Special Friends, Special Price!

“I give you very special morning price.”

“Just come look, looking is free.”

“You are my first customer, I give you first customer price.”

“Hello where are you from?  Oh, America… Where in America?  Oh, Wisconsin… I have friends in California.  Because of this we are special friends, I give you very special price.” 

These are the repeating words that are traveling through my mind as I write tonight.  Melanie and I, along with Susan (missionary wife) and Molly (Susan’s niece), ventured to the Dutch Reformed, a monthly open-air market held on the grounds of a local church.  Compared to the Northmeade Market we went to last weekend, this definitely takes the cake.  This market had to have over fifty vendors there today!

I think being an art minor in college definitely increased my appreciation for art and today definitely attested to that.  The artwork and handmade pieces we saw were so amazing and I wanted to buy them all!  The vendors could definitely smell it in our blood and used common phrases (as seen above) to try to persuade us.  Mel and I both purchased several pieces and all for a “good price”.   

Some of the more common pieces found at the stands include chitenges, wooden bowls and spoons of all sizes, animal-carvings of all sorts, bottle openers, oil paintings on canvasses of all sizes, hand-sewn shoulder bags and much more! 

Aside from all the crafts, there was enough food to feed an army!  As I walked through the rows and rows of food vendors I quickly classified the foods into categories:

1.      That smells looks and smells delicious!

2.     Wow, that looks… interesting… I would be willing to try it!

3.     Why in the world would someone eat that?  I think it just moved!

Everyone has their own opinions to what food they like to indulge on at the Saturday market.  I guess that is all part of the cultural experience!  Melanie and I haven’t tried anything too exotic quite yet but we will definitely keep you posted when such occasions occur!   

Bursting with excitement!

I can barely hold in my excitement as I sit and write (in the dark because the power is out) because Melanie is reading off some of the possibilities for adventures during the week we have off for Easter.  So many possibilities to choose from but if an elephant-back safari, white water rafting, bungee jumping or gorge swinging near Victoria Falls, or petting a wild lion doesn’t sound like the adventure of a lifetime, I don’t know what is!  Don’t worry, we are just googling pictures of people doing the gorge swing and talking about how Melanie’s sister Erika thought the experience was terrifyingly awesome… That sounds like fun doesn’t it?!

Continually thanking God for all of these amazing experiences thus far and for your support.  Thanks again for checking out our blog!  Good night and God bless!

Hugs,

Kelsi and Melanie

"Look, It's Our Friends!"

After slogging through orange streams and puddles the past few days, we finally remembered to bring our umbrellas this morning. The day dawned bright and sunny, and as we walked to chapel, we joked with Martin and Mr. Zulu (two hilarious and sweet workers at the missionaries' houses) that of course the beautiful, clear day would be the day we remembered our umbrellas. We didn't feel so foolish at noon when the dark clouds rolled in and the rain drops filled the ditches. Besides the fact that both of our umbrellas were slightly broken, they offered a slight shield from the torrential downpour.

The rain eased by the time we finished our final tutoring session at 4:00. Kelsi and I took advantage of the nice evening by going for a run around the neighborhood. The roads were full of children playing and adults gathering together. We decided to loop around onto campus to see if any children were playing soccer. On the way, a few young boys asked to join us, and before we knew it, we had a trail of four children splashing through puddles behind us. On our run back home, we ran into them again, and one cried out, "Look, it's our friends!" They joined us jogging for a quarter mile before waving good-bye.

Kelsi and I fall more in love with the twenty-some children we tutor every day. They are so respectful, hard-working, and eager to learn. It's every teacher's dream! Tutoring has gotten progressively better over the past week. As Kelsi and I get a better grasp of the students' abilities, we have been able to develop plans to help them in the coming weeks. We discovered that the majority of our students have a limited knowledge of phonics, so like Kelsi wrote last night, we are starting with the very basics. I am very grateful to have Kelsi as my teaching partner. She is so gifted at working with young children, and I am learning so much from her!

Teaching the wives was a blast, as always. We had all of the wives together instead of dividing them into two class periods, and the classroom got LOUD. We taught them about numbers today. Our activity was giving them a flash card with a number or a word on it, and they had to find their match. For example, the person with the card that said "1" had to find the person with the card "one." Kelsi spontaneously made it into a competition, and the ladies loved it. We have played several games with them now, and it still cracks me up to see how competitive they get. There were about five children wandering in and out of the classroom today, and they were shocked when their mothers started shouting and running around the classroom. Several started wailing out of fear. I leaped at the opportunity and quickly volunteered to hold baby Bryen while his mom played. (Who is baby Bryen, you ask? Check out Kelsi's blog titled "Rainin' Down in Africa" to see his adorable face.)

God has been blessing me and Kelsi with wonderful days. We are quickly approaching the two week anniversary of our departure. We say nearly every day that we can't believe how fast time flies! Please continue to keep us in your prayers so that we can serve God and the people in Lusaka to the best of our ability.

Mrs. Nyrenda's Guide to Success!

       This first full week of working with the children and the wives has definitely been one filled with trial and error.  Initially Melanie and I were planning on splitting up the children based on what grades they were in - Melanie working with the older group and myself working with the younger group.  After a few days of working with the kiddos we quickly realized that the grades they are in is just a number.  The system of education for the children we are working with only allows them to go to school for a couple of hours a day.  With class sizes at their maximum, most of the schools our children attend host three sessions of classes a day.  So while an eight hour school day seems to be completely normal to me, here it is more like a three hour school day. 

      Set aside the time constraints and there are definitely other challenges Melanie and I are noticing.  The children we work with go to schools where the language spoken is English.  Most of the households the children come from do not speak much English if any at all.  This Melanie and I have noted definitely correlates with a child’s English speaking and reading abilities.  As we have noticed glancing through the kiddos homework and worksheets, it seems as though a lot of the work is read, copy, repeat.  As we have been told by the missionaries, and are noticing for ourselves, the rote memorization capabilities the women and children have are phenomenal but if we ask them a question about comprehension or meaning, all we receive are blank stares (for maybe more reasons than one).

Taking a step back and really starting with the basics seems to be our plan of attack in the weeks to come.  Although ages range from seven all the way to thirteen, we are convinced that starting with the alphabet and letter-sound recognition is the best path to take.

Mrs. Nyrenda’s guide to Nyanja…

      As we finished up our last tutoring session for the day, Melanie and I heard a voice coming from the guest house as we passed.  It was the voice of Mrs. Nyrenda, a well-renown cook on the seminary grounds and known to Melanie and I as the sweetest lady ever.  Mrs. Nyrenda, a very well-versed English speaker, came out with a single notebook sheet of paper.  The paper was divided into two columns, one titled “Nyanja” and the other “English”.  The paper was filled with different translations for us to use every day!  Just in case you are curious about the mouth full of sounds Melanie and I are trying to spew out to communicate with the kiddos/wives at times here’s some suggestions for the books:

             Tsiku la bwino   …………………………………..  Good day!

             Muli bwanji ……………………………………..  How are you?

             Ndibwera ………………………………………..  I am coming

             Mmwamba ……………………………………… Heaven or sky

             Cing’ono ………………………………………...   large

And the teacher’s edition… :D

             Otsa panga chongo …………………………….   Don’t make noise

             Khalani cete …………………………………….   Keep quiet

             Wanvera, wanva ………………………………..  Do you hear?

             Mvera ……………………………………………  Listen

             Bwera Kuno …………………………………….   Come here

 

      Another beautiful (rainy) day in Zambia and to God be all the glory.  Please continue to pray for the missionaries and the work that they are doing here.  Please also pray that the seminary pastors and their families as they continue to grow in God’s word so that they can be strong leaders in their community.  There is so much love, joy and passion here that Melanie and I get to see each and every day!  Soli deo Gloria!! 

With love,

Kelsi and Melanie             

A Happy Birthday

Today was a first for me. I feel blessed to say I got to spend my birthday in Zambia! I apologize, but I'm going to pull the "it's my birthday" card and cop out with a short blog post.

A few snapshots of the day:

1, As we reviewed the vocabulary word "happy" today, the wives broke into a peppy rendition of the happy birthday song for me. A nice surprise!

2. The Zambian people pronounce my name "Mel-awn" (when there are vowel sounds at the end of a word, like MelanIE, they tend to leave the vowel sound off). It was pretty hilarious when the wives proudly sang, "Happy birthday dear MelAWN...." I've been trying to get "Mel" to catch on, but no luck so far.

3. In chapel this morning, the hymn was "Were You There." Kelsi and I stopped singing so we could listen to the missionaries. They veered away from the notes and rhythms written in the music, but somehow their eighteen voices moved perfectly in harmony. Beautiful!

4. We played volleyball with the wives, Susan (missionary's wife) and Molly (Susan's daughter). I wouldn't call the game athletic, but there was a lot of laughter!

5. Molly came over after volleyball to make dinner and watch a movie. We made several courses, from fried cheese (yum) to fresh salsa and butternut squash.

6. We bought a new vegetable from some friendly ladies on the side of the road. It's like a mini white eggplant. We sauteed it with onions and some mysterious lettuce (also from the side of the road...we think it's rape?), and it was delicious!

7. Sharon (missionary's wife) shares her avocado tree with us, and we tried cooking eggs inside avocados. (I told you we had several courses!) Also very tasty.

Half of my tidbits were about food...that's normal, right? Sorry for the brief post. My bed is calling...good night and God's blessings from me and Kelsi!

Rainin' down in Africa

Last night I had that nervous feeling I used to get before my first day of school - meeting new people, not knowing what to expect, excited to get back into the swing of things.  Maybe you can relate!  Today was our first normal day of teaching and tutoring with the seminary wives and children. 

It was a gloomy day with constant rain, but that did not reflect on the faces of the children and seminary wives Melanie and I were privileged to work with today.   Throughout the day we held three hour-long tutoring sessions for the seminary children.  Although we had a schedule prepared we were blessed with more attending than anticipated!  We played math games with them, read a few books, and discussed a bible story with the children (appropriately, God’s promise to Noah to never send a flood again was the story for today J)  The language barrier is definitely a huge challenge.  Regardless of the barrier, the children are so eager to learn and Melanie and I pray that we can meet each and every child at a level that is going to help them grow!

 Pictured above are a couple of the children we tutor throughout the day.  The level of responsibility and independence a lot of the kiddos have just amazes me.  Not only did the school children come for tutoring today but they also brought along several of their little siblings.  Melanie and I had a chuckle (several times) while tutoring because we had a parade of sirens and vocalists parading around the table area where we were working.  It was a simple way the munchkins kept themselves fully entertained for an hour and definitely brought huge smiles to our faces as well. 

The seminary wives were equally as smiley and eager to learn.  Melanie and I did a mixture of whole-group and small-group instruction.  My personal favorite activity was getting to see the ladies act out different scenarios that involved different emotions such as happy, angry, confused, etc.   Seeing them have so much fun with the game and not being afraid to take a risk in front of everyone was very encouraging. 

I am just amazed at the work God is doing here in Zambia and humbled that Melanie and I get to be an extremely small part of it.  Your comments and contact with us definitely adds even more joy to our days here.  Thank you and God bless!

Hugs,

Kelsi and Melanie

P.s. Another big perk to our work here is that we get to see the most adorable babies every single day!!  This little guy’s name is Bryen - Melanie and I are a bit obsessed… 

Joyful Songs

Today we attended Bethel Lutheran, a church within walking distance of our house. The church is simple but quite large, with a vaulted tin ceiling. Everyone was in their Sunday best - the men in slacks and button-ups and the women in traditional chitenges (she-tain-gays). Chitenges are simple cloths that the women typically wrap around their waists or use as a baby sling. Chitenges are really a blog post in and of themselves. It's amazing to see everything that the women do with this piece of fabric!

The music was definitely my favorite part of the service. The selected hymns were classics, and when the congregation joined together, the result was beautiful. I hesitated before joining in; I feared my thin, shaky voice would ruin the harmonies. Thankfully, their loud voices drowned me out. :)

The church has a choir of about twenty men and women. If circumstances were different, the leader of the choir would have had a good shot at being the next American Idol. The choir's last song, the postlude that ushered us out of church, was my favorite. As the choir sang in the front of church, they marched back and forth while swaying and dancing. (This was also impressive because, like singing, dancing doesn't come naturally to me. Just ask my prom dates from high school.) We didn't want to leave our seats; they were so good! We were finally forced to exit, and the choir trailed behind us, still singing as we walked outside. As we exited, we were surprised to see the entire congregation forming a large semicircle outside. Following the lead of the people in front of us, we shook hands and greeted everyone. Some of the men do a different handshake: regular handshake, clasp of the thumbs, back to a regular handshake. I fumbled awkwardly for several in a row, but by the end of the line, I had perfected the "secret handshake." Sharon told us that this greeting is common in the bush.

All in all, church was nearly a two hour affair. Maybe some of you can relate, but I'm usually anxious to get in and out of church in an hour. If there are too many hymns or the sermon goes longer than 20 minutes, I discreetly check my watch and look wistfully out the window. My sinful attitude was definitely condemned today. I can learn a lot from the Zambian people. The worshipers today weren't in a rush, and they danced and sang God's praises with all of their strength. Isn't that how God designed worship to be? I hope that I'm not coming across as judgmental of American churches, because that's not my aim. I just want to be honest that many times, my attitude and thinking is skewed regarding church and worship. I got a good reminder today!

After church, Kelsi and I prepared for tutoring and teaching tomorrow, went to the grocery store, worked out, and made a scrumptious dinner. It was another gorgeous day today, so after dinner we walked the dirt roads around our neighborhood and took some pictures. Although we are frustrated that the pictures do not come close to capturing the sights and beauty of our surroundings, they are the next best thing. We are having some trouble uploading pictures, but we will do our best to get some up on Facebook and the blog shortly.

Overall, we had a really enjoyable weekend. We hope you are all having a wonderful weekend as well! Good night and God's blessings from me and Kelsi!

"Packed like Sardines"

“Packed like sardines” has formed a whole new meaning in our minds after today’s exploration.  Late this morning Melanie, Mollie and I scooted onto the first available minibus headed towards the city center.  (Mollie is the niece of one of the missionaries here in Lusaka and is only a couple of years older than Melanie and me.) Entering the day as a novice of riding the minibuses, the experience was not as horrible as we built it up to be.  Picture a twelve-passenger van with up to seventeen people squished to the maximum.  The smell of sweat and body odor filled the bus but for only 5 kwacha (less than one dollar), the price was right.  We definitely stuck out as Africa amateurs when we knocked on the ceiling to exit the bus and everyone on the bus started chuckling - apparently that’s not the way the system works!

Safe and sound we arrived at Northmead, a large open-air market with many interesting sights to see.  As we strolled the market we saw everything from hair-weaving shops, to food stands, to handmade artwork and souvenirs.  Mollie, Melanie and I enjoyed bartering for a few keepsakes but equally enjoyed just perusing the stands.  One of the more interesting sights was a bowl of giant, dried caterpillars at a food stand.  Mollie was very intrigued and almost purchased one to eat!

After leaving the market we walked around the neighborhood and found an old amusement park.  Although there was someone taking an entrance fee at the gate, it seemed as though the park was not actually in operation.  The only people inside the park were in a swimming pool right by the entrance.  After seeing a rickety, old Ferris wheel and a trampoline that was half collapsed to the ground we were happy to see no one actually riding on the rides. 

To finish up our in-town excursion, we ended up back at Manda Hill, Lusaka’s first official shopping mall.  We sat down at a coffee shop called Mugg and Bean and enjoyed fruit smoothies and coffee.  After spending some time browsing through the stores, Mollie, Melanie and I decided it was time to start heading home.  Maybe being out in the sun too long really messed with our logical thinking skills, or we hadn’t realized how far away the mall was from where we lived but we decided we were going to walk home (too much minibus excitement for one day!)  The sun was shining when we left the shopping mall but after about 30 minutes of walking, and a warning from a local pedestrian, we realized maybe walking wasn’t the best idea.  We were caught in the rain and seemingly were the only goofs to keep walking while everyone else took cover under trees and overpasses.  Thankfully, a familiar looking vehicle drove towards us as we realized it was Pastor Sargent and his wife Lisa.  They were on their way from picking up a visitor from the airport and said we “weren’t hard to spot”.  After jumping in the vehicle sopping wet and riding for about 10-15 minutes we realized that it would have taken us HOURS to get home had we continued on. 

God was definitely watching out for us today!  Melanie and I are definitely looking forward to the coming week as we will begin our regular schedule.  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!  Have a wonderful rest of your Saturday!

With Love,

Kelsi and Melanie

Our Humble Abode

A Relaxing Day

Today I was struggling with the best way to give you all a picture of the experiences, sights, and sounds we encounter on a daily basis. So without further ado, here is a summary of some important topics (in no particular order (OK, maybe food is at the top for a reason...).

Food

It's very common to see groups of people selling produce like tomatoes, eggs, and cabbage on the side of the road each day. Although Kelsi and I have only gone to supermarkets, we are planning to at least try some of the food from these mini-markets someday.

Speaking of grocery stores, today was the first day that Kelsi and I did NOT actually go to one. If that's not a victory, I don't know what is! We usually walk to the grocery store about a mile down the road. It is fully stocked, and although we waste a lot of time mentally converting kwachas to dollars, we eventually find all that we need.  

Yesterday, Lisa (one of the missionaries' wives) drove us to a new shopping center in town. It is much nicer than the one near us, and it was filled to the brim with fresh fruits and vegetables. We stocked up on mangoes, nectarines, plums, and watermelon while gazing with interest at the purple sweet potatoes, pickled mangoes, and gem squash. We even saw a few other muzungos - a rare sight in our neighborhood!

Shopping

After taking us to the grocery store, Lisa showed us the shopping mall in town. It exceeded any expectations that we had. I almost felt like I was back in America as I looked at the variety of restaurants and clothes stores; there's even a movie theater that shows movies like American Sniper.

Kelsi and I also noticed how fashionable everyone was at the mall. Practically all of the women looked like they were models, and the men were very high-fashion as well. Don't worry, though. We reinforced the slobby American stereotype by wearing matching khaki capris and clunky sandals. It's such a mystery why two people have asked if we are twins!

Seminary

Our house is across the street from the seminary, and we walk over to campus every day to teach or use the printer. There are eighteen seminary students; they all have wives and there are about thirty total children. The men are in their third and final year of schooling, and they spend virtually all of their time together on campus. There are a few buildings that serve as housing for the families - somewhat similar to a dorm. When the women and men are not in class, we often see them working their plots of land. Most impressive to us is when the men manually weed wack the tall grass - in long-sleeves, no less!

This is the biggest class that the seminary has ever had, and we have to remember to keep them and the seminary in our prayers so the Word may continue to be spread throughout Zambia.

Daily Activities

Today's activities were not necessarily typical. The women take Fridays off, so after attending morning chapel and completing some paperwork for a volunteer permit, we spent the morning printing and preparing reading materials.

It was a gorgeous day (just digging the knife in a little harder, Wisconsin), so we went on a walk with Sharon, our neighbor and the wife of one of the missionaries. Sharon and her husband John have lived in Zambia for a total of 22 years (as long as Kelsi and I have been alive!). They lived in the bush before moving to Lusaka. Interestingly, they originally lived in a town of 70 people in South Dakota, which was apparently great training for life in the bush.

We talked for well over an hour about Zambia, the twenty-plus years she has spent here, and the mission. She explained the changes Zambia has undergone in the past 50 years, its political climate, and how it compares to Zimbabwe and South Africa. If our incessant questioning annoyed her, she didn't let on.

Next week we will begin teaching and tutoring for most of the day. Although we enjoyed our relaxing day today, we are excited to get to work next week!

Good night and God's blessings from the other side of the world!

Beauty in the Little Things

Buzzzzzzz…. I seemingly have attracted several bugs flying around my head as the light from my computer screen is one of the few lights on in the entire house.  The power has gone out for the first time since we arrived and although we were warned about it, it still came as a bit of a shock.  Guess we will have to eat all of the food in fridge or it is going to go bad. Thankfully we have several extra flashlights stowed around the house for times like these.    

Lots more to be thankful for!

Our primary job here is to teach the seminary wives English.  We had our second official class with the seminary wives today. On the first day we did a few introduction activities with the seminary wives.  Today we were able to give them a pre-assessment to help us determine what level their English is at.  The seminary wives have an extremely wide expanse of English comprehension and speaking abilities - a few are very fluent and others know very little.  Thankfully we will be able to work with the women in much smaller groups rather than all eighteen of them at once.         

A smile is a smile no matter where you go!

Not knowing any of their language has been quite challenging but the smiles we receive are more than encouraging.  We are becoming a little more comfortable with long, awkward pauses after giving instructions or even talking about ourselves.  We just pause, gain a huge smile on our faces, and one of the wives who is more fluent in English turns and presents what we have said to the class.  Receiving a reaction from the class after a three-step process is perfectly alright with us and generally results in a few extra chuckles.  Although we have only been working with them for two days, we can already see so much of their fun, caring personalities.  What a blessing it will be to get to know them so much better!    

 The beginning of a positive thinking trend:

It’s taking a lot of convincing but I think I (Kelsi) am getting better at framing my thinking more positively-with the encouragement of others of course. “Oh, those beastly spiders hanging out on the walls… I am SO thankful for them because they are good at catching pesky flies and annoying mosquitoes.  Oh, those giant geckos/skinks making themselves at home in my bedroom… I am SO thankful for them because they eat the spiders and bugs that live in my room.  Oh, the hulking cockroaches that scamper across the floor when you least expect it… I am SO thankful for them because -- well, we are still trying to figure out why those are so important but for now we will just be thankful for them I guess.

On a more serious note.   

  

I think Mel and I turned to each other during our first few days here and kept said, “This is so amazing!”  We are definitely overwhelmed by the joy and the work the Lord is doing here in Zambia.  This country is so beautiful and so are the people who live here.  What a blessing this experience has been and we continue to pray for God’s guidance in the work that he has us doing here. Soli Deo Gloria! 

Sending hugs from Africa,

Kelsi and Melanie

Settling In

Greetings from Lusaka, Zambia! Kelsi and I are safe and sound, and we have finally caught up on our sleep. We apologize for the lack of blog updates; the internet is not always reliable at our house.

Some fast facts to catch you up on the past few days:

Hours of sleep during our 36 hours of travel: 4 or 5

Number of times we’ve attributed our foolishness and garbled sentences to jet lag: >12 (And we will continue using this excuse for the next week or four.)

Number of mosquito bites: 1 (Not bad!)

Number of trips to the grocery store: 3 (Going once a day is totally normal, right?)

Number of times we have ripped a grocery bag and spilled our groceries while walking home: >5

This all occurred on our first day. Picture two sweaty, white girls struggling under bags of groceries; one of them is also holding 5 kg of carrots, while the other carries a gigantic jug of water like a baby. So much for blending in….The most embarrassing part of this one-mile trek was when we walked past a woman carrying a basket on her head and her child strapped to her back; her hands were free. We have much to learn!

Number of times I (Melanie) have made a child cry: 1

The children of the seminary students and wives’ have been slowly overcoming their shyness. They linger around the classroom at the end of each class session, and they peek out from behind pillars with shy smiles. They are all beautiful, with perfect skin, huge eyes, and even bigger smiles. They are so adorable that we are already devising schemes to smuggle a few back in our suitcases!

So at this point, you are judging me and wondering how I could be so cruel as to make one of these beautiful children cry. Let me explain. At the end of class today, a little girl toddled in to see her mother. Probably two years old and wearing a puffy orange diaper, she took two steps, looked at me and started shrieking. The only way to describe her face is pure terror. Her mom picked her up, but she continued to cry each time she looked at me. So now you see…I’m not a mean person! Just terrifying, apparently.

Number of times we have been overwhelmed with kindness: Uncountable!

In general, we have found the Zambian people to be very welcoming and kind. The seminary students’ wives (from Malawi and Zambia) have been especially wonderful. In addition, the American missionaries and their wives have been overly gracious and helpful. They have put so much work into making our stay comfortable and helping us feel at home.

Speaking of home, Kelsi and I are living in a very nice house. It has three bedrooms and is much bigger than anything we anticipated. We are gradually getting used to the different critters that live in and around our house. Geckos and wall spiders have taken up residence, and although we know they eat mosquitoes, we haven’t quite gotten used to seeing them scamper around our beds.

The weather has been fantastic - a bit humid, but mostly sunny and refreshing. (Sorry Wisconsinites…we just had to brag a little!) Kelsi and I have been taking advantage of the nice weather by going running, and we definitely attract a lot of attention. The Zambians get their exercise from manual labor, and we have yet to see anyone else jogging. People young and old call out to us, inviting us to have a drink, cheering us on, or calling us muzungos (white people).

We are already lamenting how quickly our time will pass here. There is much to do, see, and experience in just three months! As always, thank you for your prayers. Although our purpose for coming to Lusaka was to teach the people here, we are already learning much more from them and their joyful lives of service to our great King.

In our next blog post, we will write more about our daily activities, students, and the culture. Thanks for reading, and God’s blessings!

The Travel Adventure

We have made it to destination two-of-three before we will finally be arriving in Lusaka, Zambia.  As we write, we are sitting in the Johannesburg airport awaiting our final departure.  We are completely thrown off by the time differences, so much so that we thought we had a 28 hour layover rather than a 4 hour layover.  In just a few short hours we will be meeting so many new people.  We can't wait to get there and see where we will be living.  Thanking God for safe travels thus far!! Soli Deo Gloria!

Introductions

Hello! 

It's Melanie and Kelsi and we are recent graduates of Wisconsin Lutheran College.  Neither of us have ever traveled to Africa before so this is going to be something completely new!  We are beyond excited and can't wait for the adventure that awaits us.  But the thing is, this blog isn’t really about us. It’s about the unfailing love and grace of our great God. We pray that as we connect through this blog, we are mutually inspired and encouraged to serve our Creator and those around us. Thank you in advance for your thoughts and prayers!