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...

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...

  Zambia is a beautiful country full of lush green foliage, beautiful people, sunsets that you will remember for a lifetime, and stars that make you want to sleep on the dirt outside staring at the Galaxy’s above. Zambia has my heart in so many unexplained ways; so when I see Zambia hurt, I hurt with them, as if I’m one of their own. Here in Zambia, they love their maize (corn)! Maize is what sustains them in every sense of the meaning, despite needing a lot of water to stay healthy which is great because Zambia gets tons of rain this time of year…except this year. We...

 Melinda+Laundry(: Laundry is a sensitive subject with me. At home in America, whether it be in my dorm, or with our “high-efficiency” washers at my house, I have a strong tendency to avoid washing my clothes at all costs. I also have a tendency to forget my clothes in the washer, (there’s so many more important things to do) and one of three things usually comes from that; I get yelled at by Mom, the clothes develop a distinctly moldy smell, or my favorite jeans get stolen, (as was the case at college.) As the clothes pile up, I find myself looking at them with dread...

Have you ever seen a face more perfect? Allow me to introduce this little angel(:Meet Chabota, the little two year old boy I have been falling in love with since day 1 here in Zambia. It is amazing to me that every time I pick him up, I still get that little leap in my heart. I find myself thinking about him every minute I’m not with him, and every minute I’m with him, I wish even more that I could take him home to America. I never knew I could feel this way about a child that wasn’t mine..but hey, isn’t that what adoption is all about? With my story, I...

I think it’s probably a pretty big deal that we are pretty much on location of one of the 7 Wonders of the World.I mean, technically speaking we are about a 15 minutes drive away, but that drive is peppered with adventure so it feels more like 2. (By adventure, I mean that the bus sounds and feels like it will literally fall apart at any moment.) When we arrive at the Victoria Falls, we trek across a highway, on some sketchy paths, and across a railroad to get to the entrance. We frequently comment on how different the arrival would be in a country like America, even just with a sign...