Debrief

Well it is hard to believe I am home. The re-adjusting has not been easy. It feels like the time has flown and I have to read my journals and look at my pictures to convince myself that I actually went. Mentally I have not been doing so well, I feel extremely uneasy being back here and in this culture, I miss Zambia and my kids who are there. I know God is faithful and will bring me through this time and I am incredibly thankful for the time I was able to spend there. Anyways this could be the last post for this blog but I hope to continue writing for a little while, whether I start another blog post or not. Thanks to all who continually read these, love you all. xo

Last Days In Choma

Hey guys so it will be really hard for me to describe these past few days, they have been really really full! Yesterday we worked with Scripture Union in Choma Day school and Choma Secondary school, both are highschools, and both went really well.
Choma Day School was very interesting, the group was there mainly to sit in on discussion that Scripture Union started so we got an idea of what we needed to do. The topic there  was called understanding love, and the students were given a free environment to discuss and ask questions about anything and I do mean anything. It went very well, the students were open and able to talk, we also had a girl named Seepo talk to them about how God views love, and what real love is. One thing we noticed about these two schools was their sincere desire to live righteously, it was just that before Scripture Union there was nowhere for them to go to ask queestions or learn about these topics because they kept it very hidden. Since AIDS became more of a problem here, the need to talk and educate has grown and it is such an honour to take part in doing so these past few days.
With Choma Secondary, it was Tyndale's turn to run the show. There were approximately 80 students that showed up so we split them up into 3 groups. The grade 8's  and 9's in one group, 10 and 11's in another and the grade 12's in another. Then it was basically our turn to talk, share testimony and get some discussion going about certain issues like self-esteem/self-worth, communication, integrity, sexual sin and relationships. Overall the feedback was that it was a successful day, and a lot of the student expressed their thanks for us being there.
I shared my testimony about struggling with sexual sin and self-worth and how broken relationships in the past took a toll on my relationship with God, this allowed the youth to open up and share some of their lives with us and ask questions. At the end a girl came up to me and thanked me for sharing because it helped her a lot, and that she learned a lot from us all being there and that is a Praise God moment for me lol
God is so good, it is so clear how he reaches others here and how others reach us. The people here have taught us all so much about life and its amazing how a missions trip changes you just as much as the people you are going to serve.
Then we went to the new church building and did some work all morning outside. There was a snake seen but just a little black one. The ladies did some gardening, and shoveling and the boys made cement, picked up rocks and dug a foundation. Afterwards, the peer educators came over for some volleyball and that has been the update up until this very moment :) Thank you all for your prayers, it is clear how God is working through this amazing trip.

I have been struggliing with major heat rash and sun burn beccause of the meds, my nose is florescent pink its kiind of unattractive, and painful and itchy so prayerswould be appreciated because I would like to sleep tonight. Sorry about the typos, this keyboard isnt working. Anyways yeah.

Finally today we did a childrens program this morning played some games and went over to the Pastor's house for lunch which was amazing! Today was our last day of planned ministry so this will be the last blog written until we get home, our next 3 days will be in Livingstone doing some things like a safari, and seeing Victoria Falls etc. Thank you so much for all of you who have been keeping up with this blog!

First Days in Choma

Ahh so what to say, I feel like so much has happened in the past couple of days. I travelled to Lusaka for a night and then Choma the next day with Lucky and Dorothy (our hosts and family members now :P) and it was so much fun, Leah and Ben went with us too. I didn't have to go on the overnight bus but we will all have to take the bus on our way back.
Choma is beautiful, colder than Mongu and more developed. Dorothy and Lucky's house, which we will be staying with is wonderful with hot showers and that will be the first shower I have had yet, other than the random sponge bath I did once last week. I feel like we are spoiled here at this house because we have hot water and a team member, Jeremy, who can cook amazingly well for us all. After drinking the water from the tap in Mongu I have been completely fine and Choma we are advised not too but we will see how it goes hahahaa. God is completely faithful in keeping me healthy.
We met the Scripture Union peer educators we will be working with for the rest of the week here apart from Saturday when we work with younger kids. We will be in schools getting the class involved in discussions such as sex and love, communications, and life decisions and really just walking alongside each other in our struggles
What I wanted to be careful of was not coming here and thinking I was the one coming to help people and I was the one treating people here lower than myself, but that we would serve one another as equals, and be brothers and sisters across the world. These people here are teaching me and changing me more than I could ever help them and it is amazing how much more they have got right about life compared to our culture. They are starving physical but spiritually and emotionally are filled with joy and pure trust and dependance on the Lord. I will never forget the joy on the kids faces when they saw us every time we pulled into the village or saw us on the streets. One day we were walking down the street and sudden shrieks of joy came from the bushes, as kids screamed from the bushes "Makua Makua!" which means white person in Silozi, And we turn around and dozens and dozens of kids chase us down and just want to shake our hands and hold our hands and walk beside us. In the village I think I had 3 kids holding each finger on my hand. The other amazing thing that happened so far was meeting my very good friend Karen, she is 18 and so  so so amazing. She is so gently, and godly and loving, we promised to write and I can't wait to keep this friendship going. Her father is Manwele the wise man we met who was head of the Village there. The church experience at the village was amazing. 260 people crammed into  one little church and my little 3 year old Esther came and found me and sat on my lap  for the service. I pressed her cheek against mine hugging her goodbye after as it could be the last time I would see her and she smiled her smile for me and held onto my skirt standing beside me until  her mom took her away so I could go. Her mother is beautiful too, Mondae is her name and she is 19 with another 7month old named Joy, wwhich I have mentioned prior.
Anyways tomorrow we teach in the school with our new friends here whom we have already sung with, joked with and prayed with. Yay I love Zambia. Hopefully Dorothy is going to find a baby orphanage for us to go to!

Ps. Love and miss you all, thank you so much those who have been praying and reading this blog!! xox

Getting In Contact!! Quick Update!

Hey all just to let you know because of limited internet access, I can't check emails, I can only blog and respond to facebook messages.! Sorry guys :( You can also comment on the posts I leave here so I can reply that way!

Last Few Days in Mongu and Sports Day with Kambule

Wow our time in Mongu has flown by, yesterday we did yard work and cleaned up around outside, and then went to a bonfire with kids from Kids Alive orphanage. It was a good night, lots of laughing and singing. We did a skit, and shared testimonies and songs and they taught us songs as well.

 Today I went to an orphanage with two other girls to visit some kids and then we had a sports day with the high school and when I say sports I mean volleyball and basketball. Volleyball is a huge thing here and I am very thankful because volleyball is my favourite, apart from soccer which they call football here hahaha. Last night we didn’t get back from the bonfire until 10ish and ate dinner at 10:30-11. We are all tired and I am pretty sure my nose is permanently sunburnt lol. No matter how much sunscreen I put on it, it still has pink spots all over it. Ahhh hahaha anyways tomorrow we are taking an overnight bus for 8 hours to Lusaka and then another bus for 5 hours to Choma which will be our home for the next week.  See ya!!!

 

PS. Omgoodness I FOUND CANDY. I have been writing in my journal and eating candy for the past 30 min so maybe I should stop ahhaahaha. Zambia has amazing bread and sugar  (sugar cane oh ya) and peanut butter but Canada has the best junk food I have to admit.

2^ND Ps. So all is well, I have been kept healthy however Ben our team leader has been sick for a few days now and has missed a lot of the trip L so prayers would be appreciated.  And hahha my skin is so itchy from the sun and the sand ahhaa, it will be so wierd to have clean feet. I wash them about 3-4 times a day but the dirt does not stay away! Ahhah kk peace!

Oh and currently it is Sunday morning, it is a little chilly this morning and the sun is out and the breeze is nice too. I can't believe we are already leaving Mongu today and headed to Choma, ahhhh I don't want to leave our house here it has become home. I am sure we will have a blast in Choma. Hopefully I will be able to stay for the whole service today and not be the fainting disaster I was last week hahha.

Back to the Village and Kamule School

Today we went back to the Village in the morning and handed out some dolls that Ben’s church had knitted. The kids were very greatful, we found the familiar faces that we had connected with over the few days we stayed there last week. Also at the village, I found Joy (mgamba) and Esther and their mother Mondae and had an amazing time. Laughing and playing with my daughter here Esther, who is actually 3 not 7 hahaha, and baby joy clung to me laughing and laughing. Their mother Mondae is beautiful and a wonderful mother, she is 19, so my age so we were able to talk with one another. My goal is to make it back here someday because I cant be so far from this family. They are so amazing and tears filled my eyes as Esther followed me smiling and laughing as I kept trying to explain I was leaving. She gave me a big wave and a laugh, even though she does not do either ever, it was amazing. I get to see them on Sunday for the last time until I don't know when. Gahhhhhhhhh.

This afternoon we went to another highschool, Kambule, we did a bible teaching, some testimony and listened to a few testimonies of the kids. We asked them to sing us a worship song, and a boy got up and sang so beautifully, when they all sang together, with all the harmonizing, we were surprised there were no instruments are involved. I was able to show Jared (a boy there) how to play guitar and talk with a lot of the teen girls about dating hahahaah. I am pretty sure they only know me as Sarah, 19, has a boyfriend and wants to marry in a couple years. ahhahaha They are such teenagers. They told me their dreams and ambitions, Priscilla told me she wanted to be a doctor and loves to play sports, sing and model. Claudia does modelling and singing. I just love them all so much.

Afterwards there were a lot of sports, volleyball and basketball and just talking to the kids/young adults and got to know them. They are all eager and loving and welcoming here.

Right now the team is just having fellowship, playing guitar and singing together. I always love this time of night, singing together and just being a family. We had a good dinner tonight and yeah.. Anyways I am being beckoned for our debrief tonight. So talk to you later!!

Mongu House

Sorry that I haven’t been updating as much. Yesterday was our day off, and myself and three of the other girls got our hair braided. It took 9 hours, and these ladies work so fast. Every single strand of our heads are braided. There is so much hair on my head I don’t even know what to do. They had to put extensions to make my hair thicker. Anyways there were lots of  laughs with the girls who were our age and a little older. There was one baby named joy that I had clung to my hip for the majority of the day. So cute, she just murmured and laughed so hard when I swung her around. She sat contently in my lap for a couple hours while she played with a comb and cooed when I stroked her cheeks. I loved it. My best friend that I have met, Karen, was the one who did my hair and we laughed and laughed together. We danced together all of  us ladies in the shelter and it was a great day. When we were done we all crammed into the SUV, all 11 of us in a 7 man car (this is not illegal here, seatbelts do not exist in most vehicles either) and we just laughed and the speed bumps here could take your head off after continually slamming them in the car.

Today it was our first day teaching in the schools with Scripture Union. We were in the classroom of grades 10,11 and 12. We were supposed to be teaching about HIV/AIDS but while we are here we are working with peer educators and we are not in that section of their program. However we did preach, worship and dance and sing with the class, and took them out to play games. We got to know one another and it is clear how God worked through this day. Amen

A prayer request would be for Ben, he is very sick and needs healing. He has been an amazing help to all of us, an amazing man of God and needs restoration of strength. Thanks.  :)