Rest day. Time to relax with the Lord and sit in His presence. He told me to paint… I grabbed my brushes and paints and sat down in the shade on a bench next to the river. My friend Bex and I think that God will let us paint the sunsets from heaven one day. I decided I would practice. As I glided my paint brush over the sky one last time, I heard laughter from behind me. The bushes couldn’t possibly be giggling, so I called out, “who’s there?” Five kiddos emerged with timid smiles on their faces. I didn’t think they’d be able to speak English, as many people around here speak only a native language, but they surprised me! They were as sweet as can be. That timidity turned quickly into unending chatter and laughter. They painted while we talked, braided my hair, and called me beautiful Auntie Julie. Mary told me she wanted to help with my laundry whenever I needed to wash my clothes. They talked about their families and asked me about mine. They told me about their tutors at Love’s Door who teach them English and read them Bible stories. Love’s Door is the ministry we are working with this month in Zambia. They tutor and disciple kids in the nearby villages as well as the kids in the children’s home on site. The kids talked about their Aunties and Uncles (their teachers) with such joy! When it was time to go, I hugged them good-bye and told them I hoped to see them soon!
How sweet the Father’s Love! I came back to my tent having 5 new friends, some messy paints, and a refreshed spirit. The Lord gave me time to paint with Him and the invitation to paint with some of his little children. Little children that know more of His character because of those investing in them here at Love’s Door.
The people who live and work here are incredible. The atmosphere is light-hearted and fun loving. We’ve laughed so much since we’ve been here! When we got to the bus station in the city, the director of Love’s Door picked us up and we went to the ATM for local currency and to get SIM cards for our phones. My teammate Matt stayed in the van to watch our stuff. A woman about our age approached him and asked for money. He politely told her no and she stood there making conversation. Then she laughed and introduced herself as one of our hosts this month. I think it’s perfectly fitting that her name is Joy because she exudes joy like she’s made of the stuff! She’s a jokester and we never know when we can take her seriously. She told us when we meet the headman of a village we have to bow down to him and kiss his feet (not true). And she told us the day before we got here, a pig gave birth down by the river and a crocodile ate all of her babies (actually true & also terrifying as we are camping next to the river).
To give you a quick overview for the month, we’re in the bush tenting right next to the Zambezi River!
I actually love tenting because it makes me feel like I have my own room. And although it’s HOT here, it cools down in the evenings in time to crawl in our tents to sleep. We have running water, a toilet, sink, and shower (praise the Lord)! For the first week we didn’t have electricity because their solar panel was struck by lightning, but that got us in a good rhythm of going to bed early and not relying on technology. Plus this is the very reason we all packed headlamps! Our ministry this month has been a mix of manual labor and relational ministry. We’ve planted maiz, cleaned up the gardens on property, weeded a maiz field, painted buildings, had bible studies with local people in the village, had a few soccer matches with kids from the children’s home, and had a “girls day” with the girls from the children’s home where we played Mexican Train, ate popcorn, painted nails, and braided hair. During our rest time we hammock in the pavilion, read, play cards/dominos, and spend time together as a team. There are four other missionaries here for six months from Columbus, Ohio and have been wonderful to spend time with. There are 19 of us total with our two teams and Love’s Door staff. We have all 3 meals together each day in the pavilion at one big table! Some of my favorite memories of the month will be from gathering around the table.
A few of my favorite things from Zambia so far:
•being greeted by a medium-sized, floppy-eared dog when we stepped out of the van the first day. Finn is my favorite dog of the race so far! He reminds me so much of Malley and adds joy to every single day. He’ll always check on us during quiet time or come lay down by my feet if I’m by myself. He follows us when we go into the village and always brushes by us hoping to be loved on. He also herds the cattle and puts the pigs in their place.
•seeing HIPPOS in the river!! We were all like little children with sheer joy the first time we spotted one.
•time to hammock and journal as this week marks the halfway point of the race!! I appreciate rest & reflection now more than ever.
•Sunday morning church being right here at Love’s Door in the pavilion! I love the worship songs during church!
(Jan and Jordyn)
•Celebrating Ali’s Birthday! Here in Zambia you get water poured over your head multiple times a day on your birthday. Ali took it like a champ!
•Saturday Afternoon soccer matches: staff vs. kids from the children’s home … secretly one of the reasons it’s my favorite time of the week is because we get to wear shorts
•being called Auntie
•seeing a giraffe and a zebra on a taxi ride home from town on our off day- casual!
•sunsets over the Zambezi
•the night our whole team got out of our tents to look at the clear sky full of twinkling stars- did you know the stars are different depending on which hemisphere you’re in? News to me!
•falling asleep to the sound of rain
•doing laundry with Mary; I met her the day I was painting and she mentioned wanting to help me do laundry. The next day I was doing laundry at the pavilion in a bucket. Out of no where skips little Mary. “May I help you, Auntie Julie?”
I have to admit these last two months have been hard and getting to my emotions a bit. I’ve cried a lot. I’ve missed my family & my friends A LOT. I’ve felt really lonely even though I’m surrounded by people all the time. I’ve sat with the Lord in the brokenness I’ve seen in some of the African villages. I’ve prayed the kind of prayers where you shake your fist at the Lord and question him. I’ve sweat more these past 2 months than I ever have in my whole life. I’ve had a bacterial infection and tapeworms. I’ve stepped on a bunch of cockroaches, and man I hate that sound. My grandfather has been in the hospital most of this month and it makes me ache not to be home.
But I’ve also grown my friendship with the Lord seeing Him not just as Father, but also friend. I’ve sat with Him in the hard things instead of avoiding those subjects; I’ve learned brokenness precedes dependence. I’ve met wonderful people, grown so much more confident in evangelism and public speaking, memorized more of His promises, stepped up my prayer life because of the conviction that prayer has so much more power than I’ve ever given it credit for, realized you can relate to anyone simply from the standpoint of being human and having a heart that longs to know it’s creator, grown increasingly more aware of how the Lord uniquely pursues me each day, & have learned how valuable it is to find rest for your soul and not just your body. Plus I was able to stand up in front of church during “testimony time” and tell them that although this month has been making me wish I was home with my grandpa being sick, he’s now doing much better and will go home soon. There’s power in our prayers!
Prayer requests: for my grandfather’s health and recovery, my old teammate, Rachel, has Malaria and could use your prayers for recovery, for our strength and endurance as we push through the half way point of the race, that we seek to process and truly rest so at the end of the race we aren’t feeling burned out, and for Love’s Door and all the kids they serve here! Love and hugs to everyone at home! Thanks for being a part of this journey with me!!
