Back to Mongu

I forgot to mention that while we were in the village we taught some kids in the classroom some things and did some games with them from Canada. The singing the kids did for us was amazing. It was so weird to see the little girls walk around with babies on their backs. haha.


Anyways we are back in Mongu, yesterday we played volleyball with a few men from Scripture Union, it was so much fun and today it is our volley ball tournament. Tomorrow we are running sunday school at one of the church, Ashley and I are leading some worship songs and we are sharing testimony and teachings, as well as during the main service and the youth service following. We are doing a lot of stuff and our days are so filled. I am writing about 15 pages a day in my journal just explaining what we do and my thoughts and such.


I got up for a run this morning and it was so beautiful, the flood plains are right there and the sun barely up, and beauty all around. People are smiling greeting me, children laughing, following me wanting to touch my white skin. lol We got some ladies to come and do laundry, (we paid them dont worry) and we have tried to get some rest in.

The Village

Oh boy what could I possibly say about the village. We stayed in mud huts and the hospitality was amazing. Everyone in the village made us so much food and they have nothing. It was so touching to see the love they were willing to show us, The village was a small area where kids could go to school. There were 313 kids there, most under the age of 10. It was so amazing. When we came in, it was like a dream for many of it. Driving in the little kids swarmed the car and shook all of our hands when we got out. We loved them so much, we got to hold babies and play with the kids for two days. We worshipped with them, and I wrote a song there and taught it to them. They do not speak English really so it was difficult but it did not even seem to make a difference, we were connected at heart. So much fun rolling around. It was very very sandy so we were coated in dirt and the teams feet were black and the dirt did NOT come off. There was an outdoor bathroom, which is a hole in the ground and the team had alot of fun with thats, a lot of joking around. Myself and Hilary had so much fun in the dark laughing our heads off as I screamed at every movement and talking in wierd accents so overtired. hahah Anyways more pictures to come hopefully but we were introduced to Manwele and his wife Mary. Walking with Manwele was honestly like walking with Jesus. I am not lying. He would hold my hand and tell me all he knew and he genuinely loved us and was an incredible man of God. I want to say more but I can't ask me later bye!
So much anxiety but God has provided laughter everyday to scare it away!
BYE
miss you guys!

Mongu

We arrived in Mongu after 10 hours in the car seeing monkeys, antelope and others. We are hoping to see an elephant on the way back! It was funny we stopped at a road stop and there were some kids selling bananas and had to keep scaring the monkeys away because the annoying little things kept trying to steal bananas off their tables. It was so cute though.
I really struggled last night, I do not even like camping and I wanted was to go home and see my family and someone else. hahahah hi Mat :)
However God is faithful and he will pull me through.
Today we got to access the internet and bough chetangis, which are african skirts and that will be our wear when we are out in public.
Tomorrow we go to the village to be with the kids and stay in mud huts, right now we are staying at a house.
BYE :)

Lusaka!!

Well we arrived in Lusaka. The first thing we noticed was the smell when we got off the plane. It was so fresh. When we flew in we got the sunrise which was really really beautiful. Out one window on  one side of the plane, was the darkest sky and the brightest moon and on the other side, was a beautiful sky covered with reds and orange right before the sun started to peer over the earth. Anxieties were getting at me though, especially when I found out we had to stay in huts where geckos, lizards and spiders as big as my hand liked to hang. We didn't see many though and Christ completely took away completely. I am in love with the geckos  lol and hope to see them. But the lizards not so much. lol Dave told us to sweep them out the door when they get in. But they are all mosquito eaters so it is good that we dont have to worry about being attacked by baby lizards. In Lusaka Camillians are common (don't know if that is the right spelling but to my dismay I do not have time to check haha) and they are little itty bitty things. We looked for them but didnt find any. This day was hard I needed a good cry, so I went to my room for a bit which I have come to realize that everyday I need my cry, my support from the team, lots of prayer and then I am good to go! This is such a stretching experience I don't even know how to explain it.
The days in Africa are long. Up at 6-7, breakfast at 8ish, then lunch at 2-3 and then dinner at 8-9, bed at 11. Ofcourse here its the 24 hour clock but I haven't got the hang of that yet. We had beds to sleep in in the hut and I woke up Ashley to take me to the bathroom. So she giggled at me as I was peering around every corner with a flashlight. But man I am not stepping on a lizard! I got to the bathroom fine. We showered with cold water and I swore I would never do it again, I was shivering like mad for a while. So that is why it wasnt until last night, a week later was the first time I bathed. HAHA it was more of a sponge bath because there isnt really a shower here, But I dont really sweat so it wasnt a problem. hahaha. sorry if this is too much information. We have had plenty of laughs, and trust me we have gotten really close. We need to make sure we are all healthy if you know what I mean. But its so funny we talk about things that I would never tell anyone else. We laugh about everything and its amazing to see the closeness growing.Anyways we had a good day being introduced to Lucky and Dorothy who are our hosts and will be travelling with us for the rest of the trip.
AFRICA IS BEAUTFUL!!!!!!!!!!!
I have a lot more to say but people are waiting for the computer. Ask me later :P

Leaving Canada, first stop, ENGLAND

So as some of you know, we couldn't take a direct flight to where we are staying in Zambia. Just as an update because a lot of things were not clear until we arrived. So we flew overnight to England and the flight was about 6.5 hours, and stayed there for the day, and flew out to Lusaka on an 9.5 hour flight over night. Here we stayed at the SIM base, and then we drove on Tuesday to Mongu which we are currently. We stay here for 10 days and then we do a 10 hour drive back through Lusaka plus 5 hours to get to Choma for 6 days, and then we go to Livingston for about 3 days and eventually back to Lusaka for a night before we fly back out the next day.
So I think it is safe to say that we are all over the place! The experience so far has been very tiring, a lot of culture shock and change, and we have had a lot of jet-lagged people haha. A couple have gotten sick so if Kate and Leah could be prayed for that would be great. What is awesome though is that I was insanely sick with a virus before I left and I haven't gotten sick once, I felt uneasy for about 30 min at one point but yes God has protected me completely and I am completely healed. Praise the Lord!

This is the post for our time in England:

So today was our day in London, England before we flew out to Lusaka. We went to Trafalger Square, National Art Gallery, Buckingham Palace and walked through some parks where I witnessed a stork as well as the weirdest looking birds and ducks I have ever seen in my life (My dad would have liked that). We also witnessed a squirrel fighting with a stick, it was quite hilar. ahah  People are tired but it was a great day, good experience and the plane ride was smooth.

Talk at ya soon!!!
Love you all! :)

Ps I am going to try to put pictures up however the internet is slow and may not work. But when we come back from our trip I have many to share with you all!