Restoration, part two.

  As I sit here in the comfort of my warm bed with clean sheets after a long warm shower and I try to sum up the experiences these past two months have held for me, I’m finding myself at a loss for words. The past several days have been an emotional rollercoaster for me, but as I dig for answers behind the tears and pain and sadness I have been feeling, at the end of the day the only words that are able to form from my mouth are “I miss my friends.” I miss my Zambian life, and the things that once were comforts of home before leaving, now seem worthless and pail in comparison to the joy I found during my time in Zambia. The country and the people I met have touched me in a way that I will never forget. This experience is now a part of what shapes me into who I am and my time there has been a defining season in my life. I learned so many lessons and grew deeper in my faith, and I know these things will only continue to unfold as I process and sift through all of my emotions in these next several weeks. I experienced God in a way that I hope will change me for the better to be an example that will show others more of who Jesus is just as I saw in others this summer. My eyes were opened to and my heart broken for poverty, sadness, orphans, widows, and the profound effect of AIDS on the community in Zambia. Yet, despite my heart being broken to the core for the people and this country, somewhere along the way it was stitched back together by the relationships I formed over there, and maybe even made more whole than it was before leaving or even than I thought possible. I opened my heart to the people in this community. I so quickly fell in love with the kids and the mama’s I spent my time over there with. They showed me a deeper kind of love than I thought was possible, all while pointing me time and time again to be more like Jesus, and by simply doing life with them for this small moment in time my life has been forever changed. I opened my heart and I fell in love, and now as I sit here, half a world away from this life I grew accustomed to and these people I fell in love with, my heart is in pain. 

I am struggling to unravel what is next after such an incredible experience, but in that trusting in the only thing I can –the goodness of God. I am brought back to my very first blog post I wrote prior to embarking on this beautiful journey of restoration. Just as I saw my prayers that the Lord would restore and bring new life to these orphans and widows be answered in my time over there, I am comforted in the truth that He too is restoring and refining me through this process. That while my heart feels as though it has been broken into a million different pieces since leaving, He is using it to His glory and will continue to renew my soul and give me strength and joy in knowing and believing that He truly is restoring me daily. I do not know what the Lord has in store next, or where He will lead me after experiencing such things this summer, but I am following His lead with open hands, trusting that He is good and is by my side through this entire process. As I try to continue unpacking and discerning where He is leading me next, I am confident that whatever this next season looks like, it will be rich and sweet with Him by my side. I am extremely thankful that He would allow me to take part in such beautiful things this summer, and thankful for all of the love, prayers, encouragement, and support from all of you through the process. So, thank you, thank you, thank you! I would not have had the opportunity to experience such things if it weren’t for you all, my biggest supporters and encouragers. I hope to continue updating you on what the Lord is teaching me in these next weeks and months, as well as where He is leading next. Thank you again for all you have done for me and I am excited to continue sharing in this journey with you all.

Molly's House

   This past week, we were given the sweet opportunity to serve alongside the short term teams of construction crew and camp hope counselors. Through spending some time with this team both on site of camp in Chongwe as well as time outside of that eating a few meals together, I was able to learn a little bit about some of the members on this team and their background with Every Orphan’s Hope. One of the men I got to spend some sweet time with in conversation over dinner one night is named John. John’s family has been invested in the ministry since nearly the beginning, and thus has a huge heart for these kids and the work that is being done over here. About a year and a half ago, John’s wife Molly was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. She fought a tough battle for about four months before the Lord called her home to be with Him last June. After she passed away, John and his family decided to give the money from Molly’s life insurance toward building House 7 in Chongwe Village of Hope. The money donated from Molly’s family was enough to fund the entirety of house 7. Talk about the Lord working all things together for His good. Nearly a year later, this June, House 7 was completed with a Mama and 8 kids moving in to their new home. What a sweet thing to see and be a part of, John seeing not only all the walls of this house up, but 8 new children running around the village of hope, now knowing what it means to have new life, not just in these homes, but first in Christ. After spending the week serving on the construction team for building House 8, John was able to spend some sweet time learning about and getting to know the children living in Molly’s house. What a sweet and special time that was not only for John, but for everyone who got to watch those interactions as well. I never met Molly, nor do I know much about her, but from what I have been told about her, she would have loved seeing these sweet faces running around, and she would have fallen in love with all of them the moment she met them. Her life is continuing to bless people and glorify the Lord, bringing more to Christ and we can do nothing but praise God for that. 

 

A Giving Heart

     The other day as we were in Lusaka for a quick overnight trip to restock on groceries and spend some time updating our blogs, the other interns and I were discussing how grateful we were for the Mamas in Chongwe and how wonderful they have been to us during our time there, truly taking us in as one of their children in every aspect. While discussing this, we decided we wanted to do something special for them to show them how thankful we were for all they have done for not only their own children, but for us, their additional children for the past several weeks. After contemplating a few different options, we decided we would make cupcakes for each of the Mamas, since they seemed to be such a hit at our Lusaka girl’s party a few weeks ago. We dedicated the morning to making the cupcakes in the office and then were on our way back to Chongwe to deliver these special treats and continue in our Camp Hope duties. When we arrived in Chongwe, we went house by house delivering the cupcakes to each of the Mamas. They were all unsurprisingly extremely grateful for their special treats and thanked us immensely for the cupcake treat they so rarely, if ever receive. I am constantly amazed at what simple things bring such joy and thanksgiving to the people here, bringing to life the command in the bible to be thankful in all circumstances.

     Later that night, as the kids in House 1 were finishing up dinner and doing some last minute studying before bed, Mama Anna called each of them over to her one by one. At first I was confused as to why she would be calling them over thinking maybe they had gotten in trouble for something until Andrew returned to continue our review session with a cupcake in his hand. Mama Anna had given each of her children some of her cupcakes before eating any of them for herself. She made sure each of her children enjoyed the special treat we had made for her before indulging herself. Not because she had to by any means. Not because she felt guilty. Simply because she wanted to. This woman has the biggest heart in the world and always puts others before herself, in literally every circumstance. She cares so deeply for her children, and that is so evident even in this small example of sharing her cupcakes. She could have so easily enjoyed all six cupcakes for herself without her children even knowing. In fact, that is what we fully intended for the Mamas to do when making them these treats. I am constantly challenged to be more like Christ because of the way Mama Anna lives her life so dedicated to serving the Lord, and I hope to one day be as good of a Mother as she is to these eight precious children she is so selflessly raising as her own. 

Camp Hope #2 Update

In other news, Camp Hope #2 got off to a slower start, but is in full swing now. Unfortunately several busloads of kids were unable to come to camp due to the headmaster of their school not allowing them to miss school this week, despite the earlier agreement set up. So, this week of camp is much smaller than last, but nonetheless we are still just as excited as ever, and so are the kids that are here for camp! While it was another one of those adapting to the Zambian culture moments, the short term team adapted and adjusted quickly, serving in different capacities outside their comfort zones (some even joining the construction team temporarily) until things got sorted out. There is so much excitement and enthusiasm about camp, and the Lord is already beginning a mighty work once again through these orphans and vulnerable children’s lives. In just the first day of camp, there were already several young girls in one group to hear the Gospel and respond with an acceptance of Christ as their Savior. Praise the Lord. We are excited for what the rest of the week has in store, and are expectant that the Lord will again make His presence known in the lives of these kids.

Not ready for goodbye

I cannot believe that a week from today I will be boarding my flight home to America. My time here has been so sweet and cherished, and I am sad to be saying goodbye to it all in just one short week. I am going to miss so many things about this place that has become my home away from home. I am going to miss my new family and all the hugs and love I constantly receive from the sweetest kids in the world. I am going to miss waking up to the sound of voices praising the Lord right outside the bedroom door for morning devotions at 5:00 am every morning. I am going to miss late night talks around the fire with the older boys in Chongwe before snuggling into bed and having pillow talk while falling asleep with the girls. I am going to miss running around in the dirt with kids hanging on my arms and legs. I am going to miss the way Mama Anna gives me the biggest hug in the world and says “My Daughter” each time she sees me throughout the day. To put it simply, I am going to miss my life out here. As the time has drawn nearer for me to leave this place and all of these people I have fallen so deeply in love with, my heart can’t help but ache at the thought. I am not ready to go. I don’t think I will ever be fully ready to go. My heart longs for more time with these kids each moment I spend with them, and the thought of leaving them behind in a week brings my heart so much pain. In working through these emotions, however, I have been reminded of where the Lord has called me. While I would stay here above returning to the States in a heartbeat, the Lord has called me home for a new season. A new and final semester of school with new and exciting adventures and challenges that lay ahead. I am unsure of what these next few months will hold for me, and sometimes even question why the Lord would expose my heart and allow me to fall so in love with a place only to be stripped away for the next season of my life. But I am again reminded, His ways are not mine. This life is not my own. And I will choose to follow wherever the Lord leads me, in whatever season that may be. My heart longs to one day soon be back here, playing in the dirt again with these kids, but I cannot be sure of anything at this point. While I would love to promise both myself and these kids that I will be back one day soon, that would not be fair. I must choose to follow the Lord’s call on my life and right now that is to return home. I am choosing to enjoy this last week to the fullest, hopeful to return one day soon, but opening my hands to the Lord and His call on the rest of my life. 

Back to the Bush

After some much needed rest for the weekend back in Lusaka, although we remained quite busy with the short term mission team on the ground, we are excited and ready to head back to the Bush for the next week of Camp Hope, as well as have more special sleepovers and quality time with all the MFH kids. As I shared in my earlier blog post, Week One of Camp was filled with such richness and the Lord made His presence known for the first time to so many of these sweet and precious children. The total number of orphans that showed up to Camp last week and heard the Good News of Jesus was 370. Of that number, 270 kids accepted Christ as their personal Savior for the first time. Praise God and to Him be all the glory. I am in total awe of the mighty work He has done and continues to do in this country, and before our very eyes in this place. We are going into this next week with open hands and empty hearts, expectant for them to be filled with the love and greatness of our God all over again. I will hopefully be in touch midweek for an update on the week, so stay tuned for that. For now, pray for hearts to be moved and lives to be changed all over this place this week.

Camp Hope #1

Week 1 of Camp Hope has ended, and while it was crazy and overwhelming at times, the sweetness of the kids and all that we saw and experienced far outweighed the stresses of the week. As the interns, we were given a lot of the behind the scenes jobs like sorting crafts and t shirts, helping with registration, and being runners for the short term group leaders. While these jobs kept us busy for most of the day, there were definitely moments of down time and being able to just observe and take pictures of Camp and watch and take in what was going on around us. Despite the many people fighting sickness throughout the week, myself included, the week proved to be so uplifting and the Lord decided to show up and make His presence known in mighty ways this week. My heart broke this week in all new ways and such new levels. While the kids living in My Father’s House that we have been working with all summer come from such horrible pasts and have such individually touching and moving stories that break your heart, the transformation these homes and the love of Christ have made in their lives has wiped their pasts away. They have literally been given a new life in Christ, so much so that it is easy to forget that they were once orphans and living in the midst of such darkness. Seeing over 300 orphans still living in that same darkness tore my heart apart. Hearing and seeing just a glimpse of what their everyday lives entail brought me to tears. They too, just like the MFH kids, each have their own heartbreaking story. One sweet girl named Mianda that I met while playing nurse during camp this week was no older than 12 years old. She came to us crying because she had a headache, so we covered her in blankets and tried our best to comfort her despite her lack of English and the language barrier. After calling Patricia over to help us better understand her symptoms and see if we needed to take her to the clinic, Patricia carried on a conversation in Nyanja for several minutes. As I held Mianda’s hand while Patricia continued in conversation, Mianda’s tears got heavier and heavier, and I sensed there was more to the tears than just the headache. Finally, Patricia explained to us that Mianda did not need to go to the clinic, but that indeed the tears did have deeper roots than just a headache. Both of her parents had died several years ago, as well as her grandparents. The only relative she had left was her brother that is just a few years older than her, so he cared for her when she could not care for herself. We ended up giving her medicine that would help settle her headache, but my heart broke so deeply for this young girl, having to deal with so much at such a young age, and having so many responsibilities of literally raising herself at 12 years old, with a little bit of help from her older brother. And to think that this is just one child’s story. Out of the over 300 orphans that showed up to camp this week, out of the thousands of orphans in Chongwe that do not even have the chance to come to camp, this is just one of the stories. My heart is broken, but yet so hopeful and full of joy knowing that 300 more kids have heard the Good news of Jesus after this week. Praise God for that. Not only did all of these kids hear the Gospel, for many of them the first time, but there were also several who accepted Christ and joined our family of brothers and sisters in Christ this week. (I am unsure of the exact number, but I will hopefully have that information and be able to share in the next couple of days.) In addition to these kids being loved, hearing about Jesus, and many of them accepting Him as their Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit and His power conquered illnesses and demons in ways I have never experienced before. My eyes have been opened to new ways and levels of how Great and Big and Vast and Powerful our God is. We are sad to see these orphans go back home to the harsh lives they face and encounter each day, but so joyful and hopeful in knowing that their lives were touched in ways they will remember the rest of their lives. This one week of camp has changed their lives for the better, and I am clinging to the comfort of that as we send them back to the normalcy and sorrow so many of their lives entail, excited and expectant once again for another great week of Camp number 2, with another 300 kids to hear about our wonderful and mighty Savior. Praying that these kids are just as responsive and the Lord again touches our hearts as well as theirs.

 

A quick update

I have so many things I could say and share with you all, but not enough time to gather all of my thoughts and emotions of what all has been going on here in the past few days. So here is a quick snapshot of some highlights of the week:

Michael showed off his muscles while doing lots of push ups and cartwheels.

Doreen sassed it up, per usual, while wearing my sunglasses.

Kelvin and Max threw a dance party and decided it needed to be documented on my camera.

The kids all got clown noses from the Teen Mania Mzungus. (Huge hit)

Andrew, Max, Doreen, Kate and I went snake hunting. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful, but we did dig a huge hole in the ground in hopes of finding the snake that slithered into its home. Better luck next time.

 

Needless to say it's been an eventful week. We are headed back to the Bush this afternoon and are excited and expectant for the Lord to show up big time at camp this week as it starts tomorrow! We are prayerful for lives to be changed and transformed by the power of the Gospel, and looking forward to seeing what is in store this week.

Friends Forever

We are back in town for the night to get our visas renewed at immigration tomorrow, so I figured I would send a quick update of what our time in Chongwe has looked like so far. It has been packed full of precious time with all of the crazy kids and preparing for and getting teen mania settled in. Each of the interns are staying in separate houses, bunking up with the girls in the houses, and truly just living life with these kids for the next several weeks as camp is getting ready to start. In the first couple days of living out there, we have been welcomed in as part of the family and all of the daily routines that go along with that, from sharing bunks and rooms with the girls, to family devotions at 5 am to start off the day, to helping out with chores around the house, whether there is running water and power or not. It has been so sweet and special to be able to spend that quality time with not only the kids in the house I am living with, but all of the My Father’s House kids in Chongwe. The past few days have contained lots of sweet and precious memories while continuing to grow in deeper community with these kids I have so quickly fallen in love with during my time here. 

After spending several hours yesterday afternoon running around in the dirt, chasing after kids and playing futbol, I sat down in the dirt to rest for a minute and began watching all that was around me, hoping to savor the moments of simply being there in the presence of these kids. As I sat and watched kids play together in joy and laughter, sweet Justine came beside me and wrapped his arm around mine. We sat for a minute in complete silence, just watching our friends run around and enjoy themselves, until he turned to me and asked, “Auntie Elisa Will you visit Africa forever?” In this moment my heart was pulled in a million different directions, not knowing how to best respond without crushing this child’s heart or make promises I was unsure could be kept. Trying to keep tears from rolling down my face at his sweet sincerity, I simply responded. “We will be friends forever Justine. Even if I am away from Africa.” And with that he merely nodded his head, gave me a big smile, and rested his head on my shoulder to continue watching his brothers and sisters play. I so deeply hope with all of my heart that one day I can return and visit my sweet friends in Zambia again. I don’t know how or when that day will be, nor do I know how long or in what capacity I will be called to serve, but I know one thing for certain. No matter what, these kids will forever be in my heart and our friendships will last a lifetime, just as I promised my dear friend Justine.

Moving to Chongwe

The busyness has officially set in. It is time for Camp and we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Teen Mania team of about 75 people on Wednesday night! With preparations for camp and teen mania in full swing, we will be moving to Chongwe tomorrow for at least the next two weeks. (Maybe longer.) We are excited and cannot wait to spend some much needed time with the Chongwe kids, as well as see the ways the Lord moves through Camp Hope and the short term teams coming to serve for the next couple of weeks. Not to mention we are excited for lots of new Mzungu friends to hit the ground in just a few short days. All this to say, I will be out of touch for the foreseeable future, but stay tuned for updates! I will try my best to send updates as often as I can, but for now prayers for the Lord to make Himself known to these kids as well as to us over these next weeks. 

Bro-tastic

After having a fun day last week with the Lusaka girls that can best be described as an afternoon full of girl activities, we decided it would only be fitting to have the boys over to do some quality male bonding, whatever that looks like. After much planning and contemplation on what a guys’ day is supposed to look like, the other interns and I came to an agreement that we would serve the boys popcorn, fanta, and a treat while putting on a movie to hopefully keep their energy levels under control, as these boys (just as most) can quickly get out of control. As soon as the last of the crew straggled into the office yesterday afternoon, we allowed the boys to vote on which movie they wanted to watch for their special afternoon, and without question Lion King won by a landslide. How fitting while in Africa. So the afternoon went. We put on the movie before things could get too out of control, while the interns mastered the kitchen with popcorn (we are pro’s after the girl’s day) and chocolate chip cookies. While we finished up in the kitchen and brought out their special treats, there was an overflow of joy and laughter from these crazy boys as they all watched and enjoyed the movie. Endless laughter filled the room with each funny line in the movie, as well as tremendous excitement over popcorn and cookies. It didn’t take long before there was a mess of popcorn all over the floor, and the boys came into the kitchen asking for a broom to clean up their mess. What an eventful afternoon, spending it with 15 crazy boys hyped up on sugar. I’m sure you can imagine the chaos that ensued. Here are some pictures to give you a little glimpse of what our afternoon with the boys entailed. I feel like these pictures capture their personalities and our afternoon together so well.