Jessica's Trip to Zambia

Thursday morning was a difficult start after only having 4 hours sleep! We all got up at 7am and quickly got ourselves ready to leave for the community. There was a little confusion between the team and the driver as to what time we were due to leave as we thought it was 8am and he thought it was 9am - oh well, African time!  We had a good worship sing song on the bus on the way there sharing many songs from both the UK and Zambia. Once we arrived I sat with a few children on the ground and we practiced writing our names on the floor and also drew lots of pictures of animals - I think my drawing leaves a lot to be desired for.  We then went into the church with the Care Workers to share worship and wash their feet. It was a good chance to let the Care Workers relax and spend time with one another whilst having their feet washed, nails painted and a massage. It was so humbling that we were able to do this as they rarely take time for themselves.  As more and more ch...

We started off this morning with a group devotional time in which we as a team spent time talking about our sacrifices in life are, particularly our sacrificial giving to God, and our trust in the Lord. It was a great way to get to know each other better and go deeper into some of the more difficult situations we have been in and a chance to share these moments with others.  We then headed out into the community for our third day in Maposa. Once again the children met us with beaming smiles and some even ran with the bus as we were coming down the lane to the Care Point. We played games with the children for a short time and then gathered with the Care Workers in the church for worship and Relationship Group. A Relationship Group happens within every community in which there is a Care Point. It gives the Care Workers time for them to share their stories, their struggles and a time for them to share fellowship together. It is important to remember that these Care Workers are the ...

This morning was a prompt start for the ladies as we had Women's prayer, which meant a lovely lay in for the men! In Women's Prayer we looked at Psalm 23, a well known Psalm that sometimes we skim over too much and don't look deeper into what the message is really saying to us. Kay shared thoughts about how the Shepherds hook is there to pull the sheep in when they stray, and similarly Our Lord pulls us back closer to him when we sometimes lose our way in our faith or do something that may be wrong. It gave us all time to reflect upon who our shepherd is. The session closed in prayer and we all departed ready to start our day refreshed with the word of God in our hearts.  We quickly gathered our things and all jumped in the minibus ready for a full day in the community. We arrived in Maposa after picking up a few bits of food for the community on our way. The children warmly welcomed us again and we soon got onto playing with bubbles which goes down a real treat! We then w...

This morning started early for me and I went and sat outside for a time of quiet reflection and to read a passage from the bible to prepare myself for the week ahead in the community. Whilst the boys went to men's prayer, the women had to get ready for family prayer (everyone at Kachele Farm) at 8am. We spoke about how we can be the beautiful feet that Jesus has asked us to be and how we can go about this within our work and the communities that we serve. Our prayer time included worship songs, reflection and thoughts for encouragement.  We then gathered as a Team back at the house and were joined by our Hosts (Prags and Dawson) as well as some of the Hands volunteers that will be with us when we travel to Maposa. We discussed the Hands Wall (the structure in which Hands model their work on) and their vision of Life Centres. I will discuss this more with the people that I meet when I get home as it is a little complicated to explain over a blog! It was then time to go the communi...

I've decided to only write one blog for the weekend, to allow me to spend more time as a team and take some time to relax.  Saturday We were all allowed a lay in today, which was much needed after a very busy week, so the alarms were set for 8am. We all gradually got ourselves up, showered and ready for the day. Becky, Emma and Tom went to the shops to stock up on food for the weekend, and make sure we had things for dinner. When they arrived back to the house, we all jumped into the minibus ready for our trip to Nsobe Game Park. It was a 2 hour journey on 'interesting' road surfaces and the travel sickness stuck again! Luckily we had the ginger biscuits to hand, to settle the rest of the journey. We arrived at Nsobe and all got out at the reception. We headed though and sat by the lake watching monkeys playing and someone fishing, it was so peaceful and a great way for us all as a team to sit, relax and reflect on our time out here is Zambia so far. We then had lunch fr...

Today was the last day of the Children's Camp, so we all had mixed emotion from the minute we woke up. We prayed for the children, their teachers and the coming day ahead over breakfast with the rest of the team, which set us off on the best foot for the day ahead.  As we arrived down at the school house, it was so lovely to see all the children's smiling faces - it really showed the developed trust between the team and the children compared to the timid children the very first time we met them, to the warmest, loving, playful children we experienced today. The session started off with 3 worship songs which we're the favourites from the week - The Camp Song, Hallelu, Praise ye the Lord, and Who's the king of the Jungle?  As in England, we chad competitions between sides to see who could sing the loudest! We then heard the story of Feeding the 5000. Using a 'magic trick' Emma demonstrated how Jesus had originally 5 loaves and 2 fishes, and how through his mirac...