Musonda Falls

I haven't had to much down time lately...they are keeping me busy! Last week Thursday we(Anna, Cypheen and myself) headed off to Musonda Falls; which is an estimated TWELVE hour bus ride! Anna and I got to know Cypheen quite well, I'm sure he would say the same about us! :) We got there at around 5ish in the morning...when I got there I either had sympathy puffiness (for Lindsey) or it was just from the long trip but I had SWOLLEN feet!

The people up there are amazing! I fell in love with the area! It was a little more like home because it is a very small town, nothing like Lusaka which is the capital of Zambia. We stayed with a young man whose wife is actually in Lusaka preparing for the birth of their first born. It was an amazing home...with a super nice shower I might add! When we woke in the morning you look out the living room window to the river coming from the falls, you can hear the falls in the distance...it was breathtaking! Pastor Mwansa was a treat to meet...he has such a heart for the orphans in that area and is involved in most of their lives. We had a little over 40 updates to get done on Friday and Saturday. At the end of the first day we had only 7 left to do! Anna and I were pretty excited about that because that meant that we would have a better chance of going down to the falls and seeing where some of the kids live.

On Saturday we went over to the church and spent a lot of time singing being as the kids had all the time in the world to come in so they came in sporadically leaving us time for Cypheen to practice his guitar skills and also write a song! BUT we got them all DONE!! How amazing is that, thanks to the Pastor and his devoted helpers we got them all done...that is a first! God really helped us out on that one! So that afternoon we were able to go down to the falls on our way down there we had a mob of kids that came with! It was so beautiful, reminded me of home! That night we hung out with the Pastor and our Host and played some card tricks on them...it was a good time!

The next day was Orphan Sunday...and it was crAzY Amazing! I didn't understand any of the message that was being preached but the praise and worship was awesome! The majority of the church was kids...most of the sponsor kids that we updated came which resulted in both arms being filled along with my lap, which is fine by me! I was touched by one little girl who must have been an angel in disguise...she is sick and nothing but bones; but when that little girl smiles it lights up the world! She was incredibly shy, spoke only Bemba and hid away in the corner but that wasn't going to keep me from her! I greeted her and gave her a hug hoping that half of the love she shown me with just her smile would be reciprocated in that hug! I fell in LOVE with that little girl and even though I don't know her name she is forever engraved in my heart! Please be praying for these kids! Some of them don't have sponsors, some are sick, and some have just lost both their parents...they have gone through more trials in their lives than most people EVER have to go through. I praise God for the JOY that still comes from them!

I want to thank you for all of your prayers for my family and I as we go through this time of loss! I really don't think there is anyway I would still have Joy if it weren't for God sustaining me right now! Really words could not express the amount of thanks that is due!

* Praise God for my Grandpa Slagter's LIFE and that he no longer has pain!

* Pray that my Grandma will be uplifted by God's hand!

* The rest of my family in this time!

* My cousin Dusty as he took off back to Iraq last Wednesday!

* Little baby Sir...boy or girl?!?

* Every little child who finds JOY in their troubled lives and even more so those who don't!

* Thank God the rain held off...it is comming! :) Which means cooler weather! I was able to wear jeans today without sweating like a pig!

* Pray for Gary, president of EOH and founder, as he is out until Friday trying to get things ready for the coming year!