Overwhelmed with Emotion...

Hey Everyone!!

Sorry for not being able to update sooner, but I have a good excuse for it!! Haha...Saturday's are when I usually go into town and go to the internet cafe but this past weekend I got to hang out with some precious children that I will tell you about in this post.

I do have to affirm that God is doing so much over here, not only in these kids lives, but also mine too! Each week that I am here I become more blown away of who God is!

Ok well to start giving you an update on the past week, I am going to summarize some things because it's too much to post. Plus you know more of the details of how Camp Life is run from my last post.

Week 7.

Same group of girls from last year!! I got 8 out of 14 girls this time around. Some of them changed to government schools and some have "shifted", as Zambians will put it. Anyways, it was a great week!! I had 8 of the same girls and then 3 other girls. One of them was Margret (she was actually in my Mom's group last year, so it was fun being able to pour into her like Mom did). All of the girls looked so good!! And when I say good I mean...healthy (full and fatter - this is a good thing in Zambia), full of life and joy! They all had smiles on their faces which brought such joy to my heart! They all deserve to be in that place! One thing I loved was seeing how much they have grown physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually! They are still young, but that doesn't mean God hasn't moved in their lives. My favorite things from that week was that I got to lead 8 out of 10 girls to Christ! Praise the Lord for opening up opportunities and the hearts of these girls. Keep praying that they will gain more and more understanding of who God is and that they will remember that "The Lord is their Shepherd!"

Meeting Maggie.

I met Maggie Phiri on Thursday during week 7. While we were walking around the community sharing the gospel in Kamanga Community, I noticed this little orphan girl who decided to follow us around. (On a side note...my girls where amazing at sharing the gospel through the evangecube. They were fearless and so bold!) Maggie's appearance was the first thing that caught my eye. She was so rail thin, her dress was so dirty, and old and then lastly I noticed the desperation in her eyes! Here in Zambia you can see so much of a child through their eyes. And Maggie was the child that God wanted me to noticed and find that day! As I was walking around with my girls and partner, I stopped and got down on Maggie's level and started talking to her. She was hesitant and not sure how to react to someone actually "noticing" her. I then scooped her up and carried her around with us the rest of the day! She began smiling and laughing like a normal child should. At the end of the day, I knew that I needed to see her again so after talking with some peopled I scheduled to meet her on Saturday. After leaving her on Thursday, I knew God had something planned for this girl and I couldn't wait to see what it was!!

Saturday (July 26)...favorite day so far!

I woke up with so much excitement about seeing my little Maggie again. I had made plans with Holly and my friend Stephanie to go pick up Maggie and a few other girls and head to get ice cream. Once we finally got on the road, we picked up Stephanie's girl first, who's name is Beauty, then headed to Kamanga where Maggie lives. I wasn't sure if we were going to find her because we had planned to get there at 1:30pm and it was 11:30am. By the Lord's direction, we were heading down to the "grounds" where the kids were playing sports. And as I saw so many of my kids running up to me with their Camp Life shirts on and green fleece jackets, I saw in the crowd the precious face of Maggie with the biggest smile just waiting to be picked up! As soon as I got to her, I swung her around and just held her. We stayed at Kamanga for a little bit to hang out with the kids and give them "sweets" (it's actually tootsie rolls)! Once we finally made it back to the van, instead of having 3 kids, we ended up with 7!! I mean how can you resist children who just melt you heart?

After getting situated in the van, we gave the kids a banana, bread, maheu (an drink that only zambian's love!) and an orange. We headed to Manda Hill, which is a market place in Lusaka. Our surprise for the kids was to take them to get ice cream, but the Lord wanted to surprise them with so much more!! When we got to the place, we got ice cream, chips (fries), and water. There was a big jumping castle that the kids have never seen or played on before so all of them enjoyed doing that!

Maggie (10 yrs old), her brother Peter (12 yrs old) and their little cousin Susan (6 yrs old) were there. Maggie and Susan both didn't have shoes so I gave them a little surprise...I asked Paul, one of my favorite Zambians here, if I could take them to get new shoes and he was thrilled to be apart of it. So we carried both Maggie and Susan to the shoe store and I bought them socks and tennis shoes. They loved them!! Their smiles just began to get bigger and bigger! After that I had some old t-shirts that were small that I put on them so the only part about their wardrobe was their bottom half...meaning shorts and underwear. Both the girls were wearing dresses that didn't really cover a lot and had old underwear. So with all the kwacha (currency in Zambia) I had left, I got them a new pair of pink underwear, jeans for maggie and shorts for Susan. Stephanie and I took them into the bathroom and literally wiped them down with wipes to clean them off to place clean clothes on them. As we were doing that, you could see how malnourished these children have gotten. Skin and bones with a bloated belly. The verse that came to my mind as I was in the process of placing new clothes on them was..."the old has gone, and then new has come". After walking them out of the bathroom, I began crying. I finally understood the deep love for these children and how it's worth to give up all that have to see the joy in the eyes of a child.

Something I realized the Lord was saying was...

"Come with all that you have, give all that you can,

and leave with more than you can imagine."

To say the least, that day was incredible!! I know now that the Lord has called me here to take care of His kids!! At the end of the day, my heart was so sad because I had to say good-bye to these precious 3 children I got to love on for the day! After saying bye, I knew I needed to get these kids to Camp Life so how some way...

Week 8.

Before I tell you about this week I wanted to tell you about the number '8'...at church the pastor explained that the number 8 means "new beginnings" and I can already tell you that God had this week ordained for so long...

The night before I got my kids this week, I got news from Holly Scurry (assistant Camp Life director) and she said that I can go get my kids from Kamanga and bring them to the last week of Camp Life. My heart was so full of excitement that it almost came out of my chest!! So on Monday morning I hopped in a van with my friend named Paul to go pick up Maggie, Peter, Susan, Joseph and JR (who are brothers to Susan and cousins to Maggie and Peter). When we arrived at Kamanga, we went straight to their house and as we turned the corner they dropped everything they were doing and ran into my arms! While I was there I met Maggie's Mom. She didn't seem too exctied about where we were taking her kids, but she let us take them.

So I got the girls changed and loaded all 5 of them in the van for Camp Life!! The children were so full of excitement that all they could do is SING all the way there!! haha...and as they were singing, I was PRAISING THE LORD FOR HOW HE WORKED IT OUT FOR ALL 5 OF THESE KIDS TO COME!!

Today...my heart hurts for them!

As the kids got to camp today, I pulled aside Maggie and Susan to find out more of their background. Just to forewarn you, their story is one of the worst I've heard and I have been hurting for them ever since Maggie told me. So to give you the short version...Maggie's mom beats her with a cooking spoon and with a thorn bush. I noticed marks on her body when I gave her new clothes on Saturday, so I wanted to look at them again and that's when my heart dropped. As she turned around to her back side, I lost my breath in what I saw. Her back looked like she was brutally whiped daily. You could see deep wounds, but then even recent ones as well. Some of the wounds are from rashes and scratching, but most of them were from getting beaten. Maggie doesn't got to school because her mom refuses to let her go. Her mother wants Maggie to be a street kid and just live in the streets. Her cousins live right behind a witch doctors house and Peter has been taken by the witch doctor nightly. The last thing I found out about Maggie is that she probably has AIDS. Her size, physical appearance, as well as her symptoms of being sick points to her having that disease.

Maggie is such a precious and joyous child just dying inside to be loved!! Maggie, Peter, Susan, Joseph, and JR all have captured part of my heart and I haven't been the same!! Please, Please pray for protection over each one of them. I am trying to seek discernment and wisdom from the Lord on how to go about this situation.

All my other girls this week are between the ages of 12-15 and are awesome!! They are all from Care for Kids, which is a orphanage that have rescued kids from the most horricfic situations. So when I get to talk with the girls, I will get to see how the Lord has brought them out of the darkest valley and saved them!

This is my last week here so please pray for God to open up new ways for His name to go out. I do feel called here and it's going to be so hard to walk away from all that is here in Zambia!! I miss you all and I'm so thankful for all of your support and prayers!!

Wasting my life for theirs...

Joy

God is good...All the time!!

Hey!! Well one week down...that means Week 6 of Camp Life is completed...

I don't even know where to begin on telling you how good the Lord is with what He has done this week!! I can't believe how fast this week flew by, but I do know that God is on the move!!

Last Sunday, July 13, I was given my Zambian partner for the week. Her name is Phiona. She is my age and we were able to develop a really fun friendship out of this week...(below is a picture of us)


Monday, July 14 - Kids Arrived at Camp Life!! I wasn't sure what group I was going to be placed with, but I knew it would be little girls. After a long time of waiting for all the kids to arrive, I was given a group of 9 girls ranging from 7 - 12 yrs old. They were precious! We got to play, get to know each other and then have our first large group together. When we have large group we sing songs, watch a skit, and listen to Greer (our director) talk about our lesson for the day. I was so excited to have these kids for 5 days!! Monday's lesson at Camp Life: "The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters.."

Tuesday, July 15 - Coloring Day! When the kids got there we had 3 different stations for them to rotate through during the morning. Our rotation consisted of Snaps (pictures), Coloring, and Small Group time. My kids loved this day! Being able to color seems so little in America, but my kids never get to color at school or at home. I loved seeing their faces light up! Today, was the first day that I started doing "blessing times" which were one-on-ones with all of the girls. I also added 4 more girls to my group today so that was exciting as well! Tuesday's lesson at Camp Life: "...He restores my soul".

Wednesday, July 16 - Full/Busy Day! Today was the middle of the week and we had a full and packed day of everything. We had 2 large group session and 2 small group sessions along with trying to get blessing times done. I was definitely exhausted after today, but it was so worth it!! Wednesday's lesson at Camp Life: "He guides me in paths of righteousness for His Namesake".


Thursday, July 17 - Shoe and Community Day!! This is probably one of my favorite days because every kid that camp to Camp Life receives a pair of shoes, a brand new t-shirt and a bandanna. Watch the kids walk into the building with the biggest smiles on their faces is so worth everything!! All of the Americans were able to put shoes on each of our kids and then we got to bless them by praying over each one. Our hope is that these kids will receive these shoes as a gift from the Lord and know that He does provide for His children. When praying for my girls, they know that they are being prayed for. Seeing the longing of desiring to be prayed for hurts my heart. I pray that the Lord will be their guide as He has given them shoes to walk and share the news about Jesus Christ. Thursday's lesson at Camp Life: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil".
The second half of the day all of the American counselors and every group of kids loaded up on the buses and went to their community to share the gospel with their people. Let me tell you, I was not prepared for where I was going. My kids went to a school called Pillar, but I was unaware of where it was. The community that their school is in is Kanyama, which is one of the darkest and coldest places spiritually. The night before I went to Kanyama, we had dinner as a group and several stories were told about this place. To be honest, I was nervous about going. I didn't know what I was going to see or whom I was going to come across. So many of my kids have seen or been with Witches and Witch doctors. Kanyama is the worst place for all these things to happen. It is a place that is very, very corrupted!

As we arrived that afternoon I tried to take everything in because we really couldn't take pictures while we were walking around. Just thinking about what I saw breaks my heart. While we were walking around taking the evange-cube as a tool to spread the gospel, I saw huge mounds of trash that was burning itself because it had been there for so long. The thing about it was that little kids were playing right there in it, just digging through trash. And what's more sad is that they call that 'playing'.

As I was looking at the people who lived there I felt the Lord impressing on my heart several different words... 1 - SAD 2 - HOPELESS 3 - LIFELESS 4 - HELP US!

I believe you can see so much in a person by looking in their eyes and it was absolutely true that day! To tell you the truth, the way I would describe everything as a whole in Kanyama was Hell on Earth. Almost every person had no life in them and were overwhelmed with their living situation. I saw so many children there running around, but some I saw walking by them selves with tears streaming down their faces just dying for someone to love them. As the afternoon continued, we shared the gospel with several people. However, some of the people we would approach didn't want anything to do with the gospel and didn't have time for it. Knowing that so many people rejected God's word that would give them hope and bring them out of their situation really affected me. I wanted to chase them down and talk with them. There is such a need for God in this place and I just don't understand how someone can turn their back on a God who gave His only son for them and who loves them so much?

When we returned to Mulingushi Village, all of us got to share what God did in all of the communities. I do have to say, that God is so alive and active it's crazy!! Praise Him for how He works. Some of the stories shared were those who actually went into Witch Doctor's houses and lead them to Christ...I believe the Lord will affect and change everyone in Kanyama. The thing that I realized the most being in this community is that I am so thankful that the Lord developed Camp Life. So many kids need a place to be kids and have God's truth be poured into them. I know the Lord chose this area to establish a place for kids!!

Friday, July 18 - Last day of camp! This day is alway hard to say bye to your kids who you have loved on, fought for, cried over and so much more. Even though this day was difficult, it was so fun! We had a normal morning with a large group session, but right after that we went outside to have small group and as it being the last day of camp life, I got to anoint each one of my girls with oil as they confessed that the Lord is their Shepherd. It was beautiful moment at the least to watch these kids claim it for themselves. After lunch, we went back inside for our last large group and during that time Greer, the director, surprised the kids with their "blessings from the Lord". All the kids got a pencil, bookmarks, a cup (representing "my cup overflows"), 2 canvas bags from micheals, and then the best of all was a fleece jacket!! I was able to capture these moments on video. I can't wait to show you their excitement!! We then started singing..."The Lord is My Shepherd...what does He do?...He gives me everything I need!" They all were screaming that at the top of their lungs. I almost started crying watching them sing and finally see how God provides at the right time. Once we made it outside to give the gifts and have small group for the last time, my girls were just glowing!! On the last day of camp, our lesson was: "He anoints my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever".(this is my group of girls and my partner and apostle)

What a week it was!! All my girls were sad that they would not be with me anymore this week. They all asked if they could come to America with me? haha...but something that was encouraging to hear was that this little girl named Lubona said.."auntie joy, i'm going to miss you!" Hearing that at the end of an exhausting week, makes my heart rejoice with praise to the Lord that everything that is given during the week is worth it!

I'm sorry that this is so long, but not being able to write this all out for a week will make it be like a book. Know that I can feel the Lord's strength through your prayers!!

Keep praying though, I get a new Zambian parnter tomorrow afternoon and then start week 7 on monday. The best part about next week is that I will get all my girls from last year!! I can't wait to get to love on them for another year at Camp Life!! Pray that God continues to break through into kids lives and fully restores their souls from the inside out!

Love you all and I'm blessed to you know you!!

Embracing His Presence,
Joy

"...at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". Philippians 2:10

Hello from Zambia...

Muli Bwanji !

I can't believe this is my 3rd day to be in Zambia because it sure feels like I have been here for a week already. There have been so many things I have done already that I am not even sure where to start...

Layover in London.

Well London was great! The weather was not all that beautiful. It was rainy all day, but that didn't stop me from getting to hang out with my friend (Ms. B-Mayes) who is interning there for the summer. She met me at the tube station and we went to lunch and then back to her apartment. She was so wonderful in letting me take a little nap. I was already feeling the jet lag, but the worst part about the first part of the plane ride was that I was literally surrounded by kids. haha..two infants in front of me and 2 screaming toddlers behind me. It was a LONG plane ride for sure!! Anyways, I was able to get a little rest before jumping on my next flight to Lusaka. At that flight I met up with some other people heading to Camp Life. During the second leg, I caught up on some much needed sleep!

Father's Heart (July 11-12).

The past couple of days I have been able to be apart of this program called 'The Father's Heart'. It is for those who have been sponsoring a child throughout the year for $36/month. On friday, July 11, we took a tour of Lusaka, went to a compound called Destiny and played with some precious kids. Most of them have been to Camp Life, but some of them haven't. Every Friday they have PE day so we got to join them. It was so refreshing to finally be back with the Zambian kids. Sometimes you don't really realize how much "Muzungus" (white people) stick out. It's hilarious because they will just stare at you and play with your hair. They just ran up to all of us and showed us all around. Some of them spoke english and some of them did not. I love the challenge of trying to speak in their language. I have been working on it and will hopefully be able to speak better in the next few days.

After we played with the kids outside we went inside to their school to sing songs and eat bread. Once we finished there, we left to go buy Chitengas, which are wraps for the women to wear. All the women were required to buy one to have for the next day to go into their compounds and villages. Wearing a Chitenga is to respect and honor the males. It is proper to wear one. Anyways, while we were in the store I left my backpack in the bus and somehow a guy reached in and took my backpack. It literally had everything in it..from my passport, to my money, to both my cameras and more. Our sweet bus driver chased after him and got it back, but the guy took my video camera. It was so crazy. I was upset and frustrated, but it definitely could have been worse for sure. So praise the Lord for Samuel who ran after the guy. We then headed to a museum and then back to our hotel where we stayed for the first couple of days.

Visiting the Compounds. (Saturday, July 12)

This day was my favorite so far!! We got to go back to the compound where the children lived. My kids that I had last summer all lived in Kamanga Community. We took so many things to them and their families. We went to the grocery store and bought : Millimet, sugar, cooking oil and salt. We also got enough subway sandwiches for every family member. Once we got all our supplies we loaded up in small vans with Zambian translators and headed to the compounds. My heart was so anxious to get there to see my girls from last summer.

Our first stop was at Emily and Christabell's house. They ran down the road and jumped in my arms. It was so good to see them. They both seem like they are doing great and they look health, which has been a big concern of mine. We went into their house and met the rest of the family which included 12 family members all living in one house. I don't know about you, but that would be a tight squeeze. I loved seeing them talk about it because they were so close and never complained. We gave Emily and Christabell crayons, color books, headbands, bracelets, and a small bag of other fun things for them to use. They were so happy that we were there and to be given all of those things.

Once we left there, we headed to Evet's house. I was curious to see Evet because she seemed very sad at Camp Life last summer. When we got to her house, I couldn't hardly believe what she was surrounded by. First of all, it was a very busy part of town and there was coal everywhere. In parts of Lusaka, a lot of people will work coal as a job. Well it was all over the ground and most of people were walking around barefoot. It made me so sad to think that they couldn't do anything about it, but just had to deal with the conditions. Anyways, when we were walking up to her house she ran out to greet me. It was so cute to see what she had on. She was wearing a beautiful top and a hat. When sponsors come to visit them, all of the children know you are coming so they will usually put on their best clothes. She was smiling ear to ear when she saw me. Her living arrangements where a bit worse. She lived in a 9 x 9 clay house and had a sheet seperating her mom's side. They were so welcoming and laid out a mat for us to sit on. We gave Evet the same materials as the other's. Her precious mom was in there and we got to talk about how this program has helped her. We also discussed her relationship with the Lord. She is a new believer and came to the know the Lord in April. As I was talking with her you could tell she was craving to know more about God's word, but no one was there to be constantly pouring into her. She wanted to be able to teach and minister to Evet (her daughter) but she told us that she does not have a bible. The only bible they had was in Bembe (another language spoken) but she couldn't read. My heart dropped when I found that out. I am trying to figure out a way to bring bibles to all the families there. One of the things that the translator asked me was to give a word of encouragement to their family. I wasn't sure what to say on the spot, but the Lord lead me to speak truth's over them. Once we talked I had the privledge to pray over them before we left. They were so hospitable and generous. I did not want to leave them, but wanted to stay and have fellowship with that family. Please be praying for Evelyn (the mom) and Evet. They need individuals in their life to disciple and encourage them in the word!

The last stop was to see Natas. She had lots of family members as well. They were all waiting for us to get there. The only thing about Natas was that she remained quiet the entire time we were there. We gave her the same gifts and provided food for the family. We talked about a lot of things, but one thing that hit me the most was when the family asked me when I would be coming back to visit them? At that moment, I thought I wish I lived here so that I could be able to pour into this family. They all want to know more about Christ but very few people are out in the communities telling them.

I feel so honored to be here and I want to tell you all thank you again for supporting me! God's word has to go out and clearly these people need it so desperately!! Please pray for more conversations with people who need to hear from God's word. I will be able to go back to Kamanga Community next weekend to see more girls. Pray that God would be so alive in me that they would see something different. Pray for the provisions of Bibles!!

To finish up this entry, I moved into the housing at Mulingushi and I'm staying with 12 girls. It reminds me so much of my college days. Anyways, we went to church this morning and this afternoon I will be getting my Zambian partner for the week. I can't wait!! Tomorrow morning I will be given a group of kids that I get to love in for 5 days. Please pray this week for God to move in ways that can't be seen. These kids need to know that He is their Shepherd!!

Love you all and I will post again when I get a moment! We tend to stay pretty busy here!

Feel free to send emails or comment. I would love to hear from you!

Tizo naona...

Loving His Kids,

Joy

ps-if you couldn't tell, I love being here in Zambia!!

**I will add pictures later! Ran out of time! **

Ready or Not...

"How Beautiful are the feet of those 

who bring the Good News!"

Romans 10:15

Hey Friends and Family...

Well I am down to the last 3 days!! I can't believe it!! Things have been a bit crazy to say the least...

I finished working at Kanakuk June 25 and made a quick transition home. The last 2 weeks of camp were awesome!! We went on trip (which is a 4 day "out of camp" trip) that included 2 days of hiking, repelling, caving, and playing in the river and then 2 days of wake boarding, tree tops, cliff jumping and the challenge course. Going on trip unifies your cabin in ways that are indescribable. I loved watching my girls interact together and challenge each other in every way! Once we got back from trip, we had the pentathalon and closing ceremonies with all the parents. One of my favorite memories of trip was when we did the challenge course. This course includes a variety of obstacles that you have to do as a cabin. My cabin had the 4th fastest time in camp history and top fastest time of the summer!! We did it in 42 minutes!! (Which is pretty darn fast!! ) Ok well I just had to brag on my girls for a second! 

(here is a picture of my cabin!!)

Since I've been home from camp, I have been going 90 miles a minute! I went to see my sister in New Braunfels, had one of my favorite friends (Bekah Brinkley) come visit me for a few days, drove to Waco to see another one of my friends, 4th of July at my aunt's lake house, and then trying to pack for Africa on top of it all!! It's been a fun week though! 

(This is me and Bekah at Camp! Just so you know we were 

dressed up for a party, we don't normally look like this! haha)

Amongst the busyness, I am definitely trying to prepare myself mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually for Zambia. Having gone last summer, I know the culture I am about to enter and how overwhelming it can be. Honestly, it has been a bit difficult because of what and who I'm leaving...knowing that I won't be here for my Dad's Surgery on July 22 is so hard for me to be okay with it! I will be able to have contact with my family through a cell phone, but not being physically there is different. I do know, and believe, the Lord has called me to go this summer! I believe that God is sending me with a message of hope for these kids who are struggling with disease themselves or have loved ones who are struggling with a disease. Please pray that God will speak through me and touch the lives of so many who need hope!

My plane leaves from DFW at 5:30pm on July 8...

Please pray for:

*Safe Travel

*Strength/Energy each day

*My heart to be ready for the 

quick transition to that culture.

*The kids coming to Camp Life!

*God to reveal Himself in big ways!

I am going to try to post again before I leave, but if not I will as soon as I get there!! Thanks again for being such a constant support in my life! I pray the Lord is showing Himself to you through all of this!! Love you all!

Going to make Him known,

Joy

"Still...let me be still.

Know that You are God and

You're always enough.

Still...I want to be still.

To take all that I am and 

Simply lift it up."

-Watermark-