The past week..

I can't believe it's been 10 days since I last blogged. It's been quite busy. I have been working a lot at the Tree of Life in preparation for more kids. And speaking of...we moved 12 more kids in today!! So now we have almost 60 kids living full-time in 4 beautiful homes at the village!! What an amazing afternoon it was...children singing, playing, jumping on the trampoline, sitting in my lap, and soaking in the beautiful place God has provided for them. I can't tell you how much fun that place is!! 

Camp LIFE this week went by so fast!! I can't believe we are about to start week 4...So many American's on our team have come and gone. The first 2 weeks I was blessed to have precious mom's in my villa. I can't tell you how great it was to have Mom's (speaking of..Mom I have missed you being here!!) helping me with things. One in particular made my lunch everyday and others checked on me to make sure that I was getting rest on hard and busy days. It was refreshing to have them around me.  In one more week I will have some of my best friends here doing ministry together. Praise the Lord how God calls people to the same places to serve alongside each other!! 

This week I have been working on the Lifeway Vision Homes. Lifeway is a program focused on reaching the kids between the ages of 14 - 19.  They are brought in and live full time under our care. We currently have almost 50 kids living in homes with house parents that are a part of our Family Legacy Staff. Each child goes to school full time and are given such an opportunity they have never dreamed of. I went to visit our kids at school and I was just amazed at how much they are loving where they are. All 50 of them are precious...no matter the age! They have been given an opportunity and they have people believing in them!! There is HOPE where there was non, there is JOY where there was sadness, and there is LIFE in each and every one of them for where God has brought them!! BLESSED BE HIS NAME!! God is so good and moving in every child. He has rescued so many and there are many more to come... 

Please continue to be praying for God to bring the children to us who are in desperate need. God's heart for these children is impacting each and everyone of us! It's amazing of how great and mighty our God is!! Also, be praying for the hearts of the kids we work with. There is so much they are dealing with and the only way they will have full restoration is if they become completely transparent with themselves. I have seen these within the past few days with several kids who want to completely push away and forget their past; however, they are hindering themselves from experiencing freedom and restoration. I believe the Lord wants to free these children of so many things they are holding on to so keep praying for break through in all of their lives. In addition, pray for moments and opportunities to can sit and talk with some children who just need someone to listen. 

Thanks for all the prayers and support so far! God is moving in countless ways!

Love y'all!

Crazy, but such a fun week!

My group that helped me organize and box up about 10,000 books for our kids!!

Part of the group at the Craig's House for Heather's birthday!

I have had a busy few days in the sense of interviewing potential house parents to choosing the kids who will be living in the Tree of Life Children's Village. You would think that would be the easy part but honestly it was very hard and heavy weighing on my heart. Holly and I met on Wednesday with over 20 potential house Mom's to be raising these children in the village. How exciting it was to know that some of these women will be loving on the children in our village!! It was a long day of talking, but productive...then afterwards we all went over to our offices in Chilenje to visit some of our LIFEWAY girls. They had prepared a special birthday surprise for Heather. It was sooo cute all what they did! I literally think she got 30 cards from them since it was her 30th birthday. 

While we were there, I got to spend some sweet time with Emma and Beauty so below is a video of Emma singing. She wanted to sing a song for my mom...or Auntie Jan. :) 

Friday afternoon we all headed out to the "Big Land" (aka - The Tree of LIFE). We worked the rest of the day getting organized with the upcoming week. Saturday, we spent the day at the villa reading through and assigning kids to their NEW homes at the Tree of LIFE. Long, but good day. 

Sunday we got up and headed off to church!! One of my favorite things here in Zambia. It was located in Matero - a compound that actually has children and families living in trash bag houses. And if you can imagine a wood frame with black trash bags draped all around it. It's definitely something hard to even think about. Anyways, the worship and preaching at church was amazing!! God is at work and He knows what we need to hear from His word. We grabbed lunch and then me and the girls (Holly, Heather, and Paige) went out to the Tree of LIFE to work. It's becoming our second home. We have a lot of work to do this week in getting it ready for KIDS!!! The first set of kids will be coming Friday!! :)

Please pray for strength, energy, good health, efficiency, and time management. We had a long meeting last night discussing everything this week and it really will be a miracle if everything happens. We have the opening on Thursday and then we will be bringing kids in on Friday. It's going to be one of the most powerful days when we see our own kids walking in complete freedom, safety, a positive environment, and to just be around those who love them!! 

Praise the Lord for what HE is doing!! Thanks for sharing this experience with me!

I'm off and running for the week...I'll be spending most of my time at the "Big Land" prepping the homes!! 

Love you all!

Beauty moves into LIFEWAY

On Tuesday, I had the privilege of bringing sweet little Beauty into LIFEWAY!! It was an exciting afternoon for both her and her Aunt who has been taking care of her. Her Aunt Martha kept thanking us for what we were doing. She even asked if Temba (her son, Beauty's cousin) could go too. It was darling! We first picked them up at their house and then went to get them Chicken and Chips on the way. Once we arrived to the girls home, she was welcome with open arms by Emma!! Her and Emma have known each other for a while so it was a sweet reunion for them both. The are the cutest best friends and it made my heart so happy to see them together!

Aunt Martha, Beauty, and Me

Best Friends: Emma and Beauty!!

All the girls at LIFEWAY House #1...these are Beauty's new sisters!!

I just love these 2 girls!! 

How Beautiful is the Love of Christ...

Well this past weekend was so exciting for many reasons....

1. One of my best friends got engaged to a guy that is so wonderful! Garrett is like a brother to me and I couldn't be more happy for them! I was so thrilled that I got to be a part of their first of many celebrations! God is so good and has been the center of their relationship from the very beginning. I can't wait to see how God uses them to further His name!! Anyways, they will be getting married some time in the Spring and I am so honored to be a part of their Big Day!

* The Bride-to-be...future Mrs. Stephanie Peters!!

* All the girls at Steph's Engagement Party!

* My dear friends are getting married!

2. I have been working on the LIFEWAY KIDS. Basically I am reading through recommendations of children who have been through our Camp LIFE Program in the summer and who need to be taken our of their current living situation and put into one of 6 other homes we have in Lusaka. These homes each have 8-10 kids with some of our Zambian staff as house parents. Each child gets to attend school, have full meals, and be discipled daily. My sweet Emma is one example of many children who are given the chance to begin a new life! Anyways, I spoke with Holly on the phone, since she is in Zambia working on things, and she told me we have 10 openings for NEW Kids to come into the homes!! PRAISE THE LORD!! Ten more children will be rescued!! So...please be in prayer over the new kids. I am so thankful that the Lord provided spots because the stories of these kids are horrific and I cried over each one!

3. God has been faithful! He is providing what is needed for the moment. As I have sent out support letters He is gradually supplying my daily need. As of today, I have received 10% of the amount needed in monthly pledges and several one time gifts that are meeting my immediate needs. Thank you so much for all of you who have given! God is doing what He said He would do as being my Jehovah-Jireh -- "the Lord who provides". I am so humbled and honored to be where I am!! THANK YOU!

4. Learning the Love of Christ. (The meaning of my title of this post) God is definitely taking me on a journey with understanding more and more of who He is. I begin studying the Song of Solomon a couple weeks ago. I have studied it several times throughout college, but I decided to do it again. Mike Bickle is the one who teaches and breaks down every verse in order to understand the meaning, see the significance, apply yourself to it, and most importantly embrace the beauty and love that our Lord God, the bridegroom, has for us! I am only on Session #5 and I love it! I love how the Lord constantly pursues us with His word and moves our hearts to love Him more and more! God is taking me through a process that only He can lead me through and I couldn't be more excited about what is to come!

That's it for now! Hope you all are doing great!! Keep praying for my dad, he hasn't progressed that much. He really needs to gain weight and he doesn't really have a desire to eat. I don't mean to end on a negative note, but just thought you should know.

Thanks again for staying up-to-date on my life!!

Loving Jesus with all my heart,

Joy