A year ago today I boarded a plane to take me to South Africa and then the next day headed to Zambia! It's really hard to believe it's been a year! I've been wanting to write a final blog post about my time in Zambia and just haven't had a chance with the holidays and engagement! So here goes!
The last week of school was hectic with the last quizzes and tests being given and graded and then end of year grades being entered and writing names on certificates! We had a ton of fun in our classroom with educational games and art projects and we even had a representative from Answers in Genesis come and speak about dinosaurs! I was able to put together little End of Year/Christmas bags for my students and pass those out and then came closing day!
The kids sang, did a reading of the Christmas story, were recognized for their achievements, given Coke floats (a first for them), and many pictures were taken!
God is good!
I know I mentioned prayer requests often in these updates and I just want to take a minute and praise God for the answers to prayer He granted!
First is travel... I didn't clock my miles this year... but there were a lot of them, intercontinental, intercountry (if that's a word), and interstate. Praising Him for safety in travel!
Second, I mentioned a girl often who really struggled with obeying, lying, rebellion, etc often and I praise Him for working in her heart! There is still much growing and changing to take place, but i was encouraged by this. Her sponsor from the States was visiting CABC the last week of school and came out to visit FCV and took some time to chat and show pictures to this girl, her twin, and another child she sponsored at the orphanage. At the end of that time she asked the girls what she could pray for them for and this girl responded with "pray that I would obey and honor the people here at FCV. I know I don't often act the way I should." This doesn't seem like much, but hearing that from the sponsor made my year! God is at work in this little 10-year-old heart!
Third, NO MALARIA!! I think that explains itself :D
Fourth, I was able to share my testimony with the kids. Because they get so many mission teams through, I was unsure at how well they would respond to me saying that this was my testimony and so I just simply told them my story, without my name. I told them of the power of God. How He had saved me, a girl who struggled with her inner thoughts of anger, rebellion, and unkindness and how after she trusted Christ, the same power that raised Jesus and gave her new life, was the same power that could give her victory over sins! At the end when I told them I was that person, they had questions! It was so cool to have the opportunity to talk to them about the power of God and so after that we learned the song Behold Our God! Sometimes it's hard to tell what's going on in their little minds and one of my little guys who often seemed to be a million words away, later wrote in a note, "thank you for talking to us about the power of God! I will never forget that!" Amen! He might forget me, that teacher who only came for a year, but hopefully he will never forget the power of God!
There were so many little blessings like this! In our world of microwaves and 2-day Amazon Prime shipping sometimes we forget that God works in people over time! Drawing them closer and closer to Himself, in His timing. It may not be in 5 minutes or in 2 days, but He is at work... "from each tribe and tongue and nation, He is leading sinners home!"
Now I'm back to serving Him in the U.S. Yes, it's different here, but really it's still as simple as my favorite missionary quote by David Hosaflook. "Pray. Meet people. Tell them about Jesus."
