Sunshine & Smiles

Let's start by rewinding to nearly 2 Sundays ago, when it was Austin's birthday, and we started the day with birthday breakfast, cards and gifts. Since arriving, we have tried a different church every Sunday, and that Sunday we did the same. Of course, we want a church with truthful & impactful preaching, but we also hope to find one where we can build community. During our last stay in Zambia, we only went to church in town one time (we always attended the onsite church) and had no real desire to build connections outside of where we lived. Because we plan to stay longer term this time, we really desire community outside of our work. The church we attended this particular Sunday was small, held outside, and super welcoming! They also have a youth group that meets every other week, and Austin & London are going to give that a try on tonight!

Then on Wednesday evening, the Living Hope children were divided into groups, and each group got to go to one of the onsite staff members' homes in the evening and have tea & chat. The hope is to really build personal relationships between the staff & children, so we can be there as mentors & listening ears for them. It was awesome. We sat on the ground, asked some 'get to know you' questions, and they could ask us whatever they wanted. The girls we had over shared that (late) Jamie Flowers really listened to how they were doing, played games with them, and did meaningful Bible studies with them. They also said that Pastor Ngoie is great with making them feel important & heard. Beautiful! That is what every child needs! We're excited to be part of team that is so intentional with the faith & hearts of the children in their care!

Last Thursday marked both Zara's birthday, and Zambia's Independence Day! Zara said it was one of her best birthdays she's ever had! Living Hope invited Seeds of Hope out for soccer & volleyball games. It was about 38 degrees, so we were all big sweaty, sun burnt messes by the end of the day, but we also had our love tanks overflowing! What a beautiful collision of our worlds - the kids we lived with last time coming to the place we are staying this time - watching them interact, compete, and just have fun! It's also a tradition out here that on your birthday, you get splashed with water. Zara spent all day getting soaked! haha! Good thing it was so hot that it felt refreshing for her!

That same evening, the Living Hope children had an Independence Day celebration. After the sun had gone down, we sat outside the cafeteria, and they performed traditional Zambian dances, did group dances (of cooourse they had to drag Jon & I up to dance in front of everyone! Nightmare! Haha!), recited memory verses, sang songs & recited Zambian poetry. The whole evening was filled with laughter & joy, and it has been a highlight for me since living here. There was a girl who was nervous to recite her memory verse in front of everyone, and seeing them band together to encourage her was just too sweet!

Last Friday evening we attended a joyful Praise & Worship evening. I maybe knew one song, but that didn't detract from the beauty of the evening! What a pleasure to be in the midst of people raising their voices, their hands & their hearts to the Lord!

Jon has remained busy attending to the tweaking of the solar system. It seems to be running quite smoothly at this point, which is amazing! Outside of the solar, he has been going to meetings in town (like with the power company), which is never a quick in and out. He is also getting a braai (basically an outdoor bbq) built in our backyard, which we are quite excited about!

The kids and I have signed up for karate class in town. To be honest, the introduction class went horribly. The instructor didn't do much instructing at all, and rather spent a great deal of time yelling at one of our kids for doing something incorrect (we're still not sure what she was doing wrong, because he wasn't correcting, just yelling). Because we had paid for the whole month of classes, we did go to the next class with zero expectations but were pleasantly surprised. We had a different instructor, who went through the moves step by step, and had us all sweating profusely by the end. It was so fun to do it all together and came out of class laughing and trying out the new moves we had learned. Austin & I are especially pumped and went home and practiced! We're hopeful it stays going in this positive direction!

One other highlight was this past Wednesday, when the Living Hope Christian Academy children (K - grade 2) had P.E. I needed to take some photos of it, so I stood on the sidelines. My kids came to watch from the sidelines as well, and at one point there was an odd number of LHCA children, so the teacher asked that one of our kids join to make the numbers even. Seeing Ivy in there with kids her age, running and playing a giant game of blob tag - it was the best! (To protect the children's privacy, I've covered their faces)

That's about all we have to update on. As always, thank you for your messages, your encouragement & your prayers.

with love,

Renae