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In the beginning…

Hello everyone, I am currently writing to you from inside my cocoon (my bug net) in Livingston, Zambia. My team and I arrived here about two days ago. We came from training camp where we were taught about how to handle life on the field, our identity in Christ, how to minister to people, and what  true christian community looks like. We got to know our teams and do team building activities to learn how to handle stressful situations. 

After training camp we headed to the airport at 4 am. Our travel days consisted of sleeping on almost empty planes, vlogging + blogging, london, and eating our last American meals. I have to say I am a fan of travel days. 

After 52 hours of travel we arrived in the beautiful country of Zambia. I was amazed when I looked out the window and saw all the trees blooming and the green countryside. It felt like home already. 

Once we went through customs we were greeted by the ministry host’s wife and we all hopped in a 15 passenger van. We then headed to the place that we would call home for the next 30 days.

It is a cute and colorful house surrounded by red gate. We walked in and split into 3 rooms. I share my room with three amazing girls, and we all sleep on bunk beds which I love. 

On our first day, we just unpacked and played with the host’s kids. Our first meal in Zambia was pasta, cucumbers, and corn. It was fantastic! After dinner we had our team time where we shared how we felt spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Team time is one of my favorite times of the day. After team time we all headed to bed and luckily we got to sleep in the next day till 9. 

In the morning we ate breakfast and met with our ministry host. During the meeting we learned the “do’s and don’t’s” of Zambia, how to get to town, and what ministry will look like over this month.

After the meeting everyone we decided to go to town to get snacks, wifi, and coffee.  My 3 roommates and I headed to the main road to catch a taxi into town. As we walked through the streets, kids would run up and give us hugs or hold our hands. It was precious. 

The taxi’s are not the easiest thing to catch it took us about 10-15 minutes to find one but in Africa everything is an adventure and every adventure is fun. 

Once we got to town we headed into the coffee shop to call parents and let them know we got here safe because it was our first time getting wifi since we landed in Zambia. The coffee shop also has amazing coffee milkshakes that we all ordered. After spending a few hours in the coffee shop we headed to the store to get some snacks and supplies.

After we finished everything we caught a taxi back to our house which called the Nama-Tama house. Our second night we ate dinner, had team time, and played mafia. 

The next day we woke up and got ready for ministry. In Africa being on time doesn’t carry the same weight as in America. Instead of being worried about being late, people embrace every moment and take time to build relationships. I love it. Someone may be 2 hours or 6 hours late to a meeting but you don’t worry because you know thats normal and they are probably late because they are doing something they feel is important and are choosing relationships over punctuality. So when people are late my team doesn’t complain or get angry instead we spend our time praying, worshiping, and playing games. When our ministry host arrived we headed to the school where we would be serving for the next month. As we entered the gates of the school a massive crowd of children ran into our arms jumping on our backs and hugging our legs. I have a feeling I will never get tired of this. After running around and playing with the kids for a little bit we headed into the principals office to learn what they have in store for us. For our school ministry, we will be tutoring kids one on one, telling stories, singing songs, and playing games in various age classrooms. We are basically doing whatever the teachers need help with. The teachers are all volunteer which means they come and teach everyday without getting paid. That is insane and so selfless. These women give up the opportunity to have a job in order to insure these kids have the possibility of a better future.

Once we finished our meeting, we headed back to our colorful house in Nama-Tama and ate lunch. After lunch we have free time from 1 – 3:30 then sports ministry. I am currently in the middle of free time blogging so I hope you enjoy this blog and have a fantastic weekend.

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