Getting to home

[sorry the internet has been out since Thursday night...]

June 12.

As much as I love numbers, I am not even about to add up the number of hours in planes, trains, and automobiles it took to arrive at the Namwianga Mission. However, I can tell you, after being here for all of 4 hours, it was worth every second!

To back up just a little, we all found each other in London. Praise! Then traveled through Johannesburg, South Africa (where we took a group picture with Nelson Mandela, the beaded statue) to land in Livingstone, Zambia and buy visas. Another big praise: all of our luggage made it! Once we picked it up, we were greeted by Meagan and Neiko, one of the girls from the havens that has been living with her for the last 3 months. Meagan took us to the grocery store in Livingstone to buy some groceries. Most days we will be eating lunch with the Aunties, but we will be responsible for cooking our own dinners. A challenge that we are all excited for.

Meagan gave us a lot of orientation on the drive to Namwianga then took us to the havens. First was haven 2, the 2-3 year olds/walkers. Then haven 3, the ones with medical needs. And then haven 1, the entry/newborns/non-mobile ones.

Yes, you can probably guess that I cried as these precious children came to greet us. So much relief to finally be here and see what I’ve been trying to picture. So much joy as I see these smiling faces. So much excitement knowing I don’t have to leave in a week, but I get the blessing of learning about these precious ones for seven weeks. So much overwhelming if I think about how much I don’t know. Instead, I pray and breath most of the time.

We got back to Meagan’s and started unpacking just getting very excited over all the cloths and wipes and things we brought for Meagan and the babies. Before we could make dinner, the eighth grade girls came over for devo. Meagan has them over on Wednesday nights when school is in session for singing and Bible reading and prayer. We talked about goal setting from the perspective of becoming more like our Savior. Hearing them sing was beautiful. But we learned heart-breaking news that one of the leaders of the group (who is in 11^th grade) just lost her dad to pneumonia in the last 3 weeks. We did a lot of crying and praying.

Meagan is already showing to be a wonderful woman of God. She’s sharing more of herself and her story with us each day. This openness is such a blessing as we are learning from her. Even though some of the things she shares are the challenges or hard days, her spirit is still an encouragement and a reminder of why we are here.

The next few days will be spent getting more familiar with the havens and Aunties and figuring out their schedules. Thank you for praying us here! We are all so excited for this work to be our focus for the next 7 weeks. Please pray God gives us a memory for names and a new language so we can serve best!