Rachel's random ramblings

I haven't taken any time to share any of Rachel's random ramblings lately, but they have been rattling around in my head. As they say, there is no time like the present! So welcome to the latest edition of Rachel's random ramblings.

I always wondered why there were lights in appliances. You know, the ones that are on the front of your vacuum cleaner or inside your microwave. They always say, you don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore. About four years ago, we got a new vacuum {a Dyson that I had to convince my husband that it was worth spending more money on than I did my first car} and I have just started missing the light on the front of my vacuum. Dyson doesn't make their vacuum's with lights on them. Shut your face that it's taken me four years to notice or care, but I suddenly miss the light on the front of my old Hoover. I hate walking into a room and having to turn the light on just to see the dirt on the floor. I miss my light. I'm thinking about strapping a head lamp on my Dyson.

Dear vacuum manufacturer, please put the light back on the front of my vacuum cleaner. I miss it. Kind of like this lady misses her hour from daylight savings time.

Speaking of vacuum's I wanted a Roomba for Christmas worse than I wanted Jem from Jem and the Holograms in the 80's. When my kids were little, I had one of the first models and since most of our life at that time existed on the floor, cleaning everything up off the floor everyday {especially my small children} became another chore in and of itself. So it didn't last long. I started subbing this year and being out of the house for seven hours at a time has made it harder for me to keep up with the normal day to day chores that I do. And since we have a big hairy beast dog that sheds, if I skip vacuuming for even one day, it's crazy noticeable because of the hairballs that float across my floor.

So...I have a new appliance love. Her name is Rosie {our Roomba}.  Everyone names their appliances right? She is programmed to go off in the morning and when I get home I get unbelievably excited if I find Rosie docked and charging after cleaning my floors for an hour. I still have to vacuum but it's usually far less. More like once a week than once a day. Having Rosie has been life changing. I have hours back in my day each week. Seriously. I love her.

I recently got invisalign. I never had braces as a teenager, but the older I get the more I notice my teeth and my bite changing. I have been in the orthodontists office enough lately with one kid just finishing treatment, another just starting and a third in the watch phase. What's one more payment to the ortho? She was looking like she could use a new boat anyway. Who am I to stand in the way of that?

I realized that I snack a lot. You can't eat with your aligners in, so in order to eat, it's sort of a process of removing them, eating and then brushing your teeth and cleaning your aligners, so it's kind of a pain. Costco samples haunt me. Coming in to the teachers lounge and seeing brownie bites just sitting there wanting to be eaten makes me borderline depressed. I've gone from grazing throughout the day to binge eating when I sit down to my three square meals. I hear it's a good weight loss plan for some but I think my binge eating hasn't helped me out.

My husband Mike decided to finally come to the dark side and he got his first smart phone. Mike was happy with his $20 slider phone that you can buy at your local 7-11, but recently, he's found the need to have the many accessories that a smart phone provides. It's been pretty entertaining to watch him learn his new iPhone. The other day he tried to use a screen shot that he accidentally made of the home screen of his phone to actually open and turn on his phone. He struggled with it for a few minutes wondering how he had already broken his phone.

If you watch Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson has a personality that is a little bit like my husband. Mike is learning all kinds of new things on his "rectangle"

Those are the random things rambling around in my brain.  What's random in your life?

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Rainbows and water

I woke up to rain.  A rain that I was quite thankful for because this land is thirsty for it. We are at the tail end of the rainy season.  One that hasn't been very rainy.  Crops are stunted, rows and rows of maize are brown and wilted. As I walked onto the tarmac in Zambia to board my plane I said a little prayer for Zambia.  I requested a window seat so that I could see this land with the beautiful red dirt get smaller and smaller as we flew higher and higher.  I took a picture out my window and looked right to see the smallest glimpse of a rainbow in the distant clouds.  A symbol of God's promise.I have met a lot of amazing people while in Zambia.  They have stories that are hard for me to believe sometimes are even true.  Stories that are sometimes difficult to tell or even relate to because we have nothing like it in our world.I struck up a conversation with two peace corp volunteers at the connecting terminal in Johannesburg. They have been serving in Zambia for the past year and were finally able to leave on their first holiday out of the country.  They asked what I was doing in Zambia and the long and short of it is, I was observing. I wasn't doing anything. I was seeing how World Vision is partnering with community leaders in some of the most remote villages.  I had lots of comments on pictures that I have been sharing to the effect of "thanks for doing what you are doing" and I can't take a single ounce of credit for anything.I am a firm believer of child sponsorship, especially on the community based model that World Vision uses. It's amazing to see a community be transformed.  Simple practices like hand washing and having a designated area for bathing and a latrine so that open deification isn't spreading disease. More complex issues are being addressed like bringing clean water to areas where it is common to walk for up to six hours a day to fetch water that is making them sick, but it's all that they have. World Vision is training people to speak up to the government about education.  They are spreading that word that gender based violence is not acceptable and that children need to be protected. The people are being empowered to have a voice.Water is at the center of meeting the needs of these people. It's a basic necessity that we take for granted.  Water is life.  It's the livelihood of the people. Once the most basic need is met, then other needs can start to be addressed.  Until then, kids miss school at an alarming rate because they are sick from the dirty water that they are drinking. Community members who want to worship God on Sunday can't make it to church services because the chore of fetching water is too time consuming. Mothers who are overwhelmed with their day to day responsibilities can't even fathom taking the time to walk for four hours to the clinic with their malnourished child until it's nearly too late. Most of us couldn't even imagine dipping our toes in some of the water sources that these people use to drink from.  The large puddles most use are shared with cattle.  Dogs are often bathing in the water, carcasses of dead animals are found floating, fur is common to find in the water that they carry home. And speaking of carrying, I can't even begin to tell you how very heavy those 25 liter cans are to carry.  It makes a beautiful picture seeing women with a baby wrapped in a brightly colored chitenga secured on a mothers back with a bucket balanced on her head, but those cans are no joke.

Molly looking on as I start the time consuming task of filling the jerry can

I walked {literally} in my new friend Molly's shoes {actually Molly doesn't wear shoes, but I wasn't brave enough to try to walk up a rock covered path with a 50 pound container on my shoulder} when we did a water walk to see what the chore of fetching water looked like for her. I could think of nothing more than being finished with that walk with water on my shoulder up a 1.5 kilometer rock covered hill.  Molly doesn't have the luxury of being finished.  Ever. She fetches the water that makes her and her family sick with diarrhea and stomach cramps, returns to her compound, cooks {if there is food available}, cleans, does laundry and then turns around and makes the long walk again. Fetching water takes Molly three to five hours each day.

A long uphill walk from the current water source faces the people in this village every day. It's rocky, uneven and often times done without shoes on their feet. 
A water source has been designated for Molly and the 250 villagers living near her.  World Vision's goal is to have a clean water source within 500 meters of every community member. The location has already been identified for Molly's new water {praise the Lord that it will no longer be an uphill walk!}.  The only thing standing in the way are the less than desirable roads that grant access to the most distant part of the village where Molly lives.  The men in the community are working hard to fix the roads because they are anxious for clean water too.

We sat under a tree {where most community business seems to be conducted in the villages} and dreamed with the women about what life will be like when they have far more hours in their day once the new borehole is dug. The older women are looking forward to some rest.  This is a chore they have been at for half a century! Many are planning for their gardens and will be thankful for water that they can use to grow their crops even in the drought like they are having now.  Most communities plant gardens by the borehole and use the proceeds to pay the school fees for the village children. All of them are excited that some of the health issues they deal with now will no longer be an issue.  One man we met said he didn't even know you could live a life without stomach pain.We started our week in an area that has recently received clean water. I had read the story of Dorcas before I even came to Zambia.  We were able to see their old water source and fetch water from the new borehole. When I asked Dorcas' grandmother Mera what life was like now that she had clean water she answered by standing up in front of us and sang a song of praise while she danced. Mera was bedridden before having clean water. Dorcas and her sister took care of her and would miss school because of care taking. We heard story after story under the tree that morning about how life changing clean water has been for this village.  School attendance has increased for all of the children in the village. Eyesight that was blurry and made it hard to see for one girl {it is thought that she had allergies to the dog fur that was being left behind in the water hole they were using prior to the borehole} has been miraculously healed and she can now see the chalkboard at school. The children are able to play games and act like children for the first time in their lifetime!  Health is being restored and while they still have to fetch water, hours are being given back in their day. The people in the community are now able to dream. Something they were never able to do before. They have hope for their future.I smiled when I saw the rainbow over Zambia as I took off. I know God doesn't forget his people. His heart breaks for the challenges that these people face but He is there. He is walking that hill with Molly. He is celebrating right alongside Mera and Dorcas. He has not forgotten these villages With the help of World Vision in partnership with people who are compelled to sponsor children and support the work in the communities with just $35 a month, that rainbow was a sign to me that I don't need to worry about these people that I instantly fell in love with. I just need to tell their stories. God's got the rest.To find a child that is available for sponsorship, visit here. Click to learn more about the water effect and how World Vision is meeting that need in some of the most desperate areas.A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaWhat Can You Do?Hero's In Zambia
Living in Fear
A Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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A child's life

I've been thinking a lot about how very different the life of a child is in rural Zambia than one in America. In an area where nearly 45% of the people are under 18 it's easy to find yourself surrounded by children. I've met newborns and teenagers, babies learning to walk and children who can count their age on their fingers.When I meet children who are the same age as my own three kids, I usually pay more attention to what those children are doing. I'm fairly certain that my 9, 12 and 16 year old children wouldn't be able to last a day in the village. My kids have it unbelievably easy.  They are responsible for very little.After driving for two hours up a mountainside on roads that we would barely call hiking trails in the Pacific Northwest, we came upon a 13 year old girl named Nerott.  Nerott was in a uniform walking to school.  It was nearly 10 am so I inquired what time her school started.  She pointed to the sun and we were told that school starts at 1 pm.  She was just leaving so that she could make it to school on time.  She had told me that she had already fetched water, made food and did work around the home before starting her nearly three hour walk to school.  A walk that she makes every day.

Nerott starting her long walk to school.  She walks about 15 kilometers (9.32 miles) one way to school

Charrlwe and Nsabata are 10 and 11 year old brothers. Every day they herd cattle, fetch water, cultivate the fields and as they put it "do anything else that we are instructed to do."  This could mean taking a maize crop to the hammer mill or bringing items to other village members in this very large community.  The boys said that they rarely have time to play because they are busy with chores and are usually in the home.Beauty is 13 and is often expected to take care of her ailing grandmother. She often misses school when her grandmother is sick.  Lointia, 16, fetches water, cooks and washes dishes and clothing.   The difference with Beauty and Lointia is that they now have a borehole that is very close to their home that provides them with clean water and a much shorter walk. Their health has improved and they are able to actually have free time now to play ball and be children.  A luxury that Nerott, Charrlwe and Nsabata don't have because a borehole has not yet been brought to their area {one is slated for the end of this year}.I've seen small children {some as young as four} with babies on their backs caring for their little brothers and sisters.  Toddlers fetching water in jugs that are as big as they are struggling to walk just a few feet before they have to take a rest. I've seen boys driving ox carts to plow fields, children watching over a herd of goats or cattle.  I've heard stories of early marriage and girls as young as eight having babies.My children rarely make the soft beds with the comfortable mattress and warm sheets and blankets that they have been given and that are regularly laundered. They seem to disappear when we ask them to set the table before eating the third square meal that we have provided for them with food that is usually pushed around and rarely finished. They complain when we require them to clean the bathrooms that they use or put the dishes that they dirty into the dishwasher that automatically cleans and sanitizes them with very little effort on their part. Clean clothes sit on piles on their floors just waiting to be put away.It's amazing how very different the life of a child is on the other side of the world. Children have lots of responsibility and are looked at as an extra set of hands.  Rarely do children in rural Africa get to be children.  Providing easy access to schools and bringing clean water to the community are some of the first things that World Vision does through their child sponsorship program.  These don't alleviate the amount of responsibility that a child has, but it certainly helps free up some of the time that a child misses out on to just be a child.  To find a child that is available for sponsorship, visit here. Click to learn more about the water effect and how World Vision is meeting that need in some of the most desperate areas.A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaRainbows and WaterLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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Looking forward to the future

My oldest son is a junior in high school this year.  We've spent the year going to college fairs and planning for what his future will look like after graduation.  It's exciting to plan because I know he will do great things in life.When I am around my son's friends, it's not uncommon for me to start asking them what they are planning on doing in the next few years.  I posed the same question to a group of girls that ranged in age from 14-16.  These girls may be the same age as my son and his friends, but that is where the similarities stop.  

The old water source that was shared with animals and often times dogs would die in the same water they would drink

Dreaming of a future is a new concept for these girls and their families.  Until just five months ago they were using a dirty hole as their only water source.  They shared the water with their cattle, pigs, goats and dogs. The water is shallow at the edge but it is very deep where it runs under tree roots and goes underground. Dogs would often times go and drink from the water and fall in getting caught under the roots.  They would die and only resurface after their waterlogged bodies bloat and explode. Some of the water they would draw would have fur in it. Once the dog would surface, they would scoop the dog out and continue drawing water as if nothing had occurred.  The alternative to using this dirty water source wasn't any better.  Mera Bumda, 55, said that people would openly go to the bathroom in the other water source and that the animals used the water for baths and drinking.  Not to mention that it was much further away.Mera is a widow who has asked her two granddaughters to come and live with her to help her since she is often sick because of HIV. Before the new water source was dug she was rarely able to even get up during the day.  She would have constant diarrhea and relied on her granddaughters, who would often miss school, so that they could take care of her.  Today, just five months after the new borehole was dug, Mera was dancing and singing songs of thanksgiving.  Mera feels like now that they have a clean water source they can have a future.  Before, they were living day to day and being overwhelmed by their circumstances.I walked down a dirt path worn through the grass to a borehole.  I met up with the girls and was able to ask them what they dreamed of and what their hopes were for their children and grandchildren. The girls were quick to tell me the professions that they dreamed of {nurses and teachers} and were hopeful that their children would have a better life since they were excited about the improvements that were already being made to their own lives.  They dreamed of leaving the village and moving to the city.  

Listening to the girls dream about their future at their new water source

"The borehole has brought us together.  Things have changed!" Bazaar

These dreams were not dreams that they would have imagined could be reality. It's amazing how a simple thing like clean drinking water can change the face of a whole household and in Bazaar Buwmba's opinion, a whole community.  Before the borehole Bazaar said that people were living for themselves.  Now the community can live as one family-people looking out for each other.  This community is now able to dream.  They are able to think about the future.  They are thankful. World Vision has brought water to their community and Mera feels important and loved because someone cared for them enough to give sponsorship dollars to their community.

Walking from their new borehole is much easier and their health problems have all nearly disappeared!

To learn more about the area I visited and what the impact of clean water can be like in a community check out the information about the water effect.   To find a child available for sponsorship visit here.It only takes $50 for one person to have clean water for life.  You can make a difference to that one person.You can read more about this community and what life was like before and after the new borehole on the World Vision Water Effect site.A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaRainbows and WaterA Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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The needs are so great

I've always dreamed of being a midwife in Africa.  I realized that since I pass out when my dog gets her vaccinations that it may just not be my God given calling but that doesn't stop me from being passionate about mothers and their babies.Today I had the opportunity of observing an overworked nurse {she had at least 50 patients lined up before 9 am and before we left at least 25 more had arrived} while she did intake of patients.  There were only a few men, most were women having walked upwards of four hours to come to the clinic to be seen.She saw a mother with a baby on her hip in for her STI {sexually transmitted infection} injection, a grandmother bringing in her five year old grandson for treatment of chicken pox, and a four month old with malaria. Bertha Himaanga, 28, was the only nurse we saw on site.  She worked quickly and listened well seeing patient after patient in the clinic.  One patient would walk out the door, and another would walk in.  I walked out to speak to the mothers that were waiting and when I returned I saw Bertha speaking with a 30 year old HIV positive mother of four with a 15 month old baby in a sling. I didn't speak the same language, but I could tell that Bertha was very upset with the mother for not bringing her baby into the clinic.  Bertha asked several times, why did you not come sooner? This child was 15 months old and from an untrained eye I could see that this child was suffering from malnutrition.  Kiston weighed only 11 pounds.  A typical toddler his age usually weighs twice that!

I was drawn to little Kiston Hadanji.  His mother made several excuses for not bringing her son into the clinic sooner, but with some more questioning, it was found that the mother has four children at home and her husband is no longer around.  She is doing it all on her own and just hasn't had the time to come to the clinic.Her last visit to the clinic was in January when her child was tested for HIV.  The test results have still not come in since they need to be sent out to Lusaka several hours away. Getting important test results takes a lot of time in rural Zambia in the small rural town of Moyo.  Though physical examination confirmed that this baby is more than likely HIV positive just like his mother.Something else that is difficult to get in Moyo is health care.  The village has a very busy clinic that is not easily accessible to most of the members in the community.  Kiston's mother was instructed to gather some money and take him to Choma an hour drive away and be admitted to the hospital. I could see in this mother's eyes how difficult it would be for her to find the 50 kwacha {about $7 USD} for the round trip car fare to get her child the treatment that he needed. Where would this single mother of four find the money?World Vision has been participating in this community for six years.  The need is great and when speaking with the director of the ADP {area development project} it seems overwhelming to meet all of those needs.  Where do you even begin? The roads have been inadequate and too narrow to even bring a drilling truck in to bring clean water. The community and government have been working to fix that so that World Vision can make good on their promise to bring water into the community.  Once members of the community have clean water, it is the hope that the lines at the clinic will shorten.  Every day the clinic sees cases of diarrhea and urinary tract infections.  Twenty three boreholes are slated to be drilled this year in Moyo.

The new Moyo hospital just steps away from the old health clinic
In partnership with World Vision, the first rural hospital is being built in Moyo.  We were able to visit the facility that will have running water through a mechanized pump system and electricity from solar panels.  It's a far cry from how they are currently operating. Bertha says babies at night are being delivered with just two small solar panel lamps that provide inadequate light and a laboring mother is told to bring a bucket of water in with her when she comes to deliver.  The hospital will have it's own lab so that test results for things like HIV can be done that day and the results won't take months to receive.The facility will also help patients like Kiston whose mother will be able to receive treatment without going into the city.  I know children like Kiston and adults are being turned away from treatment every day because the facility is just not able to handle the cases that it is seeing.  I can't rush the process, and I know that there have been lives lost because of the inability to get the funds together to get into the city to proper medical care.For now, I didn't hesitate to ask the World Vision staff if I could privately gift this mother the 50 kwacha to get her and her baby into the city for treatment.  I am hopeful that Kiston will receive the treatment that he needs in Choma and that with the help of World Vision this mother will receive the training on proper nutrition that she is lacking.  All of this is being done in the community because of the child sponsorship program.  Sponsoring a child is more than just giving money to one child, it's giving money to the community.  For only $35 a month, you can change a child's life forever. Please consider child sponsorship. The needs are so great and with your help, those needs can be met.Twalumba! To find a child that is available for sponsorship, visit here. Click to learn more about the water effect and how World Vision is meeting that need in some of the most desperate areas.A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaRainbows and WaterA Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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Welcome Home

Down a long dirt road we drove. Feeling every bump and ditch worn in by years of flooding and drought. If it's not one, it's another. This year, it's drought. We arrived at a home with the cleanest dirt I have ever seen. We stepped out of the van and were greeted by Edward who said "welcome home." His greeting will forever stick with me.

We were visiting Edward Kanyama and his wife Justina Michelo. Before we even sat down we had a lesson on how to tie the traditional skirt called a chitenge. A chitenge is basically a few yards of fabric wrapped around and tucked but carries with it the meaning of respect. We went around and introduced ourselves and the group of women would reply "twalumba" which means we are very grateful.

Photo by Jon Warren || World Vision 2014                                             

When World Vision entered the community Justina heard about the WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) program for the first time. It was like a light had been turned on and she suddenly realized that the diarrhea, scabies and worms that her and her nine children had dealt with for a lifetime were all caused by dirty drinking water and unsanitary living conditions. This was new information for Justina.

Justina happy to be showing us her new dish rack. 

I just kept thinking about the story with the Ethiopian Eunich who was reading Isaiah and when questioned by Phillip if he knew what it meant his response was "how will I know if no one has told me." It's amazing to think that in 2015 there are people that don't know that you should wash your hands before you eat or after you go to the bathroom. They don't know that going to the bathroom in the bush brings flys that then land on their food. As American's we are taught this from a very young age. I even had a hand washing song I sang with my children. But how would they know if no one has told them?

The people of Zambia have lived for generations feeling cursed. They believe that diseases are brought on by something that they have done wrong. A child with a distended belly? The wife must be having an extramarital affair. Constant diarrhea? Their ancestors are unhappy with them. When World Vision first came into the country there was some apprehension. But once they showed the people and the people gave them a chance, they have been on fire for change. The important message about sanitation and hygiene is being spread and put into practice even though this community is still waiting for the clean water aspect. These changes have already proven to have great benefits to their health.

Justina's tip tap that she built and has conveniently placed close to her latrine for easy hand washing

Children are learning in their schools how to build hand washing stations (tip tap's) and are taking that information home to their families. Families are making changes around their homes like building dish drying racks to keep animals off of their clean dishes, they have rubbish pits, private bath areas, latrines and hand washing stations around their homes. They are noticing that there are less flies that not only bother them, but that spread disease. I could tell that Edward was very proud of his wife and he was a very supportive husband. He says that he is even taking on the chore of fetching water and making meals when his wife is busy educating in the community. We spent some time joking about how my husband is home with the children doing the same thing. It's woman's work to keep the house afterall.

Justina is just one voice, but she is a voice that is passionate about the changes that she has made. She explained that if her community of Hamaundu is remembered for one thing, that it's remembered for being clean. She's happy that she is clean, her husband and her family is clean.

We came into her home, looked at her latrine and peeked in her shower and Justine beamed with pride. In the past four years, since she has been educated, Justine's home has changed. Her family is healthy and clean. She is teaching others to make changes in their homes and see the difference that it makes. Twalumba for your passion and for the lives that you are changing.


To find a child that is available for sponsorship, visit here. Click to learn more about the water effect and how World Vision is meeting that need in some of the most desperate areas.A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaRainbows and WaterA Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

I have been traveling for days. I left Seattle on Friday afternoon and I am just now touching the ground in Lusaka, Zambia. Africa is a long way away from home!  This song by Hillsong has been on repeat in my head for days.

I just love these lyrics and the truth. I'm crossing physical borders and entering into a foreign land, but so often I place borders on myself.  I'm on a journalists trip with people who are real actual writers.  People who get paid to write for magazines and newspapers. People who have deadlines and editors. I'm just a mom who decided to write a blog because her craft projects and ramblings were taking over the space where I was sharing family photos. I have complete faith in knowing that I am here, in Zambia with this group of people for a reason, though I would be lying if I didn't tell you that I placed the border around myself that felt like I wasn't good enough to be a part of this experience with these people, representing World Vision.

There is nothing short of God's hand on this trip and the details of it and I am trusting that I can go deeper and further than I could have ever dreamed of wandering, in a land that is filled with people who have stories that break the heart of God every day.

I'm crossing borders, not knowing how this trip to Zambia is going to play out in my life, but I am pretty sure that it's going to wreck me.  My first vision trip to Uganda last August opened my eyes and introduced me to people who have a faith that is sometimes far greater than mine.  I met people who had the most generous spirit and gave until it hurt.  I want to be wrecked.  I want to go deeper in my faith than I would ever go on my own because God has led me to a land that is foreign to me. I'm trusting without borders and I am walking on those waters.  I am not alone.  I am in the presence of my Savior.To find a child that is available for sponsorship, visit here. Click to learn more about the water effect and how World Vision is meeting that need in some of the most desperate areas.Update: A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaRainbows and WaterA Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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Preparing for Zambia

I find that the way that God speaks to me is through music.  I often find myself tearing up when I spend time listening and meditating on lyrics that I am singing.  This past Sunday we were singing Alive Again by Matt Maher and while I've sung the song before, the lyrics this week spoke to me in a much different way.

There is a line that says "you shattered my darkness, washed away my blindness, now I'm breathing in and breathing out, I'm alive again!"  I couldn't help but think about my upcoming trip to Zambia and the way that God has opened my eyes to poverty, sickness and the overwhelming needs of the children and families in Africa.  

It's easy for me to get comfortable in my home and forget the way that families struggle to have even the most basic necessities like clean water. I have clean water that springs out of a sprinkler in my yard for pete's sake! I can easily forget that nearly 1600 children under the age of five die every day because they have diarrhea from drinking dirty water.

I had the opportunity to travel to Uganda with World Vision this past August as part of a Vision trip with my church who has a partnership in one of the villages there.  The little peanut in the picture above was one of the sweet children that I met while we were in country.

The trip to Africa was a lifelong dream of mine.  My heart has been drawn to Africa for as long as I can remember.  Before I left, I described my travel as a once in a lifetime trip, but before I even stepped foot off of that red soil in Africa, I realized that I was leaving a part of my heart in a country that God had called me to in a mighty way.  I knew I would return.  

I just had no idea that God had plans for my return far sooner than I could have ever imagined! 

Once my feet hit the ground back in America, changed by the work that I saw being done by World Vision I was on fire.  I signed up to become a Child Ambassador through World Vision so that I could match families like my own that have been blessed through child sponsorship with children in the nearly 100 countries that World Vision has a presence. Sponsorship is one of the most powerful ways to fight poverty.  It changes communities. I saw this firsthand in the community where we sponsor our two children Moses and Sheila.

Our sponsored child Moses, his father Richard and the thank you chicken {named Opie}

That trip shattered my darkness about a poverty far greater than I ever realized existed. I am no longer blind to the needs that those families face every day.  It's fairly easy for us to get caught up in the day to day issues and not even think about the mother who is walking four miles three times a day to fetch dirty water that will likely make her children sick. But she has no other option.
The only thing that separates me from the mother in rural Zambia is that I just happened to be born in an area that has an infrastructure that includes a water supply and sewers. After seeing mothers just like myself spend hours fetching water, a chore that could take hours out of their day, I can't be blind to how fortunate I am that I can turn on one of the fourteen {fourteen!!} taps that I have in my home and get clean water. 
Alive Again will be the anthem of my trip to Zambia.  It will be the song that will run through my head as I share life with children and families that don't have access to clean water but who dream of a life where clean water is easily accessible.  It will be the celebration song that I sing with new friends who are experiencing access to clean water for the first time. They are the ones who will be truly alive again when their lives are transformed by clean water.  And it will be the song that I sing to remind me that I am no longer living in darkness.  I have seen the light through an African sunrise and will take those hearts that are burdened and those smiles that radiate with me through all of my days even when I am on the other side of the world.  I am no longer blind to the suffering and to the needs and I will speak up and be empowered by their stories so that other people are no longer blind to the needs that these families have.
I am anxious to meet these families. I am excited about how God will use me and I am beyond grateful for the opportunity that I have to travel with World Vision to be able to be the voice behind these stories.  To read a little bit more about the water effect and what World Vision is doing around the world to provide clean water go here.
You can follow me on my trip by using #watereffect on instagram, twitter and facebook.  I am also hoping to blog from the field.  I'm told we have an internet connection, though it's rural Africa...it could be dicey!  
Shattering our darkness is the first step that we can take in making life altering changes. Please read along with me and allow yourself to have your eyes opened to the very basic needs of the people in Africa. If you are empowered, share so that others can have their darkness shattered. To find a child that is available for sponsorship, visit here. 
UPDATE: A collection of stories from my week in ZambiaRainbows and WaterA Child's LifeLooking Forward to the FutureThe Needs are so GreatWelcome HomeSpirit Lead Me Where My Trust is Without BordersPreparing for Zambia

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Six handmade Easter gifts to make today!

Easter is early this year.  It sort of feels like it snuck up on me.  I collected six handmade Easter gifts that would be perfect in your kids Easter baskets so that Easter doesn't sneak up on you too!

A sock bunny from Little Blue Boo

Sleepy Bunny goody bags 

Easter cone with candy from The Sweetest BakerBunny Bait free printable from Lolly JaneMarshmallow Bunny Plush from Dandelions and LaceBunny food chocolate dipped pretzels from Jacks and Kate

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