Hey y’all! Coming at ya from Lusaka, Zambia in month 6 of the race. HOLY COW. I’m half way done. It’s hard to believe how quickly time is flying! Don’t get me wrong, the days are often long, but before I know it another week has passed.
This month my team and I are staying with a host family. Bishop Alick, his wife Mariam, their precious 1 month old daughter Nicole, and their niece Ethel. The family is incredibly welcoming and hospitable. Bishop Alick is the pastor of a local church – Eagle Nest. Through the church, we are spending our time doing various ministries throughout the week.
Monday and Tuesday we are teaching at a local school. I’m in a classroom full of feisty fifth graders, 25 to be exact. When we arrived our first day, I thought I would just be assisting the teacher. Let’s just say I did not expect the teacher to tell me to begin teaching and never come back! Our favorite classroom topics include basic English and Math lessons, creative drawings of various Bible stories and of course hangman! The kids are so well behaved and loving. It’s exhausting but totally worth it! We spend Wednesday evenings participating in a Bible Study at a friendly neighbor’s house. Thursday afternoons my team goes out into a local village where we do door to door ministry, praying for and uplifting several of the neighborhood families. Fridays we are off and Saturdays are spent doing door to door ministry as well. Sundays we have church, which is a 3.5 hour service packed full of awesome jams and worship songs. I’m loving the variety of ministries that this month has to offer!
Above all, one of the things that God has really been teaching me is about my spiritual gift of joy. I’ve had such an extremely blessed life growing up, and still do. God has really blessed me with an incredible, supportive family and an amazing group of close friends. There have been no real struggles or tragedies in my life thus far, and for that I am truly thankful. After several words of affirmation, I know that God is using me to spread my joy, that He has filled me up with, to pour into others. He’s using me to spread his unconditional love to everyone I meet and encourage and uplift those around me. God has taught me to love others well, and it’s something that I’m continually growing in. The Lord has blessed me with a seemingly positive and optimistic view on most things in life. I feel that it’s these God given life blessings that breed the true love and joy from deep within my heart.
Lastly, that leaves me with my fundraising update! With monthly donations coming in, I am about $2,500 short of being fully funded. I’m 78% of the way there! I can not thank my supporters enough! I have been truly touched and blessed by everyone’s generosity. I am beyond appreciative and it certainly has not gone unnoticed. Our final deadline is to be fully funded by March 1st. I pray that all who read this will prayerfully and openly consider helping me reach my last deadline. This is the home stretch, people! $2,500 and 5 more months to go. I know that with your help and generosity and God’s will, I can meet this deadline!
More updates coming soon 🙂 Love and missing everyone back at home!!
