a day in the community

Thank you for the prayers. I feel like today was very successful! (for me at least, some groups weren’t so lucky) I finished all my one on one times and then we had shoe day. 14 of my 15 boys got air force ones which is a miracle. One boy had crocs which was almost a disaster. He was the second boy to get shoes and when he got them he was very excited and said he loved them very much, but when we got outside he realized that he was the only boy in my group who didn’t get air forces. He got a little sad, but by the time we were getting on the buses to go to Kabanana he came up to me and said he was very happy about his shoes that he was given. Whew! Crisis averted. Then while we were in the community one of his friends came up to him and made fun of his “plastic shoes” but he told his friend that he loved them because they were his and God gave them to him! How awesome is that?!

Being in Kabanana for the third time was amazing. It’s so huge that I still haven’t been in the same place twice. Today we started at the CRC and found an old man pretty early on to talk to. At first he told us to go away but I think he was kidding. He turned out to be pretty funny. By boys shared the evangecube with him and then they asked if he had ever accepted Christ into his heart. He said no but that he was willing to do it today so my boys led him through the sinner’s prayer! Then they explained what they have been learning at camp all week that we put Jesus first, others second and ourselves last. So then we gave him a bag that was full of sugar, oil, and mealy meal. All the ingredients to make their staple food nshima. He was so thankful he kept clasping his hands and doing a little curtsy. That is the proper way to greet somebody who is respected or older than you. Then he gave me a hug which is nearly unheard of for an older man to do to a woman. It was incredible. Then we walked into a compound that was made up entirely of tents. My boys told me the name but now I can’t remember. The crazy part about it was that my boys told me that this is where the poor people live. The ones who have no hope and nobody to help them. They said these are the ones who suffer. I just couldn’t believe my ears. Here are my boys who maybe get one meal a day and get chased from school because they have no money to pay the fees and they felt sorry for these other people. One lady that we talked to was blind and didn’t move from her seat on the ground the whole time. I counted at least 15 flies sitting on her ankle. Not once did she try to brush them off. They just sat there as if they were part of her body.

Right when we got to Kabanana I got to meet Joseph’s girlfriend! It was so funny! Her name is Margaret. All the boys were making fun of him for having a girlfriend. I also met all of the boys school teacher. She already knew my name so I am guessing that the boys had told her. She seemed nice. I hope that she really is and she wasn’t just putting on a show.

On the way home we picked up some Zambians who were at a different CRC called Garden Hill and Kelvin was one of them! So we sat together and got to talk for a good while. I told him how I was working for Family Legacy now and he was pretty excited. He asked if in the near future if I would like to move to Zambia. I told him yes I would love that very much but I don’t think that I will get to any time soon. He kept saying how blessed he was to know me and I of course feel the same way about him. We got to talk about life and catch up. I felt like we laughed most of the time. He really is one of my best friends. I took some funny pictures with him.


My boys kept saying that tomorrow they are going to cry because it is our last day. I can’t believe the week is already over. I really don’t want it to end. I love these boys so so much. What I really want is a whole day of just getting to hang out with my kids in the community and just be with them.