Zambian Adventure Part 2

ok, ok, so it's taken me a little time to get back here with the second installment of the Zambian adventure story.  Life gets in the way of this blog thing, but I am determined to do better. Once into Zambia, our journey was thankfully quite uneventful. We drove from Victoria Falls to Lusaka the second day and then from Lusaka to Ndola the third day. The reason for this is because for about 40km (25 miles) before Lusaka there is no road. Just a dirt path off and on. Remember, this is the MAJOR highway going across east to west Zambia. Construction being the reason for no road, but non the less still no road.

Our time spent with our new J-Life Zambian staff members, Jason and Claire Stonier, was wonderful!! They had been in South Africa training and prepping for the move to Zambia since January of this year. They are slotting in nicely and are going to be a huge asset to J-Life Zambia. We miss them is SA.

Reuben, Claire, Daniel and Jason 

We got to see J-Life Zambia training center which was exciting. It is very usable for training right now, but with a little maintenance and cleaning we could take on bigger camps and training groups. There are a couple of mission trips planned for this purpose next year. We know for sure a group from Poole, UK is coming and with Jason and Claire's knowledge of project management the campsite will hopefully be able to support itself and some ministry opportunities in the near future. 

 Front of J-Life Zambia Training Center

 Dorm Room         Inner Courtyard

 Hall for Dining and Training

 Kitchen

 Back of training Center

Caretaker's house and storage

Next stop was to see Lifesong Zambia and the Spenglers and McBrides. So fun! The kids played all together. David, Liz and Grace went to a group Bible study with them. Matthew stayed behind with the McBride's older boys and the two boys that have been  "adopted" by the Spenglers. A great time was had by all. The older boys stayed home and cooked by themselves. You know, I will never stop learning that kids are kids. Teenagers are teenagers. Doesn't matter where you come from, what language you speak or the culture you grew up in. They love food and music. The international language of sorts. 

We also went to an auction held by a Bible College. The college had cleaned out some storage sheds filled with old furniture, shelving units, beds, mattresses (yep, old mattresses) and other sundries.  Quite the interesting experience. Not what you would say was anything like any auction I have ever attended. It took the first hour of the auction to get rid of the first 5 things. Wasn't quite the pace of any Auction Hunters I've watched either. Fun none the less. We found a few things for the training center such as a couple of tables for training and wood for shelves for the kitchen. Jason and Claire also found a few things for their house as they have now made TWO moves to TWO different countries just this year alone. Talk about cultural adjustments. 

One afternoon we spent with the J-Life Zambia country leader, David, and his wife, Lydia. You might remember back right before we left for the trip that Lydia's family had been in a car accident. Nine of her family members were killed. It was and still is a devastating trial to go through. 

All in all, the trip was successful. Much of business stuff David was going to discuss with David M., Jason and Claire had to understandably put off until another Skype meeting. David and Lydia were still greeting family members coming from far away to give their respects and the timing wasn't appropriate for business. All in the Lord's timing.

What an experience. I, as a mom, wanted my kids to be able to see other parts of Africa and see that the world is bigger than themselves. This world and life is not about us and what we have and do. It's about sharing the LOVE of Christ and seeing that there are people out there who still need to hear. We often get so wrapped up in our own circle of life that we forget and become selfish. It happens, but we need to guard against it happening. 

ok....all for now....

much love-liz