Blog

Before beginning this journey, I envisioned myself writing blog posts constantly, filled with amazing stories from ministry, inspiring everyone at home to be missional and to leave their comfort zone to seek what the Lord has for them in other countries. It was a lofty expectation, but from reading others posts before me it didn’t seem too far off from realistic. Now, after a week full of breakthroughs with kids in ministry, awesome God given moments, great times with my team, and African adventures I find myself here, writing a blog, realizing that we have less than three weeks left in Zambia and this is only my second post. First, let me say that this week was incredible for many reasons and completely worthy of sharing. The week began on Monday with awesome moments with the middle sc…

“Mzungu! Mzungu!” For the past month, everywhere I go, this word is shouted from the mouths of adorable Zambian children, and whispered under the breath of adults. It means white person. At first, from the children, it was cute. My teammates and I would even make fun of ourselves with this word at times. But when some of these children with whom we have formed relationships with still call us, “Mzungu”, even though we have told them our names time and time again, a type of identity crisis can start to form. Is that really all you see in me? Is that all I am to you? I use your name, can’t you use mine? You can even start to doubt all the rock picking and seed planting you have done. Am I not making the impact I thought? Am I not loving you enough? But then, when I was walking back f…

Ever since we’ve arrived here, I’ve noticed as a citizen of The United States of America, that we truly have it all. Living in America is so easy. Rarely do we have to ask, “Is there water” before going to the bathroom or “Is the electricity on” before making dinner. Everyday here in Zambia whether its morning, afternoon or night, we have to ask ourselves those questions if we want to do anything. What we’ve once taken for granted, running water and electricity, have become like gold to us here. Tasks like brushing your teeth, boiling water, showering and cooking dinner are easily done in America, but here in Zambia, there is always a chance that you won’t be able to do any of those “easy tasks”. Once or twice a couple friends and I have taken the liberty of burning our hands off while…

Wow, it is crazy to think that two weeks and two days here in Zambia have come and gone! We are plugged in with our morning ministry at Amazing Grace Preschool, teaching everything from songs and dances to even mathematics and English. We are also building relationships with some of the local children through sports ministry. An amazing and unexpected ministry opportunity is a bible study our team has had the opportunity to take part in with some of the local teenage boys. They are so hungry for the Lord and for the Word, which is so encouraging. God is good, and we cannot wait to see what else He has in store for our time here. Love and Blessings, Kristen

A few days after we arrived here in Livingstone, I made two new friends, Precious and Judy. (Judy is on the left, Precious is on the right)   Precious and Judy are both full of sass and laughter, but behind their giggles and tough girl facades, they are both broken. They need the rocks picked from their hearts before we can plant some seeds. In their beautiful faces I see hurt, desperation for love, and so many walls. I can see the walls because I’m still trying to take down my own from when I was their age. But a few days ago, I caught a glimpse of a part of these best friends that I had not seen before. We were walking to a nearby river on this skinny dirt path lined with rocks, broken glass, sharp weeds, and creepy crawling bugs. Precious had on a pair of worn out flip flops, b…

Hello from Livingstone, Zambia! I am so happy and nervous to be sharing on an Adventures in Missions blog, but when the Lord tells you to share, you obey and share. My prayer is that those who read our blogs are encouraged, and empowered to be present where they are, serving the Lord and others. My other prayer is that this blog makes sense. We’ll see. Upon acquiring wifi for the first time since arriving in Livingstone, I sent a text home to some of my family, updating them about what we had done so far and who we had encountered. It was the first day we were able to visit the preschool we are partnering with for the next two months. I wrote this to explain the moment we arrived: “Today we were greeted at the preschool we will be working with by what felt like 100 children, all 6 years…

Disclaimer: Preceding the reading of this blog, I encourage you to read the very blog that brought tears to my eyes and fire in my heart over the boys I would soon meet in Zambia. This entry will give you a fuller picture of what my teammates and I walked into this week and why we are rejoicing over what is to come! http://samlacey.theworldrace.org/?filename=because-it-matters   Boys entrapped in alcohol, drugs, and no expectation from society to ever rise beyond. Boys that stumbled upon American girls with the God of the universe living inside of them. Boys radically changed by God’s love and grace. These are the boys I get to spend my next two months with and I could not be more pumped.   Since we set foot on Zambian soil, my heart longed to meet these boys I had read s…

We made it to our ministry sight in Livingstone! We are so happy to finally be here and to get plugged into the community. We visited Amazing Grace Preschool today, and it was great interacting with the children. We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store for these next two months! We have been greatly blessed with running water, real beds, and a safe place to lay our heads at night. We also have a kitchen, with an oven! 🙂 Wifi is hard to find here, but we will update as often as we can. Love and blessings, Kristen

I received a phone call from the Team Leader (Kristen) late this afternoon, letting me know the girls have safely arrived in Zambia. I’m sure they’re jet-lagged and sleep-deprived, but feeling more alive than ever… Bring on the next two months! 

As I sit in this cramped, less-than-comfortable airplane seat, I close my eyes for a moment and just listen. I listen to the plane’s muffled roar, I listen to the babies talking and flight attendants offering more water and taking empty trays of food. I can hear lots of new sounds, but what I truly long for is the sounds that we are leaving; the sounds and songs that have been permanently stored away in my heart. When it comes down to it, it’s actually really hard to ignore the voices of all the little souls that have whispered into mine these last 3 months. There’s some that speak a little louder than others, but as a whole, whether they realize it or not, each one has done a whole lot of amazing work in my life. I turn to the corner of the time we spent in Amazing Grace Preschool. I h…