Blessed.

Mwapona buti nyoonse! That’s a greeting that means “How are you all?” I’m getting good at my Tonga! :) Yesterday, Monday, we started classes! My schedule goes, Intensive Tonga at 9:00, Missionary Health Care at 10:00 and Missionary Anthropology at 11:00 on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! That’s only for this week so starting next week it will be a little different. Intensive Tonga will start at 6:30 and then Humanities at 7, Breakfast at 8, chapel at 9, class at 10 and 11. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the only class we have is our 6:30 Tonga and Humanities and then we’re done for the day! I love my classes so far and I’m already learning a lot! My teacher for Tonga, Ba Siaziyu, is a great teacher! He’s so fun and really helps us learn. For the other classes, we have Ba Janice and Ba O’Neal, our teachers from Harding, but they are also great. Our classes really center around what we’re learning and experiencing here so it will make it a lot more interesting…not only are we hearing these things but then we get to go out and live them every day.  Also, our classes our just out on the front porch in beautiful weather…it feels like Austin does in the fall…cool and windy. It’s perfect! I’m going to hate next semester when I have to go back to normal classrooms! After class yesterday I took a nap, ate lunch, and then went to the havens until dinner. Of course, it was another great day there. In haven 3, I played with Matt again and some of the other little boys, Karibo, Nathan, and Barrett. We sit on the couch in the family room and they just come and play all over us! Then I went into a room with little babies. I was sitting on the floor with a precious little girl named Shannon laying in my lap and 4 older babies rolling on the floor around me. Shannon was a premature baby and I don’t know how old she is now but she probably weighs about 5 pounds. She is beautiful and so tiny but she’s starting to smile, so I would tickle the babies around me and make them laugh and Shannon would start to smile. I spent at least an hour just sitting there spending time with these babies. Shannon was wearing clothes that said “Daddy and me” and it broke my heart because I don’t know if she has a daddy. Lots of these kids have parents, but their parents aren’t able to take care of them until their older. But in Haven 3, these kids are sick, so even if they do have parents, they probably won’t live past the age of 5. It is so sad and it doesn’t seem fair. These children deserve parents and a family and good health and just to be happy and loved. While I was sitting in this room Grace, a 15 year old Zambian girl who lives in the haven and works there came in and sat next to me. She walks around and sings Tonga songs to the babies so she came and was teaching me a song. It was such a blessing to sit there and sing with here while being surrounded by Shannon and the other kids. After that I went and spent time in Haven 2. Spending time there is so fun, because these are toddlers so we just sit out on the front porch and play with all the kids. They run around and laugh and try and talk and they tackle you and play with your hair and try to work your camera. It is so fun. Rachel sat in my lap the whole time and when it was time to go I realized she had peed all over my skirt…that was the first time I’ve been peed on and apparently it happens a lot here so it wont be the last! haha but you just cant help but laugh and move on! I spent some time outside playing with the older boys and girls. We brought silly bands and these kids LOVED them. They call them bangles…they always want bangles and sweets. Last night, we ate dinner, had a practice fire drill, and then got to try a very interesting Zambian drink. It tasted like vinegar and had the texture of cottage cheese. I couldn’t make myself drink more than one drink…some people tried to make themselves drink it and ended up throwing up. And somehow, some people drank the whole thing. Our teachers made us try it because it is a very nice drink in Zambia. They have it at weddings a lot or they make it for guests, and it’s rude if you don’t drink it. So they are helping us out by getting us used to it before we actually have to drink it in front of Zambians…I still don’t know if I’ll be able to though haha it was pretty interesting. We had family time last night…we watched “She’s the Man” and just hung out and talked. It was lots of fun!

We had class again this morning, but only Tonga so the rest of the day was free. I went outside and took some playdough to play with some of the kids that live on the mission right by our house. They loved playing with the playdough! I spent a couple hours out there playing until it was lunch time. The kids are 2-6 years old and they love coming out to see us everyday. We played with playdough and my camera so everything that we made and took pictures of they taught me in Tonga. It’s amazing how much easier it is to learn a language when you’re immersed in the culture. They taught me words and helped me remember the words I learned in class this morning, and we sang songs in Tonga that I already knew. After lunch I went to the havens for the day! In Haven 3 I played with Matt again and all his little buddies and I held Shannon for a long time. Precious, the auntie that lives there told me what was wrong with all the babies. Shannon just came to the Haven last week because she has AIDS and Matt has AIDS too. That means these kids wont live very long. It breaks my heart. A little girl named Twalubwa that I love playing with was born lame and with a limp neck but she’s improving a lot! She can hold her head up and she’s getting lots more strength in her legs! Adam has AIDS, Joel has TB, Karibo has clubbed feet. There are so many sick babies that wont make it. I love hanging out with them and just giving them love! They need it so so much! I went and checked on my little baby Dillon in Haven 1 and he was peacefully sleeping! In Haven 2 I hung out with Rachel again! And made some new friends today…Emily, little Teagan sat with me for a long time.  That was the first time I met her and she was so sweet! We had some good macaroni and cheese for dinner and I took a visit to Mrs. Moona! Now we’re sitting on the front porch playing games! Everything is going good! I’m sorry if I don’t reply to your stuff on facebook. I have read it all! I just don’t have a lot of time for internet so when I do get on I don’t really do much. I will eventually reply though! Missing everyone back home! Keep praying for my team. We’ve had a few people sick…nothing bad. Just some colds and allergies, but it’s spreading around.  Also, pray that we keep our minds and hearts in the right place and that we remember how blessed we are to be here. It’s easy to get distracted and forget where we are and what we’re doing. It seems more like a fun trip. But this is life. This is real for so many people and we’re so blessed to get to experience it.

Wabuta!

My life is crazy! It’s Sunday and I feel like I’ve been living here forever! It’s not that time is going slow…I just don’t feel like it’s only my third day here. And it’s crazy to me that I’m living here for 3 months. I don’t think it has really hit me yet. I feel like I’ll be home soon talking to my friends and family. But I’m so excited that I’ll be here for 3 more months! It has been a GREAT few days. It’s Sunday night and I’m sitting in my family room with my family! I love them more and more every day!

Yesterday, we woke up and had breakfast and then took a trip into Chomo, a town about an hour away. It was a great cultural experience! At a bathroom we stopped at, some boys came and talked to us…they asked if we were married and where we were staying and for our numbers. But our teachers have taught us very well to respond with “I have other plans” haha apparently the boys here love American girls. We went to a market in Chomo just to shop around. There was lots of smelly dead fish, shoes, jerseys, and chitangis. Some man tried to teach me a phrase in Tonga. He didn’t speak English so I don’t know what he was teaching me, but I have a feeling it was bad. He was very amused by what I was saying. Thank goodness we have Sterling with us most of the time to help us in situations like that! Sterling is the son of the directors here so he’s been raised with the Zambian culture and the English culture. He speaks both languages fluently and knows everything that we need help with! He’s 17 and about to move to America to go to Harding. I don’t know what we’d do without him! After Chomo we got to spend the day at the Havens! I want to talk all about the little kids that I got to play with but I’m trying to keep this shorter than my last post! It was a great day though! I got to play with Dillon and Matt again. And I made lots of new friends! It is so fun being in the havens and playing with the kids but it is heart breaking. At haven 2 I was sitting on the porch with 3 kids sitting on my legs. I couldn’t feel them by the end of the time but I just couldn’t make them get up. Leaving is the hardest part. The kids cry and cry when we put them down and start to walk away. It’s so sad that these kids need so much love and they don’t get it a lot. But we just have to remember that we get to come back every day for the next 3 months and love them as much as we want! Last night we had some really good family time and still got to bed pretty early!

Today has been full of so many blessings! We got to go to church this morning on the mission. I thought it was going to be more of the Zambian culture but it was very American. The whole service was in English and we only sang one Tonga song. Everyone there was very welcoming. We each had to stand up and introduce ourselves to the whole church. But the best part of the service was that the little kids were there with us! As soon as we got to the building I went and got a little 2 year old girl Rachel, one of the 3 little kids that I played with on Saturday. She sat on my lap during the whole service playing with my hair and my bracelets and Bible. Let me tell ya, “God is so good” gets a whole new meaning when you have a little Zambian orphan sitting on your lap smiling at you while you sing. Seeing her precious little face made me appreciate the words to that simple song so much more. After church we played with them outside for a while before going to eat lunch and take a little nap. Then Prince and Rajif came and taught us Tonga songs! We know some but we’re “Harding Chorus” while we’re here. Everyone asks us to sing so we have to prefect the Tonga songs. It was so great singing! This has probably been one of my favorite memories so far…this little lesson turned into 2 ½ hours of singing and praising God on the front porch. We learned songs, we taught Prince and Rajif some English songs that they didn’t know, and then they sang English songs for us. Those boys have the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard and they sang with so much feeling. I was filled with so much joy listening to them sing and singing along with them. Whitney, Kelly and I just sat there together laughing and clapping and singing and just in awe. We didn’t know what to do. God was in that place. Everyone felt it. I really wish I could explain the feeling that we had…the best way I know how is by what Kelly said. “I just want to go to Heaven straight from here because that’s the only place where it can get better than this.” So true. Nothing can beat those few hours we had today. The only reason we stopped singing was because we had to eat dinner. Prince and Rajif ate with us and I learned the hard way that men don’t serve food in the Zambian culture. They stood there until I finally saw them and went over to give them food. I don’t think they had ever had spaghetti before! They were really surprised when we put the sauce on top of the noodles. And they put jello on top of their garlic bread. It was fun to switch places for a little bit! They’ve enjoyed laughing at us while we experience their culture. Tonight we got to do the same for them. Then we had evening church which was really good! We got to sing a few songs for the church. We sang “Wabuta” and a couple English songs. It was really cool to get to sing for them! Since church I’ve just spent time with my family and laughed a ton. We never stop laughing. I am so blessed to be here. I keep saying that, but I just don’t know what else to say. Nothing can beat this right here.

Living a Crazy Life. Words Arent Enough.

Mwabuka buti! We finally made it to Zambia! It’s 20:21 (8:21) on Friday night and we’ve already had a busy day! This is probably going to be a long blog so you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to haha I just have a lot to talk about! On Tuesday, we started our journey from Memphis. We also started our many many delays and problems. We got to the airport and had trouble checking in but finally made it through, just to find out that we had a 2 hour delay! Thankfully, our delay only turned into about 30 minutes. We made it Chicago as soon as our flight was boarding, so we were in a hurry. Yes, our whole group of 30 was sprinting through this airport, jumping on and off the trams that we had to take. It was quite a scene but we didn’t care. We barely made it on the plane to fly to DC and then was told that there was an earthquake in DC and we had to wait 45 minutes. But again, thankfully that turned into about a 5 minute wait instead. We made it to DC in time to make our flight to Senegal and then from there to South Africa! We were very blessed while traveling. With all of our delays it could have been days before we could all book another flight to Africa. Also, all luggage made it! On Wednesday night we stayed at a hostel in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a really cool hotel! We had bread and butter for dinner because there wasn’t any other food! We woke up Thursday morning and flew from Jo-Burg to Zambia!

Thursday was a busy and fun day! We flew into a little airport in Livingstone, Zambia, and from there went to Victoria Falls. That was a BEAUTIFUL place. I had been there before but I didn’t remember a lot of it. We spent a few hours there walking around and taking tons of pictures at all the different sight spots! Rainbows were everywhere and seeing the power of the falls was incredible. The Hippo Song has always been a funny little camp song but we kept singing “God’s fingerprints are everywhere just to show how much He cares” and it wasn’t just a funny song anymore. I don’t know how you can see Victoria Falls and not think about how much God cares about you. In a few weeks we’ll be back at the Falls bungee jumping! Ah! From there we drove to Kalomo and finally got to Namwianga, our home sweet home! It was dark so we didn’t get to see the mission sight or meet many people, but it still felt so great to finally be home. Ba Leonard and Harold cooked us taco soup for dinner and a great cake that said “Welcome home HIZ.” After dinner, we moved into our houses! I’m living in the Mann house with Ashley, Abigail, Chelsea, Mackenzie, Michelle, Julia, Cynda, Stephanie, and Sarah. We spent hours last night moving in and getting unpacked but it was so fun! It’s amazing how quickly a place can feel like home. I love it already and I love my family that I’m living with!

Friday! Today! Man, it has been awesome! We woke up and had pancakes for breakfast…apparently we will get very tired of pancakes by the end of the semester but they sure were good this morning! Then we went on a tour of Namwianga. We saw the clinic, the schools, and the orphanages, which they call havens. After the tour we got to spend a couple hours in the havens. These are places where children come mainly because they lost their mother. They raise them here until about 3 or 4 and then hopefully send them back to their village. When they lose their mother they lose their source of food, but once they become old enough to eat, they are able to live back with their families. There are 3 havens…the first one is for new borns and little babies. The first baby I held was named Dillon. My little boy! He is so precious! I held many more little babies in that haven. They are all so beautiful and they’ll just look at you and smile and laugh. The next haven was one for toddlers. This is where they keep them until they send them home. When we walked up to this Haven the kids automatically ran out and jumped all over us. I sat on the porch and had 3 or 4 kids all over me. I played with a beautiful little girl named Maurini. These kids love to run around and play and laugh. They especially loved playing with my camera and my blonde hair! The third haven is a home for children who are sick. They either have diseases like AIDS or TB or some have mental handicaps…they are the ones that are so sick that they need to be isolated from the rest of the children. I spent a lot of time in here holding different children! I held a little girl named Paula who had a clubbed foot, a little girl named Sydney, and a little boy named Matt…those are just a few! Matt stole my heart! I don’t know what disease he had but he was healthy enough to run around and laugh and smile and play. When I would put him down he would walk around for a little bit and then come right back to me. Between all these havens, we met lots of kids who were probably 5-7 that live in a place called Eric’s House. I met George and Jason, which I have heard a lot about from Mrs. Gregerson. Smiles automatically filled their faces when I mentioned Mrs. Gregerson! I could tell that they really love her! These boys speak English so it was fun to talk to them and play on the playground with them! I also met a little girl named L’nae. She didn’t speak much English but she loved being around us. She would follow me into the haven and just sit next to me holding my hand while I held Matt! She was a beautiful little girl and she was so happy to spend time with us. After the havens, we had lunch and then went into Kalomo! Going into the town was an interesting experience! We went to exchange money and buy phones but I didn’t get either of that done. I did get a postcard sent to my parents! Yes, mom and dad…you should be getting it in a couple weeks J Abbie and other ACU friends, I tried to send one to you but I couldn’t remember the address. Yall will get it sometime though! Everyone in the town was so nice! They would wave and greet us. Some would come up and shake our hand and try and talk to us. It was pretty obvious that the “Makua” or white people were the big hit in town. It was a fun experience though! After that, we had grilled cheese for dinner. So good! Then we went to visit Mrs. Moona. She lives on the mission and she sews anything we want out of chitangis! That was the first time we met her and she was so sweet! Gregersons and Broadways-she was so happy to hear that I know yall…she asked all about how yall are doing and she gave me big hugs for each of you!

So, that’s a lot of information but it has been a busy week! The very little time that we have spent at Namwianga has already been incredible! It truly is home. I love it already…I love Namwianga, I love the people and the children, and I love my HIZ family that I’m here with! I’m so excited about living here for the next few months! Today was awesome…I wish awesome hadn’t lost its meaning. I have been in awe. Because of the falls, because of the children, just everything. It has been awesome. I wish I could do it justice with my words but there’s just no way.  God is so good and he has blessed us so much. It’s so interesting to me that Zambians work here…they do our laundry, cook our food, etc. and yet they live in little huts right down the street with no water or electricity. They make sure we have great homes even when they have so much less. We walked from the haven back to our home earlier today and I started getting tired but I just kept reminding myself that we have a big bus that we usually ride in. They have nothing. They walk everywhere…and they usually have a baby on their back, a basket on their head, and something in their hands. They are servants and such a great example to me. I am so blessed to be here. I cant even express how grateful I am. I’m so excited to start this journey…this is where I will meet people that will change my life, I’ll form lifelong relationships, I’ll be changed, and I’ll change people. God will use me and help me grow. Being in the havens is such an incredible feeling. Even though there are workers in there, there aren’t enough to hold all the babies and toddlers. And kids die from no contact or love. It’s an incredible feeling knowing that for the next 3 months I’m going to get to hold and love babies that need it so so badly. So much will happen in the next 3 months!

Ok…If you’re still reading this, I’m sorry it’s so long. We only have 10 hours of internet for the whole semester so I cant update every day. That means I’ll be on a couple times a week and writing a lot during those times! I still feel like I haven’t talked about everything I want to talk about. I just have had so many great experiences and they have all been indescribable. Words aren’t enough. I’m going to try and put a “Picture of the Day” on facebook. It will be really hard for me to narrow it down to just one picture, but I want to keep everyone updated on what I’m doing. So we’ll see how that works! Thank you for praying for safe travels! Keep praying for my team as we’re getting settled, fighting jet lag, and getting to know the people around us! It’s hard coming into a new place because we feel disconnected and are really dying for relationships with people here. Pray that we have the patience to get to know people! Pray that God starts using us from day 1 and that we start learning from day 1. There are so many opportunities here. It’s hard to take everything in but I’m trying my best! I’m trying to keep my eyes and heart open for whatever God wants to show me!

Today is the day! We're on the Harding bus right now driving to the airport. I kind of thought I'd  never actually be here. It seemed like the time was never going to come. I'd spend hour after hour after hour (literally...I'd skip class cause i didn't have enough hours in the day) sitting in my ACU dorm calling, emailing, and filling out paper work like crazy. I'd finish one checklist and someone would give me another one. I felt like it was never going to come together. My sweet roommate and friends and parents would always tell me that it'd eventually be worth it...and of course, they were right. I had and still have nothing to worry about. God has it in His hands. 
These few days of prep have been great! I've loved spending time with my Harding group and getting to know them, but of course I can't help but miss my ACU friends...y'all are so special to me and I'm going to miss spending the semester with you! As fun and exciting as change is, it's also a little sad. I guess that's the way it's supposed to be though. It makes me realize the importance of my friendships and how blessed I am to have people that I can miss that much! I'm reminded that one day ALL my friends will be together in one place, the most perfect place. I won't have to miss anyone because we'll all be there praising our God! 
WELL... our plane leaves at 10:09 today from Memphis...3 hours! We'll fly to Chicago, D.C., Senegal, South Africa, and eventually Zambia! It'll be Thursday around noon when we finally get there! What an exciting day that will be! We'll travel to Kaloma, Zambia where the Namwianga Mission is and we'll make our home there! I don't know when we'll have Internet but I'll update in Zambia the first chance I get. This crazy adventure is beginning! God's written this story for me and each one of my teammates, and I can't wait to see what it holds!

This is real life...

Well, I've been back with my HIZ group for 2 days now and it's been so great! They are family. We've been staying at HUT and it is a lot different than the 2 week class that we had up here at the beginning of the summer. No roughing it this time! We have been spoiled with an airconditioning room, homemade meals and snacks (much more than we can eat), and lots of down time to just hang out! We dont fly out until Tuesday so we've just been enjoying time to relax and also learn and prepare for our trip! We've had some missionary anthropology classes the last couple days just to help us understand the work that we're going to be doing and especially how to do it in a new and different culture. It has already been an awesome couple of days. I can already see and feel God moving all around us. He is definitely preparing us for what ever the next few months hold. This is real. I keep having to tell myself that. I'm not just at HUT for a couple weeks this time. I'm not just hanging out with these people for a few days. We're moving to Africa together. Holy moly. I've known my group for such a short time yet there is already a bond between all of us that is so strong. Crazy thing is, it's only going to get stronger! We love just hanging out at HUT spending time with each other. Last night we went out to our favorite spot, the bluff, to sing and pray and just spend time with God. The bluff looks over some hills and valleys and there's no trees blocking our view...it's just a great spot to enjoy creation. And man, did we do that last night. The minute we got out there we were given the greatest lightning show. We sat out there singing and watching it light up the sky for a long time. After a while we just sat there in silence enjoying the show, praying, and thinking about the adventure we're about to go on. It hit me that the second I'm praying to God, He's sending this powerful lightning and listening to little me at the same time. How can you not feel close to God in a moment like that? How can you not feel His power and love and grace just completely engulfing you? We sat there together for at least an hour just laughing with joy while we watched the lightning get closer and closer and eventually felt the rain. Kelly and I just sat there with our arms spread out soaking in the storm...because lets be honest, we're from Texas...rain is a new thing for us :) It truly was incredible though. He was just renewing us, watering us, showering us with Him right before sending us out to do His work. Just as He refreshes the earth with the rain and gives it new life, He was doing that for us. He was showing us His power saying "just wait...this is only the beginning. This is just a glimpse of what you'll see in the next few months." Wow. Today has just been another great day. HIZ students from last year came and joined us for church. They shared stories, advice, Tonga songs, and encouragement with us before they left. Our group LOVES to sing, and when we get to sing in Tonga we love it even more. We dont always know what it means, but I think it's awesome that God knows what we're saying even when we dont. We know we're praising Him, but He knows exactly what we're saying to Him. I cant wait to be surrounded by the people in Zambia singing Tonga songs with them! Hearing all the students talk about their trip made me so excited to go! We leave in 2 days! In 4 days we'll be there! We'll be in Zambia! I've realized that I've had my own plans and expectations for this trip and most of them have been pretty selfish. I'm trying to squash those and let God take over. I want Him to do His own things with this trip. I dont want my plans to be fulfilled, because I know His plans will be SO much better. I cant wait!
On the last note, I'm rooming with Ashley Clement! It will be so great to get to spend this semester with her! We've been friends since kindergarten, and now we're getting to go to Zambia together! Amazing!
We fly out Tuesday, so pray for safety for our group and that all the traveling goes smoothly. Also, pray that when we get there we will be able to adjust and  become comfortable in our new home. Hopefully I'll post before that, but if not then I'll get on in Africa the first chance I get! Goodness...God's sending me to Africa. in 2 days. this is real life.

IMMEASURABLY MORE.

I'm sitting in an airport right now flying home from my family vacation. 2 weeks from today I'll be sitting in an airport flying to Zambia. 2 weeks. Yeah, I just got butterflies typing that. I'm moving to Zambia. Ah goodness I can't even wrap my mind around it! My heart is so full of joy and excitement, so full of love for the people I'll be there with, and so full of awe and gratefullness for my God. I'm blessed, oh so blessed. God has done so much work preparing me for this trip, especially in the last few weeks. I prayed for peace and He gave me that and so much more. He's given me peace, overwhelming joy, a desire for change and adventure, and a love for Him that just keeps growing. He knew exactly what I needed to feel and He gave it to me. I can't wait to begin this new chapter of my life and see the way He's going to work, because boy is it gonna be big. To think about where I'll be in a year from now or even just a few months from now blows my mind because I can't even comprehend it. I can't begin to imagine. He's a mighty, holy, perfect God who is showering His love on us ubderserving people. He's allowing us imperfect people to go somewhere and share His story, a story that deserves so much more attention than it will ever get. I've been given such an amazing opportunity and I'm ready to start the journey! Thank you so much to everyone who has been helping me, praying for my team and me, and following me as I go through this! In the next week I'll post again about all the specific information of where I'm staying, traveling, etc. SO SOON! SO EXCITED!
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us!" Eph. 3:20