New Ministry

Our Ministry this month is quite interesting!  We are only one day in on a three day orientation, but I can already tell, it is going to be a good month.  We are in Chiang Mai working with Lighthouse in Action.  They have three main ministries to work with, and we will also be helping around the complex as needed.  I might get to paint a little this month if I am lucky.

The three main ministries are as follows:
Love Acts: This ministry comes down to showing God's love to people through relationships.

• Bar ministry- making friends with the working girls in the bars, showing the love of Christ, being a listening ear, and a lot of praying and interceding.
• Monk Chat- going to temples just to talk with monks.  Listening to them, asking questions, sharing our beliefs as well, and overall, just building relationships.
• Slum Ministry-  I am going to request of my team that I can spend quite a bit of time with this one.  Usually it is playing with the kids in the nearby slums...they are hard affected by the Red Light District and need time to just be a kid again.  But two days before we came, a huge fire ravaged the slums.  They lost everything!  And so we are trying to raise money to get them some food and clothes and the like.

X-Life: This ministry involves going to the rural parts of Northern Thailand to work with a build relationships with the poorer families.  The more we can help them and give them options and opportunities, the less likely they will be to sell their children for food money.  We come with the Good News.  I am not certain if our team will be able to go into the rural areas, but I sure hope we do.

Zion Cafe:  Unfortunately the cafe is currently under construction.  But it is a place where rescued working girls can learn a trade in a safe environment.  Even though the cafe is closed, we still have four new ladies starting their second week here.  They cook and clean, earning a pay, until the cafe re-opens in June.  We will provide English language classes for them in the afternoons as well.

Continue to pray for our ministry this month, and please see my World Race Blog to hear more about things that are happening; debrief, ministry, person revelations, and our team Salt N Light.

Feeling More Like a Family

One of the benefits of living with a family here in Zambia is the joy that comes with doing family-like things.  It was slow going at first which is to be expected when seven foreign 20-somethings suddenly start living in your home.  I have been able to help when possible with the baby or laundry; however I haven’t done much other than that.  But recently, I have been blessed by our hosts.

Two days ago we invited the family to a meal.  Kaycie our fearless culinary leader made chili, rice, and lentils.  They politely accepted the food but I could tell that it was far spicier than they were used to.  We had a little bit of awkward dinner conversation and then parted ways for cleaning dishes.

This I believe opened the door for more.  I have lingered more in the kitchen asking cooking questions (and I am so going to try that recipe for steamed pumpkin leaves when I get back to the States!) and I have made more small talk with the niece who lives here.  Our host’s wife, Miriam, and her niece sat with me and a teammate to play an interesting version of Crazy Eights…which I lost at quite often.  And Miriam gave us fresh baked scones.

This morning I was washing clothes in my bucket when Miriam came out in exercise gear (a blue velvet sweat suit) and asked me to walk with her for exercise.  We ended up going down to the market which was full of vendors and fresh veggies.  While buying she spoke in Bemba (the language of the copper belt…here they speak a different dialect) with a vendor who was very impressed that as a white person I had such nice hips.  Later Miriam told us about her conversation and said that it was good that I was larger.  Ha ha…I never considered that to be a good thing, but I will take it.

On our walk today, we discussed many things.  Later I will be showing Miriam how to thread her sowing machine and perhaps she will let me hem my Chitenge wrap.  I am just so happy to be with a family these days.  I don’t know what the next few weeks will hold but I am happy.

Below are some photos of my time here in Zambia:

Miriam Showing us How to Wrap the Chitenge

My Students and Me

Teaching my class.  Bishop Alec came in to take this Photo.

Video Blog Haiti

We have a 16 hour layover in the Miami Airport so I decided to make a video.  I am not good at resting...haha.  Pardon the Quality...it isn't my good camera.