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!

The Things We Never Knew!

• The first moment He held me in His arms and looked down at me and smiled, I didn't know that He had won my heart from that moment on...BUT He did!
• The day that He took me to the turkey barns to "help" with checking the baby chicks, I didn't know I really wasn't helping at all...BUT He did!
• The day that I declared Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior, I didn't know how proud I made Him and my family...BUT He did!
• The day I declared Jesus as my personal, He didn't know how instermental He was in that moment...BUT I do!
• The day I looked out into the crowd after my performance of Hee-Haw-Hay-Ride and saw Him sitting there, He didn't know how happy that made me...BUT I do!
• The day He walked from the van to my softball game at Crown College taking frequent stops to catch His breath, He didn't know how thankful I was...BUT I do!
• The day we took the golf cart for a ride when we were on vacation, He didn't know how grateful I was for that moment...BUT I do!
• The last moment He held me in His arms, He didn't know how I breathed in and took in that moment for the last time...BUT I do!
• The day God took Him into GLORY, He didn't know He took my heart with Him... BUT I do!

My heart goes with You, Grandpa, as You stole my heart from the first moment You held me in Your arms!

I LOVE YOU, MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER KNOW OR COULD IMAGINE, FOREVER AND A DAY!!

"God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear through the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make GLAD the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. GOD is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is WITH us; the God of Jacob is our FORTRESS!

- PS 46:1-7

-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!

PICTURES!! :)

hope you are happy with this Lindsey!
Anna and I working on being Zambian!

Cypheen with one of the boys finishing his update on Friday!

Cypheen, Anna and I enjoying puppy chow during Cypheen's guitar lessons and CSI: NewYork!

Anna and I with our hungry lion box! Good food! :)

After a day of updates our feet were pretty dirty...who's black and who's white?!

One of the other monkeys...pretty excited to see them! Anna likes this picture because it looks like he is about to pounce!

My really good picture of the monkey walking right by myself and grabbing my bag!

Anna and I at the falls...it was the dry season so there wasn't much for falls but it was still breathtaking!

Hippo infested water, down by the river! haha

Anna in Livingstone with the kids doing updates!

Cypheen and I with the beautiful fish that Mama and he had for supper that night! Anna and I opted for the chicken and 'chips' also known as french fries...Oh yes and Hillary notice the shirt!