Bet you're thrown off by the title of this one! Yesterday was obviously the fourth of July and I would be lying if I said I didn't get homesick. Our family has a long running tradition of fourth festivities at a lake in Cary and I was honestly sad I wasn't going to be a part of that this year. I woke up knowing the day would have to be great in order for me to fight it off. I kept going back and forth but remained positive realizing I'm in Africa! I'll probably get to have a million more celebrations but this one will always be remembered as so unique.
We all went to the market to finish up some souvenir shopping so that was fun to relax and enjoy time with others. To top that excitement off, I even got to enjoy a crepe and smoothie which are so far from the normal foods here. We returned home just in time for an American feast! Complete with fries, burgers, hot dogs, pasta salad and chips, the buffet line looked better than ever. Since we had just hit the halfway point we were thrilled to be Americanized for just one day. We even cranked up some country tunes to complete the atmosphere of red, white, and blue. For this fourth of July, however, I felt different. Rather than focusing on the pride of America, I found myself in a state of thankfulness for where I was born. It wasn't my decision to be born in America, it was God's. I should be using that blessing to help others and share the love of Christ to people from all corners of the world.
I even got to talk to my family on the phone last night! It was heartwarming just to hear their voices again though I was sad to be missing out on all of the fun with them. Being thousands of miles away has made me realize how blessed I really am to have such an encouraging family that is such a beautiful representation of Christ to me. Though I'm actually talking to them here more than at USC I still miss them more than ever. Probably because I would love for them to experience life here and get to be transformed in the ways I'm feeling but I can't wait to bring my stories back home to share. Luckily, our group of 28 has grown so close together that we can live like one big family- without nasty fights and complete with encouraging words.
After a chill night of full stomachs (for once haha) we got quite the surprise. Ok back up a second. Yesterday morning my friend Adrienne woke up with a RAT in her hair!! But the rat ran away so we didn't know where it was all day. Ok fast forward to last night. We're all sitting downstairs telling fun stories when we hear this awful shriek. We knew what that meant. Within seconds, every guy here was in Adrienne's room with knives drawn and adrenaline pumping. Amanda discovered the rat and we knew it had to be in her room. The guys all locked themselves in their room and when the door opened later, the rat was trapped under a cake holder tupperware thing. I would write the next sequence of events but not too sure how PETA would react. Needless to say, the rat no longer lives in Adrienne's room. Most insane ending to my fourth of July but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Ok so today I'm at UNZA again. We actually just met with two girls- Susan and Gertrude to tell them about the confidence that we can have in Christ knowing we're promised eternal life through Him after we accept Him in our hearts. Please be praying that this news soaks in their hearts. They wanted to meet again Friday to talk about the gift of forgiveness and more about sin issues to please be praying for that as well. At 16 hours we're heading over to meet with two best friends Thandy and Amanda. They want to have a relationship with Christ but don't want to part ways with major sin issues in their lives- much like the "double life" scenario seen so often in college. Please pray for them that our conversation will be of the Spirit and that God willing, they'll want to give it all up for Jesus. They're the sweetest girls so I can't wait to hang out with them and pray that God will be glorified through our time spent together. Ministry here at UNZA is stretching but so great. I feel more prepared than ever to come back to USC on fire for God, eager to tell everyone about it too! I can't wait to share the fall plans with y'all soon as God continues to guide me on how I should approach everything in my role as chaplain. I know God wants to do HUGE things so I'm excited to do things in a completely new way. My life is God's so why should I hold back?! How amazing would it be to see so many of my sisters turn from their empty lives and run into the arms of Jesus?! I'm so excited to see what God has planned this fall especially! But I still have 3 weeks left here so I also want to soak up as much as possible from the warm hearts of the people here and the overall experience.
Sorry this wasn't a super inspiring entry and was instead more of my crazy fourth stories but I pray that I'll have some super great stories to share at the end of this week of ministry here at UNZA. Thank you for your prayers as well and for walking along with me in this journey! God is doing work and moving in mighty ways in our lives and in the lives of countless Zambians!
In Him,
Amy
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Amy, What great Spiritual maturity to realize that it is only through God's blessing and providence that we were born in a country that offers so much. We can turn on the facet and have safe drinking water, turn on the tap and have hot water, worship freely or choose not to worship and that is also acceptable. We have education and health care. It took me more than your brief years to realize that it was not that I (we) are more deserving or special, but God has blessed us. International experiences reinforce this. God loves the whole world, but has blessed us. We must remember to share those blessings with others, be humble and be full of thankfulness. I am praying for you and know you will not remain unchanged after this mission trip. May you be blessed by being a blessing to others.
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