Missing HOME!!

3 Months...It has been three months since AFRICA and I have been missing it more than ever before! The thrill of being home as worn off and now I am ready to get back to my 2nd home!

Life has been pretty amazing, weird, crazy...my last week in Africa I got an email from my mother stating that a job was opening up at CTI Music Ministries! I contacted one of the staff members there to get a little information about the job and an application! The following week when I was back in Prinsburg I was in contact with them and asked to come in for an interview! I sent in my application and a week later I had a job...not just any job, a job I LOVE and that is furthering Gods kingdom, THE PERFECT JOB! At least for me that is!

Not long after starting there I was also asked to help out my home church with the Young Adults! I have been a little slow getting it all started because it has taken me a LONG time to get into a grove after getting back. I pray that I will be used and can help the Young Adults of my community get involved in a group that makes them feel comfortable! I thank God that I was chosen to try and help out in this way!

THANKS BE TO GOD!

I Did NOT Sign Up For This!

No, no, no, no, NO! This is not what was in my plan, saying goodbye...NOPE too hard!
This will probably be my last blog before I head off for the States! Tonight Anna and I stopped by My Father's Houses 7 & 8 to say goodbye! Nope this wasn't easy...we hungout for about an hour before telling them that we had to go. The looks we received when we told them we were going back home to America were not easy. The kids that we met the first week we were here and fell in love with, we are now having to leave behind...with no return in the schedule yet! All I know is that I am leaving them in the loving hands of my Zambian family...how their lives will twist and turn, I no longer have control!
Tomorrow the schedule consists of some last minute shopping, packing, Zambian Night and then more goodbyes...I am not sure how I will hold up with that! I have to say goodbye to the MFH kids that I have gotten closest too and also most of my Zambian Family! Please pray for Anna and I both as we have to leave a home that we found here and return to our old lives...which we are excited to go back to, BUT at the same time are having a hard time leaving this life behind!
Thank you for all of your prayers so far I am so excited to tell everyone about life in Lusaka, Zambia and bring back a love that I have found for this place!
SEE YOU in less than a week! LOVE and THANKS to all of you!

*Flight leaves 2 AM (Central America Time) 9 AM here in Zambia on Wednesday morning - Oct 15th. We will be in the air on and off until around 12:30 PM on Thursday Oct. 16th.
*Goodbyes...not going to be easy!
*Family - Grandma! I LOVE YOU ALL!

In One Week!

Wow...can you believe it? My trip here is coming to a close. In the course of the next week I will be leaving my dream! The place I dreamed of going since I was 12 to come home! Saddness, excitement, and question lies in my future!
Sad to go, sad to not see these faces everyday, sad to get on a 18 hour plane ride accross the ocean, sad for the ending!
Excited to see my family and friends, excited to sleep in my own bed, excited to have that shower in my basement back (sad I know that I'm missing that shower), excited to see my Grandma!
Questioning where I will go from here, how I will respond to seeing eveyone, how well I will come back and adjust to the US time frame, and where God will send me next!

Today Gary, founder and president of EOH, headed home! :( Anna and I both are sad to see him go! We really enjoyed his Starbucks coffee in the morning...what a treat when you have had FAKE coffee for 5 weeks! It was really nice to have him there explaining things to us that we knew we experienced but didn't put it together! Also just to have another American to chat with and joke around with was nice!

This past week we have been helping everyone out as they went through what this next year is going to look like for EOH! Wow is it going to be amazing, I pray that the developments that are planned will be carried out to compleation! They are growing into an amazing organization and I am so happy to see that and be a part of that!

Tonight, Anna and I will be having a sleepover with the girls from MFH 4 & 5! All my friends and my sisters know how much I like sleepovers! I am so excited to hang out with the girls away from home and school, just treat them! No worries I will definatly have pictures!

LOVE YOU ALL AND SEE MOST OF YOU IN LESS THAN A WEEK!!

* Gary's traveling mercies back to the States!
* Anna and my last few days here in our DREAM land!
* My family and their tears...

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!

-SLOW-

Hello EVERYONE!

This week has been a little slow as Anna and I just sit at the house waiting for kids to come in to get their updates done! It is good though to have time to sit, talk, read and hangout. Usually we help Patricia out with the chores around the house/office.

This past week Anna and I have been sleeping at Martha's house. She has just gotten in to her new house, so most nights consist of a little unpacking, chatting and watching "Friends" (she has the complete set on DVD!) I love chatting with Martha because she says things VERY straight forward...I wish all people were like that! Sure it hurts BUT we don't spend 15 minutes on the subject that could take only 2 minutes! The other night we made a huge batch of popcorn and ate it all! The Slagter family would be proud with the amount we put away! :)

We found out a couple days ago that Gary, the president and founder of EOH, is coming to Zambia on the 2nd of October! Anna and I are both really excited; we met Gary when we were in our training in Texas and then again in the airport before we took off to Washington D.C.! We are excited to hear from him and to get to know his heart a little more!

Friday Anna and I were able to work on around 20 updates...it was great we got them done in almost 2 hours...which is really good! BUT my favorite part--we packed 40 people(5 women and the rest kids) into a 30 passenger bus! Yeah it was a little squished but I had the most amazing time! It was only a 15 minute drive but the kids sang the whole way back...two of the girls that led the songs were AMAZING singers and the kids sang with such heart! It was amazing...for lack of a better word! :)

On Tuesday night, on our way to Martha's house, we stopped by a funeral wake. Martha said that most times these wakes go on for at least 3 days sometimes more! The women are in the house and the men are outside, when you come to the house you remove your shoes and enter the room knealing, you then go around the room shaking all of the womens hands and then find a spot alongside the wall to morn with the women. Anna and I were the only white women there and were not informed that we should be wearing our traditional wraps...so we stuck out! I really had no clue who it was for but was shanken later when I found out it was for a young man (22 yrs. old) who loved the Lord. 22 yrs. old...that is me, I am 22 yrs. old! I am unsure how he passed but it was hard on all the people there...including myself! I thank God for everyday I have with these people and their hearts!

Thank GOD for everything and everyday you have to further HIS kingdom!

*Grandpa Slagter - Much love and hugs go out to my whole family in this time! I am praying non-stop for all of you!
*My sister, Hillary's back...she is ALIVE! ;)
*Dusty and his time with the family! Wish I was there with you, no worries though I am living it up over here for you!
*Little baby Sir!
*Jeremiah and Krista as they prepare for a life together! :) CONGRATULATIONS!

I LOVE THESE PEOPLE!

WOW...could it get any better!? I am really feeling at home after a few days here! Anna and I both are feeling comfortable with our Zambian Family! We haven't done too much work yet because the Family has been going to classes during the day for some child training. So we have been doing a lot of work inside! We have gotten to know Patricia and Tommy really well and have grown to love the time we get with them.
Tommy has now learned 9 hole Golf (card game, my G-pa Slagter's fav game). He really enjoys it even though he isn't quite that good at it yet, whenever he is struggling he says, "The Lord is Faithful"...even when he loses "The Lord is Faithful, I will win this time" It is great to see how they put God into everything. Along with that we have had long discussions about how we can't drink their water. He doesn't understand and thinks that we should at least try it..."how do we know?" he would say and I asked him, "If I try it would you hold my hair back as I puke?!" he laughed and said, "Of course, if you try it, we are family!"
As for Patricia I have grown to love this woman...she is so excited to show us her culture and let us watch and learn how to make Nshima (shema) today. We were challenged by Cypheen later that we would not be able to make it well! So turns out Anna and I will have to step up tomorrow...
As for our trips to "My Fathers House's" it was amazing the kids are so respectful and excited to see us. Most of them were quiet almost like they were nervous to meet us. They all came up and gave us hugs or shook our hands. Then they showed us their rooms and around the house. I am so excited to spend more time with them over these next weeks!
I also was able to see the house that the GEMS built and also sponsor every month. They were excited to hear that I once went to GEMS. I will make sure to get pictures of the kids to show the girls back home! They would love to receive mail from you girls, so if you get the chance send it to me and I will make sure to get it to them (there's 8 total, 4 boys/girls) They were so gracious; it is amazing the amount of respect they hold for others.
I have grown to LOVE my Zambian family! I love the way they are so laid back and don't worry about time is amazing...I didn't think I would like this being as I am usually 15 minutes early for everything! BUT in Africa, it is not an offense to be late...it is almost expected, not really but it is not rude! So I am totally fine with being late, although I usually say sorry 15 times and then explain. :s I will get there... I love how they are so kind...always greeted with a smile and cheek kisses! They show their love here and not just for people for the Lord too. This is one area that I have been challenged! I hope by the time I leave here I will have the infatuation they have for God...You can see He is number one in their lives! I have never really seen it this obvious before! I can only pray that is the same for me!
Thank you all for your prayers they mean more than you know! Also thanks so much for your emails and comments...I get SUPER excited to read them!!

*G-pa Slagter's health, I have heard he looks well and has been having some good days! Please continue to pray for him, my G-ma and my family in this time.
*Health for Anna and I both
*Thanks that we have adjusted after that one night to the time here!
*Safety for my cousin Dusty who is coming home from Iraq in a few days!
*Thanks for the people that I have already met and feel in LOVE with and that they are so accepting and gracious!

Interesting Experience!

Mama H. allowed us to sleep in as late as we would like today; Anna and I both decided that we should only sleep eight hours so that we don't get on a weird sleeping pattern. We woke up around 8:45 and started figuring out how to work things. We were up and ready to go by 10 and gave Mrs. Harawa a call. The plan was to go get groceries...Cypheen drove us to Shoprite and we headed in not knowing what to get. We walked around for about 45 minutes and figured our last stop would be the vegtables; on our way there the power went out in the whole store...we sat there for a bit and then continued to shop by cell phone light! When we were done an employee told us they were still unsure as to when the power would go back on. Cypheen and Mama H decided that we should just go to another grocery store. Since we had already found everything in the other store we made it through finding everything pretty quickly! We then paid with qwacha...that was interesting I think our food cost us 364,000 Qwacha!
On the way home we dropped off Mama, I was excited to see where she lived...except I wouldn't be able to find that back if my life depended on it! Cypheen helped us get everything in and then left. After putting everything away Anna and I had the reast of the day to relax. We had a PB sandwich and then took naps, wrote in our journals and chatted about life.
The naps turned out to be a not so great thing...I was up ALL night! At about 1 I turned my light on to check the time and Anna sat straight up in bed. Turns out neither of us could sleep...so I whipped out the handy Bible and read to Anna. We read Colossians, Proverbs 7, and James 1...Anna said that was enough and she thought she could get to sleep so I stopped and figured that I would be fine as well...NOPE! For the first time in all my life I was unable to sleep! It gave me a nice quite time though!
Sounds of Africa at night...many dogs and one really off rooster who was crowing at 2:30 until I got up at 6; since we had church at 7.
So far today we have gone to church which was amazing! It wasn't a very large church maybe the a bit smaller than Unity CRC and yet more than 10 people gave their lives to the LORD! People here are so hungry for life and find such excitement in the word! That kind of excitement we are missing back home and it was an AMAZING experience to see people on fire for God. Cypheen sang in the choir so Humphery brought us to church; we were able to spend most of the afternoon with him as well as we realized we were locked out of the house because no one had a key for the padlock on the door in the back. Both Cypheen and us girls thought the other had a key. We were able to make it out to the Airport though to pick up Anna's luggage so that was a blessing. Then we brought Toma (Martha's sister...who plays BASEBALL, yes Ryan I encouraged her to continue!) out to her school, she is a sweet girl and I am hoping to make it to one of her games before I leave! Anna and I got really comfortable with Humphery and that was nice since we haven't really had time with anyone else to get comfortable. Turns out his middle name is Thomas...I asked him if we could call him Tommy, at first he wasn't so much for it but later warmed up to it; we will see if I actually keep calling him that! I confessed to him that I thought his name was Ephriam for the past few days said that is why I needed to call him Tommy! haha...well later We (Anna, Cypheen and Mama) are heading out to a couple of "My Father's House's" so Anna and I are both excited to finally meet some of the kids!

TEXAS!!

So, I am in Texas; after many months of waiting I am here! In one of my previous posts I said I would be freaking out...and that I was!

Yesterday morning I was told that my flight was leaving two hours earlier than I had originally read! Basically I read the flight schedule wrong :s Good thing I was arriving 2 1/2 hours early for my flight and that my mother knows how to speed...just a little! So after an hour of traveling and PRAYING we made it to the airport with and hour to get on my flight! My Aunt Nae said that she prayed that God would just clear the way for me so that I could make my flight and there was no one in line at Frontier! He definatly answered everyones prayers and I made my flight even with a bathroom break before! So that WAS my freak out moment!

As for the rest of the trip everything went super smooth! I met Brian Smith the coordinator for the trip along with Gary the President of Every Orphan's Hope and my partner in crime, Anna! We went out for dinner and learned a little information on how EOH came around! I am enjoying my time in Texas that is for sure and getting really excited to experience this adventure!

Today we just have "Team Bonding", basically more learning and training! Oh and just so you all know, especially Lindsey, Brian said that Zambia is like the Mid-West of Africa...so we will be really safe! :)

We will be flying out on Thursday and traveling all day! After talking with Brian I have an update as to how long my flight is...we fly 2 hours to Washington D.C. and then from there we will leave and have a 12 hour flight to South Africa, following that we will have another 2 hour flight to Zambia and arrive there early in the morning on Saturday!

LOVE you all and thanks for your prayers!

One more month!

One more month and I will be:

jumping up and down in excitment

freaking out

flying internationally

eating new foods

speaking words I never knew existed

learning a new culture

the Lords hands, heart and feet

loving little orphan's

living out my dream

trusting in the Lord to direct me more than ever

In one month I will be jumping, freaking, flying, eating, speaking, learning, being, loving, living and above all trusting! In one month I will be in AFRICA! Now these are my predictions as to what I will be doing; I obviously can't tell the future, but knowing myself this will be a lot of what I will be doing!

Currently, I have recieved all the support I needed for the trip! Thank you all so incredibly much for helping me out! I know that many of you wish you were me and because of that I am going to try to keep you all updated as to the who, what, when and where of the trip. I will be updating this as much as needed or wanted! I will be taking off for Texas training on September 2nd from the Cities.

SIDENOTE: As some of you know and are probably thinking this is 5 days before Hillary's (my younger sister) birthday. I don't know what I was thinking when I planned the departure date...HOPEFULLY she will forgive me!

Then after some training at the base in Frisco, I will take off for Africa on the 4th! After that I really don't know the rest of the schedule, when I get there I will tell you more!

Thanks again for your prayers!

In the Process...

This is the beginning. I am almost ready to get going to Africa; in only a month and a half I will be heading out! So far I have gotten my passport, 7 shots, and am almost done raising money all thanks to family, friends and my church! I will be trying to keep you guys posted on my life while I am there! Thanks for joining me on this adventure!