Today we headed out for Livingstone, Zambia around 8am. We had our first transportation issue for the trip, a flat tire. We were back in action in no time though. Considering how much time and the terrain that we traveled on most of the week, we were fortunate not to have worse happen! We were blessed to have a great driver, and a great God watching over us. Once we unpacked in Livingstone, we took some time to visit the market and took a little trip up the Zambezi river. It was a nice relaxing day before a long day of travel starting tomorrow. We even saw some monkeys and hippos today! Thank you for keeping up with the blog and for all of your prayers. We will be back in GR scheduled for Wednesday at 12:39 pm.

Wow. This week has absolutely flown by! The last two days have been incredible. Sorry for not posting last night, we had some technical troubles, no we were not kidnapped, and yes, Mary’s cake turned out tremendous.

Let’s start with yesterday. With health care seminar and soccer camp complete, it was time to do some good old manual labor. We helped clear out a portion of land that will be used to hold dairy cows in the near future. We cut, hacked, and dragged trees and weeds to make a nice little area for the cows to graze. It was cool to see the people use the trees as fence posts. They are so creative with their limited resources. At the same time, Mary was helping the ladies bake some delicious cakes, without an oven. Like I said. Very creative.

Next we made a few home visits to the home based care clients. They were so appreciative and happy for the visits. It was great to see their faces light up, and also to have an opportunity to just visit with them and see how they are coping with their illnesses. We broke for lunch around 3pm, presented to school and Maambo trust with some gifts,  and then headed back out for more home visits. It was a long day, but a great one.

Today we got up bright and early to make it to church on time. It was such a unique and beautiful experience. They were so joyful and happy to praise God. Our team even pitched in two songs that we sang for the service. Not quite as good as they were, but they appreciated it none the less. Kris delivered the message, and it was great. All in all, it was a three hour service, but it seemed like a breeze. After the service, we presented some gifts to the church and said our final goodbyes. It was hard to say goodbye after such an emotionally powerful and life changing week.

We will head out for Livingstone tomorrow, and then leave from Johannesburg on Tuesday.

In closing, the pastor told us today, a famous Zambian quote, “A fly that clings to you loves you, you must truly love us. God has heard our cries”

Today in Maambo we wrapped up the soccer camp and the health care seminar. Everyone got a chance to help out at the soccer camp today. Even Mary was bending it like Beckham. The kids enjoyed it so much, and it was good to see a lot of the girls getting involved, following the lead of Sam and Holly. Twice during the day, all of the kids were called in for a little break

, and to teach them about Jesus. They were quizzed to see if they could remember what the John 3:16 ball meant, and by the end of the day, they had it down pat.

The health care seminar went good as well. The men and women were very receptive and eager to hear how they can continue to improve the health of their community.The primary focus of today was about stopping abuse of orphans, and treasuring children as gifts from God. It is encouraging to see there is less stigma attached to being HIV positive, and there is more awareness being taught in the schools.

Tomorrow we will be making some home visits to some of the people in the community who are too sick to make it out. We will also be laying the foundation for the health clinic. Thank you for your prayers and replies. Keep them coming.

PS: Mary has guaranteed that the cake will be baked tomorrow, and that it will be delicious.

Today we kicked off the soccer camp and the medical training. After arriving in Maambo, we started off training the local home health workers about basic care for people in their community with HIV/AIDS. It was a great learning experience for them as well as for us. We were able to dismiss a myth that some witch doctors teach; if a man with HIV/AIDS has sex with virgin, it will cure him. This just one example of some of the misinformation and mumbo jumbo that the workers deal with daily.

The soccer camp was a big success. It drew a lot of children from the school as well as the community. Sam and Holly led the camp and taught the kids some new drills, scrimmaged with them, and taught them about Jesus. We brought along with us some John 3:16 balls which are colored to outline the story of the Gospel. The kids listened very well and enjoyed hearing what the girls had to say.

Everyone is doing great, except Kris…she is doing excellent, though her dancing might indicate otherwise. Tomorrow we will head back to Maambo to continue the health training and the soccer camp. Please pray for continued safety and energy as we continue to minister, as well as guidance for the Holy Spirit lead us. Thank you all for your support and prayers. We love you.

Despite having a power outage in Choma, and a few roads washed out on the way, we made it to Maambo. What an exciting experience!

We were greeted with song, dance, and overwhelming joy from the people. After a warming welcome, we took a tour of the village. They have been busy at work since last year. A third teacher’s home has been constructed, and a fourth is on the way. We have 8 new piglets that will be going to market. After the tour, we were treated to a lunch of chicken, goat, cabage and nshima, as well as a delightful presentation by a group of of children sponsored by Hope For Children. We also met with the village leaders to talk about progress, plans, and potentials.

Seeing the joy in the faces of the children, as well as the adults, was such a heartwarming experience. It not only helps one realize how fortunate he or she is to live in a prospering nation, it also causes a need to re-evaluate priorities, and how God’s resources are being utilized. What an amazing experience. Tomorrow we will start the Home Based Care training, as well as the soccer camp.

Here is an excerpt from the presentation, one of the many children sponsored, “Before I was sponsored I dressed in rags. Every day I got up and put on rags. I would  hide my face because I could not go to school, but now I look like  a child who has parents. Twalumba (thank you)”

Hello and greetings from Zambia!

It has been a long last couple of days. We left from Grand Rapids on Saturday morning at 7:50AM. Our flight was a little late, so when we got to Chicago, we had to RUN to the terminal to make our next flight to Washington DC, where we had a lovely six hours to kill. After meandering in the DC airport, we left for Johannesburg, South Africa. at 5:40pm. It was a 17 hour flight with a refueling stop in Dakar, Senegal. We finally got to Johannesburg on Sunday 6PM local time (noon back in EST) We stayed the night there, and got to go see the soccer city stadium. We arrived just in time for the start of the Brazil v Ivory Coast. It was cool to hear the eruption of Vuvuzela horns once the match started. We slept well that night…after 27 hours of travel. The next morning we flew from J-burg for Livingston, Zambia at 10. The flight seemed short after spending most of the previous day in one. From Livingstone, we drove to Choma, where the World Hope International complex is. It is also where we will be staying.  Last night was pretty low key, we pretty much unpacked and fell asleep. Today, after a lovely breakfast, we went to get some money exchanged, took a tour of Choma, and got our body’s acclimated to the conditions, which are beautiful during the day, but a bit chilly at night believe it or not! Tomorrow we will begin our ministry in Maambo. We will travel there every day through Sunday. Everyone is feeling great. Keep up the prayers!

We traveled back to Port Au Prince through the devastated epicenter of the earthquake. We were taken on a tour of Port Au Prince, this time in the daylight, and from the devastation that surrounds us the people are surprisingly happy and resilient. We had American fast food for dinner tonight and went over our final plans to go to the airport in the morning. We are all looking forward to seeing our family although we are sad to say goodbye to our new friends in Haiti. We will be bringing back information from WHI on the work to be done here in Haiti, to encourage future teams. Pray for our safe return. See you soon.

After a very long day we completed the renovations on “Madam Michele’s” restaurant.We handed her the keys to the padlock and prayed over her. We said our goodbye’s to the Haitian work team that helped us build the wall around the compound.We had dinner and a moonlight swim and are getting ready for devotions. We are packing up tonight. We are looking forward to Church service at 7 am tomorrow followed by a bus ride back to Port au Prince where we will tour the devastation and sleep at World Hope headquarters in air conditioning.!! Monday morning we go to the airport for our flight at noon and we will be back state side Monday afternoon in Miami. Pray for our safe travels home.