Place:
Leaving Pastor Blessing we spent a weekend at lovely Lake Malawi -> tented for a night a Maboya Camp -> 16 hour bus ride to Lusaka -> stopping half way to walk across the border -> greeted by Pastor Davies -> drove 20 minutes -> 12 am arrived at Aunt Jackie’s house
The more time I spend in Africa, the more I fall in love with it!
We are living on a gorgeous piece of land; there are wide open fields and even a small pond!
Our ministry is in a different location then where we are living this month. So each morning we take about a 30 minute van ride off the paved roads onto a compound. We take this route with our ministry host Pastor Davies. When we arrive at the God at Work for Kids Orphanage we are greeted by beautiful young African smiles… and also some screaming babies who have never encountered white people before and are terrified of us. Ha! The place is small but Pastor definitely works with what he has. There are about 50 orphans in his home.
People:
Where we live:
You know those books about those women who leave everything they have in America to move to a different country to serve God?? A few years back I read the book, Kisses from Katie and was moved to tears by her radical expression of faith and obedience by moving to Uganda to adopt orphans.
Well, it’s official; I met one of these ‘crazy ladies’. I don’t have the story in full detail but I know Aunt Jackie left everything in America and moved to Zambia to work with orphans. (I’m sure a blog will come soon with her awesome testimony and how she came here!)
We woke up the morning after we arrived at her home to 13 young men cooking, cleaning, cutting grass and selling plants/ chickens. As time progresses I am learning each one of the guys stories. It’s absolutely awesome how they came to Aunt Jackie and are now sponsored and able to learn various life skills to be huge contributors in society. Some of the guys want to be in politics, while others want to be pastors; it’s safe to say that between the 13 of them, they cover a wide spectrum of occupations! And my favorite part is that each one of them have honor, integrity and know who they are in Christ. They are strong and goofy and fun and smart- Ek! To see how one person’s obedience has changed so many lives and will change so many more, gives me goose bumps! I am quickly learning that in order to really cause life change, you have to be at least a little bit crazy!
Where we work:
There are women who work at the orphanage and they are wonderful. Yesterday we got a private concert from the woman’s choir! It’s funny and awesome to see them move and dance to the lyrics while we have no clue what they mean until they translate it after the song. Like yesterday, during one song they pretended to have large guns and made shooting sounds- then they informed us they were armored through Christ and were shooting the Devil! Needless to say, it’s been an adventure!
Pastor Davies has never hosted a World Race team before so we are the first ones here. He is very friendly and has a huge heart. It’s also a new experience for me introducing him to the ways and things of the World Race life- So I am learning a lot!
Process:
Like last month, each day looks completely different. In the mornings we teach some of the children who have not yet been approved to attend school. Some of my teammates are working with Pastor in setting up his books and finances also. In the afternoons we are teaching Bible studies for the women or community members. And of course we come home to Jackie and 13 awesome brothers who prepare dinner, play games with us and show us some new dance moves!
Personally, I am reading 1 Peter. My teammates and I are really challenging each other to wake up early, get in the word and exercise- sweet!
Prayer:
-thanks for joining me in prayer for these past months-
-praise God for health, team unity
-praise God for safe travels to Zambia
-praise God for the two visitors we have this month from America
-pray for Jackie. She is a saint.
-pray for the health of her mother in America
-Pray for the Lord to bless her with finances for the boys
-pray for Pastor Davies
-pray for his ministry to be blessed
-pray for him to learn the accounting aspects quickly and efficiently
-praise God for the women who surround me, who challenge me, who encourage me and who call me to look more Christlike daily
Blessings
