I learned to cook nshima!!! Kinda.

This weekend was our first full weekend in Zambia and it was incredible! I am so in love with this place and these people and the experiences I'm having. God is so cool in the fact that He truly knows what's best for you. Never would I ever have thought I would be in Zambia for two months but He knew. Such a stellar guy He is.

We spent most of our time with the kids in the Lusaka homes this weekend. Saturday we spent with homes 3 and 4. We played some games and then we played football. They love their football. I of course am not an asset to the team but I am determined to get there. We started out played monkey in the middle and then decided to play boys against girls (I can't remember who's bright idea that was seeing as how there were more boys than girls.) but Michael decided to be on our team and man that boy can play! Choolwe is a pretty awesome player as well. I mean I feel like you have to be here. 

We also had been really wanting to see the sunset so we asked Charles if he would take us. Charles has been our tour guide for the past couple days. He's shown us around Helen Kaunda and where the homes are and how to get around. He is a gem. He lives in Lusaka house 1 and is going to turn 20 in July. He will also be starting college in July to study public relations. He loves to joke with us and tell us things that aren't true which is great for our joking banter that we already have with each other. Although sometimes a problem when he tells me things to say in Nyanja and I have no idea what I'm saying and then people laugh at me. Good times. 

Brooke, Charles, Peter, Lauren, and me after our wonderful Saturday!

So Charles and some of the other kids from houses 3 and 4 went with us to Jesus Army, which is a place where kids can go to school if they can't really afford to go to school, so we could watch the sunset. There's a big open area and lots of kids were playing football and just playing around. The sky has been so beautiful since we've been here so we've been dying to see the sunsets. There are large cement walls around most of the homes in Helen Kaunda which makes it nearly impossible for us to see it from our home/the office. So Jesus Army was the place to go and I am foreseeing some more visits there for sunsets in our future. 

There were also some pretty adorable kids hanging out there. Charles took my camera to take pictures of them and then all of a sudden they are all surrounding me so I said Charles what are they doing and he goes oh they want to take a picture with you! It was the cutest. They were so happy and full of joy and just wanted to talk to us. 

We also got to stop by Moses' house and meet his wife, Perci and their one year old, Wangu. They are just the cutest little family ever y'all. Perci is so sweet and so welcoming and invited us over for dinner one night which of course we accepted! And Wangu. I mean come on I love babies and she is just the happiest and her laugh has so much joy! I can't wait to be her friend. Once she gets to know of course. Also she took a baby selfie. How stinkin cute is that?

I could just tell that Moses and Perci love her so much and are just so overjoyed to be parents and that just made my heart melt. It just made me think that the way they look at and feel about her is just a small glimpse into how God looks at and feels about us, his children.

So on Sunday we went to Deliverance Church which is where Moses goes. I know what you're thinking. Baby Wangu swayed us into trying Deliverance first and you might be right if there hadn't of been A WEDDING yesterday. I know! I went to a ZAMBIAN WEDDING yesterday and it was incredible. It was so full of joy and life and there was so much dancing and celebration. I loved it! It was during the church service which was very interesting so anyone could come (clearly since we were there.)

At the service there was a group from Michigan visiting the church and later we found out that they will be giving free health care in Chongwe which is awesome and such a blessing! Initially though everyone kept trying to seat us interns with them because I guess they just assumed the young white girls are with the huge group of mzungus. We kindly told them we weren't part of that group. I guess they assume mzugus stick together? I don't know. 

The service was awesome. There was worship, praise, shouts of joy, praying, arms outstretched, dancing and more dancing and singing! I loved every minute of it. Something I love about the people here is that when they pray they pray with such praise and power. There have been some prayers where they've just praised God the entire time and it's awesome. I love it. We don't need to be asking God for something with every prayer we pray. Taking time to praise Him is so important and they get that here. 

The rest of our Sunday was spent with the kids from houses 1 and 2. We've been wanting to learn how to cook nshima (which is a staple food in their diet here) so Charles said today was the day! When we got to the homes, there was a group of girls standing outside and Charles told us that they were the girls brigade which basically I got was pretty much like Girl Scouts plus Jesus. So they came in and sang a couple songs and prayed and then Thoko (one of the girls  from house 1 who will be 20 this week!! June 19!) led them in a song too! It was so cool. I am kind of obsessed with the songs. 

After they left it was finally time to cook! We made (or rather we cut up a couple vegetables and then watched Thoko make) chibwabwa(which is a green veggie), another green veggie I can't remember the name of, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and nshima. It was delicious!! Nshima is made from corn meal I believe and it kind of looks like mashed potatoes but it doesn't taste like it at all. It doesn't really have a taste so that's why you eat it with other things!

Brooke and I also played football with Brian and Denga while we were waiting for the food to cook. We asked who was the best and Brian said he was so that meant he got to me on my team since I am still lacking in the football skills. Lucky Brian! However, we did win! He said he was the best! He is a sweetheart and put up with me and my poor football skills. 

I also got a really awesome braid thanks to my girl Faith. She's so kind and writes songs which she said she would sing for me sometime so I can't wait for that! She also wants to make pizza so we're working on trying to get a recipe for her. Trying to figure out ingredients here so she knows what to put on her recipe. 

The girls also suggested we have a slumber party at the office which we were all for!! Pizza and baking and watching movies? Umm yes please! They said the boys can come for pizza but they have to leave after that. 

God has definitely been answering my prayers of time with the kids and time to get to know them. It's been such a wonderful weekend and I'm so excited to see what God has in store this week as we prepare for Camp Hope. We are getting ready for 300 orphans next week and for teen mania to arrive on Sunday! Please pray for the team as they get ready to come and the kids that will be coming to camp. I pray their hearts will be open and they will receive the love and hope of Jesus Christ. 

P.S. Charles just texted (on the one phone we have that can talk to the locals) and said to tell me Happy Birthday Eve!  It's going to be a great bday I can already tell! :)

Mzungu mzungu!

Week one in Lusaka is complete. It's hard to believe we've already been here a week but it also feels like we've been here so much longer. I feel right at home thanks to all my new Zambian friends. It was definitely a week of learning and processing everything. Just learning a new culture and their different ways of doing things. I am still fascinated by everything and I know that's not going to change. I'm so thankful for Humphray and Moses who are kind enough to answer our billions of questions. 

So yesterday we did some more translating, and met Charles from the Lusaka home and he gave us a little walking tour around Helen Kaunda. He was so kind to show us from Lusaka homes one & two and three & four. He is a character. He was already joking around with us right after we met him. 

While we were walking we passed kids and they would smile and wave and some would say hello. Others would yell mzungu! (Which means white person or foreigner) We passed this one kid who was playing with a tire but wouldn't smile and wouldn't wave at me and we passed him and this other group of kids called us mzungus so we said mzungus too and they thought it wa funny but the kid with the tire thought it was hilarious and was laughing and laughing. It was almost a cackle. It was so funny!

Today we got to go grocery shopping with Abigail and Agatha for the Lusaka homes monthly supplies. We took a taxi and also had a canter (which is basically a truck with a long bed) to get all of the supplies. We went to a wholesale place, then stopped and got fish, then made our final stop to get eggs and potatoes. Let me tell you about the fish place. We pull up and I can already smell the fish. We went inside and followed Abigail back to where the fish were and she told Brooke and I to put about 8 in a bag. The fish are just chillin in an open refrigerator box. What meat is normally in at the grocery store but it's not packaged and it's fresh right out of the Zambezi River. So we are grabbing them and putting them in plastic bags and we have about 5 bags full when this guy comes up and says they've already done it for us. Lolz so we put all the fish back and let the guy load it up for us. It was pretty comical. I'm sure all the locals were saying silly mzungus. 

Funny story of the day: the last place we went was another grocery store just to get eggs, potatoes, and the stuff to make nshima (which is eaten a lot here). Anyway, after we had checked out and the guys were loading the car, Brooke and I had empty shopping carts. Well a guy came by and took Brooke's but he didn't take mine which wasn't a big deal I just didn't know where to take it so I kind of followed him. He went up the ramp by the stairs so that's what I did (or attempted to do). I started walking up the ramp but it was so slippery because of the shoes I was wearing I just came right back down. I turned around and Abigail, Brooke, and Lauren are laughing at me and then not too far away there were some guys just staring at me. The struggle was real. I got it though don't worry. It was really funny. 

After that the shopping was done! A canter full of stuff which is now at the office (aka our home) for the Lusaka kids! I am so thankful that I was able to go with Abigail and Agatha and just get a small glimpse at everything they do. Every month they do this where they go and buy food for all of the kids. Lusaka only has 4 homes and Chongwe has 7 so I can only imagine how much that monthly load is! These two ladies are so awesome and such hard workers! They truly care about each of these kids and have a personal relationship with each of them. It's been so cool to see. Praising Jesus for these two today!

We also rearranged our room today. Change is fun. We pushed all three of our beds together. If it didn't feel like one big slumber party before, it does now! However, due to the location of the beds we may have just created less privacy for ourselves since the wall that the beds are on looks directly into the bathroom but ya know it's fine. Mzungu musketeers strike again. No biggie. 

Things I'm thankful for tonight: running water, electricity, the beautiful sky, and each new day. 

Just a small glimpse at the beautiful sky here. God knows how to paint a picture. 

Prayers: for the upcoming Camp Hope (in two weeks)-the translators/teachers and for the missionaries coming over and for Moses as he leads and coordinates all of this, time with the kids will be intentional, and the EOH staff. 

Chikondi, Chisomo, and Chifundo

We have been practicing our Nyanja, which is one of the languages spoken here. Common phrases like hello and how are you? You know the basics. Well as we were searching we came across chikondi, chisomo, and chifundo which mean love, grace, and mercy. First, they are each so fun to say but second God's love, grace, and mercy, His chikondi, chisomo, and chifundo are the same no matter what. And oh how He loves us. Just thinking about those today as we went about our day and then we found translations for them tonight! So cool. God's pretty awesome. 

Today we got to visit the kids out in Chongwe for the first time and oh what a joy that was! But before we went there we stopped and got three live chickens. That was an experience. We wanted to go with Abigail to see her get them so we went with her and the lady grabbed them out of the coop (with zero fear I might add. Like a boss.) and tied their feet together so they can't run around. Chicken on the run is never good. And then put them in a plastic bag. The funny part was the poked their heads out of the side of the bag which I wasn't expecting for some reason so that made it even funnier so of course we all took pictures with the chickens!

Once we got our chickens we headed to Chongwe! It is so much more different in Lusaka. In the best way possible. I love each place so much already and I've been here four days. The girls and I were talking about how it feels like we've been here so long yet we also feel like we won't have enough time. 

Anyway Chongwe is outside of Lusaka so it is definitely more rural. It is beautiful though. The large spaces of land and talk grass that seem to go on forever with giant trees filling up the area. I ate it up. Seriously I loved it. The seven homes in the Chongwe My Father's House area are all fenced in together so we pulled in and then went and visited each of them. Abigail gave us a tour of everything and as we went we met kids and the mamas. 

I have so much respect for these mamas. They are each raising eight kids and taking care of them and telling them about Jesus and are so full of joy. They were all so welcoming to us, gave us big hugs, and made me feel so loved. I can't wait to get to know them and hear their heart behind becoming a EOH mama. Seriously so cool. God has called some rockin ladies to this ministry I can already tell. 

He has also brought some stellar kids here. So after getting a tour we finally got to hang out with the kids which we had been dying to do! Who doesn't want to hang out with kids all day? I mean seriously. Cute little nuggets. Come on. So this one kid, Michael, who as soon as we met him with his huge smile on his face I could tell we would be besties, wanted to play futbol. I was all for it. I mean I'm not really the best futbol player but A for effort right? Lots of kids came and played with us! I had an absolute blast! The kids were showing us up right and left. Me and Lauren's team consisted of Michael, Mabel, Jonah, and Benjamin. If I remember correctly we also won. Whoop! They were all the stars as Lauren and I attempted. 

Then the girls were about to braid all of our hair when we had to leave so next time we visit there will be pics of that! I can't wait to go back and get to know the kids and the mamas more. They are already capturing my heart after only a few hours!

Say hello to my new friend, Michael. He's got such a joyful smile, super fast and got lots of energy, a great futbol player, and can do a mean cartwheel!

Well I Finally Showered...

Today I was overwhelmed by thankfulness. Here each of the staff members, before they do anything, say Pslam 118:24, "this is the day The Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." It has been such a wonderful reminder and especially today for some reason it just really sank in. This day is a gift from The Lord. He gave us life and a brand new day and that is something to be celebrated. I think so often in the U.S. we forget that. We forget that each day is a gift from God and we should treat it as such. 

I am already learning so much from the staff here. Not only growing in The Lord and learning more about Him and being more thankful but also about the culture here. Today we did training for the July Camp Hope and we went over the curriculum and practiced translating some things. (The Zambians translated. We spoke. Haha) 

What the three of us realized though was that in order for them to translate we have to speak very clearly, annunciate all of our words, and project our voices. It was interesting to learn that certain words we say are hard to catch. For example, sentences with lots of "s" in them often slur together on our end and then it's hard for the translators to catch it. 

Side note: the translators are partnering with the missionaries coming over to lead the camps and each missionary paired with a translator will lead a group. The translator is there because 1. Not all of the children speak English and translating it into Nyanja is important for them. 2. Cultural differences and for any questions the missionaries may have. They are to be a team and work together to tell these children the truth, hope, and love of Jesus. 

So we finished up the training for the day around 3:30 in the afternoon. We left around 9am. Time is an interesting thing here. We were told about Zambian time and how it was different but we are still learning that it is very different from the U.S. Like here, you can set a meeting for 8 but people will not show up until 9. It is way more relaxed and laid back which is complete opposite from the go go go of America. It has been very refreshing to not have that though and be in a more relaxed environment time wise. It is all very interesting to me and still trying to learn about everything. 

Now to the shower situation. First of all our accommodations are so great and so nice and I am super thankful so please don't think I am complaining because I'm not. I just want you guys to have a mental picture of our room here. So we each have our own bed so you can imagine that the room is pretty big. Our bathroom has no door, no shower curtain, and no curtain rod. The shower head is on a pretty short cord which means you have to hunch over to get water on you. Oh and it's cold water. So the girls and I have become really close in the past few days and I have to be honest and say I delayed the showering process as long as possible. I'm not about that cold shower life. I did take my first shower in the dark though due to power outage. Shower by flashlight. This is Zambia. 

The Lord is definitely teaching me to be thankful though because the past two nights around 10:30 our water goes out and then we don't have any at all and then suddenly a cold shower doesn't sound so bad. Learning to be thankful and rejoice in all circumstances. 

Because... "this is the day that The Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." -Psalm 118:24

Oh also Brooke, Lauren, and I have also decided to call ourselves the Mzungu Musketeers. Mzungu means white person or foreigner and so we get that a lot here. Clearly. And there's three of us so it's perfect! 

All The Little Nuggets!

Y'all. This place. Zambia. Where they don't say y'all. I've been trying to think of the perfect words to describe Lusaka and I am still just in awe of the culture, of the people, of pretty much everything. It is a very large place. There are so many different areas of Lusaka. Kind of like Dallas or Houston in the sense that it has different suburbs inside of it. We are staying at the Every Orphan's Hope (EOH) office which is in Helen Kaunda.

The people here are so friendly and there are different little shops set up on the sides of the roads. People are outside all the time. I mean all the time. It's so great. We are constantly seeing little nuggets running around and all the kids going to school. Seriously I love it! The kids go to school at different times here depending on the school they go to. It's really interesting and each school has a different uniform. 

Today was our first full day in Lusaka. It was an adventure! We started off by doing a devotional with the EOH staff which was amazing. I could just tell by talking with them for a few minutes that they truly love The Lord. Jesus shines through each of them and it is so evident in the way they speak, the way they welcomed us as sisters in Christ, and the way they serve one another. I can't wait to get to know them more and learn from them. I can already tell I will be learning so much this summer!

We have met six of the EOH staff so far.  Mary Ann who is the My Father's House coordinator, Abigail who is in charge of the Chongwe homes in My Father's House, Agatha who is in charge of the Lusaka homes in My Father's House, Moses who is in charge of Camp Hope and Orphan Sunday, Humphray who is in charge of transportation and IT, and Caison who is the accountant. They are each so wonderful and I am so excited to spend the summer with them!

So after our daily devotional we headed to the grocery store, Spar, to get some food for the next couple weeks. It was an experience. Here they do not keep their butter, milk, or eggs refrigerated at the store. We are guessing because it is so fresh but Humphray said that's just how it is. Also the honey and peanut butter did not have seals on them. Again, we are assuming because they are fresh. We stuck to what we knew mostly. We did get some Squiggles which is their version of Nuttella. We had to try that out! It's actually pretty much the same. 

We also met Peter today. Peter also works for EHO and does some of the cleaning and lawn care and I love Peter. He makes me want to serve more. The way he takes pride in his work and has the biggest servants heart truly reflects The Lord. He works as though he is working for God in everything he is doing no matter what the task and that is so cool to see. He has been working for EHO for about three years he said. He radiates Christ and puts others before himself always. (At least that's what I saw throughout the day.) I'm so pumped to get to know him more and hear about his life. 

We also went to a meeting for the July Camp Hope and met some of the church coordinators for that. They were so kind and I could tell that they have been working really hard to prepare for the camp. I am so pumped to see all of these people serving together and telling these kids about Jesus. It is going to be so cool! Knowing that we can't change their situation but we can give them hope in Jesus. That's what brings us all together.

God I am so humbled to be apart of the work you are going to do in these kids lives this summer. I pray hearts will be changed. I pray we will be able to be servants for you; that we will be like Peter and truly think of others before ourselves. I pray that for myself, the other interns as well as all of the teachers for Camp Hope this summer. 

To close that meeting Moses suggested that one of the women lead us in a song. Of course we didn't know it but it was so beautiful hearing them sing. Being able to just stand in awe of our God who is the same as He is in the U.S. and hears my Engligh prayers and them praising Him in Nyanja at the same time. It was such an awesome moment and made me love God and all the people He's created even more. Zambia has already taken hold of a special place in my heart. 

From Dallas to Dubai to Lusaka...My New Home!

My two month adventure to Zambia began TODAY! (Or yesterday I guess. Time zones and 15 hour flights are weird.) It started off with heading to the airport where of course we had to rearrange some things and get rid of a space bag full of stuff from our suitcases. Intern Mama Cheryl had some new treats to go home with and the poor men that helped us were sick of us by the end of it. Our friend Bobby, the guy who checked our bags, gave us some extra pounds on each of our suit cases. Talk about the grace of God right there! I also met a sweet man named Matthew, who works for the airline, and he found out we are going to do mission work and asked us to pray for him too!

Once we made it past checking our bags and security, all we had left was the flight itself. First of all the plane was huge. When we walked onto the plane there were these rows of seats that looked SUPER comfy and I’m talking to Brooke about how nice they are and how it’s going to be so great and she says “Oh girl I hope you don’t think these are our seats because this is first class.” I said lolz of course it is. My life. So that was a funny moment on the plane. Secondly, there were so many interesting and different people and so many adorable nuggets! Brooke and I made friends with the guy next to us who does global missions and is from South Africa so that was really cool! He gave us some tips about Dubai and Africa and told us all about his organization. Then two movies, some reading, some questionable airplane food, and a few attempts at sleep later we were in Dubai!!

We arrived in Dubai around 12:30pm their time which is around 3:30am in Texas. Talk about a time change. It is one of the most interesting places I have ever been though. After getting a little settled the three of us decided to adventure to the Dubai mall which is a major tourist spot. Y'all the Dubai Mall. I can't even describe how many different shops, floors, and just how pretty everything was. They had a giant aquarium inside that you could just walk by. How cool is that?! And a ton of adorable stores for tiny tots. If you're looking for some cute kid clothes, the Dubai Mall is the place to be. The number of different cultures and people walking around was crazy. We also saw the Burj Khalifa, which is the world’s tallest building and it is tall. They're not joking about that. We also went to these really cute shops called Souk Al Bahar which just had little knick knacks and cute little restaurants as well as a really cool chair which we decided to take a picture in and I think we started a mass line of taking a picture in the chair. Leave it to the Americans.

We then decided to go to the beach so we had to find a taxi to get there but weren’t 100% sure we would be able to get a taxi back to the hotel but sometimes you gotta risk it to get to the beach! After hanging out on the beach for a while and taking in all the scenery and all of the desert hotness we hailed a taxi and got back to the hotel safe and sound.

Fast forward some hours to the next morning where we head to the airport and board our plane to Lusaka! Who even knows what schedule our bodies are on anymore after all of this. I think I am finally starting to adjust but 7 quick hours later we were in Zambia! (After a 15 hour flight, 7 hours was nothing.) We got off the plane and stood in line for a little bit to get our visas and then headed to get our NINE bags. The three white girls in the Lusaka airport lugging around nine massive suitcases. Sounds about right. When we finally got a cart for our suitcases I was determined to hold onto it because our intern coordinator, Cheryl, had told us that men would try to come and take our cart to take it to the car and put our suitcases in and then want to be paid so I was already in that mindset of don't let go of the cart. Brooke and Lauren are in front of me and they both see the men, Moses and Humphray, who are picking us up from the airport but of course I didn't. So Humphray comes up to me and asks if I need help and I say, "no I've got it thank you." and keep walking because I was so focused on keeping the cart. Then Brooke says "Michaele you know that is Humphray right?" I was so embarrassed. Haha I said I am so sorry I had no idea that was you and explained the whole cart thing to him. Luckily he's a jokester and made fun of me a little and we laughed about it. Day 1 and we already have jokes. Haha Humphray and Moses both are so sweet and so genuine and it was so much fun getting to know them a little bit today.

After they picked us up from the airport we headed to the office which is our new home for the next 60 days!! It was a lot bigger than I was expecting. It pretty much looks like a large house. What would be the living room area is where all of the desks are and then there's the kitchen and then down the hall is our room with three beds! And there are three bathrooms! Talk about spoiled! Haha but really it is so great! After we got settled in a little bit, Humphray and Moses took us to grab some dinner and some bottled water (gotta stay hydrated.) We picked up Mary Ann, another EOH worker, on the way and all went to this place called the Mint Lounge. It was so good! So good to have actual food and not airplane food and the weird stuff from the Dubai hotel. (They eat some interesting things there.) Never have I ever been so happy to see chicken in my life! Then we got to go to Spar which is the market; we exchanged some U.S. currency for some Kwacha which is the Zambian currency. 

It has been a crazy, fast, exhausting, and exciting last couple days!! I have loved every second of it and can't wait to see what the next day holds! I know God is going to do some amazing things and continue to provide as He already has! So thankful for a bed, being off a plane for a while, the first real meal in days, and to have spent my first day in Lusaka with some new great friends! 

Please continue to pray for me, Brooke, and Lauren as we begin serving here in Zambia; that we will serve willingly with a servants heart and focus on building relationships with the people here. Also for health and that we won't get sick or anything. We are so excited and know God has amazing things in store for this summer!!