at it again!

Well, we made it back safe and sound last Saturday morning! Thank you Jesus! After two long flights and a 2-hour landing delay (thank you, flock of London birds), my tired crew and I arrived in Zambia. We are all so glad to be back, but we have definitely hit the ground running! Here is a quick run down of all that has been going on:

Saturday - arrival, resting, and seeing the Tree of Life kiddos again for the first time! 

Sunday - church with the AmZam staff (the American staff that live here in Zambia), lunch at Levy Junction, and choreographing the moves to the theme song for camp this year

Monday - mini-camp with the Tree of Life kids! Mini-camp is basically a week of camp squished into two days to serve as a trial run for real camp. The TOL kids are our guinea pigs! :)

Tuesday - mini camp (day 2)

Wednesday - shopping in Kamwala market with Erin Hughey (the wife of one of our AmZam staff members.. their whole family has lived out here for 2.5 years), moving to our temporary (hopefully) hotel as we wait for our Plan A hotel to be finished

Thursday - pick up the summer staff for first half at the airport, lunch at Mint Cafe, preparation at the hotel for Week 1 of our American counselors 

Some more details!

-Our theme song for the year is Rise and Sing by Fee. The Camp LIFE theme this year is Glory, Hallelujah and we are teaching the kids how to prepare the way of the Lord by worshipping Him. Rise and Sing is a really upbeat song about urging everyone to sing about our risen King.. the kids LOVE the song and the fun motions to it! 

-Our hotel is called Chamba Valley, and it is a newly renovated property. It is a collection of little individual rooms that stand alone, like a neighborhood of hotel rooms, if you can imagine that. Well, the summer staff girls’ rooms are in the back left corner of the property; and since nobody has been staying here during the renovation, the rooms have been unoccupied... by humans. So as I am getting settled into my room last night, not one, not two, but THREE huge African wall spiders greet me in my new room. Within one hour of each other. Needless to say, I flipped out and slept with one of the other girls in her room last night. The good news is, though, that I killed one (the other two were killed for me) and we had one of the maintenance men plug up the hole in the wall that we thought was their passage to my room. Haven’t seen one in about 24 hours! 

I'll try to post again later! 

fifth time's the charm

My single-digit countdown to trip number 5 starts TODAY! I am returning to Zambia for the fifth time in a week and a half, and y'all, I am more pumped than ever! I have a lot of preparation ahead of me, but before I know it, I'll be reunited with my babies!! CAN'T WAIT!!

A little bit about my trip this year... 

Where am I even going? I am going to Lusaka, Zambia, Africa. Lusaka is the capitol of  Zambia and is where we will be working all summer! The time difference between Texas and Zambia is 8 hours! (I will be 8 hours ahead!)

Dates: I leave May 23 and return home on July 28. Yes, that's right, I will spend 2+ months overseas this summer. SO PUMPED.

What am I doing: My job has not changed from last year - I am returning as a summer staff member for Family Legacy Missions International. Every summer, we put on Camp LIFE, which is a week long camp for AIDS orphans and vulnerable children that live in the areas surrounding the capitol of Zambia. During our time with the kids, we feed them, love on them, and get the beautiful opportunity to show and tell them about the love of Jesus. For many of these kids, this is the first time in their lives that they have heard the name of Jesus. God is doing amazing things and expanding His Kingdom by the thousands each year through Camp LIFE! Summer staff is basically the behind-the-scene crew that facilitates camp things!

Communication: Each year is different in regards to communication, but email is usually the best way to get in touch with me! Also, I LOVE EMAILS! Please, please, please, keep me updated on your lives over the summer! I will also be blogging here about once a week (hopefully more) so check here! I will try to update my Facebook each time I have a new blog post! My email is mariahglasener@gmail.com.


If you have any questions for me about my trip, I would love to answer them! So many sweet friends and family have been so supportive of me over the years as I have made trips to Zambia, so thank you to y'all! Thank you in advance for the thoughts and prayers sent my way while I'm in Zambia! Can't wait to get over there!