Camp LIFE Day 5: Abigail, dreams, and goodbyes.

Today was the last day of Camp LIFE, and thus it was very emotional. We started with some group time where I did the Blessing Time for Abigail, tried to redo Ruth, and then asked each of the girls their dream for when they are older. More on those later. First, I had to take Regina and Dorcus to the medical tent to continue their treatments. Then, Blessing said she was feeling sick. Dr. Guffey diagnosed her with strep throat, and gave her three medications that he said should knock it out in one dose. The medical student, Will, who was there for 2 weeks serving, said her lymph nodes and tonsils were huge. Poor thing!

Blessing Time with Abigail went very well. She is a single orphan, meaning she lives with her mom and has never met her dad. She has a younger sister. She went to school for grades 1-3, but then was taken out of school by her mother. She doesn’t know why. Sometimes her mother leaves the house and locks her out, which hurts her feelings. She eats twice a day. She told us that she really wants to return to school, and she asked Jesus into her heart today!

I then met with Ruth again, but didn’t make much more progress. She is very, very shy. I don’t think she really understands what we were trying to teach her this week. It was very frustrating to me, but I can only hope that she gets into a school and can continue to learn about God.

I then asked each of my girls what their dreams for the future are. They answered as follows –

Ruth wants to be a teacher to young children or a nurse when she grows up. She wants to work to help her family.

Gift’s first time hearing about Jesus was this week. Now she wants to be a pastor! She also wishes for her mother to stop drinking and going to the bars every day.

Dorcus wants to be a nurse.

Blessing wants to be a pilot.

Joyce wants to be a doctor!

Sylvia wants to teach young children.

Idah wants to teach any grade between 1-4.

Veronica wants to be a nurse and she told us that she really wants to go to school.

Regina also wants to be a nurse.

Abigail wants to be a teacher, and really wants to return to school.

I let the girls do my hair today. They did a terrible job, and their little fingers hurt! I don’t think I would do that again. However, it made them happy, even if many photos of me will be awful now. :P

We also shared communion with the kids today. It was a really powerful experience, mostly because the girls prayed over me again. In Zambia, when people pray over each other, they do not do it silently in their heads or one at a time. Instead, they all pray out loud at the same time, so you are covered in a sea of voices all praises Jesus and praying for you. To have 10 little girls who live in so much poverty pray over me was indescribable. I cried.

After lunch, and a big group session, we got to distribute “blessings” to the children. These are presents we give to each of them to bless them and contribute to their meager possessions. Each child got a large canvas tote bag, two Starburst candies, a rubber bracelet, a bandana, a t-shirt, a pack of rice with soy protein, an Evangicube, a sticker (they got one every day), and a large blanket. The blankets were in place of the fleece jackets they were supposed to get. Unfortunately, the fleece jackets are stuck in customs at the border right now. Every child will get their jacket eventually, but we gave them a blanket for now. The fleece jackets were sponsored by several different friends of mine; please know that your child or children will still get the jacket. We will have pictures to prove it! In the meantime, I told my girls that you gave them the blanket. They don’t know about the jackets at all. It will be an amazing surprise!

Right after we finished distributing the blessings, the song “Where Feet May Fail” starting playing over the speakers. I lost it. That song was my theme song for this trip, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders. Let me walk upon the waters wherever you will call me.”

God called me to Zambia to minister to 10 little girls. Without me paying to be there, those girls would not have got to go to camp. They received more food each day than they ever get to eat. They received clothing, food for home, medical attention, sweets that they never get to eat, love and attention, gifts, and memories that will last forever. They gave me and taught me so much, too. Mainly what God taught me was on Monday, when I realized that the words I spoke to those girls this week could not be my own. I was not good enough. I didn’t have the words. God did. I just had to release myself to him, and he brought those little girls into his kingdom. I had to be his vessel only; nothing more.

I cried so hard during the entire song of “Where Feet May Fail”. At least half of my girls cried with me because they knew we would have to leave each other. Gift, Dorcus, Idah, Ruth, and Veronica definitely cried. Blessing and Regina distracted themselves by playing ball. I’m not sure about Abigail, Joyce, and Sylvia. Dorcus was crying hardest of all. She had come in very closed off and hurting, and had transformed into a laughing, loving little girl because of Jesus’s effect on her life. It was amazing.

I am still in Zambia for 4 more days. I will be leaving Family Legacy tomorrow, but part of my heart will remain here. I will move on to Livingstone, Zambia, where I will get to stay in a hotel next to Victoria Falls for 3 days. I’ll be going on a “Cheetah Walk”, a sunset river cruise, and a safari in Botswana. I will be blogging about that here, so stay tuned.

Also stay tuned for some further ministry ideas that I have…

Camp LIFE Day 4: Bauleni, Chuwama, and the Tree of Life.

Today was a day that was almost as full as Monday, except it filled with me joy instead of disappointment in myself.

First, we went to the Legacy Academy school in Bauleni. I am forbidden to tell you any details because it is a surprise for each week of Camp LIFE. It is AMAZING. I cried uncontrollable tears of joy to know what these kids – who live in poverty that we can’t even imagine – will be getting for their education. As soon as they are sponsored into the school, their lives do a 180. They are literally transformed. I will share the pictures of Bauleni either in person or through email/Facebook messaging. Just let me know if you want to see them!

Then we went into the communities of the children who are attending the camp. I went to a place called Chuwama. All 10 of my kids are from there, though they lived in another part of the community from where I went. I met my kids and my Zambian partners there, and we proceeded into the community to allow the girls to share the gospel with the members of their community. They each got a turn to preach to a small group of adults in their own local language, with some help from my Zambian partners. There were several people who gave their life to Christ!

My girls did so, so well. They were bold, and several were actually eager to have a turn to talk. We were followed everywhere by hoards of children. There are so many children in Zambia, I can’t even explain or believe it. And for the most part, they are unsupervised. Even two year olds walk in the streets without adults. Younger babies can sometimes be found tied to the backs of 5 year olds, who have to take care of them. Babies are taking care of babies.

Seeing the dirt and trash all over the streets of Chuwama, and the marketeering in the streets, was eye opening. However, it was the number of children that truly stunned me. There are over 1 million orphaned children in Zambia because of disease. Only 5% of all of the children will graduate grade 12. That’s astonishing, and speaks to why Family Legacy is so needed here, and why what they are doing is so important. Their focus really is on education, and their 18 schools reflect that. They have a medical center in the works, and the children’s village, but really it is all about educating the kids so that the next generation can take over where Family Legacy leaves off.

The final thing we did today was tour the Tree of Life Children’s Village, where over 600 children live in homes that are sponsored by groups or families. Each home costs $110,000 to build and furnish, plus the cost of each child in the house. The children are sponsored individually once the house is completed.

I was sent to “Anna’s House”, where a group of 12 girls of all ages live with 2 house moms. The older girls were able to ask me questions and answer in English, and when the younger ones didn’t understand, they translated without much help from their house moms. Two little girls stuck out to me: Fatima and Veronica. Fatima was the smallest girl, and she had such a sweet smile. She wanted to hold my hand immediately, so I let her. Veronica had only been in Tree of Life for 4 weeks, and you could tell. While the other girls were excited and comfortable, she was withdrawn and shy. So, I took her in my other hand, and told her a bunch of times that she was welcome in the Tree of Life!

The girls from Anna’s House also showed me around their school, which is right next to their houses. They were most excited about their computer lab, and couldn’t wait to boot up their computers to show me their typing, graphic designs, and videos. Their computer lab was really cool, and they were learning terms that I don’t even know. :P This was also true of their business class!

It was an awesome, full day – even though it was hard to see so many impoverished, unsupervised, vulnerable children. I was so proud of my girls, so full of joy from seeing the school, and so amazed at how Family Legacy has saved over 600 children with the village. They have given those children new mothers, new brothers and sisters, and completely new lives. Of course, it is only through the fundraising they have done from people like those of you who sponsored me to come here to Zambia!

Camp LIFE Day 3: Joyce, Sylvia, Idah, Veronica, and Regina.

Today was an awesome day! We didn’t have any activities; we only had to go to big group time (songs and message from Greer), and small group time (lunch, outdoor games, Bible study, and Blessing Times). I got to do 5 Blessing Times today with 5 wonderful girls. For more on what is meant by “Blessing Time”, head over to my blog on Camp LIFE Day 2.

The day started with me giving a testimony to my girls about something that hurts me, so they can relate to me better. I talked about the death of my father-in-law, Pete; how lonely I was with Perry gone for a month; and how much it hurt to not be there and see him before he died. I also talked about how I don’t know if he was a Christian and how Perry is not a Christian. Of course, I cried in front of them, and they were so sweet. I told them that I was only able to be strong during that time because of God’s strength and salvation through Jesus. I read them the two verses that helped me through Pete’s death:

“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

The other awesome thing we did today was an exercise to teach the children gender equality. In Zambia, women are subservient to men. For example, they serve men meals and then go and eat in the kitchen. Family Legacy wants to change that. So, we had a group of boys led by my roommate, Brittany, come to our group at lunch. The boys served my girls their lunch, kneeling down to equal level with the girls to show that they are the same. Then, after they had all eaten, the girls laid hands on the boys and prayed over them to show respect. It was beautiful!

Other than that, the only thing to talk about is Blessing Time. Let’s start with Joyce. Joyce is sponsored, which means that someone from America pays for her to go to school through Family Legacy. She goes to the Legacy Academy Chuwama, and is in 2^nd grade. Her favorite subject is science. She is 9 years old, and her favorite Bible verse is John 14:15, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”

Joyce lives with her father, mother, older sister, and older brother. Her sister used to beat her when she was younger, and she lost the tip of her right index finger as a result. Her father drinks and regularly insults them, calling her brother insane. She gets scared when people fight with broken bottles.

Sylvia is also 9 years old. She used to attend a Zambian community school for grades 1-3, but no longer attends. She lives with her grandmother, though her parents are alive and all her siblings live with them. She lives there because she has to take care of her grandma, who has some sickness that causes her hands to swell. Sylvia has to do all the housework. She only gets to eat once, in the morning. She is scared that she will be beaten because she was when she was young. Her grandmother told her about Jesus, but today we prayed to accept Christ!

Idah is also a sponsored child who goes to Legacy Academy Chuwama. She has been at Camp LIFE 4 times. She is 13 years old, making her the oldest in our group, and she really likes that. She is only in grade 3, presumably because she needs to catch up on her education. She lives with her mom, dad, 5 older siblings, and 1 younger sibling. Her younger brother is also at Camp LIFE this week. She is very blessed, but she has an older sister who beats her.

Veronica has an adorable smile. She is 9 years old, and used to go to private school for grades 1-3, but her caregivers could no longer afford it. Her mother died when she was 5, and her father died when she was 4. She lives with her auntie, uncle, younger brother, a female cousin of her own age, and 3 older cousins. She very obviously loves her female cousin that is her own age. She only eats once or twice per day. Her cousins make fun of her to her aunt, which makes her feel scared and sad. She was able to explain the gospel of Christ today to me, and prayed her belief in Jesus!

Regina is an absolutely gorgeous little girl who is 10 years old. She used to go to a government school for grades 1-4, but doesn’t anymore. She understood some English, and was able to write her name! She has a mother, but her father left or died when she was very young (she doesn’t know where he went). She has 1 older brother that lives with her mother. She, however, has lived with her auntie from when she was very young, likely around 2 years old. She has 5 cousins that live with her, and one of the female cousins beats her. Regina is bold enough to tell her auntie that her cousin beats her, but then her cousin gets beat as punishment. Not a really good way to teach kids to stop hurting each other, if you ask me. Regina also accepted Christ today! These kids just soak up God’s word, and I know that their faith is genuine because I make them explain it to me before we pray. It’s so beautiful!

Tomorrow we will go into the Chuwama community where my girls live. The girls will be using a device called an “evangicube” to explain the gospel of Jesus to people in their community. I am both anxious and excited to see where these girls live, and totally excited to watch them spread the good news of Jesus. We will also be distributing food in the community. Later in the day, we will tour the Tree of Life Children’s Village, where Family Legacy houses over 600 vulnerable or orphaned children. I am so excited to see more of Family Legacy’s awesome ministry!

Camp LIFE Day 2: Ruth, Gift, Dorcas, and Blessing.

We had our first full day of camp today! It started out with a 4-way rotation before lunch where we first took “snaps” or photos of each of the kids and then each kid with my Zambian translator, Martha, and I. The photos will be used for sponsorships and for their Camp LIFE certificate.

Our next station was “Blessing Time”. Blessing time is where Martha and I meet with each kid individually to find out their family situation, and how we can pray for them. We also use the opportunity to talk to them about Jesus one-on-one. We actually spread Blessing Time throughout the week, and add on other activities during the Blessing Time.

For example, Family Legacy has a medical clinic during Camp LIFE where each child gets evaluated for the height, weight, body fat, and they are treated for any current ailments. All 10 of my girls were evaluated today during Blessing Time, and one of them has to return for treatments on Wednesday and Friday. I don’t know what is wrong because I couldn’t read the doctor’s writing, but they are treating her while she’s here! Another girl has bumps on her belly that she didn’t show to Dr. Brad Guffy, so we’re taking her back to be evaluated, too.

After Blessing Time, we got to play on the playground. Then, the kids got to do a coloring sheet. After rotations, we had lunch, and then large group time with singing and a message from Greer (President and Founder of Family Legacy) and his Zambian partner/translator, Teddy. They preached the gospel to the kids today, and showed them a video of the crucifixion and resurrection that was in Nyanja (Zambian language).

After that, we had small group time where I reiterated the message, and then more time for playing before the children left to return to their compounds for the night.

I have done 4 Blessing Times so far this week, which has led to the title of this blog. During my very first Blessing Time, I met with Ruth. I was nervous and she seemed terrified. She is a nine year old that is small enough to look five years old. She is a double orphan, meaning both of her parents have died. She lives with her paternal auntie, and her younger sister, Lillian. She said that she attends Catholic church, and that she gets three meals a day. I don’t believe her on the latter answer – not with her stunted growth. She had never attended school. I hope to meet with her again because I didn’t get her to open up very much.

It was the total opposite with my second child, Gift. She is a very enthusiastic, ready-to-learn young girl. She is 10 years old, and doesn’t even know when she was born. She is also a double orphan, and lives with her auntie and uncle, whom she calls mom and dad. In addition to her parents, she lost an older brother. She has two siblings and a cousin that she lives with. One of her other cousins passed away this week and she will have to go to their funeral. She lives in a two room house with 5 other people, and sleeps in the sitting room instead of the bedroom. She was very proud that her family owns their house rather than renting it. She has never gone to school, and she said she had never heard about God.

Here is the great thing about Gift: she is soaking up everything we tell her, and I think she’s understanding it. She prayed with us to receive Jesus, and she has prayed for us at meals since then. She answers our questions, and encourages others in our group to ask or answer questions. She is already on fire for Jesus after only 2 days!

Dorcus is another contrast. She was incredibly down today, repeatedly crying, and withdrawn from the group. When we tried to talk to her about it individually, she wouldn’t talk at first, so I asked her the “easy” questions about her home life. Like the other two girls, she is a double orphan who lives with her paternal auntie and uncle. She has two older sisters who are married. Her sisters mistreat her; when she goes to visit them in their homes, they chase her away. She is the only child living at home, and thus relies on her friends for company. She is 10 years old and has never been to school. She gets somewhere between 1-3 meals a day, and goes for prayers at a Pentecostal church. She is scared of gossiping too much, so I tried to tell her about forgiveness. She doesn’t know her own birthday.

The final little girl I have met with is Blessing. Blessing has been the biggest challenge so far. She has been to Camp LIFE for 5 years now, so she knows the lay of the land. This means that she thinks it is okay to run off by herself instead of staying with the group. When we go after her, she just runs further. However, at the same time, she craves affection. She hangs on me more than any of the other girls, which is difficult when I am trying to show them equal affection. She is sponsored, and thus goes to a Legacy Academy in her compound. She understands English quite well, and quoted her favorite verse to me in English: 1 Samuel 16:7.

Blessing lives with her parents and two older brothers. She had other siblings that died when she was small. Just because she isn’t an orphan doesn’t mean she’s not at risk, however. Her acting out and need for constant affection makes that obvious. Blessing has two scars on her face, and when I asked her about them, she said her auntie beats her up when she goes to visit her cousins. She has terrifying nightmares about her grandmother, who we think is a witch doctor. From what we could tell, her parents have talked about her grandmother killing her siblings, probably from witchcraft medicine. She doesn’t tell her parents about her auntie beating her up or her fears, and in fact she hides from her mother.

We tell the kids 4 things to do to access the power of God: Hear, Understand, Believe, and Speak. Blessing has already made a profession of faith in Jesus, but she needed some words of scripture to speak out loud to protect her from her nightmares. So I opened up my Bible, and God gave me Psalm 86:1-2,

“Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Guard my life, for I am faithful to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God.”

I taught Blessing to say, “Hear me, Lord. Guard my life. Save your servant.” I asked her to speak it out loud before she goes to sleep to protect her from her nightmares. I am praying that she listened to me, and that tomorrow she comes with a great story and no more tears!

Camp LIFE Day 1: Tour of Lusaka, Chiasa compound, meeting my girls, and learning more about Zambia

Today was such a full day! We started with a tour of the city of Lusaka. We saw the upscale parts – like a mall that could be in America and even has a Pizza Hut. We saw the completely bereft parts – like a trash city and a compound called Chiasa.

I’m not sure I can adequately describe the compound to you. First of all, there is trash everywhere in Zambia. There is literally no trash program. Once in a while, people will just pile up trash and burn it. It’s a huge problem.

Second, there are people everywhere. 30-50 people live in what would be the size of a 1 bedroom house here, though there are several small, separate apartments for each family (5-6 people would live in each tiny apartment). That means there is zero privacy, which means that when the adults want to have sex, they do it right in front of the children. Also, they estimate that 90% or more of the girls that we see at Camp LIFE have been raped…and we’re talking girls as young as 6 years old.

One of the shocking things in the compounds is the number of children versus the number of adults. Many of you have probably heard me say that there are 13 kids for every 1 adult, but you can’t appreciate what that means until you see them with their eyes. They were everywhere in Chiasa. One of the most shocking things was that there were girls who looked like they could have been as young as 6 years old that were carrying around babies on their backs as if they were adults. We called it babies carrying babies. By the way, because of the stunted growth due to malnutrition, those 6 year old could have been 11 years old, but I’m telling you that if they had been in America, you would have thought they were 6.

The most amazing thing about Chiasa, however, was the school that Family Legacy has opened there. The land and buildings that they have acquired for the school used to be a bar and functioning brothel. They have taken it over, cleaned and painted parts of it, and destroyed and rebuilt other parts with more plans for expansion in the future. They have taken a place where girls – and yes, I mean girls as young as 14 – would lie on beds in tiny rooms waiting for their next patron, and turned it into a functioning Christian school.

We got to meet a classroom of first graders. Now, keep in mind that all the children in the school are sponsored by Americans like Perry and I. We sponsor two girls at different Family Legacy schools (they have 18 total in Lusaka). When these children get sponsors, they could be 5 years old, they could be 11 years old, and they may have never been in school. So first graders may not be 6 years old – they could range from 6-8 years old.

Anyway, we walked into a classroom of first graders, and they immediately greeted us IN ENGLISH. They were adorable and smiling, as you can see below. Their classroom was amazing. It was a small room, yes, but they had the same posters on the wall and information on the white board that you would see in America. I don’t know why it shocked me, but to see them receiving an education just like our American kids was so fulfilling to me. I care a lot about education, and to know that these Zambian kids are learning science, math, English, business, everything they need to get a phenomenal job…it’s just so awesome what Family Legacy has been doing for these kids.

I don’t have any more words to describe what I saw and learned today around Lusaka. There was so much. I swear, if you haven’t travelled to a truly third world country and toured where they actually live, you need to go. It will change how you view the world. I didn’t believe that when people told me, but I can tell you tonight that words are not sufficient for what is actually happening here in Africa.

When we returned from Lusaka, our children were already lined up and waiting for us! My 10 girls are absolutely beautiful. Their names are (in order of how they are lined up below): Blessing, Ruth, Veronica, Regina, Gift, Sylvia, Abigail, Joyce (orange), Ida, and Dorcas. You will also see in the picture below my translator, Martha, in red, and at the back of the line of girls, our helper, Kamara.

We only had a couple of hours with the girls today, so it was difficult to get to know them. They are also kind of closed off because most of them have never been to Camp LIFE. The other problem I had was that I was nervous and closed off. Please be praying for me. I need to let God work through me, and the Devil is doing his very best to stop that. It’s been a struggle. I need to ask the hard questions about their family situations, if they have been raped, if they have problems. I am here to bring them to Jesus, but also to meet their needs.

Pray for the two girls that I met with individually today: Ruth and Gift. Ruth was nervous and completely closed off. I think she may have lied to me about her answers, and I want to meet with her again, as does Martha. Gift was much more open, but she had never heard about God before. I didn’t ask either of them the hard questions, and I need to. I hope to have time to meet with both of them again after I meet with the 8 other girls individually.

After the kids left, and we had dinner, we heard about the medical situation in Zambia. People, you don’t understand. I didn’t understand. It is completely dire. There are only 861 doctors in Zambia, a country with million people. To put that in perspective, there are 10,935 doctors in Alabama alone. Zambia has 3x more people than the state of Alabama. In the best hospital in the country, there are 75-80 patients per nurse.

Holly, the Vice President of Family Legacy, gave a testimony today about what she saw in the best hospital in Zambia. One of the little boys she sponsors in the Tree of Life children’s village got very sick from HIV, and while Family Legacy has a medical team on staff, they did not have the facilities to treat the boy. They are working on that by building the River of Life Medical Center. ;)

Anyway, Holly went to visit her boy, and found him in the isolation ward. This ward was filled with beds of children with communicable diseases that were lying on mattresses without sheets that were only 1 foot apart from each other. They had no IVs. They also had no food or water. The hospital doesn’t feed their patients. Can you believe that? While Holly’s boy was there, he watched another child die right in the bed in front of him. From what Holly and the Family Legacy medical staff say, he only needed an IV. Unfortunately, in the hospital, the Family Legacy doctor can’t treat the children.

There are kids lying in hospital wards dying because they can’t get something as simple as IV fluids. When they are close to death, flies land on them in anticipation. As the Family Legacy doctor said, “The flies know where to go.”

After the medical briefing, we had to watch a documentary made by an African from Sierra Leone called, “Living with AIDS”. It was filmed in 2005 in Zambia. The big message from that movie wasn’t about how many people contract HIV, how they are treated, how many die, etc. No, the big message was that the culture is getting in the way of treating the HIV epidemic.

They interviewed young men about whether or not they would use condoms. Almost all of them said, “no” because they like “skin to skin”. When asked about HIV, one of the men said he already had it, and so he didn’t care anymore. The filmmaker yelled at him about spreading HIV, and asked if he would appreciate it if his sisters got HIV from unprotected sex with a man who did not reveal that he was infected. The Zambian with HIV didn’t care; he said that if something like that happened, he would do nothing. He also said that he was already dying, so every night he gets drunk and has sex with “any girl”.

Two prostitutes were asked if they insisted on using condoms with their partners. They are paid less if they do so, so they said that they do not. When asked about HIV, they said that sex was the only way they could take care of themselves. They had no respect for their own bodies.

HIV is also a huge source of shame in Zambia. If a person has HIV, they are usually shunned by their family, and even told to kill themselves by their own siblings. So many people do not seek treatment for HIV or do not get the correct treatment because they hide their condition.

One of the things we were asked to teach our kids this week is about proper sexual conduct, and to teach them about HIV transmission. Part of Family Legacy’s mission with these children is to change their culture of promiscuity. One of the things we will do this week is allow our boys and girls to mingle in respectful ways. The boys will serve lunch to the girls, kneeling lower to the ground than the girls to take on a nontraditional role of respect. The girls will stand over the boys, and pray for them. We’re trying to teach them godly ways of respecting each other as well as meeting their needs and teaching them about Jesus.

Family Legacy’s mission goes so deeply that they are trying to take care of every part of the lives of these children. They have just recently started graduating kids to universities, and now they are planning to find ways to ensure that the kids have proper jobs. They take them from orphans living in the slums of Africa to fully qualified workers for their own country where they can also change Zambia.

Zambia Day 2: Worship, partnership, and stewardship

Today was excellent. It started off with a shower from a pot. We didn’t have hot water this morning, so my roommate, Brittany, had the brilliant idea to heat water on the stove. I did so, and the water was hot enough that I could dilute it with cold water. I had enough water to wash and condition my hair, and wash my whole body by using a cup to pour the water over myself. Unconventional, but I still felt spoiled because I had hot water! More on the being spoiled later.

Worship

 

We had church with the kids from the Tree of Life village. That is a children’s village that Family Legacy sponsors. It houses over 600 kids with 12 kids per house. Each house is built by sponsorship from an American family or organization. Without that sponsorship, the houses don’t get built, so if you want to give 12 orphans a home, think about sponsoring a house through Family Legacy: http://familylegacy.com/our-ministries/tree-of-life-childrens-village/

Worship with the 600 kids was indescribable, but what I couldn’t get over is their overwhelming JOY. These are kids that live in the village because they are orphans or at risk from terrible parenting situations. There are girls there who have lived with uncles who beat and rape them nightly. That’s probably the most extreme example, but these kids come from those places and just worship God with every piece of their body through dancing, laughing, shouting, and singing. Think of Vacation Bible School (VBS) but on steroids or speed!

I got to sit with three beautiful girls at church, pictured below in order from left to right: Pretty, Mary, and Juliet. Pretty is in 9^th grade and wants to be an accountant. Mary is in 7^th grade, and wants to be a nurse (her favorite subject is science). Juliet is in 4^th grade, and loves plant science, but doesn’t know what she wants to do yet. Her favorite colors are yellow and red.

We also got to shop at the market today, and I bought some wonderful gifts for my family. No spoilers. ;)

Partnership

During our time with the children at Camp LIFE, we work with two Zambian partners. One, the “evangelist”, acts as our translator when we do small group time with our 10 kids, and when we meet with the kids one on one. Some of the kids are not in school, so they do not speak English; their primary language is Nyanja. The other, the “apostle”, takes care of the other 9 kids when we have one on one time.

I got to meet my evangelist, Martha, today. She is a gorgeous woman who was saved when she was 14 years old at a youth rally. She goes to a Pentecostal church, but comes from a Catholic family. She had some trouble with her mother when she decided to go to the Pentecostal church, just like what happens with church transitions in America! They are okay now, though. She is 31 years old, and lives with her parents and two younger brothers in the Western part of Lusaka. Her birthday is the same day as my wedding anniversary: July 22! I am extremely excited to work with Martha to help understand the needs of the individual children in my group, and to help spread the gospel to them.

Stewardship

We also had some training today, and I wanted to share with you what Taylor – one of the Americans who lives and works in Zambia full-time – had to say about the wonderful accommodations we have here. We are very blessed to stay in what is equivalent to a 3-star hotel while we’re in Zambia. The “villas” – as they are called – were built by Family Legacy, and I want to explain why.

When Camp LIFE first started, the Americans like me were housed in local hotels that were definitely not 3-star accommodations. This went on until 2012, when the hotels started asking for a lot more money. In 2012, it cost $250,000 to house all the Americans for the 10 weeks of the various camps. For 2013, the hotels wanted more like $2 million for the whole summer. This was unacceptable to Family Legacy.

So, they decided to build their own facilities. When they were planning and praying about it, they realized that they could build something that could be used for more than just Camp LIFE. So, they looked at what was available in Zambia for accommodations, and realized that there were no hotels or convention centers for the middle- to upper-class. So, they decided to build the villas.

There are 5 villas, which have over 60 rooms, plus a big convention hall (that’s where we had church). Each villa also has a full kitchen and lounge area. They have been able to host not only Camp LIFE counselors like me, but also sports teams from Baylor University that ran a sports camp for the children in the village, and an architecture group from Oklahoma University that taught leadership classes to the village kids.

They have also hosted several companies and organizations in Zambia, including a Zambian Farmers organization. They had 48 people stay in the villas for 3 nights, and paid Family Legacy $29,000 for use of the rooms and convention hall.

So, yes, we are spoiled by these accommodations, but Taylor said that they think they can bring in $1.8-2 million per year in revenue by renting out the villas and convention hall – and that is just in money from African organizations; it doesn’t include any Western/American dollars. That money goes towards upkeep of the facilities, of course, but also helps feed the kids in the village and helps get them transported to their HIV clinics (examples from Taylor).

So, in the end, we’re not just getting spoiled by these facilities. They are actually an example of how Family Legacy is practicing good stewardship by ensuring they have another source of revenue to take care of the orphans of Zambia.

There are some amazing views from our villa, too!

Tomorrow we will have a tour of the city of Lusaka, and then I will get to meet my 10 kids!

In closing, here is the verse that Greer gave to us today to prepare us to meet our kids tomorrow:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…to comfort all who mourn.”

Isaiah 61:1-2

Day 1 in Zambia: Greeted by the happy faces of singing children

I am far too tired to write much today. I am at Camp LIFE in Zambia! We were greeted by beautiful singing children, all in grades 9-12. One observation of Zambia: It is incredibly dry, plus we're at almost 1 mile elevation so altitude is an issue. I'm drinking water like crazy!

I have videos of the kids singing, but they are far too large to upload on the limit bandwidth that I have. So here are some pictures to keep you happy until I can get to a better internet connection (Victoria Falls or Dubai):