The Love of a Single Heart can make a World of Difference

Greetings from Texas!

It is fun to say that now...yes it was only 3 weeks, but it felt like a long time- which is exactly what I wanted! We arrived from London yesterday afternoon, and I am very glad to be back home. The flights went alright, even though we got off to a slightly rough start. It was Sunday afternoon and we decided to check in early...well good thing we looked because we had to fly out Monday Morning- we thought it was Tuesday morning. Right when we realized our mistake we became upset because we had a fun Monday planned. We were going to play hide and seek, eat candy, watch movies, and say goodbye to everyone that we had met. But instead we watched the world cup, ate together, and only got to say goodbye to the kids. Sunday was a great day though! We got to be at Chamba Valley for their first Sunday service ever, which was fun. The we all went into town to a restaurant and the kids helped me to do last minute shopping at the Sunday market. Thankfully people did not haggle as much, unlike Livingstone. It was a treat for all of us to go eat, normally the kids stay home. All day Sunday the kids kept hugging us saying, "We will miss you." It was hard.

I am a letter person- Words of Affirmation is my love language- so I gave all the kids letters. If you are my student, you know how much a like writing letters:) Anyways I say that to say this... that night I found a letter from Taipai, and the next morning Joseph gave me a letter. I waited until the plane to read them- bad idea, not sure why I did that. Joseph's letter was so precious, because most of it he copied from my letter- but the first few lines were from his heart- "Dear Lana I love you Lana. Sometimes I just sit and smile and feel happy there are people like you in the world! I have Big love for you. I can not wait to see you again! I will miss your smile. You are a good teacher. Keep me in your prayers. You are a good girl and I love you. Love from Joseph Chulu." Makes you wanna cry huh! That alone did not make me cry...it was the picture he drew- the faces with tears coming down. I guess I will go ahead and explain the sad part of the trip, the goodbyes.

We had to leave the house at 6:00 a.m., only to wait in line at the airport for 3 hours because their systems were down and they had to handwrite every ticket- fun stuff! Anyways we woke the kids up before we left, and I was not sure how it would all go. I thought I might completely break down and sob, but usually in situations where I should cry, I do not. I hugged the girls by first and said bye to my room. I held them for a while and they did not cry, which was good. But then I went to hug Joseph, and he would not let go...I look down and see huge tears coming down his face. That is when I lost it. I did not even know what to say, I mean I would love to go back and see them, but you never know what the future holds. All i wanted to say is that I will come back, but I did not want to give them false hope. I am sure the kids were so emotional, because they know what the future holds, and that is Duane and Laurie leaving to go back to America in a year. It is amazing what Duane and Laurie are doing for these children, and I hope we all pray for the separation next year, and the kids future. God will be with them, but we all need to pray for them and their lives. After Jo somewhat settled down I hugged Collins- my little sidekick- he started to cry once Joseph did. Lyton really touched me by holding on for so long- he is normally quiet, and so I was not expecting that- but was glad, I really loved Lyton and he sweet funny personality. Persyn had been really upset the night before, but the day of he was good. I have never had to say goodbye to someone that I will not see again, except for my Grandad, and so it was a tough. But I will continue to keep in contact with them, and hopefully get the chance to see them when they are older:) Deep down I think I will see them again!

We got to visit London for a few hours and then had the pleasure of sleeping in the Heathrow airport of few hours. I am pretty exhausted. London was fun- Boy is it awake even in the middle of the night! It was beautiful, I enjoyed seeing it at night.

Now that I am home in my HUGE apartment, with water that I do not have to filter, with a air conditioner, without weird bugs (ps. I have not seen any boils on me- hopefully those pootsie flies did not get me), and with food at my fingertips- I realize how blessed I am. Now that I have seen extremely poor people, I am more thankful. At the same time, I know that if I was born in Africa, I would have just as many things, and maybe more to be thankful for. Their simple lifestyle is one that God wants us to have. They showed me love, and so much joy and thankfulness- Where did that go in America? They are always happy and willing to help, and I never once heard someone complain. I was hoping that character trait would rub off on me and I would never complain again, but then I got at the airport and waited 3 hours in line....did not last long:)

****PICTURES: I have a photobucket account and all you need to do is click on this link and look through them...

http://s973.photobucket.com/albums/ae214/misslanawilson/Africa%202010/

***It will be easy to look at them if you push the Slideshow button at the Top right hand corner of the webpage. Once you get on the slideshow, click full screen and let it roll. There are comments at the bottom of every picture.

Here is a list of things that I wrote down as I traveled- things that remind me of Zambia...

Fires

Stars (Huge Sky- BRIGHT Stars)

Sunsets

Dust, lots of Dust and Dirt

Compounds

Litter

Smiles

JOY

Children Taking care of Children

Children Everywhere!

Laid Back Culture... until they get in their cars and honk like crazy at you!

Always Waiting on people- no sense of time

Bumps and more bumps when driving

Weird Detours

Muzunga!

No Food is Like American Food

Salt- Oil- Chicken- Eggs- Nshima

Women have to do everything!

The corrupt Police

Most people do not have jobs

No Complaining!

Zain- Top Up (Cell Phone Company) Everyone has cell phones

Gardens

Skinny Dogs

Cows/goats/donkeys/chickens in the roads

Anyways- I wanted to write those down, so I could have them recorded for myself. I just want to say a special thanks for all of those who believed in me and encouraged me along the way. I love how God works in mysterious ways! A few scriptures that guided me along the way and made me want to experience Africa were:

James 1:27- Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (this scripture has always fascinated me)

Ps. 33:7- You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble.

Matt 19:14- Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of Heaven. (I almost felt like I experienced what Jesus might have the times kids surrounded him- like when I was passing out stickers and playing with the kids).

Proverbs 16:9- A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

Side Note- I read a great book that some wonderful friends of mine suggested- it is called- Left to Tell- Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. By Immaculee Ilibagiza. Nothing like that is going on in Zambia, but it was my plane book and it is great! The last sentence in the book was really touched me... The love of a single heart can make a world of difference.

Duane- Thank you SO much for the wonderful Experiences! You are so funny, loving, kind, generous, scary (haha), and talented. I am so thankful that I had this opportunity and that you were there to keep me safe and feel comfortable the whole time! Thanks for taking me everywhere I wanted to go, scaring me in the house, shooting the gun to scare people, loving Zambia, loving God's word, loving the orphans, and believing in so many people. I will always have a special place in my heart for you! Keep taking care of yourself and not just everyone else:) Start working on your book! Thanks again for your hospitality.

Family- You know how much you mean to me, but let me tell you again...I love you all! Thanks for supporting me with money and encouraging words. I hope you will all experience something like I did! You have made me who I am... and I am not going to lie- I like who I am:)

Denton County Family- Thank you so much for supporting me and jump starting this entire experience. I would have never gone if Jonathan would not have presented me the opportunity, and got the ticket stuff worked out. Thank you for always believing in me, and for supporting me with money and love. I love going to a church where they push you to grow spiritually...I think this was a great push that I needed and I will forever be greatful!

Alisha- Thanks again for the photo help. I am really glad I have a great photographer BFF. You sort of come in handy. Love you!

My New Friends/ Family in Africa- You will never know the impact you had in my life. I will keep you in my prayers and I hope you keep me in yours! Love you all!

One of my favorite Songs that they sing!

Joseph's Goodbye

Elephants, Hippos, and Giraffes Oh My!

Hello All,

We got back from Livingstone last night. It was supposed to take around 6 hours, but the police, dirt roads, broken down trucks, and potholes caused it to be a tad longer. All I gotta say is America is on top of it when it comes to road construction (compared to Africa). I am also thankful for the police now... Duane got pulled over 3 times (he was not even speeding), but if a police officer says he has a ticket, well you have to pay it- lots of corruption. If Duane would have had a bible or a few cokes in the car he would have gotten out of the tickets, but we did not so each one cost around 20 dollars each, maybe less. Yes, that is super cheap for us, BUT not when you are doing nothing wrong and they feel like they need some money. Duane says you cannot argue with them or make them think that you are better than them, because they will fine you more or possibly put you in jail- which is an awful place. I am just saying that traveling in America is 1 billion times better- so be very thankful!

On the way to Livingstone we passed millions of straw huts, sugar cane fields, banana plantations, tomato farms, coffee fields, people selling things on the side of the roads, fires, and BEAUTIFUL stars! One night we stopped the car and just looked at the stars- they truly are amazing! We saw the milky way, and super bright stars/ planets-Venus. We were all enjoying them when Niles started screaming because a mouse crawled up his leg. We hit some major neck snapping speed bumps along the way...they do not warn you or have them painted, so in the dark you are on you own! We traveled most of Wednesday then got to Livingstone very late, so we checked into a cute little motel. It was super cheap- 50 dollars for 2 nights for me- I got my own little bungalow grass hut thing- sounds great huh:) The only issue I had was the mosquito net that I needed to sleep under stunk really bad, and so I could not do it. Hopefully I did not get a bite! The next night I figured out a way to spread out the net so it would not be in my face and make me gag. I know I sound pathetic, but I have a sensitive nose- ha. The next morning we got up early to go to a Game Park. It was a lot of fun! Right away we saw spider monkeys, impala's, zebras, a family of giraffes, hippos, and a huge Lizard! The park was not busy at all, and we could drive right up to the animals...it was fun trying to spot things- way better then any zoo! I got some great pictures of some of the animals, which I will post when I get back home. At one point we almost got stuck in the mud...we all thought we would get eaten by baboons or something.

We then went to shop which was the most stressful experience of my life. I am not being dramatic about that either. If you have been to a market in Africa you will know what I am talking about. Everything they sell is awesome and handmade which makes it even cooler, but most of them make the same stuff and haggle the dog out of you! When I shop I hate to be bothered...well I had to get over that real fast. They asked me where I was from (I say America- and they try sell it to me for more money- or try to trade a shirt of mine or something). Every guy was telling me to sit down and to "look for free"...they whole time they are putting stuff in my hands saying that they will "give to me for a good price." I am just stressing because they are surrounding me, asking me tons of questions, and I am trying to remember the 50 people I have to buy for. Not only that, I had to try to haggle with them (not good at this)- usually I cut the price in half and they would normally do that. It was hard to use their money system too... I am just so inexperienced! I bought most of the stuff for about $3.00- $20.00, so I did good, I guess. Right before I started the shopping spree April yelled, "Lana, a monkey!" So I looked behind me and a baboon was running at me- Scary! Those things look evil- and they are not afraid of people. So I started to run for my life, and then it jumped on the passenger window of Duane's truck while he was in there, and tried to get in the truck. Haha- it was so funny, but I was afraid he was going to attack Duane or something! The baboon ended up getting out of the truck, but that was a funny experience! The stuff that they were selling was soo cool! I still have more shopping to do, but it is nice because they prices are so cheap!

We then went to another shopping market, and I found a few more items...I started to get good at not looking people in the eyes and getting away from their little traps! Next we went on the African Queen- it was an awesome experience! The African Queen is a boat that we rode on down the Zambezi River at Sunset. They served us food, and the sunset was beautiful! The stars and the Sunset will forever be etched in my memory! God is good! On the boat we saw a family of hippos in the water, very cute! We also saw a elephant- which we were excited about. It was nice to just relax and be on a true vacation:)

The next morning we went to Victoria Falls-Which was amazing! We all got wet, but luckily I remembered to bring rain ponchos. The mist from the falls is very strong, and so that it why you get wet. We walked across a bridge, running, because it was pouring down mist! The rocks were covered in beautiful green moss- almost like ferngully. There was a rainbow too, because of the mist. It was fun being in a real rain forest...I was just waiting for a huge snake to pop out on the trails. The falls are something that really make you pause and thank God.

Once we got home last night we ordered pizza and played Uno- it was fun, but I am starting to miss home! I will be back Wednesday Afternoon. Love you all!

Happy Orphans, Long Goodbyes, and accidental Off-Roading

Happy Sleeping...

I am wide awake and we are getting ready to go to Livingstone, Zambia! I am very excited because we are going to a game park, to Victoria Falls, and floating down the Zambezi River (the place where Audrey Hepburn shot the movie African Queen). We also are going shopping!! The stuff here is sooo cool, I want it all! We went by some woodcarvers yesterday and they wanted $4.00 for amazing things- which everyone tells me that you can usually get them to half the price (I sort of feel bad, since it's just $4.00). I will not be able to blog for about 3 days, but I plan to continue to upload videos and all my pictures when I get home. The Internet has been slow lately, and so I have not been able to do as much on here. I am just happy that we have had Internet access so far- did not think we would!

On Monday, we had one more full day of church- they like church here:) What amazes me the most is the people who travel so far. Duane said that people will walk for 3 days to get to meetings. There was a preacher this weekend who traveled 234 miles one way on a motorcycle to come this weekend- he is about 70 years old- talk about sacrifice and loving the Lord! When he stopped at night to sleep he said he heard hyenas and lions in the distance- Crazyy! I got sick for the first time...I felt like I was going to throw up, so I took a nap while everyone was having lunch, and felt better after I rested. They have a tradition here that the last day of a revival every leader of each church speaks and thanks the host congregation, the Lord, and most recognized us- the Americans- ha. It was about 3 hours long, and about 35 church leaders spoke. I was getting a tad restless, but it sure was a true African tradition, which was cool. That night most people stayed again, and they next morning they packed in buses and cars to go home.

Yesterday, we went on a little adventure. I wanted to visit an orphanage, and so we went to one that Duane had visited before. The roads getting there were bumpy, again, imagine that. Once we got there the kids were all outside the gate. Right away the smell of urine hit me. (I have a very sensitive stomach, and so this trip has strengthened my stomach or I am just sucking it up-I wanted to gag about 10 times). All of the kids were so outgoing and happy to see us. This orphanage was started by an American girl about my age- which is so encouraging and awesome. The thing is she lives in Missouri to work and pay for the orphanage, but she can not stay there and supervise. The lady who lives with the children said that we were suprise angels that came, which was sweet. At first I felt a little uncomfortable, because of the smell, and the show that was on the t.v. (they were all watching it- it was not appropriete for kids). There were about 16 kids living there....they were all so sweet and happy, which made me feel better. I then jumped out of my comfort zone and asked all the kids to come outside and show me some games they knew. That was when we started to have fun- they had a million games that they play! I videoed the games and will post them when I get home. I then took a tour of the house and almost threw up in the bathroom, but I got a picture! The kids all had bunk beds, and hardly any clothes. I gave them all stickers and extra supplies and books that my students and friends provided- so once again, you made a difference! When we left they all looked so sad- which really made me upset. They asked when I was coming back, which is probably never. That was hard to tell them, and to just see their faces. Hard Day.


We then went to a gorge (well we were going to), but it was closed. So this guy at the gate told us that we could go down this one road to see it- I do not know what he was thinking because we were driving for a good 10 minutes one the smallest dirt road ever with trees and high grass everywhere. We had so turn around, because I guess he misunderstood us. Anyways I am excited about today and our travels. Love you all!

A few Pictures....

Kids sitting in the front with their notebooks at church.

Cute girls giggling about something:)

Bath Time- She was the one that felt sick and they gave her the medicine.

I love this picture, if I may say so myself. Pretty Girl.

One of the baptisms.

Happy 4th of July! We celebrated to the sound of 15 shotgun shots:)

Happy 4th!

I have looked at some of my past posts and I must not be pushing the spell check button- sorry all of you english/grammar weirdos:) I am one too, but these late nights and early morning cause me to do crazy things. AND Sorry I did not write last night! We were up late because of church then we watched Finding Nemo with all the kids. I am still pretty exhausted, their services last a longggg time with 3 sessions every day. They were good though- 5 baptisms this morning. I will talk about yesterday since I did not post..

Yesterday was pretty much filled with church. I sat in the front with all the little kids. I also had the joy of putting Baby Joyce to sleep. I need to get some mom arms, because my arms were falling asleep 5 minutes into the hold. Not good, she slept and snored for a good hour.

Some of my students donated Spiral Notepads which I handed out to some kids and they all took notes, which was very cute. I took notes and they all copied mine. That afternoon I made the mistake of whipping out some stickers for the kids. I tried to tell them to get in a line, then I gave up. Most of these kids had never seen stickers, and so they were fighting for them. I told the kids only one sticker, but problem was I could not tell which kid had a sticker already. I would walk around and see some kids with 5 stickers all on their faces-haha. Here is a picture of me getting mobbed.

Find the stickers...ha

I really had fun passing the stickers out, even though it got a bit crazy, and kids kept lying and telling me they did not get one yet:) Kids will be kids.

That night I went to talk to the women who were serving the food to all of the people (about 300 people) and they asked me to help them serve. It was a very fun experience- I was the bean girl. Boy do these women know how to cook for large groups... Here is a picture of them cooking.

After church I played volleyball with the young kids- that felt a lot like home, so that was good:) But then I went over and saw kids plucking feathers off of dead chickens(does not feel like home) haha. I am sure anyone who has done foreign work is used to kids running around all in church. It's something that would take me a long time to get used to. Kids as young as 7 carry their baby brothers/sisters on their backs in slings, and it seems like they just run wild. A few times I saw kids running with sharp objects... it is just funny how different our parenting styles are in America. I feel like I need a heavy dose of anxiety pills every time I see those kids playing around dangerous things or with dangerous objects. It's the mother in me. Everyone is really nice though...Very kind. They all ask how America is doing- never really know what to say to that one.

The lights went out... around the whole house and church- but the stars were amazing! You can actually see Venus really well- I love how they have different stars than us! I was enjoying the stars when Lyton jumps out and scares me (thanks to Duane all the kids find that funny:) He got me good...and luckily the lights came back on. I took a video of some of the singing, I thought you might enjoy a taste of Zambia.

Today ....No we did not have fireworks, but instead we got some gunshots- Before I go into that let me set the scene for you.... It is really cold here- like 50 degrees, and sitting outside can be painful, so a few of the men noticed that we were freezing and put a fire right in front of us. It was really nice of them, but just funny to sit in front of the campfire in a tabernacle. Anyways at the end of the service we heard a few gunshots in the distance- it was kind of creepy....then we kept hearing more and more getting closer. I was nervously laughing- if you know me, you know the laugh. Anyways it was pretty funny because we were singing and then you would hear a gunshot in a pause. The gates to the yard were locked, and nothing ended up happening, but it's just one more experience I will not forget.

Tonight I sat by the campfire with some kids and I listened to them sing, just having a connection with Christians around the world is such a blessing and joy! Then they started to ask me lots of questions. I think they way the do marriages and engagements is fascinating. They have to offer the girls family cows, chickens, or something like that to be engaged. A few of the guys said well I guess I need to go to America with only a ring. Another cultural difference is that the boys do not really talk with the girls, but since I am American, they can talk to me. The first few days the guys would not look me in the eyes or talk to me much, but now I just go up to them and they are getting more comfortable. You do not really see the teenagers talking to the opposite sex because it is inappropriate. I guess I was a rebel, but Duane said with me it is fine because I do not know their rules being an American.

That is most of it...I think I left a lot out, but I cannot think. It's 2:00 a.m. right now- Night!

Campfires, Outdoor Kitchen, and Lots of Walking.

Today has been a great day. We went to eat breakfast at a very cool place, and then we stopped at a few shops. They had the CUTEST baby shop ever! Everything in there was handmade and I wanted to buy it all. I am waiting though, until I go to the market. On the way to the breakfast restraunt were many photo opportunities. I am a weirdo that thinks everything is cool and unique so I take a million pictures. Thanks Alisha for posting some of my pictures! Most of them are either from the school, the church that is being built, or just around the house I am staying at. I have taken many more, but with the internet being slow, I might not get to download them.

After eating this morning Duane took us the back way- meaning dirt bumpy road- through the "compound-" meaning neighborhood with houses right next to each other. These are the places that you see on T.V. and they are asking for money. It is just so crazy to see it in person. It is actually even worse that the commercials. What I cannot get over are the little kids that are carrying babies on their backs. I also cannot get over all of the kids that are just running wild in the streets. Today we saw kids who were filling up a coke bottle with creek water- aka. sewer water- I wanted to yell out the window- STOP, but I refrained. Everyone here is so nice, we drive through these compounds and just wave and say muli bwanji (hi) not sure about the spelling. They always wave back and say hi. We stopped at a sister's house and she let us come in her home (the home of the baby at the top of my blog), it was very simple but nice. On the side of the road they sell anything from little dried fish, to gum, cooking oil in bottles, or vegetables. The dried fish totally gross me out.

Once we got back to the house we found many new visitors in the yard. Many people came 2 hours from Chockoma balancing suitcases on their heads. The women immediately started to cook for the people in the Outdoor kitchen. Babies were bathed in little buckets. I took pictures of this one little girl who had been crying most of the day because she was sick, I felt so bad for her. Julia translated for me and said that her mother can only get adult pills for her, and they just dissolve them with water. I am not a nurse of doctor, but I am thinking that is not so safe ..Oh well they do what they gotta do. There are many kids here now and so I have been taking many pictures. I love taking kid pictures. Most of them do not know how to speak good english because they are "from the Bush." Everyone is staying outside tonight, and the women are sleeping in this hut thing that they made. Most of the men are sleeping in the church on homemade benches. Duane does not try to "Americanize" them, instead he just lets them do their own thing. It is weird that they do not eat as much, they take baths with sponges and a bucket of water that they warm on the fire, that they sleep outside, that flies always surround their food, that they wear clothes that I saw in America 10 years ago, that they do not expect or like the same food as us, that the men do not really look me in the eye, or that the kids do not say anything or complain even if they are starving. I asked Collins tonight what he ate, and he said he had just had breakfast- it was about 7:00 p.m. when he said that. They just don't say anything.

The service was good! There was a big crowd for the first night. It will last until monday evening. This will be a long weekend. We will have church all day tomorrow, since so many people walked long distances they expect lots of preaching! The services are always so awesome, and full of joy. I will video some of the singing, it is something that I cannot explain.

After church we went to eat, because we might get sick if we eat their food, and the world cup was on. It was fun watching it with true Africans- since Ghana played and all. Ok, that is all for now... Check out the new pictures below- thanks again Alisha!

Photos!

Hey everybody! It's Alisha, bringing you a photo update. I haven't talked to Lana so I can't really specify what's going on in every picture, but I think if you've been reading along you can get an idea on most of them. I'm just going to post a bunch and if she wants to go back and talk about any of them, she can. I'm uploading them small so if you want to see one upclose, just click on it! Enjoy!