Birthday celebration, deities and caterpillars

To celebrate Ruth's 20th, on Saturday we drove an hour north past the airport in a rented car to visit Chaminuka. This 10,000 acre lodge was designed by Danae and Andrew Sardanis in a miombe woodland, savannah with a wetland area. We went on a drive to see the wildlife (all 6), a birdwalk (4 of us), a boat (5 of us), horseback riding (3 of us), swimming (3 of us), and ate a delicious buffet lunch complete with a group of waiters singing "Happy Birthday to Ruthie." Christopher returned to the buffet for ribs three times, even after the cake had been served. John who is an expert flan maker having had to create this for a Spanish class at ETHS, declared that the creme brulee was "pretty good."
On Sunday we drove to northwest Lusaka to the Matero area where Jim preached at a CCAP partner church. Miriam, Jim and I were the only nonZambians there. Several choirs sang and there were about 12 different offerings collected for different purposes; by region of the neighborhood of which there were about eight, from women, from men, from youth, from the choirs, from pastors, and from guests. Following the collections the totals were calculated and the amount collected in each bucket was read out publically. Jim preached from Acts 16 about the slave girl, Paul and Silas being imprisoned, the earthquake and the jailer coming to faith.
Monday I attended my first class at FENZA the Catholic Faith and Encounter Center. I learned there is a traditional god of earthquakes, Makumba, as well as ifibanda, evil spirits whose powers are taken away by Christians. I wonder about the average African in the pew and their interpretation of the events in Acts where we read about earthquakes and spirits of fortunetelling. I also learned about Musonda, the forest god connected to caterpillars. In November there is a very delicious kind of caterpillars with spines ("not the yellow ones"), which can be found in the forests to the north of Lusaka. It is a lucrative business for those who collect and sell them. As you pick the caterpillars from the branches it is easy to find after sometime that you have become lost and you are at risk of perishing or being eaten by wild animals. To prevent these calamities and for protection before leaving for the hunt the chief must perform a ritual to the god, Musonda to keep the caterpillar hunters safe.
Today I learned if you are offerred something to eat such as caterpillars it is OK to refuse but you must eat something unless you are truly sick or it will be offensive to your host who has prepared the meal for you. You may also be given a care package since the meal was prepared for you and is considered yours. When someone comes to your home for a meal they may request a care package since the meal was prepared for them and is theirs.