Happy Birthday Chisomo!

Buanji!! (Hello in Njunja)

So the past two days have been a lot cooler and we've been experiencing a Zambia style Winter :). I have to admit I've for gone the sunrise for a nice warm sleeping bag in the mornings tee hee.

To give everyone an update, we left Livingstone Sunday morning after playing, not just petting but really playing with two adolescent lions named Luigi (male) and Losi (which means Lioness), as well as three full grown cheetahs! It was unbelievable! The power you can just feel from being in the presence of these amazing creatures was phenomenal. Every move they made, my heart would jump or react and it was something I've never before felt, such a cool way to fully experience Livingstone and this trip. No wonder our God is paralleled to such a creature in "Narnia". After our 7+ hour bus ride back to Lusaka, and not to mention a GREAT weekend tie for the U.S. in the World cup, our team was ready to get back to the kids at Chisomo and to re-connect with our brothers and sisters on base. Monday the day was spent at Chisomo, some of us stayed behind to recover and take a Sabbath, but things got a bit harder as one of our teammates "Wayne" had to say good bye to the kids. It's amazing because we each connect and engage deeply with different kids, and saying goodbye was really tough for some of these guys and Wayne. It's difficult because when they face a lot of fears and have had so much experience with abandonment, hurt and rejection that leaving can be so painful, and not quite knowing when or if God willingly we'll be able to see each other again makes things hard. Please pray that we would be effective in our communication with these kids and with ourselves. It really puts the Truth in perspective that God is alone the Sustainer, Comforter and one Who can fully meet our needs. He is always with us, always loves us and alone is the perfect love that never fails us. Please pray for the kids hearts to understand this and us as well! Pray that we as representatives and missionaries communicate and show this well to them in our time here!

Yesterday was fun, half the team went to Chisomo (the residential center) and 4 of us joined the morning women's Bible study in town with some of the YWAM team. It was incredible because here we are as women across the globe doing the same thing we do in the States and everywhere. Coming together in fellowship, enjoying laughter, scones, coffee and fellowship all connected by our faith and love! Even more fascinating was that we had women from all over togethor, China, England, India, Zimbabwe and even Michigan!! Our God is so HUGE and diverse but still so consistant and faithful! We read through and discussed Ecclesiastes and the acceptance versus resistance to seasons in our lives. It was awesome! We then met up with the rest of the team at Chisomo and had a great Bible study lesson and team building game....these kids are hilarious and I just love how much joy they have for eachother and for us. They've really let us in and it's been just so fun just to engage in their lives and continue to love them as if they where my own brother!

Today is Kunda, one of the older boy's birthdays. He seems to be having a bit of a hard time with it as I'm sure we all can relate, birthdays bring up many different emotions. He was talking about his family a lot yesterday and I'm sure it can bring up some hard feelings. These kids go through birthdays without the chance to be celebrated, spend with any family etc... Well, our team prayed and put our heads together last night and we decided to bake some brownies and celebrate!!! Today we're not just going to celebrate Kunda, but ALL of their birthdays! Psalm 139 is such a testament of the TRUTH that no matter what we are each created out of Love and with special plans and purposes in mind! We have a Father who celebrates our birth every day and loves us in ways no one else can! We're hoping to express that to them today with a party!! Please continue to pray that this will be expressed to them through us and through our love, that we continue to love beyond ourselves and that also includes loving one another as a team!

More to always come of course, but love you all!!

Crystal and the team