Funny and random quotations of the past weeks

1. "My children are getting fat. They didn't used to be like this. I'm sure it is the schools food that is making them chunky. "-Mama Florence

2."Auntie Shelbie, you've gotten short and fat!" -Aleck

3. Hope: "Do you want to trade papers now?"
Me: "Um...sure?"
Hope: "No! Why do you want to trade papers?!?" 
A few seconds later...
Hope: "Yes! We will trade papers. We need to trade papers right now. (Haha. This girl keeps me laughing.)

4. " Auntie, eat more Nshima. We want you to be fat!" -Faith

5. Choolwe: "Do you know what my name?"
Me: "Of course, you're Choolwe!" 
Choolwe: "No! I'm Billiat!"
Billiate: "I'm Dickson"
Clement: "And I'm Michael"  (Oh these boys...always trying to get my mixed up on their names:)

6. Upon introducing some of the kids to my family via Skype:
Choolwe: "Hello, I'm Michael"
Michael: "And I'm Lubasi and..(pointing at Helen) she's Thoko!"

7. Agness: "I'm going to walk you home alone this time auntie. And if anyone tries to hurt you, I'll fight for you! I'll fight them off!!"

8. Faith: "You take care of me and I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to make sure you eat eat eat ang get fat!" (For some reason they like us to be fat. Lol.)

9. Lolly in an email to me: "Shelbie, I love you so much! I'm gonna love you even you're old!" 

10. Shylie: "Heeeey Looollly! Shelbie's not gonna be here for yoouuuurr birthday but she'll be here for miiiinnne!!" (said with a sassy little toss of her head. Lol)

11. Jacob: "You're very stupid you know that!?!" (don't worry he was acting in a film so it was all fake. haha)

12: Jacob..in an old man voice..."Gooooddd...bless us aaalll! Eveerrry one of us!" 

13: Ba Mareta and Ba Patricia: "Every man for himself but God for us all!"

14. "The sun shines so much here. It's always sunny so we're always in the sun. That's why we have black skin. If I went to America where the sun didn't shine as much, I'd have brown skin." -Mama Florence

15. During a conversation about tacos in which all the Zambians are cracking up and I'm sitting there not understanding what's being said....
Ba Humphay....still laughing: "Do you know what mataco is in Nyanga?" 
Me: "nooo..."
Someone in the crowd: "it's means buttocks." 
Ba Humphray, rolling again: "So you eat tacos and we all have a mataco!"
  
 Gotta love these people. They keep me laughing and smiling even on the hardest days.Thank you Lord for allowing me to work with such neat people who are such great examples of joyful Christians.

"For the glory of God!"

We will go!

   "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together."

John 4:32-36

    People all over the world are ready to hear and receive God's word, to accept salvation. They only need the chance to do so. "But how will they believe unless someone tells them? And how will we tell them when we're never sent?!!" (Mandy Mapes, "We will go!") 

"He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." 

Luke 10:2

     So many people are praying that God would send out workers into the harvest but they fail to realize that we are the very workers we've been praying for. How does a field get harvested if the workers keep asking the farmer if they can harvest, yet they do nothing? We are doing nothing to harvest in the kingdom yet we keep asking God to "send forth" workers. Each one of us has already been commissioned for God's work, we've each been sent forth in one way or another. Some far away and others right within their immediate means. It is time that we as workers in the harvest arise and set forth into the fields around us. Every minute people are dying, many without the hope of Christ. We are the beacon of light in this world and it is time we share that light with the lost, the hopeless and the hurting. A light that is hidden cannot shine, so the Truth untold cannot save. It is time to let the light shine. It is time to harvest.

   

 "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." 

Matthew 5:14-16

"For the glory of God!"

     

     

Zambia 2013: week 2

  As of yesterday I have been here 2 full weeks and things have been very busy. Last Wednesday we finished most of the sponsorship letters with the help of the Chongwe homes coordinator, Ba Abigail. Now that those are done I am working on some World Help forms along with some scheduled activities for Chongwe and Lusaka. Usually I'm up by 6:15 every morning and have the office mopped and cleaned by 8 o'clock.

     Between 8-9 the staff starts showing up and once they're all here we have staff devotions together. After that we all go about our day. Every morning I spend a few hours at the office helping where needed, emailing and reading, then around 1pm I head to the Lusaka homes where I spend the rest of the day. I usually don't head back to the office until 5:30-6. After I finish up my duties at the homes I spend the rest of the time hanging out with the kids. Some of my duties include weekly Bible studies with all the Lusaka homes, working on sponsorship things, helping train the camp translators and whatever other odds and ends need done.

   In a typical week I spend Monday, Tuesday and Thursday working at the Lusaka homes and Wednesday and Friday out in Chongwe. On the weekends we have a girls slumber party with Auntie Shelbie, so the girls from 2 homes come spend the night with me here at the office. We do a devotional, play games, eat some snacks and watch a movie. Starting this week we'll be having a guys game day on Saturday afternoons in which we'll also start the afternoon with a devotional then spend a few hours playing games. On Sundays I usually go to church with the Lusaka kids then head over to their homes in the afternoon to spend the day with them.

   In the midst of all this busyness God has really been at work in my life. He has been teaching me new things every day and I am learning to look for Him in each day, in every little thing I do. He has been working on my heart in so many ways. I am humbled to be able to serve such a great God and to be here doing the work He has called me to do. Every day as I look at how great He is I am struck with wonder at how He could use me for his purpose and every day He reminds me anew of His unending grace and sovereignty in and over my life. Such a great God we serve, words cannot describe His majesty and power!! To Him be all the glory forever and ever!

Zambia 2013: weeks 1-2 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

“For the glory of God!”

Only in Africa

      Only in Africa......
1. Do you drive with live chickens in the back of the van, then 4 hours later eat the same chicken for lunch

2. Will you eat lunch next to a bowl of chicken guts

3. Is a 3 hour church service considered short

4. Will you narrowly avoid hitting or being hit by another car twice in one week

5. Is 85mph considered slow

6. Will you ask how tight someone's belt is in reference to how busy their day is

7. Is it a common sight to see a skinned animal hanging from a shack roof

8.  Will you walk down the road with children running after you yelling, "Munzungu, munzungu!!" 

9. Will you see a man riding his bike down the road with a small couch on the back

10. Is it a common sight to see a pickup truck bed packed with 20+ people

       Just a few of the common, everyday occurrences in a little place called Zambia. <3 Though these things don't just happen in Zambia, I like to say "only in Africa" because this is the only place I've ever experienced them. I love all these random little sights that we see here, the strange things we do and the lack of timing here. I love the chitanges, the markets, the scent, the sights and the people of Zambia. I love waking each morning to the thrill of a new day in Africa and going to bed each night after a long day with the kids. I love walking down the road greeting the neighbor children and hearing them call out "muzungu." Yes, I even love the food. When I'm at home I wear Africa on my shirt, and hanging from a chain around my neck, but I carry it in my heart, and there it will stay forever! Africa is a part of me and I a part of Africa. I may be an American, but I claim Africa as my homeland and it's people as my people. This is where I belong for as long as God continues to call me back.

 "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared." Exodus 23: 20

"For the glory of God!"

God is all knowing

        "Whenever God expresses Himself to you.... His directions are always right. When God gives you a directive, you can be sure He has already considered every factor. You will never do God's bidding only to discover that God was somehow mistaken. You can have absolute confidence that when God tells you to do something, it is the right course of action....... At times you may not understand why God is asking you to do something. As you obey, however, you will come to understand why His guidance was the best counsel for your life. Perhaps you have asked God to give you several alternatives so you could choose the one you thought was best. But how many options does God need to give you so you know the right one??? God always gets it right the first time. You only need His one best option. Once you've heard God speak,  you don't need to continue waiting to seek other alternatives. You need to proceed with confidence based on what God said. "- Experiencing God: knowing and doing the will of God

      How many times do we cry out to God to hear His will for our lives then we question that will?? When God speaks to us and tells us to something we should not hesitate to do just that. Since He is all-knowing He has foreseen every possible "problem" that may arise and has already provided a way to counter act that. We just need to act out in faith and obey His will, seeking His guidance to pave the way. Since our ways are not His ways (Isaiah 55:8) we are often left with many questions about His plan but it is not right for us to let those questions get in the way of our willingness to obey. Humans have questions, that is only natural. But we need to use those questions to strengthen our faith as we bring them before the throne of the Almighty. God's purpose will stand no matter what human efforts or questions stand against it. 

                      "I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted." 

Job 42:2

For the glory of God!

My second home

    "Auntie Shelbie, you've grown short and fat." Yes, such was the greeting I received from one of the Chongwe boys yesterday afternoon. Hm...not sure how to take that, but ok. Haha. I have been in Zambia for 4 days now and am loving every minute of it. As of yesterday I have seen all the children except those at boarding school. This has been such a sweet time of laughter and joyful reunions. In addition to being reunited with the staff and children I have also been reunited with the sweet cooks from Camp Hope. Oh the squeals of delight when they saw me! It was hard to tell who was more excited to see me, the cooks or the children!

      I am quickly settling into this new norm of life as in intern..I say life since I am living here for 5 months. The staff has made me feel very welcome and are all thrilled to have me back, the children equally so. I am gradually figuring out how my days will be spent and what I will be doing here. For the next 2 months I will be busy doing a lot of sponsorship things and helping wherever help is needed. Once the other interns come my duties will vary but for now that is what I'll be doing. This week I have been visiting the children daily and have passed out sponsorship gifts to both cities. Yesterday we went out to Chongwe where we pulled a 9 hour day and did not get back to Lusaka till 8:30pm. While there I was able to help train the Camp Hope translators for a few hours, pass out gifts and get caught up with the children and mamas. Today I will be helping the Lusaka mamas and starting on my sponsorship duties.

    I cannot say how good it is to be back with these people I love so much in this country that has so completely stolen my heart! I am daily reminded of God's sovereignty and imminent presence. He is a great and powerful God and is doing mighty thing in this ministry! I cannot wait to see how many children He touches and all that He does!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

For the glory of God!