nine little lives.

Here are my boys! Their pictures and their stories are here for you to look through, so please do so with a prayerful heart. I have held these boys, laughed with these boys, cried with these boys, visited their homes, and listened to their stories first hand. These kids are real, and so are their stories. And you have a chance to change lives. Please consider giving one of my boys an opportunity for education, food provision, and discipleship. These three things can give them a chance at a full, happy life. It's $40/month, that's just a couple of nice meals out or a pair of jeans to give these kids SO much! To sponsor one of my boys or to find out more information, please look at Family Legacy's website: http://familylegacy.com/fathers-heart/. Feel free to ask me any questions as well!

Jonathan- The Baby

Because Jonathan was the youngest and smallest in the group, he always stood at the front of the line and closest to me. He is 6 years old and is the only one of his siblings that lives at home (his other siblings live in the village). He says his parents care for him, but his father and mother fight often because his mother misuses the food money and spends it on other things. His mother works as a maid and he doesn’t know what his father does; he just knows that his father is the one who brings the food home. However they don’t make enough money to pay for school fees so that Jonathan can attend school. He is forced to spend many nights at his grandmother’s house for reasons that he doesn’t know. He heard about Jesus for the first time at Camp LIFE and asked Jesus into his heart! He has the most adorable personality and laugh, and he truly has a joyful spirit despite living in one of the poorest parts of the nation.


Simon- The Rowdy One

Simon was the charming, yet mischievous one in the group. He was always causing trouble, but still being as cute as ever in doing so. Simon is 8 years old and lives with his five siblings and both parents. His parents don’t have jobs, so they are making no money at the moment, which also means that they have no money to pay for food or school fees. Simon doesn’t attend school and only eats one meal a day. This was his first week at camp, and he asked Jesus into his heart after hearing about the Gospel for the first time! Please be praying that God would provide his parents with jobs so they can provide for his family, and that he would be able to attend school.

Ernest- The Bold Boy

My Ernest had no inhibitions! He was always bold, unafraid to speak up, and definitely a little rowdy at times! But all the while, he was my sweet little boy that just wanted to be loved on. Ernest is 8 years old and lives with his aunt, uncle, and three siblings. His parents have passed away, from what I understood from him, it was about two years ago. He is afraid of the dark and of witch doctors in his community, which probably live very close to him. Ernest has bad dreams very often, so pray for those to stop for him. This was his first time to ever come to Camp LIFE, and his first time to hear about Jesus. He put his trust in Jesus during his week at camp and asked Him into his heart! Please be praying that he would be able to go to school and receive food through a sponsorship.

Edwin- The Sweetheart

Edwin has a smile that will melt your heart, as you can see in his picture! He was shy, sweet, and gentle-spirited, never once harsh or mean to the other boys. Edwin is 7 years old and in first grade. He lives with both parents, his older sister, and his younger brother. His mother makes money to send him to school by doing “piece jobs”, or various pick-up jobs that she can find. However it’s not enough money to pay for enough food for their family- Edwin eats only two times a day: tea in the morning (yes, they consider tea a meal) and shima in the afternoon. His family is surrounded by dark neighbors, and Edwin is afraid of the witch doctors. This was his first week at camp, and when asked if he wanted to accept Jesus into his heart and life, he said yes! Pray that God would provide more steady income for his family and that there would be enough money for food and schooling.



Martin- The Chill One

While the other kids were off running around (sometimes going berserk!), Martin would just sit right next to me and relax. He never let the other boys really get to him, he was always so laid back and chill. Martin is 10 years old, one of my oldest boys, and he currently lives with his brothers and sister while his parents are away trying to find work in the village. (His oldest brother is in grade 11). Martin does not go to school even though the oldest brother does; the parents have enough money to pay for the eldest to attend, but not enough to send Martin to school as well. In his one- or two-room house, he sleeps on the floor of the sitting room every night. Martin came to camp with one of the worst ear infections the camp nurse had ever seen, so please be in prayer for his health. He came to know Jesus at Camp LIFE and gave his life to Christ during the week I spent with him!

 
Patrick- The Quirky One

Patrick was my quirky little jokester! All of the boys would laugh when I tried to speak Nyanja, but Patrick would impersonate me all throughout the day. He loved having my attention! Patrick is 10 years old, lives with his uncle and his father, and has one younger brother. His mother passed away last year from malaria, so Patrick and his brother are single orphans. He is in grade two at school, his father pays for his school fees (but Patrick doesn’t know where he works). His grandmother was a witch doctor and influenced his family a lot before she moved to the village, so Patrick is no stranger to darkness. However, Patrick is now walking in the light since he put his trust in Jesus at Camp LIFE this year! Be praying for sponsorship for Patrick so he can receive food and education, and have a chance at breaking free of his dark community.



Teddy- The Leader

Teddy is 8 years old, and he was definitely one of the leaders of the group! The younger boys looked up to him and followed him as their example. He lives with his four older brothers and sisters; and they are all single orphans. Their mother is still alive, but their father died when Teddy was very little. Supporting five kids on her own, she sells water to try to provide for her family. Teddy only eats one meal a day, and his mother doesn’t make enough to feed him any more or to send him to school. He heard about Jesus for the first time at Camp LIFE this year, and he put his trust in Him during his week there! Please be praying for my sweet Teddy, that someone would sponsor him so he can receive food and a great education.

 
 

Michael- The Cool Kid

My Michael was definitely putting off the “too cool for school” vibe the whole week! He’s 11 years old, so he was one of my oldest kids, and he really took his time letting his guard down. By the end of his week of camp, it was obvious that Michael was really loving his time at camp! He lives with both parents and his six siblings. He sleeps on the floor of the sitting room every night and eats tea and shima for his meals each day. He’s in grade 3, his schooling is paid for by his dad who is a painter. It was his first time at Camp LIFE this year, and he heard about Jesus for the first time in his life! He put his trust in Jesus and asked him into his heart! Be praying for my Michael, that he would be sponsored and be provided with food and education!




Joseph- The Shy One

It took me the longest to get to know Joseph. He was very reserved and shy, but by the end of the week at camp, he let his joy shine out and it was obvious that he was having the time of his life! Joseph showed up to camp with a deep cough, something that he’d been suffering from for a long time. However, after taking him to the nurse’s tent early in the week, we got him all fixed up by the time he left on Friday. He lives with both of his parents and his younger brother. He loves his family but lives in a very dark part of town. Pray for Joseph’s health, education, and safety; and pray that my sweet boy would be sponsored soon to receive food and education.

handled with care.

 I'm officially home now!! Here's what I wrote in London Heathrow before I caught my flight back home!


I’m sitting in the London Heathrow airport right now, Starbucks in hand, with almost THREE full hours before my flight to Dallas leaves. There’s no internet so this probably won’t be posted until I get home, but I wanted to share how faithful our God is, even in the small things.

I’m flying all the way home from Zambia alone, and that really terrified me before I left. The other summer staff girls know how anxious I was about the whole process.. the only time I’ve flown solo was from Dallas to College Station- suuuuper big deal, right? With that experience, flying halfway across the WORLD by myself had been kind of looming over my head. Not only that, but my halfway stop is London, and the Olympics still going strong here, so I realllly didn’t know what to expect.

Needless to say, this two-day solo trip of mine has been covered in prayer. And God has so faithfully and sweetly answered those prayers! In Lusaka, the usually mile-long security line was non-existent, leaving me plenty of time to get through the other checkpoints and onto my flight. Now I have this slightly irrational fear that security will find something wrong with my luggage or with my visa or something as I’m trying to leave the country, but praise the Lord, nothing like that happened! The flight to London was fine, got a little sleep, but it was so smooth and I was so at ease the whole time. Now arriving in London was much more scary to me. This airport is HUGE, and I had the challenge of switching terminals without finding myself in the middle of the city. So I arrived, walked right up to the immigration desk (another miles-long line avoided, thank you Jesus), and found the Heathrow Express. Here was the tricky part. My hotel, the cleverly named Yotel, was in Terminal 4 and my flight unloaded in Terminal 5. One quick tube ride between these terminals, right? Wrong. From Terminal 5, you can take the Heathrow Express to Heathrow Central, which is Terminals 1 & 3, and then transfer and hop on another train to take you to Terminal 4. Finding the right trains could have been tricky, but it wasn’t! God is so good! So I get to Terminal 4 and now have to locate the Yotel. Found it, got settled in, and had a lovely evening to myself.

This morning, the first challenge was waking up on time. If you know me at all, you probably know that I am a HEAVY sleeper and have had my fair share of oversleeping experiences. I set three alarms (my iPod, my alarm clock, AND my watch) just in case, and I woke up to the first one! YAY! Here was my plan: anticipating Olympics crowds, I had planned to leave my room at 8am for my 11:45 flight. I had no idea how long I would have to wait for the tubes back to Terminal 5, and I was expecting security to be a straight-up nightmare. Not the case for either of these. I literally hurdled myself and my carry-ons onto the first train as the doors were closing (miracle) and had to wait only ten minutes for the next one. In about 20 minutes I was already back in Departures in Terminal 5. (I was expecting that to take waaaay longer.) Since I had already been checked in for both flights back in Lusaka, I just had to go through security. The whole darn process took 5 minutes. No lines, no waiting, just walked right up and made it through. An hour after I left my hotel room in Terminal 4, I was standing in line for my first Starbucks in two months, essentially ready to board my flight. So I figured I’d blog about it all since I have SO much extra time.

Here’s what I love about all of this. God knew just how nervous I was to fly across the world all alone. He knew my fears and He looked through my eyes and saw how looming of a task I thought this was. The whole time I’ve been navigating the Lusaka and London airports, I’ve felt so held by Him. He literally has had his guiding arm around me, pointing me in the right direction each step of the way. My dad is always the one that I feel most comfortable traveling with- He knows how to navigate airports like it’s nobody’s business, and I never ever have to worry when he’s with me. If I trust my earthly father with such things, how could I have expected any less from my Heavenly Father this time? Like I said, my Daddy had His arm around me the whole time, just like my earthly Dad would have if He were with me. He showed me the way, and He went ahead and made the way EASY for me.

So here’s a thank you to the Lord for holding my hand through this whole trip! I realize that there are bigger things in this world than catching two flights alone, but even God took care of every detail of this task that seemed big to me, but small in relation to most of the other problems in the world. So, in all of this spare time that I have, I figured the best way to pass the time was to share about the faithfulness of my God and Father and thank Him for His provision and guidance! That’s all I’ve got for now!