Last Post Before Home

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading my blog! Anyways just to catch everyone up.We have been working in schools all week. And this week, I had the privilege of working with younger kids and loved it. I hugged them all tightly before leaving and a few had to be pulled off of me hahah! Although yesterday we all worked with youth. It was easily the best day of the trip. The ride there was long and bumpy, but when we got there I got to share my testimony and the team sang worship songs with them. Afterwards, Pastor Bruce did a mini-sermon and asked if anyone wanted to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour. Over half the class put up their hand. So we all prayed the prayer together and then after we asked those who had put their hand up to stay behind so we could help them with the next steps in their faith. We split all who stayed into groups and each of us got our own group to encourage. I was able to encourage them in their faith and talk to them about the bible and how important it is to keep going in their faith no matter what their emotions were telling them. They seemed so eager to do good. They took my name and email, and writing address so I could keep in touch with them and encourage. God is so good, he just gave me the right words to say and I hope it touched alot of hearts. We left feeling very tired but very thankful for what the Lord had done! Today we are going to Brave's orphanage, he is one of the peer educators, and then we leave for Livingstone on Monday for a couple days before we fly out . In Livingstone we will be going to Victoria Falls, safaris and I will be able to hold a baby Lion! Hahah a great end to a perfect trip! Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Me and baby Love

Life Skills Week in Kazandula

So this was the week we travelled to a village and stayed there for a week while we taught life skills. It included teaching the youth about family, communication, self-worth, romance, relationships, sex and hiv. Sometimes we did not get a good turn out but we continued to trust the Lord. While we were there, thevillagers spread around that we were a group of Satanists and were harrassed for a couple days, and nobody showed up for our lessons. This was very discouraging and scary, as we were amongst many who did witchcraft, and practised other things that are not godly at all. Our lastday was the best, we had a lot of students, I shared my testimony, and there was alot of net ball. It was so much fun. The kids love it, and would kill themselves laughing watching us to try to fit iin with their culture.  I can't talk for long so I will try to post again sometime this week. One thing to be praying for, I had to come off my malaria medication because I had a severe allergic reaction to it. My skin was in so much pain and I couldnt stop itching, it was for  hours I had to lay down pouring water on myself and just crying because of the agony. So I am off of it and there isnt really much more I can do than wear bug spray so please pray that God protects me , I know he will. WhenI am on medication for malaria, I cannot participate in ministry so I know that God will honour this decision to sacrifice my health for the good of others. I hope that you pray that God gives me wisdom and discernment in this area of my life, so I go forth wisely. The church service yesterday was amazing. I got to run the youth program at Dorothy and Luckys church with a few girls, and we had a blast. Saw a lot of familar faces and they have all grown so much. They remembered me too. Lou Lou was there and I put together a video for Jeremy from last years team because he loved her so much!Anyways today is our first day off since we got here, so we are just relaxing. We just got back from life skills week yesterdayand we had a canadian campfire with everyone and introduced them to smores hahah! they loved it!  When we got home after eating zambian food all week, Dorothy had made us hamburgers, potato salad, watermelon, pumpkin cake and wonderful canadian food ahhaha! It was a wonderful break.

Habamba Village

Hey everyone! So it has been a while since I have gotten the chance to blog. We went to the village. It was literally a couple hours off a main road and into the wilderness. We finally stopped driving down the bumpiest, most steep trek I have ever been on, when the moon was out and there were a few tiny huts on the top of a hill. We set up our tents and had some fellowship by the fire with some of the people who lived there. For three days we ate Nshima, goat, chicken, and sweet potatoes. Did I mention that they were goat intestines? Oh it gets better. It was a goat that they slaughtered that same day themselves,  only hours before we ate it. Yup. It was grand. lol They were very surprised that we all did not want to see the slaughter actually occur. And after spending many days with goats, I concur that they actually sound like screaming humans. I cant tell you how many times I have mistakened a goats sound with a crying baby or a screaming human. We were taught how to carry water on our heads. The lady that was going it was actually carrying water on her head, holding a bucket of water, and a baby on her back while we climbed a steep hill for 20 minutes..... yeahhh. I almost got charged by a bull, and everybody laughed as it chased me around the village as I screamed as loud as I could. A guy actually had to intervene. So praise the Lord that I was not killed by a bull. We used a hole in the ground for going to the washroom, the starving dogs broke our heart, but it was an amazing experience. We were emerged in the zambian mountains and woke up to the hills coming alive with colour, the sky always a cloudless blue. I lost my memory card but bought another so I lost about a week of pictures so I am still praying it shows up. I got up early one morning and went outside, half of the sky had a bright full moon and stars and the other side had the sun peeking over the horizon. It was the most bizarre, amazing sight I have ever seen. We then packed up, tore out of the village, bumping our heads on the roof of the car and proceeded home. I am no longer afraid of snakes, I have just come to the conclusion,  if I see one I am dead no matter what so I may as well not worry about it. hahahhaha okay not funny. See ya!

Almost to the Village and Life Skills Camp

Hi everyone so I thought I would blog one more time before we go to the village for a few days as well as the Life Skills Camp we will be teaching at next week. I won't have access to any internet for a while. So I wanted to thank you all who have been praying for me and the team. This weekend we will be staying in Lucky's village, where he grew up, in huts and experiencing Zambian life at its core! Then we will be travelling 3 hours and staying in classrooms for one week, camping out with the youth and teaching about life skills, such as AIDS awareness, family life, self esteem, sex, love, all along the lines of what these things look like in the eyes of God. We as a team would really like it if you guys could be praying to soften the hearts of the youth we will be talking to. Their promiscuity is very hidden but over 3/4 of the classrooms are sexually active, and the ages we are dealing with are from 13-18. Most of them start young. A lot of them just dont know where else to go because here the boyfriends pay for school, food and clothing alot of the time as long as sex is involved in the relationship. Anyways we are here to reach out and help them understand godly principles and encourage them to follow it. We will be sharing testimonies about our struggles along these lines to help them relate and understand they are not the only ones going through this. So yes, they are full of knowledge about scripture, they know their bible better than we do, which makes it hard to make an impact because they dont get the commitment part or take it to heart because they think they are a christian already, when they do not walk in the Lord. I apologize for any grammatical errors, I am short on time, but thank you all so much for loving me! Please pray that I would not have anxiety while staying at the village because we will be out in the wilderness on open grounds, where lots of things like snakes and rats and such are not rare. haha. Yes thank you!  The only thing we as a team have found difficult working together is the showering. There is not always water pressure, so alot of the time it cuts off when you are standing there with a soapy head, and you are forced to wait until it comes back. Sometimes only half of us get to shower before there is water again. lol So we arent dying, but standing under cold water with soap in your hair and then having it turn off is not the most enjoyable experience hahaha. Especially because we are very dirty from the sand everywhere. Peace!

Me and Niza :)

An Update

Today, we met up with the peer educators we would be working with for the rest of the trip. I knew weekend we will be staying in a village in huts with Lucky’s family, and learning more about the culture. After we plan to camp for one week with the Scripture Union peer educators and all of the teens we meet during our teachings at school. We will be going into different classrooms for the next few weeks, as well as going back to the same. I am very excited to go and teach to the children. At one point we will be speaking to an entire school about the gospel, both to Christians and people who have not yet heard or accepted Christ. As far as health goes, the team is doing very well. No one is sick, and emotionally everyone is stable. Dorothy has asked each one of us one thing we have always wanted to do in Africa, and is doing her best to make it happen. Whether that be getting our hair braided, seeing elephants, and for me, she is trying her best to get me to Esther, Gambo and their mother in Mongu. This would be a miracle if I could see them again, they mean very much to me, and I really want to show them their worth and return to them, showing that they are loved and worth returning to. I want to be a vessel for Christ to show them they are not forgotten. Anyways please pray for that, because they are 12 hours away from me and it will be quite challenging to arrange! Niza is so adorable and loves it when I walk him around anywhere. He is almost walking, but afraid to fall so every time he feels unsteady, he starts to cry. Haha He is ten months today, and loves all the attention we are giving him. It is amazing being back here, and it feels so much like home. God is sustaining me and has filled me with peace, no anxiety or nausea, no stomach problems, no pain. I feel healthier here than anywhere else! Which is wierd. Today we ate Zambian food. Nshima, tomato sauce, lettuce, and chicken. It was so good, and I didn’t realize how good I had gotten at eating with my hands until I looked around and everyone’s hands were soaked in food and tomato sauce, while mine were squeaky clean. I had to laugh, because that was me last year. Today we played volleyball and all the neighbourhood kids came to watch. They gave lots of hugs and loved their picture being taken. Anyways I have to go, blogging is pretty much the only  contact I have because the internet is slow and if I were to visit every website, it would take a lifetime. Haha love you all, thank you so much for your prayer support. If any of my old Zambia teammates are reading, I made a video of Niza and tried to get him to say hi to Dave and Hilary, but after no response I gave up. I am hoping to get more videos made this year. 

Ps. Sorry for any spelling mistakes, it really bugs me that they are there but the keyboard is sticky and I don't have time to fix it!

From Toronto to London to Lusaka

Hey everyone! So it has been quite the time getting here, all flights about 9 hours, and no time to rest with a 10 hours waiting time on Sunday before our flight to Lusaka. I am not tired or jet lag at all. Praise God. He has answered my prayers 100%, I am not anxious of anything, completely peaceful and healthy. When I stepped off that plane, the African air hit me and I got so giddy! Seeing everyone again has been such a joy, and EVERYONE remembers me which is such a blessing! I was afraid they wouldn’t haha. But anyways when Niza (Lucky and Dorothy’s baby) came in on Dorothys back and Lucky, Dorothy and Steve were all there I just couldn’t hold it back anymore! I started crying (I have only cried twice including this time because of happiness. The other time was when Brenna and Pip got engaged :P) They came and embraced me and Steve was like “Did you forget me!?” because I didn’t see him come in, and wasn’t expecting to see him! Praise God! I jumped into the car with Dorothy, new baby and Lucky and it has honestly been the best day I can think of during these past few months. Lucky kept touching my hand and saying “So happy you are here, so beautiful!” and Dorothy and I just sat in the back of the truck for hours having god talks and praising God for all he has done for hours as we drove to Choma. Niza is the cutest thing ever and finds my wallet rather amusing. I have a camera that flips up so you can see yourself and he laughs at his image on the screen, causing some pretty good pictures as a result! He loves being held and walked around which is fine by me! When we got to Choma I went grocery shopping with Dorothy, and met Lucky’s nieces Purity and Sarah, who will be living with us as well. Anyways there is tons more to say, so many laughs have been shared already. Dorothy and Lucky are so inspiring and just amazing people. But I have to go, hopefully I will be able to post a few pictures soon! I thought I saw a snake on our bed and screamed and sent everyone running out of the room screaming. Including Jibb. When they realized I was screaming because of a rather long ribbon, we were all collapsing with laughter.  Lol Anyways, great day! More to come, love you all! And Mathew Steven Wood, I have not forgotten about you! Love you and can’t wait for you to see this beautiful country if it be God’s will one day! Peace!

Zambia

I will be heading back to Zambia in 3 days, so surreal! I can't wait to see what God has for me there this year. I am nervous though, so prayers are appreciated. Just wanted to give a shout out to my church Gentle Shepherd Community Church for supporting me as I go, and for always being my family to come home to, share in my joys, sorrows and praise reports! Love you all!

xoxo

Cliff Jumping in Africa (: