An Indescribable Joy

We had our final Camp Hope of the summer and the roles looked a little bit different this time around. Brooke and I actually had our own group of 19 4-6 year olds. They were an absolute blast and I love every single one of them so much. Getting to know each of their fun, sassy, hilarious, and loveable personalities was so much fun! They each have a story and we got to hear about it which was awesome.

One of my favorite things was when one of them would run up to me and tell me a whole story of something that just happened in Nyanja (thinking I knew exactly what they were saying of course) and then stop and want me to do something. I kept having to remind them I only knew a few words. I wish so badly I could have spoken to them in Nyanja but that just wasn't going to happen.

Thankfully we had two wonderful translators, Peter and Lubasi, who helped us wrangle and talk to the little nuggets. They were the bomb. We could not have done it without them and they are both so wonderful with kids so all of the nugget pies loved them as well. So thankful for these men.

3 of our sweet nugget pies accepted Christ that week which is so awesome!!! Heaven is absolutely rejoicing for these sweet kids even more than we are.

We ended Camp Hope with each of the kids releasing a balloon into the air and it was so cool. 300 balloons all going up into the air at once and the kids absolutely loved it. It was incredible. The kids had an indescribable joy.

We got to spend a lot of time with the missionary team that came for Camp Hope and loved all of them! They each led their groups so well. I loved getting to know each of them and the team leader, Sharon, in particular. She is so genuine, and caring, and led the team with such humility.

The Saturday after Camp Hope we all went to Chongwe and all of the Lusaka kids and mamas came and we handed out sponsor gifts, played games, had lunch, and it was such a fun time for the missionaries and the kids to all spend a little more time together before they left and we got to plan it and put the groups together. God totally used us which was so cool to see. We had a missionary tell us she wanted to sponsor one of the kids that was in her group so we were so pumped about that! It's cool when you get to see the fruit of what God is doing.

Sponsorship is a really awesome thing. Each of these kids is so grateful to have the opportunity they do to go to school, and have the amazing family and support system they do through My Father’s House. Being here I have learned so much about the sponsorship program and when Gary, the founder of EOH, was here he explained it in more detail which helped me tremendously.

Sponsoring a child is $27 a month. When Gary was here we asked him how he came up with the number of $27 a month. He explained to us that he did the math and added all of the costs up and it costs roughly $324 a month to take care of one child in My Father’s House, so if each child were to have 12 sponsors than the amount each month would be $27. This money goes to food, school, school supplies, clothing, healthcare, etc.

Gary also informed us about how once someone decides to sponsor a child, they are added to the Facebook group of sponsors for that child. This is a way for sponsors to communicate with each other and know who the other sponsors for the child are.

Being a sponsor means these kids will get an education. Being a sponsor means these kids will get regular meals when at one point they might not have. Being a sponsor means these kids will be taken care of. Being a sponsor means these kids will do chores alongside their brothers and sisters. Being a sponsor means these kids have the opportunity to grow up in a family that not only loves and encourages them but most importantly loves and seeks Christ in all they do and will direct these kids to know our Savior.

Sponsors have an amazing place in these kids’ hearts. I have collected the hundreds of letters that these kids have written to their sponsors and seen the joy on their faces when they get a letter or gift or birthday card from their sponsor. It’s an indescribable joy. 

If you would like more information on sponsoring an awesome My Father’s House kid I would love to talk to you about it! Feel free to check out the website. http://everyorphan.org/sponsor-an-orphan/

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." 
                                                                -James 1:27

Love Does

I started and finished reading Love Does by Bob Goff while being here. If you haven't read this book you should. It is mesmerizing and full of amazing stories that always relate back to God and how He moves in our lives. Being here has made the statement "love does" even more relevant as the people here truly love with their whole heart and action comes out of that. I am in awe of their love for people. They serve wholeheartedly, welcome you into their home as if you are their friend who has just been gone for awhile, and just love to spend time with people they love. 

Brooke, Lauren, and I had the privilege to spend Friday to Tuesday at the My Father's House homes in Chongwe with these amazing people. Chongwe is a town/village about an hour from Lusaka. It is much more rural than Lusaka so it was a totally different experience. It is definitely much more how I pictured Africa going into it. People walking down the roads, little huts set up to sell fruit and veggies, kids outside playing football, cooking outside on a fire; it is just different from our home in Lusaka. They are both amazing in their own ways. 

I loved the newness about Chongwe and being out of my comfort zone after getting used to our home in Lusaka. I mean we've mastered the roads here and know how to walk to the homes. We are practically locals! (Super joking but it does feel that way when we run into someone we know walking around). We know that when a bus yells “hospital!” they aren't actually going to the hospital it’s just a route.

I loved the lack of electricity in Chongwe. They have solar lights in all of the homes which I thought was super cool. And at night the stars and the moon are so amazingly beautiful. There are not even enough words to describe how great of an artist our Creator is. Seriously you just have to see for yourself. They just reflect God’s beauty.

“Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars.” –Psalm 148:3

A few words to describe our five days: amazing, incredible, challenging, joyful, eye opening, hard and wonderful all at the same time.

In Chongwe there are 7 homes at My Father’s House. House 3 and 4 are currently on the mend after a storm destroyed the roofs on both of them so the kids from those homes have been dispersed into the other homes. Not all of the homes are full but as of right now since 3 and 4 aren’t ready yet they pretty much are. There is a mama and 8 kids in each home (or a max of 8 kids); 4 boys and 4 girls.

Brooke stayed in house 1 with Mama Anna and a lot of the kids in her house were gone this weekend for sports. It was a holiday so they didn’t have school on Monday or Tuesday. There were some nuggets from homes 3 and 4 though. Lauren stayed in house 2 with Mama Mary; she had a couple from house 3 as well. I got to stay in house 7 with Mama Sarah, James, Joseph, Romario, Dorcus, Idah, Doreen, Mabel, and Christine.

Gig 'em from House 7 in Chongwe!

They begin their mornings around 5 usually (we started at 6 since it was a holiday weekend) with morning devotion. I woke up to my house singing morning praises because that is how they wake everyone up for devotion. Talk about a great start to the day and the best way to wake up in my opinion. They don’t even say good morning or anything until they have finished praises and devotion. I loved that. Acknowledging God before anyone or anything else in the morning and thanking Him for the day he has made.

I helped with chores and helped cook a little. We played a lot of football with kids and I must say my skills have improved drastically. Even Kauya said I was a striker; I’m pretty sure he was just trying to be nice though. One of our intern duties is to collect sponsor letters so we did that with all of the kids and actually got them from all of the kids who were home. One day we went across the road to the schools. Most of the kids attend the one directly across the road but three of the younger kids attend the Esther school.

The Esther school is run by Americans so those three (Michael, Doreen, and Idah) are on summer break and the rest of the kids are in school because they do trimesters here. We got to meet Kevin and Tina who have been involved in running the Esther school in Chongwe. The teacher housing is right before the school so you walk down a little path and then there is the school. Their time is actually up this week but they are staying to adopt their little girl. She is stinkin adorable.

While in Chongwe we ate a lot of food. Nshima, which is their staple food item, was had a lot. We had porridge, samp (which is maize that is somewhat mashed plus ground nuts. It tastes kind of sweet.), and ifisashi (chinese cabbage plus ground nuts) and you might think that sounds gross but you’re wrong. It was SO good! We had rice with a bean soup which I was a big fan of. Kapenta was on the menu one night (it is dried little fish) but the girls and I decided to pass on that one. When I informed Mama Sarah and Dorcus that they didn’t need to make me any Mama Sarah said she doesn't like kapenta either so I felt good about my decision.

We got to work with some of the kids on reading and English. Something I struggled with while being in Chongwe was the older kid’s educational foundations. I just want them all to be able to do well in their studies yet they aren’t able to because of where they have come from and the previous education (or lack of) they have had. Brooke, Lauren, and I were only there for a short period and could only do so much; what they need is someone to help them daily. I trust God will provide for them because he delights in giving his children good things and education is a good thing.

On a more positive note we got to know the kids really well. For example, Ngosa can sing really well and led the choir at church on Sunday. Samuel loves to play slap jack and loves to win too but who can blame him. Doreen has a personality all her own. We said she was a woman trapped in a seven year olds body. Her personality is just too big for her tiny self. She loves to dance and laugh and sing and pretend like she doesn't know what you’re saying and answer you in Nyanja. James is so kind and servant hearted. It took some time for him to warm up to me but we definitely bonded. I think it was me offering him all of my leftovers. He loves the Lord and even when devotion was in Nyanja I could hear it in his tone of voice how he spoke of God. He’s a total boy and loves to play football. He loves to learn and is a rock star at math, which is his favorite subject.

Jerry, Samuel, and James

I had such an amazing few days getting to know each of these kids and the mamas more. I am so thankful and humbled that they let me into their lives for a few short days and into their hearts. I definitely learned a lot from each of them and from being in Chongwe and just doing life there. God is so present there and it was so cool to see. All of these people are amazing in how they love one another. It took me back to Bob and how, "simply put, love does." It was so evident how much they love by their actions.

We are back in Lusaka now and we picked up a new team Wednesday for our next Camp Hope so things are back in full swing. We are expecting to have 300 kids in Matero on Monday for Camp Hope round 2! We are so excited and just working to prepare everything for the kids and helping the missionaries in whatever they need. This team is from Virginia and the rest of the team, who are from Texas, arrives on Saturday. We are looking forward to having all of them here!

We spent yesterday with the VA team and already love them! About half have been here before and some are board members in the States. It has been really fun to get to know them all and has made us even more excited for the camp to come!

Pray that we will get to know everyone and form good relationships with each of them before we go into Camp Hope. Pray for the kids that will be coming to camp; that their hearts will be open to what the leaders have to say and that the Spirit will guide each group. Pray that the leaders will lead with grace and humility. Pray for lives to be changed as we share the gospel with a new group of 300 (hopefully) nuggets!

Rejoice and Be Glad!

This week has been a much slower pace than last week which has been so nice. We have been able to go to the My Father's House homes and visit the kids. It's crazy how one week of not seeing all of them made me miss them so much!

Monday we went to homes 1 and 2 and had tea with Thoko and got to catch up on her life. It was great to hear about her week last week. I am so thankful for her friendship and how fast it has grown since we have been here. While we were having tea a bus of fellow Americans showed up. People just show up at the homes we've learned. They came by to talk to the kids and they sang a few songs and prayed with them It was really sweet. I could tell that the man leading the group was very genuine and his heart was very much there by the way he spoke. They were coming to teach at a bible college nearby. While they were still there, Lubasi, Thoko, Lauren, Brooke, and I left and went to Lubasi's school, the University of Lusaka. He is about to start his third year of law school. Whoop! It's a lot different than A&M but it was so cool to see where he goes to class and hear about his classes and professors.

Gig 'em from the University of Lusaka in Zambia.

Tuesday we started one of our tasks of collecting sponsor letters from all of the kids in the homes to each of their sponsors. (For more information on sponsoring check out the link http://everyorphan.org/sponsor-an-orphan/) We went to homes 1 and 2 that morning and sat with Emmanuel, Denga, Thoko, and Lubasi while they wrote some letters and drew some pictures for their sponsors. We listened to some music and sang along to the songs for them. They love it when we sing. (joking) We learned Denga loves country music and Lubasi will just pretend to know the lyrics and sing along to anything. He's got some great dance moves though. Thoko has the voice of an angel so she could sing pretty much anything and it would sound wonderful. Since being here we have mastered the schedule of when the power goes out and Tuesdays is one of those days except for this Tuesday. We still aren't sure as to why we had power but it was one of those things that I was so thankful to have since we don't normally have it on those days.

Wednesday we went to visit the homes with teen mania. They are the missionary group I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about Camp Hope. We visited all of the Lusaka homes and then headed to Chongwe for the day. One of the teen mania girls sponsors one of the kids in Chongwe so she wanted to surprise her. In Chongwe we got to play with the kids and see the mamas. We haven't gotten to spend much time out at Chongwe so any time we do get to go we are always so excited. We will be going there tomorrow however and staying until Tuesday! We are so pumped! Back to Wednesday though. Teen mania was splitting up into three groups to go visit a clinic, visit a village, and visit the head man and Abigail informed us that we would be going with them and we were to each pick a group. 

I picked the clinic but once we got there the woman working said she couldn't let us help because she didn't know we were coming and didn't know who we were which makes total sense. I wouldn't just let some random mzungus come start doing stuff at my clinic either. She was very thankful for the offer but said no. We ended up going to a small village/a couple homes together and asked the woman if there was anything we could do. She took us over to this large straw hut without a roof type thing and pulled out a bag of corn. This "hut" (it's in quotes because that is what I named it and I do not know the correct term) was filled with corn. Thomas (our translator) showed us what to do and we quickly learned we were to beat the bag of corn with a wooden club. This caused the corn to come off the cob; once it was off Thomas grabbed a bowl and shook/sifted out the corn dust so only the corn remained. It was a really cool process.

A couple of the teen mania girls talked with the two women and got to know them a little bit. Teen mania did a great job at serving the people but also forming a relationship with them. I am very thankful I got to go with them and see them love so well. We prayed for them which was such a sweet time and then headed back to the My Father's House homes. I got to play with Doreen, Suzen, and Idah, some of the girls that live in the homes. They each of such amazing personalities all their own. Doreen is a little fire cracker. That girl has a lot of sass and I think she was smack talking during the game but it was in Nyanja so I can't be sure. She is so great. Suzen is a ray of sunshine. She is always smiling and is such a sweet heart. And Idah is a little on the shy side at the moment but I am sure that after our 5 days there we will be besties.

After our adventures we headed back to Lusaka. We spent the main part of the day in Chongwe. Once we got back to the office (aka our home) we started making dinner. We decided to have a 4th of July celebration with Thoko, Charles, and Lubasi and it was going to be Friday but then we are going to Chongwe so we had to move it. Anyway, we wanted to make them an American meal and what better day then American Independence Day? We made burgers, mashed potatoes, had watermelon, and made apple cobbler. It was delicious. And we even taught them how to two-step! Not necessarily American but we're all from Texas so what's a girl to do? 

Brooke, Charles, Lauren, Lubasi, Me, and Thoko celebrating the 4th of July!

Today we got our visas renewed which we thought was going to take us half the day and took about 10 minutes tops. Whoop to that! We went to homes 3 and 4 later in the day to collect some more sponsor letters and to see the kids. I got to talk to Clement, who is in 9th grade, as I attempted to help him with his math homework. Praise Jesus that math is pretty much the same in every country. Lauren got the history and geography lesson. One of our tasks while we are here is to help the kids with their school work so it was really encouraging that we were able to help them today and they felt comfortable asking us for help. Our relationships with all of them have definitely grown so much. 

One of the main things I've been learning here is that each day is a gift. Our staff devo was from Psalm 118 yesterday and verse 24 says "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Each day is a new opportunity to love and encourage each other, and to make a difference in someone's life. As I travel to Chongwe tomorrow and spend 5 days there I pray I will rejoice at each new morning The Lord gives me.

God is Good...All the Time

Wow so it's been ages since I've posted a blog. It has been a little crazy here in Zambia. We just wrapped up our first Camp Hope and it was amazing!! The kids were a blast and teen mania did a great job leading each of their groups! It was so cool to see their relationships build with their kids and translators over the course of the week.

So I guess I should recap the last week and a half...

• We also got to go to the Lusaka mama's devotional one day which was incredible. We talked about Ephesians 6:10-18 and putting on the full armor of God. It was really cool because we had talked about that with Cheryl, our intern mama, before we came here and how that would be/is so important for us. It was also cool because going into Camp Hope that is really important.
• We got to spend a lot of time at homes 1 and 2 the week before Camp Hope which was really awesome. 
• Mama Christine, Mama Florence, Mama Josephine, and Mama Juliet taught us how to tie our chetenges which was a fun experience. Mama Florence then informed us that once we put on chetenges all the men will say "I want to make you my wife." Lolz then on our walk to homes 1 and 2 Mama Christine had to turn down some proposals for us. Mama Florence wasn't kidding.
• Thoko's birthday is two days after mine so we got to take her out for a girls night and go out to eat for her birthday. She turned 20! Whoop! I am so thankful we got to celebrate with her and enjoy our new friendship.
• Brooke and I had a very interesting conversation with Peter, the gardener/cleaner for the office, about him being a Jehovah's Witness. We had to leave somewhat in the middle to go to a meeting but we are planning to finish the conversation with him. Pray for him and his heart to be open to what we have to say.
• We took a bus for the first time on the way to church last week and I got hit on. Then once I turned him down he looked at Lauren in the seat behind me and then moved on to Brooke as we got off.
• We went to church with Lubasi and Thoko (who leads the praise and worship team!). Funny story: we were supposed to go with Humphray but he ended up being sick so we called Lubasi at the last minute to ask what time their church started and he said 9 and it was 9:05 or something so we said "oh you're already there then huh?" And he said "no I'll come get you guys! I'll be there at 9:30." We were very confused since it started at 9 but we said okay yeah!
• We picked up teen mania from the airport and welcomed them to Zambia. They didn't really accept our welcome because we are white. Classic. It was funny though once we talked to them later.
• Brooke, Lauren, and I found out we weren't going to be teachers for Camp Hope like we thought. We found out we would be doing what the past interns had done which was hand out the tshirts, bandanas, crafts, and be available to help out in any other way possible. We were disappointed to not have our own little group of nuggets of course but we were very willing to serve in any way we could. And that meant that we now had 283 nuggets not just 17! Best ever!
• Camp Hope 2014 started on Tuesday and it was an absolute blast. Camp Hope is a week that kids who are orphans or have the potential to be orphans can come to camp and are well fed, stay the night so they get rest, and most importantly hear the hope and love that comes from Jesus. And they are loved on immensely. These kids have so much joy. The first day the three of us got out of the car kids swarmed each of us and at one point I ended up on the ground from a group hug. That might have been because Brooke told them to all come hug me at once but ya know totally worth it. 
• I learned some Nyanja. They all wanted to teach us words and then the next day they would come and quiz us on what they taught us. 
• I met some kids that I just wanted to take home with me. My friend, Peter, who is 14 and lives with his mom, is such a sweet heart. He was one of the main kids who liked teaching me Nyanja and he protected me from the kid with the giant grasshopper so we were insta friends after that! He would help me translate what some of the younger kids were saying who didn't speak much English. 
• And then there was Susan. She is 5 years old and so stinking cute. She didn't speak very much English but she would talk to me in Nyanja and I would repeat it back to her and she liked that. We would make faces at each other and I taught her my fish face and she taught me camdanda which is the cross. She liked to play with my necklace. She has a laugh that is filled with joy and that was one of my favorite things from the week. Listening to kids laugh.
• Lubasi led a chant with the kids multiple times throughout the week and the kids ate it up. They loved it and would come up to him later and ask him to do it again. He is great with kids and is going to be an awesome dad some day.
• I learned some new songs and games from all of the kids this week. Do like I do is a very popular game where everyone forms a circle and then a kid gets in the middle and does a couple dance moves and everyone copies them then they pick someone. Super fun!
• Day 3 was when things got real. The past two days of just hanging out and fun games of getting to know each other were over and everyone was getting real which was super awesome. One of the teen mania girls told me her group spent 40 minutes just going around and doing testimonies. I was like that's awesome! Along with the Spirit moving and Jesus changing lives comes satan and evil spirits attacking. We had one kid come to the tent where we had the first aid station and his leader said something was wrong with his eye. I asked him and couldn't really understand so I asked Charles to come translate for me and then another kid came up bleeding so I left Charles with him. When I came back I learned that he was having visions of his dead mom and Lubasi just said we just need to pray for him. So I sat and talked with him a little bit and then Lubasi and Lauren came over and we all prayed over him. He was hearing the gospel and was under attack because the enemy didn't like that. 
• Oh we ate lunch with the kids and translators this week and they ate nshima everyday and each day a lady would come up to either me or me and Brooke and say, "You like nshima?" and we would say "oh yes! we love it!" and each time their face was shocked. They thought we were part of teen mania and had one been here a couple days. We were like no we've been here about three weeks now.
• All of the kids had a blast with their teachers and translators and learned a lot. I think it was harder for the younger groups just because it's sometimes hard for younger kids to understand anyway but throw in the language barrier and then that adds a whole new eliminate. 
• Yesterday was the last day of camp and it was so much fun and so sad at the same time. When it was about time for the kids to get on the buses to go back home, I saw a teen mania girl and she was crying so I gave her a hug and told her that yeah it does suck that these precious kids have to go back into their situations but you shared Jesus with them and they have hope in Him. They know that they aren't alone in whatever they go back to and that is something to be joyous about. I had to remind myself of that as I said goodbye to Susan and Peter and Stella and Aster and Tendai and all of the other precious nuggets. God has a plan for them and they are each so precious to Him. They each heard the gospel this week and that is something to be celebrated. I'm not sure on the total salvations from this week but I'll be sure to put that in the next blog.

These little nuggets will forever have my heart. And nuggets doesn't really translate but Charles, Lubasi, and Humphray have adopted the word already so we are slowly getting people. : )

This week was a whirlwind. God has definitely been teaching me so much and using all of the amazing people in my life here to do it. I am so thankful for Camp Hope and all of the workers that helped to make it possible. The kids stayed overnight at the church so we had round the clock caregivers. The cooks, the coordinators, the translators, and of course the EOH staff worked so hard to make this an awesome camp for the kids!

I'm continuing to pray for the kids as they have gone back to their daily life, whatever that may look like. Praying that they have heard and now know the truth and have the hope and love that comes with knowing Jesus Christ. He is all they need. I am even more thankful after this week that God is the Father to the fatherless. So thankful that each of the 283 kids are His.

What's better than a birthday in Zambia?!

Well today was my birthday and what a day it was. I can honestly say this was the best birthday I've ever had. I felt so loved today by all of my new friends and my old friends from afar! 

Today started out with facetimeing mom and dad. So thankful I got to see them this morning (their night) and for their love from Texas! Praising Jesus for technology and communication!

 Today we had a workshop for the mamas of the homes led by Abigail and Agatha. Us interns got to sit in on it and learn some new things. The mamas started off the workshop with singing and dancing. It was so joyful and so much fun! Then after all the dancing, we were all sitting back in our chairs and they started to sing again. This one was my favorite though because I could only hear their voices in the quiet office. It was beautiful listening to them. I picture that being a sneak peak into heaven. 

After the workshop we had planned to go get pizza! Partly for my birthday and partly because we've been wanting to try the Zambian pizza. We had made plans with Charles and Lubasi to take us there this past weekend. We were pleasantly surprised though when Hope and Meya (two of the Lusaka girls from homes 3 and 4) showed up at our casa! They came into our room and wished me happy birthday! (seriously they're the sweetest.) Hope said she was my birthday present. I told her I'd take her for sure! 

Thoko and Peter also came with us to get pizza so it was a solid group! On our walk to the pizza place, Hope and Meya gave me a card that they made! They made me a birthday card. I almost cried. So thoughtful of them! I also got a chance to talk to Meya more and learned that she wants to be a doctor and a soccer player when she grows up. Girl power what up! Rocking those two careers. I also got to talk to Lubasi more and quiz him on his musical interests. I like to hear what kind of music people like. Also fun fact most of the people I've asked about music like country music! There is also a radio station that was playing the Dixie chicks, lady antebellum, and Dolly Parton one day. Go country music for reaching Zambia!

Once we got to Pizza Inn we found out there wasn't really room in the inn. Just kidding but it is a very popular place. Especially on two for one Tuesday! While we waited for our pizza we played a game, chit chatted, bonded and did some more talking. It was wonderful! While we were waiting on our pizza, Lubasi also gave me a birthday card! I mean seriously I'm so thankful for my new friends!! They're so sweet and thoughtful!

Okay so we got our pizza and it was delicious!! It honestly tasted pretty much the same as American pizza. A little less sauce but other than that pretty much the same. So good!! We will definitely hit that up again!

We of course had to take a birthday selfie with everyone!

After we ate we were needing our receipt (we have to keep them for our expenses and such) so we needed that and Charles had given it back to the lady at the counter so he and I went to see if we could get it or another one. They are still pretty busy and this poor woman is getting yelled at by a guy who doesn't have his pizza (I personally thought he needed to chill a little bit but hey I'm the mzungu what do I know) and people are waiting in one to order and we get up their asking for a receipt. She thought she threw it away so she said she'd look. This sweet girl (probs about my age) dug through the trash to find our receipt. Meanwhile the guy upset he doesn't have his pizza is still upset he doesn't have his pizza and is still yelling at her. She gives us the receipt and I just felt led to give her some encouragement and let her know she was doing a great job at her job and how much I appreciated her finding the receipt! And she was so thankful and gave me a high five. Besties with the pizza girl now! That's what's up. 

Ended the day singing and dancing with Lauren and Brooke to 22 by tswift. It was an excellent birthday! Without a doubt. What's better than a birthday in Zambia? Nothing!! Except having amazing new friends to celebrate with! So thankful for each one of them!