Matthew 25…‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ .jpg "56")
Here is today’s update from April in Zambia!!! If you were a part of a girl thing project…you must read:). They will distribute the kits soon!!! YAY! For those of you who know my sister April–you’ll appreciate this post and her humor. For those of you who don’t know her…you need to because this girl cracks me up—I love her humor…but I really love her heart!
This update is longer:). Harris said people are going to make fun of me since he sent one today, too but his was 2 sentences but here it is anyway…
Day 2… Believe it or not we actually slept until 8:00 am (which never happens at home!). I also started the day by killing a HUGE African spider in the shower. (I was a little impressed with myself for how nonchalantly that whole thing went down:)). Harris had the “English Breakfast”- eggs, bacon, etc because he’s braver than I am…. I had toast…
“Fat Cow”- what Labstone calls his van- picked us up at 9 am and we headed to Sinia. There we handed out all the letters to the students who are sponsored there. It was SO much fun to see this in person. It’s hard to believe that less than 2 years ago I was here taking pictures and collecting profiles for Wiphan to get the sponsorship program started and now I’m here watching it. I CANNOT begin to explain how much these letters mean to the children. But here is an example- Harris and I sponsor Obbrey. Obbrey is a precious guy in the 2nd grade (he really might be the cutest one!). He wasn’t there when we arrived because he was just running late… when he arrived Harris said- “Obbrey’s here” and I look over and there he is with this Lion mask on his head. I tried not to cry… BECAUSE 6 months ago when I was frantically pulling together a letter for him because we’d missed the deadline, because in our busy, busy life we had a hard time finding the time to write a letter (seriously!)- I wrote a note, Isabelle drew some pictures and I saw a paper plate lion mask Anna Kate had made at preschool that day sitting on the counter and added it to the envelope. A second thought, a “why not” thought…. and FOR 6 MONTHS, Obbrey had saved that “second thought”. He was wearing it and on top of that he was carrying a little plastic bag that he keeps all of our letters in. I can’t explain a moment like that… but I think you can imagine. All of the things you take for granted, the abundance of what I have and what my kids have and this precious little boy we write a letter to carries it and keeps it safe. There are just no words for that.
Later, we all hopped in “Fat Cow” and went to Obbrey’s house. Obbrey rode with us in what was his first ride in a car. We met his mom, a young widow who is raising her son and her daughter (also a 1st grader at Wiphan school!). She tries to sell vegetables to pay their monthly rent of approx. 40,000 kwacha ($8 US dollars). Obbrey’s father died before he was 3. They are grateful and feel blessed to have a place that Obbrey and his sister can go to school and have a meal each day.
Okay- so after THAT (what to you do after that!?), we went to a lodge in Ndola that has 2 of Wiphan’s Skills Training students interning. They are learning to cook, set tables, and are learning housekeeping skills. The owner of the lodge says he is so impressed with them and how hard they work that he plans to hire them! These young women walk 30 minutes EACH WAY- even during rainy season so they can have this opportunity and they are so proud and feel so blessed to have it. Again…no words.
On our way home from the lodge we stopped at the Quick Save because Harris wanted me to see the Ndola grocery store and he wanted to buy Labstone some “EET-SUM-MOR”s. Which really is how they are spelled and you can tell how they sound. Labstone ate them in 2 seconds. For some reason, Harris thinks this is hilarious:)
Once we were back at the Castle Lodge- we met with Pastor Francis and 2 other pastors. One from Kitwe, the other from Chichonga- both who had been trained for CBSI (Community Bible Study International) and I had brought materials to train our Pastor, Pastor Francis, as well. It was another awesome event… Harris and I meeting with these 3 pastors, introducing Bible Curriculum and discussing ways to start groups in Zambia. Francis is so excited!
All of this on our first full day, all before dinner… and tomorrow’s schedule is full as well. SUCH A BLESSING! Tomorrow, after we do letter writing at Mapalo- we are meeting the widows and Mary, Wiphan’s nurse, at Sinia to demonstrate and present the “It’s a Girl Thing” project!
I can’t wait to tell you how that goes. I knew they would love them, but after showing Elizabeth, Kunda and Abby- I discovered just HOW GREAT this need is and now know that we will have to monitor distribution:). We’re thinking there could be a mini-riot over these things. Just kidding- kind of:)
Love you and though I’m having fun with my friends here- I still can’t wait to come home. I REALLY miss my girls.
ALSO- I have to add that we changed rooms in between the meetings with the pastors and dinner due to the giant rat/roommate we didn’t know we had. Not surprisingly- no one else here thinks having a rat in your room is that big of a deal. I actually surprised myself when I asked why we even needed to change rooms because “couldn’t there just be a rat in there, too?” Still… Eunice suggested it so we agreed with the girl who knows 🙂
Keep praying for Zambia!
Love you!
~April
Please keep April and Harris and Wiphan Zambia in your prayers!!!
by admin