Meeting the kids and Worshipping the Lord

Greetings from Zambia, friends!

Since arriving in Lusaka, we hit the ground running. Saturday (yesterday), was a long day for our team. We all battled to stay awake all day…and then crashed at the end of it! We welcomed in the New Year at 8:30 pm.

I wish I could paint a picture of our team from yesterday. We went into the heart of Lusaka, to Destiny school, which sits next to a community. I stood back and watched in awe as our students spread out in a community, looking for children to interact with. As news spread through the streets, children with bright smiles came running. Within minutes, we had a full-blown playgroup. Guys had kids hanging off of each arm and the girls were quickly whisked away for games and dancing. I followed as much as I could with my camera, so hopefully, we can give you a window into the fun. For the next 3 hours, the grounds of Destiny School were filled with laughter, running and excited singing. I was blown away by our team—it was so encouraging to watch them embrace these precious kids from Zambia. What a beautiful foretaste to the week ahead!

We enjoyed an early dinner, prepared especially for us—chicken fingers, French fries, watermelon, salad and brownies! After a short small group session, everyone disappeared to the cabins. According to the leaders, there was not a peep after 8:30—sound asleep to welcome in 2012! Through out the night, we heard Zambia ringing in the New Year with fireworks.

Sunday morning, we were a different team—refreshed by sleep! We were invited to join Pastor Peter and his church for worship at Destiny. What an experience! It’s beautiful and humbling to witness the worship of our God in a different country. Americans were scattered among Zambians, children were bouncing from lap to lap, and the Lord was praised. It was awesome to see! Zambians worship through song, dance, prayer and God’s Word. Our teamed jumped right in!

We also had our first taste of Zambian rainy season. Today we have had spurts of some big rain. After church, we went together back to the Arcades for lunch and shopping in the street market…and in the pouring rain! The market is filled with wonderful, handmade items. Shopping is also an awesome opportunity to get to know some people from the community. I’m not sure that the rain deterred the shoppers! We all found some great finds to bring back to the states.

This evening, we will take a leap of faith by enjoying some authentic Zambian Mexican food. We’ll see how our Tex/Mex tastes approve of how it’s done in Africa! I will report in tomorrow.

Friends and family, THANK YOU for praying. I can’t say that enough. We feel carried and loved by each of you. Tomorrow will be our first day of camp. Please pray for a great start as we look to be used by the Lord for big, eternal things. Our team is excited and would love your prayers. Robby and I remain SO PROUD of this group. It has been awesome to watch them love each other and the people the Lord puts in their path. We love you and look forward to sharing each and every detail upon return.

Our love and thanks to you all,
Ann