(Z)ambia

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!'” ~Isaiah 6:8

One of my dreams has been to go to Africa.  Now, granted, that dream involved more like a vacation, going on a safari, exploring different cities and all of the culture.  And maybe one day, I will get to live out that dream.  But I did get to live out part of it already.

My church has an ongoing relationship with missionaries in Zambia, and has been sending a short-term missions team to Zambia for a few years now.  I was blessed with the opportunity to go as a short-term missionary to Zambia from July 23 – August 11, 2008.

While in Zambia we were working with the Baptist Convention alongside missionaries Charles and Sarah West. We spent time in the capital Lusaka, helping the West’s in a new ministry to an impoverished community. They have established a school to educate orphan children and we  helped them with some VBS (Vacation Bible School) activities and had many, many speaking/teaching opportunities each day. Our team also spent time in Kalulushi to the North of Zambia where there were many children whose parents have died or are suffering with AIDS. We again did VBS, encouraged the families of AIDS victims with the love of Christ, and shared ministry skills with local leaders and churches. We put on a marriage seminar, a youth seminar, and one of our team members spent a couple days teaching people how to care for their spouse/family member who were recovering from strokes and other ailments where they needed a lot of assistance. We provided medical supplies, as well as clothes and shoes for the orphans.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!” ~Romans 10:13-15

Words cannot begin to describe how memorable and life-changing this trip was for me.  I was stretched beyond belief, physically (yes I got injured), mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I was so blessed to be a part of this amazing experience and by the people we met. I hope that I was able to bless them in return.

I have put together a slide show of some of the photos taken from our trip.

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This post is part of a month-long series, A-Z, that I am participating in for the month of April.  You can learn more about it by clicking on the link over on the right sidebar.