Seeing the orphans

Tuesday June 2, 2009

8:30am
Yesterday we faced our first great challenge of the possibility of not having power for days at a time. It seems that a power generator in Zambia is broken and so the poorer areas (like where we live) will not get power. It was a very stressful time and frustrating for all of us who wanted to contact our family, but couldn’t get internet to let them know that we were okay. After about 4 hours, the group decided to stop worrying about the issue and give it to God. So we all stopped and prayed about it, lit some candles after dark, and sang praise songs until it was time to go eat. We went to Abundant Life Church, where the cook, Patricia, graciously offered to cook us dinner at late notice. The meal was hot and delicious and we got to eat shima for the first time being here in Zambia. The Abundant Life house was actually the place that I stayed for a while in Zambia 5 years ago. Many memories came back from the first time I came to Zambia while we were eating. We also got to go to the market to buy chitangues (sheets of fabric that Zambians wrap around their waists for skirts, or use them to carry their babies on their back), and ride the buses that are available in Lusaka for the first time. The buses are small, van-sized buses that they usually pack as many people as possible into. It was a little bit cramped but a lot of fun! Today we will be going to sponsored orphan’s homes to get an update on how they are going. Please pray for all of us interns that God will after us and allow us to show His love to these children!
4:30pm
We attempted to visit 5 kids today: Priscilla, Sarah, Melvin, Joseph and Hilda. While Sarah and Melvin weren’t home today, all the other kids were there and I got the opportunity to talk to them, their guardians, and the neighbors living around them. It’s amazing how large and vast these towns are, and most people live in nothing but a small stone house with humble furniture. Most children that we talked to were not in school because their guardians couldn’t afford to pay for the tuition, uniforms, and shoes. Joseph really made an impression on my heart. He’s 16 years old, had just come back from a funeral to speak to us, and was extremely kind to us. He told me that he wasn’t in school because his aunt couldn’t afford it, but he his dream was to study law and become a lawyer. After writing a letter to his sponsors and taking pictures with us, he walked us out of his little neighborhood and thanked us again for coming. All these children are so sweet and so happy in spite of their circumstances that it makes me really appreciate what I have in my life already and how I should be just as happy as these children and more.
PS-> I’ve been having technical difficulties trying to upload photos to this page, so I will being trying to upload it to another site and then posting the link here. If you are facebook friends with me, go to my page (search Jessica Showers) and I have already uploaded photos there.
Psalms 25:4-5 “Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.”