So I know it's been long awaited, and here it is. My fear is that some of you will read it and think that it's not true. However.. it couldn't be more true to reality than it is.
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Camp LIFE – Zambia 2007
April 2007 would be the month that would lead to the 2 ½ weeks that would change my life. The Lord called me to Africa, and I was ready to go! I asked my parents, and to my surprise, they said I could go! When I first signed up to go to Zambia with Camp LIFE, I don’t think I knew what I was in for. I hadn’t heard anyone’s testimony, all I knew was what was on the website and then the information I received in the mail. I had no idea that Camp LIFE would change my life for ever. June 21 would be a new adventure for not only me, but my whole family. Never before had anyone traveled overseas alone, and no one had ever been to Africa. I was filled with excitement about what the Lord was going to do and could not wait to arrive in Zambia.
After traveling for 36 hours and spending two nights in the air, we finally arrived in Zambia. (It was completely worth the long flight.) Saturday and Sunday were spent getting settled in and meeting our Zambian partners. Monday was our first day of camp.
We had 650 orphans during week 4, 52 small groups with about 13 in each group. I cannot begin to explain to you, on paper, how 13 girls can change your life. Words cannot express the effect that going to Zambia had on me. Things that used to be really important aren’t so important anymore. Some of the things that I used to worry about don’t seem so important by comparison. They praise Him heavily with so little, and it’s so hard for us to praise Him with so much. From the moment I saw my girl’s faces, I knew that the week was going to be incredible. I have never felt less equipped to do something than I did at this point. From hearing the heartaches of these girls, most of who have seen much more than many of us will ever see in our lives, to crying for them because they can’t cry…Zambia changed my life. I’m going to attempt to share with you my experiences from Zambia, some of the stories will be so true they will sound like they are made up, but the reality is – they aren’t.
A normal day of camp looked like this:
The Americans arrived at camp around 8:15am, we prayed with our Zambian partners and sang a song or two. The kids started arriving around 9, and after the first day, I didn’t have to look for my kids…they knew who I was and couldn’t wait to find me. In the mornings we reviewed the previous day’s lesson, prayed, sang a song, danced a dance, and had a few one-on-ones. When lunchtime came, the girls were given 4 slices of bread, an apple and a juice box. It sounds like so little to us, but it actually is a lot to them and to some would be their only meal of the day. After lunch, we had the ‘Large Group Session” where we would sing, dance, pray, and learn. Greer gave the lesson during this time as well. We would then go back out to the field and discuss more in-depth what Greer went over. They would ask us questions and we would ask them questions. Before I knew it, it was 3:45 and time to line up to get on the busses. The days went by too fast.
Highlights of my week:
Leading 4 of my girls to Christ; seeing the girls smile; seeing how they depend on one another; watching them dance and praise our God. Seeing the smiles on their faces when we told them they got to color…they were so excited!! Coloring is huge to them. On Thursday, we gave each child a new pair of socks, shoes, a t-shirt and a bandana. They were so thrilled. A new pair of shoes to them is like a new car. A couple of my girls had no shoes until Thursday. The joy in their faces was unreal. To us, shoes are nothing. We’re so ungrateful. It was such a humbling experience to get to put brand new shoes the children’s feet. It reminded me of how much we take for granted in America…so much that we don’t even think twice about a new pair of shoes, and most of us have at least 10 pair in our closet. Also on Thursday, the Americans loaded the busses with the kids, to go back to their compounds. The idea was that for four days, we (the Americans) had been evangelizing to them and now it was their turn to get to go out into their communities and spread the Gospel. I’ll admit that at first, the idea of going out into their communities frightened me. Especially after we had been told where we were going, and I was going to one of the worst…where we were told to not take anything with us. How wrong I was. After a 15 minute bus ride, I saw where these girls, MY girls, lived. It was unbelievable. As we walked into the communities, my girls surrounded me, all fighting to hold my hand. They were so proud to be walking with me, to have their hand in mine. I definitely didn’t blend into the crowd and so I received a lot of stares, but nothing more. Kids in the compound just started following us around and listening to what my girls were saying. I got to listen to girls 10-13 tell people about Jesus, it was so amazing. They prayed for people and just loved on people. It was incredible.
Heartaches
Hearing what my girls experience daily. Many of my girls had terrible nightmares. One of them had a dream where her mother, who had previously died, would appear in her dreams, trying to force her to drink blood. This is witchcraft. Although these are dreams, they might as well be reality to these kids. Another girl had nightmares that the devil was trying to kill her and at night she would hear footsteps in her room and see a light flickering; this same girls father’s side of the family lives in the Copperbelt…and they cook human flesh. Can you imagine the lives of these children? It’s the devil’s playground. To know that these girls experience these nightmares kills me. Why these girls, why my girls? To hear that they are abused when they go home, even if they haven’t done anything wrong. To know that one of them was raped at 4 years of age because there is a myth that if a man with AIDS has sex with a virgin, it will cure him, and so she was the victim. Many of these girls are single, double and maybe even triple orphans. This causes them to live with people who don’t about them, let alone children are seen as a problem in Africa. Could you imagine being told that you are the child of a dog, that you are worthless? I couldn’t and they can’t, but that is what they’re told growing up.
The good news is, they still have dreams and passions. The good news is that there is a God who paid a mighty price for them, and this week, they were told that. They were told that in Christ Jesus they are Loved, Accepted, Secure, Significant and Victorious. The truth is that the lies they are told and have been told are false and they know that now.
It’s truly amazing how 13 girls that I have never known before have wedged their way into my heart. Telling them goodbye on Friday was perhaps one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. When you know what they’re going home to, you’re just not okay with it. Hearing them tell me they love me, that they’ll pray for me, that they hope to see me next year…just brings me to my knees in tears. For maybe the first time in their life they experienced love and priority in someone’s life. When you know what a child is going home to, you’re really just not okay with it. All I can do is pray for them and look through all the pictures I have and watch the few videos. They will forever be in my heart. I find myself looking at my watch, counting forward seven hours to see what time it is in Zambia, or perhaps what’s going on at Camp LIFE at that time.
America sees Africa as a Third World Country, a country that is being killed because of AIDS, but it’s so much more than that. The Satanism and witchcraft that exists there is unreal. Being back in Texas has been hard, especially when your heart is somewhere else. There truly is life before Zambia and life after Zambia and there is a huge difference between them. Thank you so much for all your contributions to my trip whether it was a financial donation or prayer. I could not have gone without either one of those things.
As you can see, my heart is in Zambia, and if I could find a flight back sooner than next summer I’d be there in a heartbeat. The reality of the fact is that I probably won’t and I have to go to school. However, I know that the Lord is calling me back for next summer and I have committed to go; this time for two weeks of camp…one week just isn’t enough. I’ll be going from June 19 – July 13. I know that He is calling me to go I am confident that He will provide the way.
