Blessed in Africa. Blessed in America. Thankful for both.

This thanksgiving I feel like I have a lot more to be thankful for than I've had in the past. Or maybe I'm just more aware of the blessings. Either way, I'm grateful, so very grateful. 

A week ago today I got back to America. Saturday I got back home to Austin. Since then I've been spending time with family and friends. They warned us about reverse culture shock and the difficulty we would have being back home. As much as I miss my HIZ family, my babies, the singing, the people there, and just the simplicity of life I've found joy in being back in America. God puts us where He wants us and we get to choose what to do with it. We can jump in feet first and make the most of it or we can let change and difficult circumstances bring us down and hold us back. God has blessed me with an easy transition back to real life here in America. 

Since I've been home I've been watching Facebook blow up with the news of Samantha Bahl. I went to camp with Samantha for years and although we were never really friends just her presence was enough to make an impact on my life. She was always smiling, she was full of the light of God, she was positive and encouraging and just excited about life no matter what it threw at her. Even when she battled cancer for 2 years she didn't lose any of those qualities that drew people to her. Yesterday she was finally freed from all the pain that she's dealt with for 2 years and she went home to celebrate with our Father. 

Last night my family got in and my house was automatically filled with 18395053 people. At least that's how it seemed! We took up half the attendance at church, we ate enough food to feed an army, and we were loud enough to keep the city of Austin awake all night! But we had more fun and shared more love than seems possible. And that's only the first of 4 days of thanksgiving celebration!  

All that to say that now I'm laying here in my bed with my sweet little cousin Madison, waiting for the family that's covering every square inch of my house to wake up, and not being able to stop thinking about how blessed I am, how grateful I am, and how humbled I am to have a God that loves me this much. 

This thanksgiving...
Im thankful for the fact that Im awake, breathing, and able to spend the day with people that I love. Today isn't promised for any of us. God took Samantha home before today. But for me He's given the gift of another day in this world. I'm not going to take it for granted. 

I'm thankful for a God that loves me despite all my mistakes. I'm thankful for his grace and mercy. Im thankful for his power. I'm thankful for his patience, his understanding, and his love. I'm thankful that he loves me not because of anything I do, but just because. 

I'm thankful for the opportunity God gave me to live in Africa for the past 3 months. I'm thankful for my babies there. I'm thankful for the work God is doing there. I'm thankful for the things He showed me and taught me while I was there. I'm thankful for the 29 best people I know that I got to share the experience with. I'm thankful for the joy, simplicity, service and faith that shines out from the lives of the Africans. 

Because of that experience I'm thankful for the lack of poverty and disease in America. I'm thankful for the abundance of food that will be on our table for lunch. I'm thankful for clean food and water, dirt and water that dont give you parasites, and mosquitos that aren't full of malaria. I'm thankful for good health care and access to any medicines that we need. I'm thankful for a peaceful government. I'm thankful for our country's foundation of faith. I'm thankful for opportunities that we are able to have that a lot of people around the world don't have. I'm thankful for Gods blessings here even though it doesn't make sense why He gave us more than we could ever use when people are dying from the lack of necessities. 

Being back home I'm thankful for my parents and brother and sister. I'm thankful for a house that I can call home, even if I have 10 other homes around the world. I'm thankful for lifelong friends and the ability to go separate ways in life but still come back to each other like nothing ever changed. I'm thankful for my church family. I'm thankful for my school that shaped me from the time I was able to walk up until I left for college, and the fact that I can still walk in there and feel at home. I'm thankful for ACU and Harding. I'm even thankful for the difficult decision I have of which school to go to now because that means I'm blessed enough to have 2 schools that I can call family. I'm thankful for grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Im thankful for the love, the laughter, the hugs, and the sincere joy that pours out every time we're around each other. And I'm thankful for the loud, crazy, busy, and overwhelming 3 days we're about to spend together!

Today I'm thinking about my babies and my Zambian friends that I wish I could be celebrating Thanksgiving with. But I'm also grateful that God put me here with my family to remind me of everything I have to thank him for and to celebrate with. I'm blessed. I'm grateful. I'm thankful. I'm loved by a God that showers me with blessings even when I don't deserve it.

Not the Final Bye-bye

November 17 blog

Well we made it back to America! The past few weeks have been busy and crazy. Full of lots of adventures, lots of traveling, and lots of fun! It's been hard though. Our last week at Namwianga was full of lots of goodbyes. We had a big lunch to honor all of our workers...our house cleaners, the people who wash our clothes, our cooks, nightguards, teachers, etc. They truly are servants. Everyday I was filled with joy because of their smiles and "mabuka buti" greetings. All the girls had a devo with our college tutors and friends. There were about 50 girls in the Mann house that night and it was an incredible night of worship. Nothing compares to singing with the zambians. I've said that a thousand times but it's just so true. That's what heavens going to be like and I can't wait! One of the college girls taught us a song that night that said "We have to say goodbye, but not the final bye bye. We hope to be together in heaven someday." That's going to be the greatest reunion ever! Brenda, Ndeleki, and Ruth have become great friends and have taught me so much. I took Brenda and Ndeleki to the havens with me one day to see my babies and it was so fun! Now I have someone there to check on them for me! Our last night at Namwianga was full of a lot of goodbyes but the hardest was saying goodbye to Webster and Justin, our nightguards. Webster is seriously the most joyful and loving person I know. And he's a great Godly man and example for us. That night he prayed over us and I've never felt anything more powerful. Our last morning at Namwianga, November 2, was a rough one...the girls woke up for the sunrise and had a little devo before walking to the havens one last time. Saying bye to my babies was the hardest thing I've ever done. I love Cathy and Matt so so much and I didnt want to put them down. I didnt want to let go. I just wanted to stare at their precious faces forever. But I had to trust God that he was going to continue watching over them. He loves them more than I do. God only meant for me to be in their lives for a short time and now I have to trust that God's going to love them and I know he has great plans for them. 

After leaving Namwianga we started 2 weeks of travel, travel, travel! America makes 6 countries in the past 2 weeks! We went to South Africa for a night before flying to Tanzania. In Tanzania we visited the Mwanza mission team and got to see the work that they were doing there. Another culture, another language. I think I know how to greet in about 10 African languages now! The team was great though and really welcomed us into their homes and churches and just showed us the goods and bads of mission work. In Tanzania we spent about 3 days safariing in the Serengeti! It was beautiful and incredible and we got to see a male lion! I was sick one day and had to stay at the lodge but let me tell you, if you have to be stuck somewhere for a day then a 5 star safari lodge in the Serengeti is the place to do it! Whitney stayed with me and we had a great day just hanging out and relaxing! After the safari we got on a plane and flew to kenya! While we were there we got to see where our teachers, the Tankersleys, used to live. We saw churches that they had planted and schools they had worked with. We had a great adventure one day with muddy roads. Its been raining in Kenya for 2 weeks straight and that causes dirt roads to become rivers. Sure enough, our bus got stuck one day and we were there for about 7 hours. By the end of the day we were covered in mud, cold, and hungry. We made it back to the hotel at 11 that night and had some sandwiches for dinner. It was quite an adventure though. During those 7 hours we met lots of people...played with the neighbor kids, talked to people our age, and had lots of help from kind strangers. The next say we got stuck in the mud again going to church but this time we got it out quickly and walked the rest of the way. TIA. I've never been so grateful for the Tarmac roads. After a few nights in Kenya we drove across the border to Uganda. This was a really quick trip but we spent a lot of the time in town shopping and at the Source Cafe. The source of the Nile river is in Jinja, Uganda so we got to take a boat ride to see that. It was so neat and a really good trip!
We used literally every type of transportation in Africa...walking, cars, buses, tractors, even a trailer on the back of a motorcycle. We used every type of bathroom in Africa...the street, the Serengeti, a corn field, someones yard, nasty latrines. I think we've experienced almost everything possible. And we've crammed it into just a short time. I can't believe our trip is already over! 
Wednesday morning at 4 o'clock we left our hotel in Uganda, drove to the airport and flew to Johannesburg where we had a 12 hour layover. At 10:45 Wednesday night we finally flew out of Jo-burg and began our 18 hour flight to DC! Our flight was late so we had less than an our to go through customs, recheck our bags, and literally sprint through the airport. It was a miracle that we made our flight. Now we're in Chicago and about to fly to Memphis! We'll drive to Harding tonight and be there for a couple days! Then home this weekend. That's a quick overview of the crazy last few weeks. There's so many thoughts going through my head. It's been a great great trip! Keep praying for our team as we finish traveling and debrief for a couple days before splitting up and going home. 

My oh so crazy life.

“My oh so crazy life has got me spinnin’ round and round, hanging upside down, taking one step at a time, holding your hand all the way. And it’ll be ok. I’m gonna live for today following your way!”

There are so many things running through my head right now. I don’t even know where to start. So bear with me…this might be really jumbled.

Since being back from Mumena I’ve spent a lot of time with my babies in the haven, the kiddos from the basic school that come to my house to play every day, and my Zambian friends. I’ve been soaking up their joy. I’ve been learning to love them with God’s love. I’ve been learning to look at life as a child looks at life, to have the faith that a child has. I’ve been trying to make the most of every opportunity.

Some highlights since our trip: Choir practice! I love being in the choir with the Zambian college students! Staying the night at the havens, singing with Prince and Rajiv, Sunday night church…3 people got baptized! We had a photoshoot with our little haven babies outside and they were so happy and fun! Stephanie, Mackenzie, and I spent a couple hours playing with Rosa and her friends painting nails, coloring, and dancing. They were going crazy and having so much fun and I really started to see their real personalities. They are sweet sweet girls! Mr. Merritt taught us an awesome class about God’s will and how we know what it is. Wednesday night girls devo and Thursday night group devo were such blessings! I love worshiping with my HIZ group! Abbie, Stephanie, and I spent a couple hours talking with Mrs. Merritt and just getting to hear her life story; she is an amazing woman and it’s incredible to see how God has used her and the good and bad things in her life that have gotten her to this place. She’s such an inspiration. Today I learned how to do Cathy’s hair! I wasn’t very good at it haha but with practice I could eventually do it J

This week we visited St. Mulumba Special School in Choma; it’s a boarding school that teaches the visually impaired, hearing impaired, and intellectually impaired children. The few hours that we spent at this school have been the highlight of my trip. Being there was incredible and so fun! I learned sign language, Braille, and smiling/hugging (the language of the intellectually impairedJ). These children were so happy and full of joy! They loved showing us around their classrooms and teaching us everything they are learning. They had the biggest pot of nisma I’ve ever seen…and they had 2 of them. They were huge metal barrels that came up to my stomach and they had to be stirred with oars! Stirring a little pot of nisma is hard enough…I cant imagine the muscles those women have from stirring that huge thing! I was so impressed with the school. Disabilities in Zambia are very looked down on. Families and communities will sometimes abandon or even kill the child if they are born handicapped. But this school truly cares about these kids and they are teaching them. The kids are learning and being loved. 2 deaf girls sang us the Zambian National Anthem in sign language. A blind boy wrote my name in Braille and taught me how to do mathematics. And a mentally handicapped girl named Karen made our day the best one yet. This little girl can’t talk or do sign language, but man can she hug. She would run between every single one of us giving us hug after hug after hug. We all probably got at least 20 hugs from Karen…and she just laughed and had the biggest smile the whole time. We wanted to steal her and take her home with us. The whole world needs hugs from Karen and the joy that she has!

Well 10 days. That’s all I have left with my precious babies. 10 more days to cuddle with Matt and be filled with the light that comes from his smile. 10 more days to watch Kathy grow into a precious joyful little girl. 10 more days to be a “playing mother” to Rosa and her friends who come to play every day. 10 more days to spend time with my Tonga friends Ruth, Brenda, and Deleki. 10 more days to show all our workers how much we appreciate them just by spending time with them during the day. 10 more days to bask in the glory and joy of singing with hundreds of Zambians to OUR Jesus. 10 more days of unbearable heat. 10 more sunsets that that huge hot sun makes. 10 more days of homework homework homework. 10 more days with the Mann Family. 10 more days of home. Home away from home. Home sweet Namwianga. In 10 days we leave Namwianga. We’ll still have 2 more weeks in Africa, but it won’t be the same. I don’t doubt that God will still work in our lives. He’s still going to show me new things everyday and teach me more about Him. He’s still going to love me and give me opportunities to give that love to others.  He’s still going to continue to amaze me. But Namwianga has been my home for 2 months now.

I’m excited to get home, don’t get me wrong. I cant wait to see what God has in store. Home is where the real battle field is. But it’s also the glory field. It’s going to be hard but it’s going to give me so many opportunities to give Him the glory. I couldn’t have done this without Him. Everyone said this trip would be life changing…ha I had no idea how life changing it really would be. I’ve been so blessed! I couldn’t be surrounded by 29 better people. This week God has taken my faith and shown me 134985940 new things that I never knew. I’m a different person because of it. LOVE. GRACE. POWER. MERCY. PRAYER. JOY. PASSION. SALVATION. FAITH. PEACE. I’ve know these words my entire life but now they have real meaning. God’s teaching me so much. It’s definitely not always easy but it’s a blessing and He’s helping me grow into the person He knows that I can be. So blessed!

Pray for our group as we wind down our time at Namwianga! We have a lot of work to do and a lot of people to spend time with! It’s going to be a hard transition for us. Pray for the babies at the havens! While talking to Mrs. Merritt I realized how much work it takes to run the havens. But over financial and physical support all she really wants is prayers for those babies. They need it so bad! Pray for the Namwianga students that got baptized Sunday night!

“Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There’s not a friend like the lowly Jesus. NO NOT ONE. NO NOT ONE.”

A Day in the Life...

Saturday night Ashley, Whitney, Abbie, and I packed a bag, loaded up some sleeping bags and went to the havens to work the night shift with the aunties! Little did we know those sleeping bags would never be touched. We got there around 7 Saturday evening and immediately started feeding crying babies. We were in Haven 1 where the little babies live so there were always plenty of hungry, dirty, or tired babies. Ba Cecelia, the head auntie, talked to us for a little bit and told us that basically the aunties just feed babies all night long. When one cries they feed them. If they’re dirty they change them. They also do laundry all night long. Sure enough, this went on ALL night. Just in the first few hours I had been spit up on dozens of times and peed on.  At one point, probably around 10 or 11, most of the babies were asleep so that was when we could lay down until a baby cried. Then we would get up and feed them. It was usually a nonstop rotation of a baby crying. As soon as I would put one down and start to fall asleep in my little chair another baby would cry. At about 3:30 in the morning I started to fall asleep and got maybe 45 minutes of sleep until all the babies started crying…we found out that a day at the havens starts at 4:30. Bright and early. The aunties were up bathing baby after baby, getting them into clean clothes and putting them in bed so we could come get them and feed them. Some aunties were cooking breakfast while others were cleaning the haven. This went on for a few hours until finally all the babies were clean and fed! In Haven 1 there are about 10 babies who are too old for milk so around 7 it was time to feed some of the older babies. We got them all at the table and fed each of them a bowl of porridge. Then the aunties took them back to clean them and put them in their beds. By breakfast I had managed to get peed on another time and of course lots more spit up. After breakfast time we left Haven 1 and went to Haven 2 where the toddlers live. I can’t even imagine what it would’ve been like staying there over night. It was bath time in Haven 2 and they were getting some of the kids ready for church! They take about half of the kids in that haven to church every week so around 9 o’clock we loaded up the van and drove down the road to the Johnson auditorium. Ashley, Whitney, Abbie, and I all sat on a row with 6 toddlers. Let me tell you, it was crazy. We were crammed and dripping with sweat because it was so hot, and having a kid on your lap makes it ten times hotter (and not having air conditioner). The kids slowly got cranky and tired, and I was so tired…after a night of no sleep I honestly wasn’t really in the mood to sit through a church service with a bunch of toddlers. We took them out about half way through to do a kids class with them which helped with all the heat and crankiness, and then when it was over we loaded back up in the van and went home to the Havens!

                After staying EIGHTEEN HOURS in the Havens I have a much bigger appreciation for the aunties. I met a few aunties, Betty, Violet, and Katherine, and got to talk to them a little bit. Betty was the only one that spoke English so we talked a lot about what she did there. She works the night shift every night, 5 pm to 7 am. She lives at the havens and she’s been doing it for a year. She’s single and has a daughter who lives at home with her parents. She doesn’t work any other jobs because she sleeps all day long. Violet doesn’t speak English but I sat down and did laundry with her one time and I could tell she was so appreciative of me helping her. She kept saying my name and “thank you” over and over again because those were the only words she knew how to say. In Haven 2 we got to talk to the auntie, Jennifer, and she was so glad that we were there to go to church with them.

These aunties have the hearts of a servant. A new mom always complains about not getting sleep because their one baby keeps them up. These aunties take care of 30 babies all night long. They change tons of diapers, they make tons of bottles, and they bath every baby. They do laundry for 30 kids, not 1 or 2 or 3. They are literally on their hands and knees scrubbing the floors every day. They don’t take their job lightly. They are probably always covered in spit up, pee, and poop.  But they do it with a smile on their face and a joyful attitude. They were singing while doing laundry and laughing while feeding the older kids. They truly enjoy their job. I honestly believe that not many people could do what these aunties do. This isn’t a job that you could do even if you hate it. These aunties have to love their job and love the babies that they’re taking care of. They put everything they have into giving these orphans a good life. They serve selflessly and they love every baby as Christ loves us.  A day in the life of an auntie was not east. It’s a dirty job but they do it willingly. It struck me that they are an example of God’s love for us. Compared to Him we’re dirty and needy; we fight him and don’t usually appreciate what he’s doing for us. We’re always crying out to Him for more, more, more. But He gives willingly. He holds us when we’re crying, he feeds us when we’re hungry, he comforts us when we’re needy. He doesn’t leave us in the dark to grow on our own. He’s with us from the very beginning helping us every step of the way. Every baby in the Havens has lost their mother and some have lost their father, but because of these aunties they are being loved and cared for and taken care of. Some of the aunties even have families of their own but they’re willing to give up everything for these babies. “Make me a servant, Lord make me like you.” These aunties are definitely servants just like Christ, and that’s the type of person I want to be; down doing the dirty work with a smile on my face and filled with love and joy.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” James 1:27

Experiencing More and More of Africa...

Byepi Mwane! We’re finally back home from our trip! It was a long 9 days but it was so fun and we got to experience so much!

On October 5 we left Namwianga and drove for 2 days until we got to Solwezi which is at the very North border of Zambia. We were out of Tonga land and with the Kaonde people…which means we had to learn a new language. We learned some Kekaonda, basically just greetings, but it was enough to connect with the people! North Zambia is so different from South Zambia where we live. First of all, it’s green. There’s a lot more rain up there so it’s full of green trees and grass, rich red soil, and even some little mountains! It was also a lot cooler, which is nice because it’s becoming summer here so Zambia is really hot. On the drive we saw parts of Zambia that were so different than Kalomo or Choma…the 2 cities in Zambia that we get to see. Those 2 cities are really poor and dirty. We drove through cities like Lusaka which is a big city. They have skyscrapers (mini compared to America but big for Zambia), stoplights and highways, and even a Subway! It was like a whole different world than the Africa we’ve been living in!

In Solwezi, Zambia, we stayed at Mumena Mission Site. This mission is new so there’s still a whole mission team there planting churches and helping the Kaonde people. The first night we got there they welcomed us, made us dinner, and had a devo around the campfire. All the families were so welcoming and loving; being there automatically made me want to join a mission team. Brian and Sandra Davis have 2 little boys, and they’ve been there the longest but are moving back to America next year. This family definitely has made a lasting impression on the Kaonde people. Brian taught us classes while we were there and he is the missionary of all missionaries. He knows what he’s doing.  Rick and Karen Love have 4 kids and they’re going to be there for a long time; at least 10 more years is their plan. Rick has devoted his life to KNOWING the Kaonde people; truly knowing them. You can tell that he cares about the people around him and he’s there solely to share with them about God. He loves those people so much. Karen is just a superhero. She has 4 little kids who she homeschools and she’s doing missionary work. She’s the little mom of the mission site; she welcomed us into her home and made us chocolate cake and really just gave us lots of good advice on mission work. I loved getting to spend time with Karen and hear about the work God is doing through her. Sam and Ellie Rodriguez are an older couple who just moved there in January. They are an inspiration to me; they were so close to retirement but they chose to move away from home and grandkids to live in Africa for a couple year. Then there were 2 younger couples who had just moved there in January also, and they are there for a 2 year apprenticeship. Jeremy and Whitney Davis and Jason and Erin Davis all graduated from ACU in 2008 and are now living in Africa…it’s crazy to think that they are just coming out of the stage of life that we’re in right now, and God’s already doing huge crazy things in their life! They’re just a few years older than us, and they’re living at Mumena getting to work with the Zambian people! Jeremy was so focused on truly getting to know the people; he’s already made a lot of great friends there and he knew so much of the language. One night he said a prayer in Kekaonde that gave me chills. Whitney was such an inspiration to me. We got to talk and spend a lot of time together and I just loved hearing about what she was doing there. She’s also made so many friends there and goes out of her way to spend time with them. Jason and Erin are doing a lot of work on agriculture helping the Zambians learn to farm and raise animals. Both of the young Davis couples really made an impact on me; they’re young and could be doing anything, but they’ve chose to give their life to the people of Zambia.

While we were at Mumena we got to see what a church planting team really does and we got to learn how a mission team works and the strategies that they use. We had a few class periods with the team and they were all so interesting! We learned about mission work in general and what that means. There are so many worldviews and traveling can be hard because you’re experiencing a new worldview; missionaries have to live in their own worldview. They live in the Kingdom of God. That’s the worldview that these missionaries have learned to live in, and because of that it’s easier to accept and work with the Zambian worldview. We learned about team building and different strategies. We also learned about issues that they have to deal with. Witchcraft is a huge deal in Africa. It’s always been something that I’ve heard about and seen movies with ghosts and spirits, but I’ve never actually thought about the reality of it and how it affects people. In class we learned so much about witchcraft and how it destroys the lives of people in Africa. Witchcraft is a strong power that Satan is using to lead people towards him, and it’s really hard to get rid of. The missionaries found that it’s part of the Zambian culture, therefore they’ll have people who become Christians but still practice witchcraft just because that’s part of the culture that they’ve grown up with. Another struggle that they deal with is just getting a village to agree to having a church there. We walked to a village one night that they are working with but haven’t been able to plant a church there yet because the people are very wild and pagan. We went there for a devo around the campfire and sure enough, it was pretty wild. It was definitely a “wow, I’m in Africa” moment. We were sitting around this huge fire with tons of Zambians and they started singing their Kekaonde songs, and before I knew it we were all dancing around the fire while clapping and chanting; that was their way of worship. However, a lot of the people were there just for the entertainment and to see the mazungus or makuas (white people). It was hard for us to see it as a way of worship but we joined in and immersed ourselves into the culture so we could connect with them and try and understand them. It was a fun night and a big cultural experience for us!

One day we walked with Whitney to Konkwa, a village where they’ve planted a church and she’s made some close friends there. Her friend Josephine was so excited to see us coming to visit her; she laid out all her stools and mats for us and she roasted us some ground nuts which were so good! The people in Zambia are very hospitable; they love for you to invite yourselves over and once you’re there they take good care of you. Josephine refused to let us sit on the ground and she never let us run out of groundnuts to eat. It was really cool to get to see real village life. At Namwianga there aren’t many villages close by that we go to, and if we do go to villages it’s usually for gospel meetings so it’s full of people…not just normal simple village life!

On October 8, we spent the whole day at Mehema Refugee Camp! This is the largest refugee camp in the world; they used to have 150,000 refugees living there but in the past couple of years about 70,000 of them have been able to go back to their homes. This camp is full of refugees from Conga and Angola, and some have lived there so long that they’ve had families and raised them on the camp. It was an incredible experience being there. First of all, the camp was nothing like what I expected it to be like. It’s run by an organization that helps them make a living for themselves. When the refugees come they are given land and seeds to start farming and they are given a tent to live in until they can build themselves a house. So they are never just left with nothing. Driving through the refugee camp we saw a lot of hard workers either farming, taking care of animals, or up on the roofs building houses for their families. We spent a few hours before lunch sitting in chairs under a tree just worshiping with them. We heard lot of sermons, sang lots of songs, and performed lots of songs for them. For lunch they cooked us nsima, cassava leaves, and goat. The nsima was literally bigger than my head. And they expect you to eat it all. It was insane. It was good though! After lunch we spent a couple more hours worshiping with them! We all had kids on our laps and at our feet and we just got to love on them! A couple of the missionaries from Mumena helped plant the church on the camp where we were worshiping so it was really neat to get to visit that area! The last song the “Harding choir” sang for them was The Greatest Commands; I was standing up with a little African girl holding each of my hands and looking into the faces of all these refugees who have made a life for themselves and who are filled with the love and joy of Christ. Nothing can beat that. God is good.

We were at Mumena on a Sunday so we all got to visit churches that the different missionaries are working with. I walked to Konkwa church where I taught a children’s class with Chelsea and Mackenzie! It was so fun, and it was really neat to see how the kids were interested in what we were teaching and singing. There were also a couple moms in there watching us and Whitney told us that they had been going to a teaching conference and they are really trying to learn how to teach the children of the church. One group walked to a church that was about 4 km away. One group road there bikes to a church that was quite a long way. They said that it was like on land rafting…for an hour. I cant imagine riding my bike for that long on Africa roads. Then a couple groups drove to some other churches. It was really cool to get to see the actual church planting work that these missionaries are doing. They didn’t just build Mumena and sit back while people come to them. They are going out of their way to reach the people around them. These villages that we went to are literally in the middle of the bush, but they’ve gone out there and gotten to know the people and have slowly helped them plant churches. Namwianga has been established for so long so we don’t get to see a mission team at work. We get to see the Zambians that they’ve trained and how they can now run Namwianga on their own. Getting to experience all these things like the campfire devo, the refugee camp, and the churches has really put into perspective how hard mission work is but also the rewards that come from it. One of the headmen of the church at the refugee camp was left by his wife and kids when he decided to become a Christian and the headman. And the whole day of worship was led by a group of men who were all in their 20’s. They’ve slowly learned how to lead ,and the elders of the church and the Mumena missionaries stepped back and let them be in charge. At Konkwa church our interpreter that helped us in kid’s class is married but his wife refuses to come to church with him. The moms that sat in on our class are really trying their hardest to learn and becoming able to teach their kids in church. There were also 2 older girls in class (12 years old) who were really into what we were teaching and they led the kids in songs. Whitney told us that these 2 girls come to a weekly Bible study that she holds. They are the only ones that come regularly; they are really committed to learning and growing in their faith. Getting to see all these people was really neat because God has used the missionaries at Mumena to reach them. Because of the missionaries’ willingness to put time and effort into getting to know the Kekaonde people, they are reaching some and helping them to strive to learn more about Christianity.

While at Mumena, we slept on the floor and had took bucket baths…that was pretty interesting. We got to spend a lot of time just getting to know the missionaries and their children. They all opened our homes to us and they were genuinely interested in getting to know us and share their stories with us. One night we did trick-or-treating for the missionary kids which was SO FUN! We all dressed up…I was a Greek goddess…and the kids came to each of our doors and got candy from us! Then we got to follow them around while they went to the missionaries homes. Mrs. Ellie made popcorn balls for us and there was a scary maze that we all got to go through! This was our last night at Mumena so Mrs. Ellie also made us 2 chocolate cakes so we spent some time in her house just hanging out with them one last time! 

Getting to visit Mumena was such a blessing! I learned so much about actual mission work. The missionaries were willing to open up to us and be honest. We didn’t just see the easy parts of mission work. We saw and heard about the hard parts; the culture shock, the failures, the setbacks. It’s not an easy life but it’s one that God is blessing them with and will definitely reward them for. The missionary families made such an impact on me and taught me so much. They welcomed us and loved us like their own family. We got to experience so much and see where God was working. It’s amazing to me that we can go anywhere in the world and worship with a body of Christians. We literally have family in any part of the world. On this trip I’ve been surrounded by Tonga people, Kaonda people, Angolian people, and Conga people…but no matter where we are or what language they speak, we all worship the same God! It’s truly awesome.

We took a few days getting home from Mumena just to experience and see different parts of Zambia. We stopped at a few different lodges…we got to swim and have chicken and chips at a place for lunch. We had Mexican food for lunch one day! Not quite Tex-Mex but still very good. We stayed one night at Nsobe Game Park where we got to just relax…we went canoeing and had a really nice dinner! Abbie, Ashley and I decided to explore and go on a walk and it ended up being a safari basically. For some reason we decided it’d be a good idea for just us 3 girls to walk down a road with a sign that said “Game Drive.” I don’t know why we didn’t realize we were in the middle of the African bush and “Game Drive” meant wild animals. We ran into some giraffe and kudu…thankfully it wasn’t any large animals that would’ve hurt us. It was still pretty scary though. There were a couple times where we thought we were just going to die out in the bush. We visited a reptile farm where we got to hold baby crocodiles and huge pythons.  Then we got to spend a day in Lusaka! We went to a market which was pretty cool. It was like a little town inside of all these wooden stalls. They had the normal tourists’ stalls but then they also had barber shops, restaurants, and even bridal stores. It was a pretty intense market. And we got to go to the mall in Lusaka…and surprisingly it was actually a mall. It was probably nicer than an American mall. The clothing stores looked exactly like the stores in our mall. And they had stores like Super-Walmart. It was really weird seeing all this in Africa because for 2 months we’ve been surrounded by poverty and disease. We’ve been the only white people around and we’ve dealt with very different culture. Lusaka was very different though. It was very Westernized. There were lots of Indians and white people. Everyone was rich, or well off, and the culture was a lot like what we’re used to. It was a very different experience than Kalomo of Choma, and especially different than Namwianga.

We’re back at Namwianga now! It was a great trip, but it’s so good to be back home! Thankfully no one got sick on our trip and we stayed safe the whole time. God really watched over us and blessed us. Ellie Hamby got to go on our trip with us which was an awesome experience. Her and her husband lived at Namwianga a long time and she’s really a legend here J It was so good getting to spend time with her and getting to know her! God is just really blessing us here, and we have 2 weeks left at Namwianga and I have no doubt that He’ll continue to bless us. It’s crazy to think that in a little over a month I’ll be home. Time has flown by here. We have 2 weeks left at Namwianga which will be crazy with school work, but it will also be good getting to spend time with our babies at the Havens and our Tonga friends from the college. Once we leave here we’ll go spend a couple weeks in Tanzania and Kenya!

Today I got to see my Tonga friend Ruth at chapel…it was so good to see her! I also got to go to the Havens and see my precious babies! Matt is happy and healthy as always! Cathy’s sick and they’re going to test her for malaria so keep her in your prayers!

Keep our whole team in your prayers as we’re winding down our time here at Namwianga! The amount of schoolwork we have is really stressful, and it’s going to be hard to not pull away from the people here as it gets closer and closer to leaving. Pray that God gives us strength until the very end and that He continues to show us new things every day!

Home Sweet Namwianga.

It’s so good to be back from vacation! Our trip to Livingstone was so much fun, but it was hard being away from Namwianga and our friends here. It was even hard just being back in the tourist parts of Africa. Our trip really made me realize how little of Africa people can see unless they purposefully immerse themselves into the country. 6 weeks ago we got here and I remember driving through Livingstone thinking about how run down the city was and how poor and it all looked. This past week when we drove through I kept thinking about how nice it was and how it looked so much like America. A tourist in Africa can see some poverty and run down cities, but there’s so much worse that some people never know is even there. At Namwianga and the villages that we’ve been to we’ve seen real poverty, and as hard as that is to see, that’s’ why we’re here. Being on vacation made me forget that we were even in Zambia and it made me lose sight of the reason we came on this trip.

Since we’ve been back home everyone got better from that little sickness we had! I went to see my babies at the Havens the day after we got back and it was so good! I had missed my little kiddos so much! Cathy turned 2 months while we were gone and I could tell! She looks so much bigger and healthier. And now she’s smiling and laughing…I’m starting to see her personality and it’s so fun! Matt was also so happy that day! We sat on the couch and he cuddled up on my lap and would just laugh and laugh. It was so good being back there. It’s made me realize how much I’m going to miss that and how I need to make the most of the month I have left here. I’ve gotten to see my friends also! I went to Brenda and Deleki’s dorm for a little while the other day. They were making dinner so we just hung out and talked about our vacation and our families.

On Friday, a group of us went to a village in Kalomo for a gospel meeting! This was quite an experience…we got there at 7:30 pm, went straight into the little church building where a sermon was already going on, and didn’t leave the building until 11:30. We heard 2 sermons, lots of singing, and watched a lot of singing groups (including usJ). There were over 450 people there and it was hot and muggy, but no one ever seemed to get tired of sitting in the room, which was as shock to me because I was definitely having trouble staying awake. When we finally were done for the night they sent us to our sleeping area…a little fenced in area outside where all the other women at the conference were sleeping. We were crammed in with hundreds of Zambian women…and if that wasn’t enough of a reminder that we were in Zambia then the singing and the roosters and the mosquitoes sure were. Some women sang Tonga songs until at least 2 o’clock in the morning and the village roosters started crowing around 4:30. But for the few hours we did sleep we were tight in our sleeping bags with chitenges over our heads so mosquitoes wouldn’t eat us. It was great though! We woke up to some sprinkling rain so for a couple hours we just laid there enjoying the cool morning air and rain drops. We braved the bathrooms which was a little hut with a hole in the ground…imagine 300 women using the same hole…yeah, it didn’t smell very good. But TIA! At 7 o’clock started the meeting again! We had a morning lesson and then they served us breakfast. Breakfast was 2 rolls and a very very full cup of chai tea. I was so relieved it wasn’t chibwantu but the tea was still hard to drink. And here you don’t just throw out whatever you don’t want, especially if you’re a guest. You eat and drink it all. Another lesson started at 9 o’clock. I was already having trouble staying awake just because of the lack of sleep we got the night before, so although I wanted to stay all day and experience the gospel meeting, I was a little relieved when O’Neal came and told us we had to go meet the immigration lady at 10 to sign some papers. We got back to Namwianga around 10 and I slept until 1 when I had to wake up for lunch. The immigration lady of course didn’t show up until 1 either. I went to the havens again on Saturday afternoon and saw my babies.

This morning (Sunday) we loaded up in the bus to go back to the gospel meeting for church! We got there at 9:00 and the building was already packed. They cleared out seats for us, which always makes me feel uncomfortable, but we were grateful and went and sat down! I thought the gospel meeting was crowded with 450 people…Sunday morning church was so much more crowded. Literally every spot on the floor was covered with a person. The isles, the steps, the stage, the room on the stage behind the speaker…everywhere. Apparently there were even tons of people outside. (Now the buildings in Africa aren’t like the buildings in America. This was just a big room with open doors and windows, so people could sit outside and still be a part of whatever was going on inside the building. Also, since it’s an open building there’s no air conditioning.) This building was probably a fifth of the size of the Brentwood auditorium and the attendance this morning was 1,180. It was incredible! There were so many people there and it was so hot, but we worshiped Jesus all morning! 4 hours to be exact! The communion and offering alone took at least an hour and a half. The sermon maybe took 30 minutes. And then the rest of the service we sang and prayed for people who asked for prayers and listened to singing groups (including the Harding chorus of course!) and took care of church business. It was quite an event. I can never complain about being in church for too long now, because I made it through a 4 hour service! It was great though…the people were so nice. I ended up with a little girl on my lap for the last hour. They loved our singing; we sang 2 songs for them in Tonga which just makes them go crazy! They love seeing makuas that can sing in Tonga. And we loved their singing! Nothing compares to being in a room with a thousand Zambians singing praises to the same God. There’s just no comparison. It’s truly awesome. After church I spent some time playing with little girls that live in a village on Namwianga! Rosa calls me her “play mom” and she gave me a picture of her family and a little purse that she made. I took them some playdough and we played until dinner. Then we went to Sunday night church which was great! We always go to Sunday night church at the auditorium right where we live so we go to church with all the college and secondary students. The electricity went out at the beginning so we just sat and sang in the dark which was incredible. Again, nothing compares to sitting in a room with hundreds of Zambians singing to God. 4 people got baptized afterwards! God is good.

Vacation made me so much more grateful for our Namwainga home. It’s also made me so grateful for the experiences we’re getting here; we aren’t just tourists in Africa. We’re being immersed in the culture and truly getting to know the people of Zambia. This country has its negatives, just like America does, but there are so many positives that have made a lasting impact on me. Words cant describe.  

"There is life after bungee!”…and white-water rafting, and charging elephants, and parasites.

Well we just got back from a 4 day vacation to Victoria Falls and Botswana, and I can honestly say I’ve never had that many near death experiences. After the last 3 days I have no energy or adrenaline or movement left in my body. We did so many crazy, fun, and terrifying things.

Early Sunday morning we got to Livingstone and went to a church there in town. It was a really nice church and the people were so welcoming and friendly. We did the normal service; singing, communion, sermon, Harding Chorus sings, and the greeting afterwards. When we were done we all packed into our bus and drove to Waterfront Lodge to eat lunch and get ready for our activities for the day! Lunch was great and before I knew it we were getting in a car and driving to the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. We got there, signed some papers, got some instructions and I was sent to the middle of the bridge…the place where people jump 111 meters to their death. I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing, which I guess is a good thing. I got to the bridge as soon as Cynda was about to bungee jump. She was the first one and watching her was scary, but before I knew it I was all harnessed up with my toes hanging off the edge of the bridge, the camera guy telling me not to worry because “there was life after bungee,” and a Zambian man counting down. I jumped and flew and bounced around and hung there for a while until finally a man came and got me and we were pulled back up to the bridge. It was so terrifying but so fun. I couldn’t believe I had just done that. I’ve never had such an adrenaline rush in my life. Little did I know, it was just going to get worse. I watched some more people bungee jump and then again, before I knew it, Cynda and I were harnessed together side by side getting ready to step off the bridge, this time feet first instead of head first. This Gorge Swing had us connected to a wire out from the bridge so when you stepped off you swung down until you were finally caught out under the wire. We swung, hit heads, my neck cracked about 10 times, and then we just hung there over the Boiling Pot of Victoria Falls until someone pulled us up. This wasn’t quite as scary as bungee jumping but it was much more painful. Still lots of fun though! After this we got to go watch the videos of us bungee jumping and swinging which was crazy, and then we went and did the zip line that goes over the Boiling Pot from Zambia to Zimbabwe. After everything we had just done, this was a relaxing little ride that was much more enjoyable. At the end of the day, our group was pretty in shock. We had jumped off a 111 meter high bridge over Victoria Falls in Zambia twice. My neck was sore, my adrenaline was gone and we were ready for rafting the next day!

Monday came and we woke up early, drove to Waterfont, got instructed on all the rafting rules, got put into groups, and loaded up to drive to Victoria Falls. I’ve never been rafting before so I was nervous and didn’t really know what to expect. However, I did expect this day to be not a scary as Sunday. Hah. Boy, was I wrong. I was in a raft with Ashley, Whitney, Abbie, Mackenzie, and Jared. We hiked down to the Boiling Pot and there were our guides getting our rafts ready. The Boiling Pot itself is just one big rapid so I was scared from the very beginning. We got in our raft with our guides Roger and Choonga and spent some time practicing before heading into the first rapid. We barely hit the first wave of the rapid and Mackenzie flew out, was swept under, and finally came out way down the river. She was shocked, as were we, but we got her back in the raft and headed for the rapid again. This time we made it almost to the very end when we hit a huge wave/rock and our whole raft flipped. Now you’re supposed to hold on to the rope that goes around the raft but this hit us so quickly that none of us were prepared to go flying into the Zambezi. I got sucked under the rapid and was literally under water for at least 30 seconds. I lost track of time. But I just know that I ran out of air and there was no sign of getting closer to the top of the water. Everything around me would start to get lighter and then it would get dark again. Eventually I came up above water and got a breath and then I saw Whitney in front of me. She was just right out of reach but we fought the rapids until we finally grabbed hands. Thankfully she was holding onto Abbie who was holding onto the raft, so we got back in and got Mackenzie back in, but Ashley and Jared were gone. They had been swept away somewhere and another raft picked them up. We finally got everyone back in our raft and the shock of what just happened started to wear off. I was in so much pain and I had just seen my life flash before my eyes; since I had never been rafting before, and since I thought this was just a little practice rapid I was convinced that this was going to be the worst day of my life. We were going through 25 rapids that day and I just knew that they were all going to be worse than that. Thankfully they weren’t or else I would’ve been dead. We found out that first rapid was a class 4 so it got better after that. We went through rapid after rapid and we were so excited when we would make it through without flipping. On rapid #8 our raft almost flipped so most of us went flying out. Thankfully this time I was able to grab hold of the rope so I wasn’t swept under the water. We quickly got back on the raft and kept rowing through the rapid until we picked up everyone else who had flown out. Rapid # 9 was a class 6 rapid called “Suicide” that we had to walk around…it was insane. We watched a kayaker go through it and our empty rafts, and now I understand why they don’t take people through that rapid. It literally would’ve been suicide. After rapid # 10 we stopped and had a picnic lunch before starting the rest of the day. The rapids after lunch seemed to be somewhat calmer. There were some that were 12 a,b, and c, so it was pretty important that we didn’t fall out on “a” or else we’d be swept under water for way too long of a time. Then we got to a rapid called “The Mother.” “If you don’t respect your mother then this rapid is going to get you”…that’s what our guides kept telling us. I think I respect my mother pretty well but this rapid killed me. At the very beginning of it I looked up and this huge wave was coming straight for us. I knew that we weren’t going to make it over. Sure enough, our raft flipped. I grabbed the rope this time but the rapid was so rough. I was holding onto that rope with everything in me…I was able to get tiny breaths every once in a while but the raft came down and hit me on the head twice pushing me back under water. Finally the force of the rapid tore me from the rope and I was pushed under the water. This wasn’t as bad as the first rapid in the Boiling Pot because I came up not too long after. The current took me into a little cove where I found Ashley and Mackenzie. Our raft was long gone but thankfully another raft came and got us and took us to ours. My head pounded for a good 30 minutes after and it took a while to catch my breath. We kept on going though and hit some more good rapids! I also got a really good Chaco tan J  Our guides let us swim through rapid #24 which was a lot of fun and we finally finished on #25. By the end of the day my body was so sore but I was sad that it was over. That first rapid in the Boiling Pot made me think that I was about to have the worst day ever, but it was actually so fun. It was so much scarier than bungee jumping, but it was also so pretty and even relaxing at some points. In between rapids we would just get to float along the Zambezi, sometimes swim for a while, enjoy God’s creation around us, and even spot lots of crocodiles. Yes…we were rafting with the crocs. What an experience. There really were times where my life flashed before my eyes. I loved it though. It was a great bonding experience for the people in our raft…since we depended on them to save our lives J and it was a great opportunity to do something that most people don’t get to do. Monday night when I laid down to go to sleep I was in so much pain and I still couldn’t believe what we had done, but I was already missing it!

Tuesday we woke up and drove to Botswana to go on safari! It’s a good thing we weren’t doing anything active that day because all of us were basically dead. We were so grateful for a day just to sit and relax. We got to Chobe Lodge where we all loaded up onto a boat to do a river safari. We were on the boat for a couple hours looking at hippos, crocodiles, elephants, water buffalo, warthogs, and lots of birds. It was beautiful. We were living the life…floating through the Chobe river while getting within a couple feet of all these huge powerful animals. After the boat ride we went and ate a good lunch at the lodge and then loaded up onto safari cars to go out into the bush! Our guide, Six, drove us around for a couple hours and we saw a lot of elephants, giraffes, zebra, kudu, hippos, crocodiles, monkeys, and more birds. All the animals were incredible. We stopped at one point to have a little snack in the bush. On our way back we were driving along and an elephant showed up right next to our car. We stopped to watch it and then it started coming at us. Six had to floor it to get us away from the elephant…thankfully the elephant didn’t chase after us. Another escape from death! After safari, we went and ate dinner and then went back to our hotel. We were exhausted and ready for bed!

This morning (Wednesday) we woke up early to go to the Livingstone Museum and then drive back to Namwianga. Here the sickness began. So many of us woke up with nausea or diarrhea or just upset stomach. I would be embarrassed to be writing about this on my blog for everyone to see, but it’s just part of life in Africa. It’s not a matter of “if” you get diarrhea…it’s a matter of “when.” Same with throwing up. It’s just going to happen so there’s no point in hiding it. Our group went to the museum which was cool but it was hard to enjoy…it was more of just a party in the bathroom. Then the healthy part of the group went to the market while the sick part stayed in the bus. I got a nice nap in and felt a little better when I woke up. The ride home was the adventure of the day. A 2 hour bus ride on African roads isn’t a good thing for a bunch of people with nausea and upset stomach.  It turned into a contest of who could throw up in a bag or out the window and who got the most cheers for it. It was quite a trip. Thankfully we have Ba Bingham to take care of us. We don’t really know if it’s parasites from the Zambezi water or something we ate, but it’s getting us pretty bad. So keep us in your prayers! Thankfully we’re back home at Namwianga instead of out on bumpy roads.

Our vacation was so good. It was fun and exciting and a good bonding experience, but it was also really eye opening. 6 weeks ago when we drove through Livingstone we thought “Wow look at the poverty in Africa. This town is so run down.” Today while we were driving through we kept thinking “This city is so nice. The stores are awesome. It looks just like America.” Namwianga still isn’t the poor part of Africa but we get to see a lot more than just the tourist parts of the continent. We’re so blessed to be getting to experience the rough parts of Zambia because that’s where we see places that really need help and really need God. It’s hard sometimes, but it’s such a blessing. But it’s also a blessing to get to have a break from school and “work” and get to enjoy ourselves. 9 years ago I hiked down to the Boiling Pot with my dad and sister and watched people bungee jump off the bridge…This week I hiked down there to raft the Zambezi and I was the one bungee jumping. It’s crazy where God is leading me and the opportunities He’s placing in my life.

EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING.

Our internet is getting better so I put some more pictures on facebook. (Not all of them worked but I’ll keep trying.) I cant believe we’ve been here almost a month! So much has happened and I’m in love with this place. I’ve experienced tons of new things and have met so many people. My relationships are growing stronger and stronger with my HIZ group and the Zambians. Every day holds something new. I’m constantly learning and growing. I’m not the same person that I was a month ago when I left America. God is working in my life. But of course, I don’t know why I’d expect anything less. Every Sunday we go to villages for church and they are all so different, but they have all been great experiences! Our neighbors on the mission have lots of little children that love playing with us so one day I took them some play-dough and we played for a long time! They taught me Tonga songs and words and we had lots of fun! The kids here are precious and they love playing with us Makuas!

I still spend most of my time at the Havens. I love being there! Cathy is getting better and better. I love that little girl to death. On the 27^th she’s turning 2 months old! She’s starting to smile and make faces and she is just precious. We sit outside on the porch everyday just enjoying the weather and the other kids running around. Nande is a little girl that lives at the Havens…I think she is the daughter of one of the aunties. She’s the happiest little girl I know. She doesn’t speak any English unlike all the other kids that live on the mission, but I love playing with her! She always brings me so much joy. She has the biggest most beautiful smile ever and she’s always laughing. She’s an angel. My little boy Matt is the light of my life! We sit on the couch for hours and sing and laugh and play games. He has lots of little buddies in that Haven that come play with us too. They are all crazy and want the attention to themselves so it’s hard because they cry and cry when you put them down. But they are so sweet. Since we’ve been here we’ve gotten probably 5 or 6 new babies at the Havens. This week twin girls came in when they were 3 hours old! They are chunky and healthy and beautiful, and I love holding them! I’ve been spending more time at Eric’s house with George, Jason, Shane, Bright, Luke, Benjamin, and other boys. They are wild boys but so so sweet. They are at the age where they need attention. They need people to play with them. We’ll go spend a couple hours on the sports court just running around with them and they love it. They know my name now and I love hearing them call me... Sometimes it’s “Kenna” instead of “Hanna” but they’ll yell my name from far away and then run up and tackle me. They are fun boys!

Last week I really started making friends with the Zambian students at George Benson College. Brenda and Deleki are some girls that I met Wednesday night at church and since then I’ve been to their dorm a couple times and they’ve been over to play cards. We also got paired up with a student to be our Tonga tutor. It’s more like organized friends J It’s great though! My tutors name is Ruth and she’s so sweet. They took us to a dance which was interesting, to say the least. Lots of fun…but very different. They’re going to teach me how to make nsima so get ready family, I’m making it for you when I get home!

We’ve spent a lot of time playing cards, watching movies, talking and laughing, and really just getting to know each other! We spend some nights on the storage bins singing. We’re pretty used to the electricity going out…we’ve learned to cook and play cards by candle light or lantern. The Mann house family truly is my family. These girls have blessed my life so much, along with the rest of the girls. We’ve taken some field trips and gone into town a few times. We’re always seeing new and different things and learning so so much. It’s crazy. We’re constantly having to “process” and “debrief” from the day just because so much happens.

On Monday I went to work at the clinic for the first time. I went with Mackenzie and Hannah, and a PA student that’s here for a 6 week rotation, Katie Hill. It was hard at times but a really good experience. We saw lots of patients…there was a baby girl who was so dehydrated and malnourished that her skin was just hanging off her body. We saw a couple older people who both had really bad lungs and breathing. They were in-patients there so we started them on TB medicine and we’re going to keep checking on them! We had to tell a woman that she had a miscarriage which was really hard, but Katie did a great job telling her. We prayed with her and I was so impressed with how Katie handled it. We saw a few other patients who needed shots and exams. I saw some things that I never thought I would see in my life. I never really thought I would be working in a clinic dressed in scrubs with a stethoscope around my neck. But God continues to bless with me with so many new opportunities. He continues to surprise me and leave me in awe and speechless. “You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, ‘Lord, blessed be your name.’”

Yesterday (Tuesday) I went and watched some young boys play football (soccer)! This was such an “African” experience. We really are in Africa. I walk through the bush everyday and talk to Zambians everyday but sometimes it still doesn’t seem like I’m actually here.  Yesterday was a little different. I walked with a couple other girls to the football game; on the way we passes a creek that was so brown but there were little boys bathing in it, women getting water probably to cook with, and other kids just playing in it. Dirty water…that’s what causes so many of the diseases and deaths here. Then we got to the game and it was just a little field with some logs as goals. No uniforms. They actually had a real soccer ball. One boy had cleats and we were so surprised. These were just some Zambian boys playing soccer with whatever they have. 7 or 8 girls came up to us as soon as we got there and by the time we left there were probably more than 40 kids there. We were sitting on the sidelines of a football game with village kids in the Zambian bush. Crazy. TIA.

Keep praying for my team! We’ve had a lot of people sick with a pretty bad stomach virus. Culture shock is also hitting a lot of us. We’ve experienced a lot of things that past week that have surprised us and made us think a little differently about the Zambian culture. It’s hard seeing the positives and negatives of a culture and knowing how to handle them. Some days we’d rather just stay in our house where we’re comfortable instead of going outside to play with kids or hang out with the college students. Next week we’re going on vacation to Victoria Falls and Botswana so keep our travel in your prayers. So much is going on. "Everything is happening." Julia says that all the time and it's so true. God is blessing us! It’s not always easy but it’s all worth it. Every minute of it. I’m still learning. God never ceases to amaze me by showing me something new. And I think I can speak for my whole group when I say that. This experience is beyond anything we ever imagined ourselves doing. We’re so blessed and so thankful!

Rock my world.

What a week. The last few days have been filled with experiences that people don’t want to experience. Life holds some hard things that no one wants, but God tends to put them in our lives for a reason. We dealt with death for the first time this week. We’ve been here for 3 weeks and things have been good. We’ve watched sick babies at the havens get better, we’ve seen babies being born in the clinic, and we’ve seen sick people in Kalomo and Macha hospitals but no one on the verge of death. We’ve built relationships with Zambian college students and we’ve been filled with joy by the smiles on people’s faces. We’ve been blessed. I think I can speak for the whole HIZ group when I say that we were getting pretty comfortable with where we were. Reality hit us this week when 2 different groups of people dealt with death. 3 girls were working in the clinic and had to watch a baby take some of its last breaths. The mother and grandmother were there and they were having a really hard time coping with this baby’s death. Another group went to Kalomo hospital and watched a man lay on his bed and probably take some of his last breaths also. His dad was sitting next to him comforting him as he was fading away.

We’ve taken nursing classes and have learned a lot about the disease here. We’ve seen “Sex thrills. AIDS kills.” billboards all around town. We’ve hear the statistics in the hospitals. This week the diseases that are causing such big problems in Africa became a real problem in our lives. It wasn’t just a disease in a text book anymore. It was killing people that we were dealing with.

Thursday night we had our 3 week processing meeting. We were a broken group. Death is a hard thing to deal with and process. It’s hard at home and it’s hard here in Africa. I wasn’t in either of the groups that experienced death but that night at our meeting everyone’s hearts were heavy. We sang and shed lots of tears and really just cried out to God; cried out in frustration and brokenness. We cried out in pain and helplessness. But we also cried out in thanksgiving. We cried out in peace. We cried out in praise, because our God is not overcome by death. WE are not overcome by death because of our God. “Our God is not a god of disorder, but of peace.” It doesn’t seem fair. That baby should’ve lived more than 5 months. The father shouldn’t have had to be caring for his son as he was taking his last breaths.  People in Africa shouldn’t be dying of diseases that are so easily preventable or cured in America. It’s impossible to understand the meaning behind God’s plans. It doesn’t make sense how He can choose some babies to be born in America and have everything they need, and then can choose some babies to be born in Africa where he knows they are going to get sick and not have the health care to be healed. It’s impossible to understand how God can be so great, yet He allows such bad things to happen. It’s hard to watch people die from AIDS and not be able to do anything about it. It’s hard to not be angry sometimes. But I guess that’s what faith is all about. Seeing the greatness of God even through the worst suffering. Trusting Him even when things seem to be falling apart. Handing your life over to Him and trusting that His plans are so much better than ours. Faith is not easy. As soon as we were getting comfortable with where we were God rocked our world. The great thing is God’s rocking our world in good ways along with the tough ways. I’m learning to be joyful no matter the circumstances. I’m learning that without God we are a broken and lost world. Without the hope that God gives us we would be overcome by death. Without joy we would drown in our sorrows. Without the love of God we would be lost. Without the body of Christ we would be hopeless.

This isn’t the only death we’re going to experience while we’re here in Zambia. That’s really difficult to think about. It’s going to happen and it’s probably not going to get any easier to understand. God blessed us with a family to help us though. I’m surrounded by 30 people who are experiencing what I’m experiencing, struggling with how to cope, and loving God despite it all. It’s an amazing feeling knowing that I have a family who will mourn with me when I’m sad, who will comfort me when I can’t find answers, and who will encourage me when there are no answers. We live in a broken world but we can find hope in the brothers and sister that we have in Christ, in the smiles on the faces of strangers around us, and in the awesome works of God that we’re surrounded by.  

Jesus, rock my world. In good ways. In bad ways. In ways that break me just to make me stronger.

THIS. IS. AFRICA.

Try and picture this in your head. You're crammed into a small bus with 30 other white people driving down a bumpy road surrounded by African bush. You pass lots of little villages and Zambians who run after the bus and wave and smile at you. Finally, you turn off the road and get to a small, open building that's surrounded by Zambians. As you get off of the bus the children run up to you and hug you, the adults come and greet you and shake your hand, and together you all go into the building. Inside, there are cement benches. Girls sit on one side, boys on the other. There's no air conditioning, no lights, no doors or windows. But this is a nice building...it's not like the one you were in last week that was a mud hut with a straw roof and logs to sit on. You only have a song book if you brought your own, and hopefully you did because the songs are in Tonga. The service doesnt start for a while because well, this is Africa. While you're waiting for it to start people are walking in. Children go up to the front while mothers cram onto the benches and start breastfeeding their babies. They dont bother hiding it because…this is Africa. The service starts and they tell you (or your brother/husband/father) that you're preaching. Your other brother says the prayer. Your son does communion. Your whole family or group is called a choir and has to go up and sing for the congregation. You're the guest and it's just expected that you are in charge of the service because, once again, this is Africa. Sometimes you'll end up with a kid on your lap that pee's on you or loses your bracelets or rips a page out of your Bible, but hey, this is Africa. It happens and you cant help but laugh. After church is over, as you leave the building everyone lines up so they can greet every other person in the church. You shake a hand, curtsey a little, exchange the greeting "Mwapona buti!" "Kabotu.", and repeat 50 more times. You usually get laughed at a few times but you're proud of the little Tonga that you know so you just smile back. After greeting everyone, you go and try to communicate with people but you usually dont get very far. Some kid see's your camera and before you know it, 15 kids are wanting their picture taken, taking pictures, and then laughing at what they see. They've probably never seen themselves before because this is Africa. As you get on the bus and start to drive away all the kids line up and wave goodbye because well, this is Africa and who knows when they'll see a makua again.

This is the experience I've had the last few Sundays. I can definitely say that it's a whole new experience for me. But of course, this whole trip is new. Their culture is so different from ours and we just have to remind ourselves that TIA. This Is Africa. Things are going to be different. They are going to be weird. They are going to be new. But we're learning to open our eyes and find the blessings in their culture. We're very different from the Zambian people. We're very different from the Chinese and the Russians and the Mexicans. We all have our own cultures. But we all serve the same God. No matter where you go around the world, there are going to be people worshipping God. I found a Tonga bible in the church building and it looked so different, but it was the same words. We praise the same God, we read the same Bible, we all take communion and remember the sacrifice God made for us. Isn't that amazing? While you're worshipping God in America right now there are people worshipping Him in a million other places. For some reason God has brought me to the other side of the world to be united with more of His people. I'm getting to love Him and praise Him with people who want to do the same thing. We were strangers, but because of the God we're worshipping together we're now family. I feel so unworthy and inadequate, but so blessed and grateful. I was sitting in an African hut surrounded by old women singing at the top of their lungs. I try and sing along and now I can pick out words so I get the general meaning, but even if I dont understand it I sing anyways. It builds a bond between me and the old Zambian women. We can sit together and sing praises to the same God. I was sitting there trying to listen to the sermon but was a little distracted by the kids. They are so well-behaved. Some of the 8 year old girls have their little sister or brother in a chitangi on their back. They sit there with torn dresses and no shoes, but that doesnt even matter because of the smiles on their faces. When I look at the little Zambian kids and smile they laugh and smile back. We dont need words to communicate because we have joy that we can express through a smile. So many expressions have different meanings around the world, but a smile means the same thing everywhere. JOY. God gave us a way to communicate and the meaning of it is JOY. Incredible. I can go anywhere in the world and be connected to people because of the joy we have in our Jesus!

Well, this is Africa. It's different; sometimes it's weird or uncomfortable or even unacceptable. But in so many ways it's so similar. We were created by the same God and we’re living our lives to praise Him and bring Him glory. This is Africa. Mr. Muller told us the other day that “Africa is infectious. You get here and you either fall in love or never come back.” So true. I love it. As the Gregersons describe it, I'm getting an African shaped hole in my heart that will forever be there.

This Is Africa.

Hope.

We have had the busiest couple of days! I have learned so much and have so much to think about and process.

Yesterday (Thursday) we took a field trip to Twin Fountains Farm which is an agricultural farm/school run by Klaus Muller, a German man who’s lived in Africa for most of his life. He built this school to help Zambians learn how to make a living for their own. They pay for 2 years of college, they are given livestock and pieces of land, and they have to work it. They train the wild animals to become tame, they plant their land, and they come up with ways to make these things easier or more efficient. It’s a great program because it shows the Zambians that learning how to make a living will get them so much further than just accepting money or food from people. Food should be so abundant in Africa…the majority of their land is perfect for farming and growing…the soil is healthy and the weather is always able to produce something. However, in America, only 6-7% of the land is able to produce crops. Yet we have more food than we know what to do with. It’s crazy that Africans are starving and dying because of malnutrition. There are such easy solutions to the problems here, but these people don’t know how to do it or they don’t have the resources or they aren’t able to because of the government. What Mr. Muller is doing is teaching the people how. He’s teaching them to work hard and make something of themselves, that way they don’t have to rely on other people. They are becoming completely dependent on what they do, and because of what they’re learning, the things they do can give them great opportunities in the future.

Yesterday afternoon, I went into Kalomo which is the closest town to us. It’s 7km away and we go there often to eat or shop or buy groceries. Yesterday I went with 5 other students to visit the hospital. Ba Bingham and Ba O’Neal took us and we got to go with Ba Rogers to talk to patients and encourage them and pray with them. This hospital is the closest hospital around for many people, so I was expecting it to be a pretty good one. Obviously no hospital here is anything like we would see in America, but this one was just shocking. There were 5 small rooms: a labor ward, a children’s ward, a women’s ward, a men’s ward, and the isolation ward. These rooms were probably the size of my bedroom back home, but they had as many as 10 beds inside of them, the doors and windows were wide open because that was the only ventilation they got, and it was dirty dirty. In the children’s ward we saw a girl who was so malnourished that her hair was a white/red color and her arms were almost nothing. One little boy had an awful bruised and swollen face from being beaten by a “mad man.” There was a burned child that we never saw because he was kept under a sheet. These were just some of the patients. We were able to communicate with a few of the parents and some had been there up to 2 months. In the women’s ward I met a baama (elderly lady) who had somehow been hit by a cow. They thought she had a broken rib and her leg had just been torn apart. There was a huge gash that apparently was stitched up, but you couldn’t even tell. Ba Bingham said that the doctors obviously didn’t even know how to put stitches in. It was horrible. In the isolation ward were TB patients, but we just walked right in. I’m sure they were contagious, but no one was there stopping us or making us put on masks and gowns. We held hands and prayed with two girls who have TB. “Isolation” meant nothing to the hospital. These people come to a hospital because they are dying and need help, but they cant even get the help they need. Baama didn’t know if she had a broken rib because they don’t have x-ray machines.  One man had awful chest pains but he didn’t know what was wrong because the hospital doesn’t have any way to look at his lungs. These people are helpless. Sure they can go to another doctor, but its hours and hours walking distance away. After going through all the wards we went to another building called the Mother’s ward. This is where the families of patients stayed or the pregnant women stayed until they went into labor. There were tons of people and as we walked in the room they laid burlap plastic down for us to sit on. They were giving us the nicest things they had. We sat in a tiny room with probably 40 Zambians, at least 35 were women, and we sang with them and encouraged them. It was really striking that they were all women…women are the hard workers in Zambia. They work in the fields, they walk miles to get water, they cook, they take care of their family members. No dads were here with their wives or children. They were all mothers. It was an awesome experience. They loved that we could sing in Tonga so we sang them a bunch of Tonga songs, Jared gave them a lesson, and Ba Bingham encouraged them before we left. They were so happy to meet us afterwards. Every single person made sure that they shook each of our hands and talked to us. Our Tonga goes to about the extent of “Mwabuka buti.” “Kabotu. Mwabuka buti?” kabotu. Twaloomba.” Twaloomba.” It’s not a lot but we are proud of what we know and the Zambians love hearing us say it! A lot of times they laugh at us but it’s really neat to have a little bit of connection with them. If you say “Hi.” They might say hey back, but as soon as you say something in Tonga their faces just light up and they make an effort to make conversation. It shows them that we aren’t just American tourists. We’re here because we care about them and are truly interested in their culture. All the people were so happy and friendly, but it was just a shocking experience seeing the health care that these people have.

Today was a completely different experience. We went to Macha Hospital, which is about 3 hours away. It’s a hospital run by a white man who has lived in Zambia for most of his life. His parents built the hospital many many years ago and it has just grown into a great medical center. The wards are still rooms with multiple beds in them but they are clean. That was the first thing that struck me…we walked into the first building and it smelled like bleach. It smelled like a hospital should. It still wasn’t anything like an American hospital but it was a thousand steps up from the Kalomo hospital. They had real doctors and nurses, they had medicine and equipment that they needed, and they had labs so they could research and keep learning about the diseases in Zambia. That was the greatest thing about Macha Hospital. They have research labs where they are studying Malaria. They have a room full of malaria infected mosquitoes that they use for testing. They have microscopes and bacteria samples and equipment you might see in an American lab. One project they are working on is testing for malaria in saliva. This is a new project that was started here but is making a lot of progress and probably will eventually be used in other places. The research they are doing here is cutting edge. They have information that scientists from all over the world come and see. It’s amazing. We were in the middle of the African Bush at a hospital that is saving lives. Malaria was killing over 200 of their patients PER YEAR in the 1980’s, but because of the progress they’ve made in injections and medicines, they have only had 1 death in 2011. They are completing wiping out this disease from Macha, Zambia. It’s sad because the rest of Africa is still suffering, but this is just a glimpse of hope.

The last 2 days have been great experiences because it has shown me the good that is actually going on here. It’s easy to get discouraged because of places like Kalomo Hospital. It’s easy to feel like no matter how much you do, it’s not going to make a difference. We cant save the whole continent of Africa. In many ways that’s true, but if we can make a difference to one person or one village, then that’s enough. God is doing great things here. Sometimes we doubt that He's here with them...but they are HIS people. Of course He's not going to leave them. We're crazy for ever doubting Him. I dont always understand why He lets it get this bad. He has the power to heal every person right now. But He has a plan and we have to trust that He's working, even through all these struggles.

Learning, growing, and loving it!

Life in Zambia is great! I’m loving every minute of it and learning new things every day. Nothing can compare to the experience I’m having here with my HIZ family and the people of Zambia.

Here’s what’s been going on in the last week of my life:

I was sick for a few days with some allergies, and as a result I have no voice. If it happens like it has in the past, it wont be back for about a week. I’ll just have my lovely man voice that I tend to get every time I get sick.

Cathy is getting better and better! They decided her rashes were either staph or a side effect from medicine she was taking so they treated her for both. The rashes are drying up and will hopefully be gone soon. She got moved from the isolated room where new borns stay into a room with older kids. She’s growing up! J

I made a friend named Odysseus that won’t stop coming back to see me. Fortunately, I’ve been gone every time he comes around.  But my teachers have taught me well and I’m prepared to tell him that “I have other plans” when I am finally here to see what he wants to talk about.

We had a Week 1 devo/processing night. One week! Man, this semester is going to fly by.

I’m getting really good at Nerts! We’ve had some long nights and huge crazy games. It gets pretty intense and lots of fun!

We spent a day in Kalomo; we went to the markets and I bought my first chitangis, we ate at a “take-away” restaurant in town that was really good, and we saw and met pretty interesting people. It was a fun experience!

I made homemade banana bread with Ashley and Abbie! That was a few days ago and we’re still eating that bread. It was quite a baking experience…almost a disaster. The bread didn’t necessarily look good but it sure does taste good!

We went to Mabula Church of Christ for church on Sunday morning. This was a little church out in some village in the middle of nowhere. It was so great! No one spoke English there so it was hard to communicate but it was so interesting getting to see how they worship. We sat on logs in a little hut worshiping God with Zambian people that we didn’t know. It’s amazing how God can bring his people together even from opposite sides of the world.

We are starting to meet the students that are here for primary school and college! Eventually we’ll be spending a lot of time with them doing sports or choir or just hanging out in their dorms!

Real classes started this week…6:30 every morning. Intensive Tonga. A great way to exercise your brain first thing in the morning. Surprisingly, I’m learning a lot and loving it!    

Those are just some highlights…I wish there was a way that I could share everything with yall, but I just cant. Too much is going on and it’s all just too good. My words wouldn’t do it justice. God is working here in my heart and in the people around me. He has blessed me by giving me a semester with these Harding friends. They have encouraged me so much and have shown me the type of faith I want and how I should be living it out. I’m learning to be content whatever the circumstances. I’m learning how blessed I am. I’m learning more and more about the love of God and his power and majesty and grace. I’m just learning so much and loving it! Every minute! I wouldn’t trade it for anything!