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.”