First Week

Hi friends! Praise the Lord that I finally have a little free time to update the blog! Just a quick note...this update is majorly condensed but if I wrote about everything it would take forever and you might get bored and then some things I'm just unable to put into words. Things have been really crazy here since I wrote last Sunday. There is a lot to be done in preparation for every day so by the time I get done eating dinner and showering there's not much time left before I need to go to bed! Last Sunday afternoon we got paired with our partner and apostle. Your partner is like your co-counselor. They are with you the entire time and help translate everything I say to the girls and then tell me what they are all saying. The apostle is kind of like a helper but my apostle ended up being way more than just a helper. My partner's name was Christabel and it was so cool because her friends call her Christy. She was the sweetest thing ever. She is 26 and she loved to hold my hand and give me hugs. We became great friends over the week and I got to hear all about her life. My apostle's name was Tamara and she was 22. She was so great with the girls and we got to have a lot of good conversations about life. They are both so precious to me and I'm going to miss them a lot. I got my first group of girls last Monday. They were one of the first groups to arrive so we had about 3 hours of free time together. Last week I would have thought, "what in the world am I going to do with them?" but somehow we managed to fill up 3 hours playing games, singing songs, and making necklaces before our first group session.

I had 15 girls in my group ranging from age 9-18 so it was a pretty big range, but unlike in the U.S. these girls were probably more alike because many of them were around the same grade. They were all precious in their own way but all had very different personalities. The girls here are amazing. They are all so loving. They literally just smiled at me all day on Monday and many of them know some English, some even really well, so we were really able to understand each other pretty well. I couldn't believe how much love I felt for them just instantly. There was one little girl in particular, Anna, that just captured my heart. She had such a vibrant personality which is all the more amazing once I heard her story. She is 10 years old and is a single orphan (single if they have lost one parent, double if they have lost both parents). She lives with her grandparents because her father was killed by thieves and her mother is very abusive. She told me she wants to be a lawyer when she grows up so she can bring justice to her country. What 10 yr. old says that? She absolutely stole my heart. Of course I loved on these kids constantly but they loved on me more than I could ever love on them. They just want to hold your hand and hang onto you. When we were sitting in a group together during small group time Anna would just grab my arm and rub her fingers over my skin.

Another girl, Memory, who was 12, was an absolute stud. The first day when she saw my Bible she was dying to read it. She had such a huge desire to be in the Word. I've heard so many stories of people not having access to a Bible but it's so different when it's someone you know. The verse for the day was Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." She wanted to read it aloud to every one and she loved talking to me in English.

We had a "blessing" time with each girl throughout the week. It's a time where my partner and I sit with each girl for about 45 minutes talking to them and learning about their story. We ask them tons of questions, some very personal, some not. We asked a lot of them why they love coming to Camp LIFE and seriously all of them said they want to learn about the word of God. For being so great, they have such great faith. They all are a perfect example of what the Lord can do through you even when you are young.

Thursday is community day so we take the girls out into their own village (called a compound) and walked around meeting people and sharing the gospel. They were so excited to take me into their compound and show me where they live which is just amazing because the conditions are horrible and my girls were actually from one of the nicer compounds called Kaunda Square. We had about an hour to walk around and share the gospel with people. We only had one woman turn us away but everyone else that we talked to was so receptive. My girls shared with about 10 people and we prayed for all of them. We met a really neat woman in one of the shops. Memory shared with her and then the woman asked if I would pray for her so I got to hold her hand and pray that the Lord would bless her business. I absolutely love the Zambian people. I look around at what the majority of people have (or don't have) and get so sad but honestly the Bible says, "But many who are the first will be last, and many who are last will be first." They may not have much here on earth but they will have treasures in Heaven.

There's so much more to tell but some of the stories would be better told in person. Please pray for all of my girls from last week that the Lord would encourage their hearts this week and that they would feel His presence even apart from being at Camp LIFE. They were all so sad to leave but I know that the Lord gave them all new life. My partner and I got to lead 3 girls to faith in Christ during blessing times throughout the week. Around here there are so many amazing stories of kids' lives being completely transformed through prayer that it almost feels normal for kids to come to faith in Christ. But over the week we reminded ourselves to praise God for the kids that he saves because each one of them matter to Him. "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wondered off?"

Please be praying for the upcoming week. Pray for unity among my new partner, apostle, and I. I just met them both tonight...my partner is Grace and she's 17 and my apostle is Josephine. Please be praying specifically for the Lord to give us all rest and renew our spirits. Pray that the Lord would pour into us so that we can love on these kids with a lot of energy. Pray that I would surrender every circumstance to the LORD and trust that He works everything together for the good of those who love Him. Pray that the Lord would speak through me at all times both during our small group time and blessing times. Pray for the girls to trust us quickly so that they will open up and share whatever they are going through. Please also pray for my health because I started feeling sick Thursday night and still have a sore throat and feel weak. Pray that I would rely on the Lord's strength and not my own to get me through the week.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10