Friday, July 22nd

Dear supporters, family, friends, and whoever else happens to fix their eyes upon this blog:

Today was quite the adventure for our team! Megan and I started the day by visiting two of the clubs run by STS in the local high schools of Mufulira. We were guided around by Martinz, one of the club facilitators. After the morning, Megan and I rode the bus to visit Murundu where Joseph and Hilda introduced us to three separate families of the village. The women allowed us to interview them about daily life in the village and also let us take photos of their homes and activities. We were doing it to create a profile of life in the village so that those of you who aren’t able to come to Zambia can still get an idea of what life is like here on the ground - What we ended up taking away was much more significant. There was a moment when Joseph stopped, turned to Megan and said, “You are changing the lives of these women… You are making a difference in the life here.” There are certain moments when you aren’t so sure that all the work is changing life significantly, when the problems seem too overpowering. And then, you walk into a village to take pictures and Joseph tells you that you are making life better. It was so simple, but it hit Megan and me pretty hard. After we left each house we were swarmed by the orphans, each of our hands being split between six to seven kids on each side. Whenever I turned around Megan had two calm lines on each side of her, kids holding hands with one another, grinning and walking lightly. However I, for some reason, had at least two kids trying to climb my legs, three on my right fighting over my pinky finger and one kid who managed to zip himself into my backpack. Nevertheless, I’m counting that as my weightlifting for the day. Hope you’re all doing well. We’re loving it over here!

-Katie

Kathy, Jim, Tannen and I went to two different districts where we met up with some Zambian women. It was interesting and eye-opening to discuss the needs within their community. There are so many, but solutions are coming as ideas are being launched to help better empower the women so they can successfully provide for their families. We passed out Moringa seeds and Jim spoke with the women on how to plant these remarkable trees that produce exceeding amounts of nutrition for better immune systems. Our team is aiming to minimize starvation and sickness and also explain them how to make a business out of it. The team is confident in the people of Mufulara to rise up out of their current circumstances, as we are here to reach out a hand and help. Awesome experiences took place today including being able to lay hands on two disabled children with cerebral palsy and pray for them. We spent all day with these women from both the districts speaking about LRPI and showing the love of God. We got to read scripture and then pray with the women before heading off to the next location, where disabled children were kept. It was a very big day for the team reaching into the hearts of the people and seeing their needs right before our eyes. We are recording the priorities of the people and formulating ways we can help in the different areas that need to be contributed to. Lots of love from our team here in Zambia, may God bless you and thank you all for the prayers. The Lord is truly moving here in Africa! ;]

-Lauren