreed, by those involved with this project, that we would have to burn the grass.   It is not the first choice since all that grass that gets burned is really part of the material God provides to enrich the soil, can be used as mulch, etc.  But in this case, due to size, need for ripping, and nature of the land, it was agreed to burn.

 They decided to do one field at a time.  It was to be done in the evening since that is when the wind usually dies down.  David VanKliken, a missionary with Partners Worldwide and here for 3 months, went and informed the neighbor that we would be burning. 

 On the night of the burning, I was home making dinner.  I didn't understand why the guys were taking so long.  Well, it turned out that our "controlled" burn became an "uncontrolled" burn.  David had called Benedict and said, "Pray, pray, pray, this thing is out of control." 

 The winds changed just at the right time, and actually it ended up burning the 2 fields at the same time.  It didn't do any damage to anything important.  We are almost read to rip and soon we really will be saying, "Raindrops,   Keep falling on my head!!!"