This is my first time hosting a blog, so bear with me as I work out the kinks.
Tomorrow I leave for Zambia, Africa via Dubai. Over two years ago, as I was reading David Platt's book "Radical", I was called to missions work. My husband, Perry, had recently acquired a client in the form of Family Legacy Missions International, and I knew I was called to work with them.
Family Legacy focuses on missions work in Zambia, Africa. Zambia is not torn up by cultural and war conflicts, like many African countries, but they have one of the largest orphan problems: there are 13 children for every 1 adult. This is due to HIV/AIDS; Zambia has the 7th highest HIV/AIDS death rate in the world.
Family Legacy has been active for over 15 years. They have the largest children village in Africa, where 12 children live together in a house with a Zambian house mother. They also have a child sponsorship program that helps feed, clothe, and educate orphaned and at-risk children. Perry and I sponsor 2 girls: Rachael and Leah (surprisingly, they are not related).
I will be working with their Camp LIFE program. Every summer for 7 weeks, Family Legacy hosts a day camp for orphaned and at-risk children. For every 1 American or Canadian adult that goes to Zambia, 10 children get to go to the camp. There, we spend one-on-one time with each of them to tell them about Jesus, and we play with them in groups. The goal is to give them some of the first positive adult attention they have ever received, to tell them about Jesus, and to let them have fun and be kids for a week. We also feed and clothe the kids.
Thousands of children get to attend a week of Camp LIFE each year due to Family Legacy, and hundreds of Americans get to experience missions work. To read more about Family Legacy and explore their opportunities for donations and volunteer work, go here: http://familylegacy.com/.
The trip to Zambia takes a long time. I will fly on a 15 hour flight from Dallas to Dubai, have a 21 hour layover in Dubai, and then take a 7 hour flight to Lusaka, Zambia. After Camp LIFE, I am doing some tourism in Livingstone, Zambia at Victoria Falls. I will be going on a Zambezi River cruise, a safari in Botswana, and experience "walking with the cheetahs".
The goal of this trip, however, is to follow the Great Commission as outlined in Matthew 28:16-20. My inspirational verse for this trip is Isaiah 6:8 -
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Love this. LOVE. God bless, Jam-sister :)
ReplyDeleteI cried when I read your Here I am Send Me, I remember being at FBC and listening to some missionaries saying that same thing, thinking I wanted to be a missionary. Then it was pronounced to me by a very special friend whom I shared this with days later, that I already was sent to be a MOM. I took that very serious and am SO PROUD that when you heard the call you took it serious too. God be with you and bless you on your travels.
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