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?
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.
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