Sometimes it amazes me the range of emotions I can feel in one day. It seems so much greater than most anything I ever felt before on a typical Saturday, and today happened to be one of those days where I can’t believe everything I felt.
The day started off with a knock on our door from a friend. She wanted to sit and talk because there was a problem. My heart broke for her as she shared what happened. We prayed together because Benjamin and I didn’t really have any other advice and we needed to turn it over to the Lord.
Awhile later, I remembered that it was Saturday morning and tutoring was happening in just a few hours, one of my favorite parts of the week. We implemented a new check-in schedule that worked well and allowed us to have extra time with our students. To make things better, my group of 6 students was great today! It felt like we accomplished so much and they were focused the whole time. I left tutoring feeling as if I had more energy than when I started.
As the afternoon rolled around there was an intense windstorm and some thunder that seemed to fit what would come next. I went go to Mama Ruth’s house where Regina and I sat with one of the older girls from the sponsorship program to tell her the news that she was being removed from the program. She recently became pregnant, at 17, and now she isn’t going to school or coming to Saturday tutoring because the other students are making fun of her.
Next came her story. She was living with one of her grandmothers. Her father has a handicap and I believe he hasn’t cared for her in a while. After she got pregnant, her grandmother kicked her out, so she moved in with her other grandmother, Mama Ruth. Her mother lives in town because she left the father a few years ago when he was extremely sick and all she does since her daughter got pregnant is cry and become extremely mad at her. The mother tells her, “What do you think you’re doing getting pregnant? My husband and I can hardly take care of ourselves because we don’t have work. What do you think you’re doing bringing this baby into the picture?” Her father, the one with the handicap, now hates her because of this mistake she’s made.
My heart broke as I listened to her story. Her life isn’t going to be easy. She’s going to have to fight for her and her baby. As we were leaving, I turned to her, looker her in the eye and said, “I want you to know that I love you and I still support you.” I feel like everything in her life right now is filled with shame. I want her to know that someone cares for her, that someone loves her, and that Jesus is still there for her.
As I was sitting there listening to this girl’s story, one of Mama Ruth’s other grandchildren, who was recently sponsored and is in my tutoring group, leaned over to me and whispered, “Auntie Allison, I want to learn to read. Can I come on Monday?” This girl has found such a special place in my heart even though I haven’t known her long. I whispered back, “What time would you come?” After she sat and thought for a few moments, she said, “Maybe 16:00.”
How I wish I could teach every child to read. Sitting here typing this I can think of handfuls of kids that I would love to give one-on-one attention so they can learn how to read. It just feels like there are never enough hours in a day to meet all of the needs that are in front of me.
Then tonight, I was on dinner preparation for the team and Benjamin and Bernard, one of the boys from the Children’s Home, came running into the kitchen saying, “She’s having babies! The pig is having babies!” Benjamin was hoping that his pig would have babies before we left to come back to the states for a few weeks. He spent a long time by the pigpen and his pig had 8 babies. There was so much joy and excitement as a bunch of kids were standing around the pigpen guessing how many babies there would be.
After dinner we had abiding with Christ night with the Children’s Home. We were split up into 4 groups and told to choose a Bible story and create a skit. We then presented these skits and they had us laughing and enjoying ourselves. In addition to the skits, Benjamin and a few boys made chocolate chip muffins that we got to enjoy together before the kids went off to bed.
Now I’m sitting here, it’s after 11 PM (way later than I typically go to bed) and one of the baby pigs isn’t doing well. It is the runt and Benjamin is sitting here with it wrapped in a blanket trying to keep it alive feeding it with a dropper.
What a day! What a lot of emotions! Sometimes I just want to lock myself in the house so I don’t have to hear about another child who can’t go to school because they don’t have the money to pay the school fees, or another grandmother who doesn’t have money so she hasn’t been able to feed her family for the past few days. But then I remember these are daughters and sons of the almighty King. He loves them so much and He wants each and every one of them to know Him deeply and intimately. That’s why I’m here. I too, want people to know their Heavenly Father. I want to love them to Him, so if my day is filled with many emotions I can’t even begin to imagine what the Father feels for all of His children.
Pray with me tonight:
-for the friend who has been hurt
-for the kids in my tutoring group
-for the 17 year old who is now pregnant
-for the 10 year old who so badly wants to learn to read
-for the kids in the Children’s Home
-for the grandmother who hasn’t had food in 3 days
-and for us to continue to love deeply as our Father does
Monday, March 27, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
Prayers Answered
We just received word this morning that our appeal has been accepted and our two year work permits have been approved! They should be sent to Livingstone for us to pick up in the next week or so. Praise Jesus for answered prayers!
Monday, March 13, 2017
Learning Trust
As I sit here in the shade on this sunny and 80 degree day with a slight breeze rustling through the nearby bushes, I hear the sound of kids playing on their day off from school and my heart desires to be at rest. It loves this place I now call home.
It just feels hard. My heart wants to be still, content, and filled with peace, but it feels like we can't do anything about our visa situation. And yet, the Lord whispers, "do you trust me?"
And so we wait. We wait to hear what the immigration official will say when we call later this week.
The boys swinging on the hammock next to me can't stop laughing because the rope keeps breaking as they fall flat on their backs. I am reminded of the joy that is exuding from them as they play together. This is the kind of joy I want to be filled with; an overflowing joy from my Heavenly Father.
Pray with us as we trust in the plans of our Farther this week.
Allison
It just feels hard. My heart wants to be still, content, and filled with peace, but it feels like we can't do anything about our visa situation. And yet, the Lord whispers, "do you trust me?"
And so we wait. We wait to hear what the immigration official will say when we call later this week.
The boys swinging on the hammock next to me can't stop laughing because the rope keeps breaking as they fall flat on their backs. I am reminded of the joy that is exuding from them as they play together. This is the kind of joy I want to be filled with; an overflowing joy from my Heavenly Father.
Pray with us as we trust in the plans of our Farther this week.
Allison
Thursday, March 9, 2017
Immigration
This week has been crazy! On Tuesday we found out that our application for two year work permits had been rejected. To appeal the decision we would have to go to Lusaka to the immigration headquarters... or else leave Zambia.
So we purchased bus tickets for Lusaka. On Wednesday, we packed a couple of bags and visited Headman Singanga to have him write a reference letter. He made it difficult but after two visits and around three hours of talking, we received the letters. We then had a party for Jake and Tammy who are heading back to the states after doing a little traveling (the party consisted of cooking a village goat!)
We arrived to the Livingstone bus station at 9:00 for our 9:30 bus departure. The company decided to change busses so instead of 2 and 3 seat rows, this bus was a 2 x 2... meaning 20% of the bus was unable to board. Despite being the first people to buy tickets two days prior and having pre-assigned seating, we were kicked off and moved to another bus. We finally started moving around 10:30 towards Lusaka.
The bus was very uncomfortable. There was no overhead storage and the seats did not recline. We made 6-8 stops along the way picking up and dropping off people before arriving in Lusaka. But after 8 hours, we arrived and took a taxi to Lusaka Backpackers for the night.
This hostel was a bright point on the trip. The cost was only $40 per night and the bed was comfortable and they had very good food to purchase for dinner and breakfast.
At 7:30 on Friday morning, we said our final goodbyes to Jake and Tammy and Jason and Leanna (they are all traveling to Zanzibar before Jake and Tammy continue heading to the States).
We headed to immigration in the rain. The immigration lady seemed to be in a good mood. She took our appeal letter from Love's Door, reference letter from Headman and one of the local school teachers, but she threw out our letter from one of our former Zambian directors and a letter on our own behalf (without even reading them). She told us to call her next week Friday to hear the decision and she gave us 7 more days in the country... which only gives us until the day that we hear the decision.
Now we are back on the bus heading to Livingstone after only a ten minute conversation at immigration! It has been a process but we are excited to be back in our little village house.
There will be a meeting next Thursday where our appeal will be decided upon. Please pray for favor in immigration and for this to all be taken care of before we head to Michigan on March 30 to attend the wedding of Allison's sister.
So we purchased bus tickets for Lusaka. On Wednesday, we packed a couple of bags and visited Headman Singanga to have him write a reference letter. He made it difficult but after two visits and around three hours of talking, we received the letters. We then had a party for Jake and Tammy who are heading back to the states after doing a little traveling (the party consisted of cooking a village goat!)
We arrived to the Livingstone bus station at 9:00 for our 9:30 bus departure. The company decided to change busses so instead of 2 and 3 seat rows, this bus was a 2 x 2... meaning 20% of the bus was unable to board. Despite being the first people to buy tickets two days prior and having pre-assigned seating, we were kicked off and moved to another bus. We finally started moving around 10:30 towards Lusaka.
The bus was very uncomfortable. There was no overhead storage and the seats did not recline. We made 6-8 stops along the way picking up and dropping off people before arriving in Lusaka. But after 8 hours, we arrived and took a taxi to Lusaka Backpackers for the night.
This hostel was a bright point on the trip. The cost was only $40 per night and the bed was comfortable and they had very good food to purchase for dinner and breakfast.
At 7:30 on Friday morning, we said our final goodbyes to Jake and Tammy and Jason and Leanna (they are all traveling to Zanzibar before Jake and Tammy continue heading to the States).
We headed to immigration in the rain. The immigration lady seemed to be in a good mood. She took our appeal letter from Love's Door, reference letter from Headman and one of the local school teachers, but she threw out our letter from one of our former Zambian directors and a letter on our own behalf (without even reading them). She told us to call her next week Friday to hear the decision and she gave us 7 more days in the country... which only gives us until the day that we hear the decision.
Now we are back on the bus heading to Livingstone after only a ten minute conversation at immigration! It has been a process but we are excited to be back in our little village house.
There will be a meeting next Thursday where our appeal will be decided upon. Please pray for favor in immigration and for this to all be taken care of before we head to Michigan on March 30 to attend the wedding of Allison's sister.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Updates on Sugar Village
This past week we went to Sugar Village and met with Christopher and Elizabeth. We asked Elizabeth about her legs because a few months ago they had been healed during a worship night we had in Sugar village. After that, the pain slowly started coming back.
She informed us that the pain was back and that she was going to go to the witchdoctor. Apparently she had been to the clinic and there was nothing they could do for her and she has been prayed over a number of different times so she believes that the sickness must be dealt with by a witchdoctor. She believes someone has put a curse on her and so whatever is in her legs needs to be taken out by the witchdoctor.
We abandoned our plans of discussing the Lord's Supper and spent a very long time talking about binding and loosing from Matthew 16. We also talked about only serving one master and choosing between Jesus and the witchdoctor. She didn't seem ready to make a decision about just following Jesus because it is so culturally acceptable to dabble in whatever works... and the pain in her legs hadn't left.
Memory, one of our Zambian coworkers talked about Shadrach, Meshack, and Abendago and how they trusted God even if He didn't rescue them. Her husband, Christopher, joined in and brought up the story of Job and how he always stayed faithful to God. Elizabeth agreed that she would only trust Jesus. Memory pressed her and asked that if we left her with money, would she take that and visit the witchdoctor the following day. She said she would make the decision not go to the witchdoctor.
We then spent time in passionate, militant prayer over her. We prayed that any curses on her life would be bound in Jesus name and that the pain would be gone. After a while, we stopped and asked her how the pain was. She said the pain had moved from her knees to her hips while we were praying, so we prayed again. This time she said that the pain left her completely! Praise Jesus! We then prayed again to seal everything that happened and to pray against fear and pain creeping back into her life. The Lord is working in mighty ways to transform the lives of the people in that group. Please continue praying that their hearts would be open to a personal relationship with Jesus.
She informed us that the pain was back and that she was going to go to the witchdoctor. Apparently she had been to the clinic and there was nothing they could do for her and she has been prayed over a number of different times so she believes that the sickness must be dealt with by a witchdoctor. She believes someone has put a curse on her and so whatever is in her legs needs to be taken out by the witchdoctor.
We abandoned our plans of discussing the Lord's Supper and spent a very long time talking about binding and loosing from Matthew 16. We also talked about only serving one master and choosing between Jesus and the witchdoctor. She didn't seem ready to make a decision about just following Jesus because it is so culturally acceptable to dabble in whatever works... and the pain in her legs hadn't left.
Memory, one of our Zambian coworkers talked about Shadrach, Meshack, and Abendago and how they trusted God even if He didn't rescue them. Her husband, Christopher, joined in and brought up the story of Job and how he always stayed faithful to God. Elizabeth agreed that she would only trust Jesus. Memory pressed her and asked that if we left her with money, would she take that and visit the witchdoctor the following day. She said she would make the decision not go to the witchdoctor.
We then spent time in passionate, militant prayer over her. We prayed that any curses on her life would be bound in Jesus name and that the pain would be gone. After a while, we stopped and asked her how the pain was. She said the pain had moved from her knees to her hips while we were praying, so we prayed again. This time she said that the pain left her completely! Praise Jesus! We then prayed again to seal everything that happened and to pray against fear and pain creeping back into her life. The Lord is working in mighty ways to transform the lives of the people in that group. Please continue praying that their hearts would be open to a personal relationship with Jesus.
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