Saturday, May 30, 2009

First day recap...

Writing here, at 6:00 am on Sunday morning before we leave for church. Yesterday (our first day here) was quite a day. Although we had nothing planned, and did not even leave the quarters of our home, we still found much to keep us busy.
Upon arrival to Zambia we took a bus to a village called Kalinga Kalinga, which is just outside of Lusaka. This is where our homes are. There is a large concrete wall (with wound barbed wire along the top surface) surrounding two small pink homes; this is our residency J The house that I am living in has three bedrooms, a bathroom, small living room and a kitchen. The 6 of us girl interns live here. Mary Leslie is my roommate and we sure have made a little home out of our room. Yesterday, what I think really put the final touch on it, was hanging up the mosquito net. We used some string from a bag of oranges that we bought to tie some bows on it, and of course, we used my athletic training tape to stick it to the wall. Mary Leslie didn’t exactly like the “decorations,” however I think that she is used to them now, haha.
We spent probably a good half an hour yesterday also trying to arrange our beds. Our room is small and the beds are almost twin size, a bit bigger actually. With all our luggage and being extremely tired, it took forever. We would rearrange it and then realize that it didn’t fit, or the door wouldn’t close, or something crazy. Running on such little sleep, we were laughing hysterically basically the entire time. It was quite fun.
After settling in, all of us interns figured we better take a nap. We each slept for about two hours and I think that we came to an agreement that when we woke up, we all felt either a. like we had gotten hit by a semi truck or b. we were slightly intoxicated. I’d say personally, I was probably a combination of both, haha.
Later we went to the other house (which is literally 10 steps out our back door) and played some cards and just spent some time together. We shared time getting on the internet (which as of now we do not have wireless, so that will definitely put a limit on my internet time) and visited with Patricia (a staff member of EOH who cleans and cooks). The power was out basically for the majority of the evening, so Patricia cooked for us over candles. We had a nice candle-lit dinner, that was quite lovely.
I forgot to mention what happened before we took a nap. Clearly, am still out of it a bit. Mama, Mareta, and Cypheen (EOH staff members) met us at the airport and then brought us back here. Each of us interns were given a cell phone and taught how to use it. It is very expensive here to talk, so we were instructed to avoid over use.
Then Mareta and the 6 of us girls began to talk. We just laughed and laughed with Mareta- she is such a wonderful woman of God. She told us parts of her story, how she is close to adopting a child, and we were excited for her. I later asked her a few questions: 1. How have you seen the Lord moving in your life in the last month? She answered with a long response about an incredible revelation she had just experienced, about righteousness. The smile on her face as she shared about this revelation was beautiful.
She then turned to me that my questioning had caught her off guard. She then asked me to answer the same, and then all of the girls. We all spent time sharing what the Lord has been doing in our lives, and amongst us interns, most of us somewhere in it noted the reality of the Lord’s provision in our lives, as we sit here in Zambia.
Skipping back ahead now, to after dinner with Patricia, we just spent time talking with her and listening to her story. She shared about her family and children- she is also a wonderful woman.
We waited up and then had a meeting. Paul and Kim (a couple that is in transition to becoming full time missionaries with EOH here) got back and they had formulated a tentative schedule for our time here. It was very nice to see the “big picture,” however, we now understand a reality that we will be extremely busy for the next 2 months. The schedule is wonderful though, and I really am looking forward to getting in the thick of it.
Well, I better get going. We are leaving for church and then spending the day with Martha (EOH director) and her family (including a 3 week old new baby boy named Josiah). I am quite excited.
I am trying to write as often as I can, however, I never am sure the next time I will be able to post.

Lots of Love!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Praying for you Sophie & asking God for safety, good health & wisdom in your time so far away from home. You are doing amazing things for His kingdom - thank you!

kerwin said...

Apparently my mom has an account here so yay! I laughed so hard when I read about you decorating your room. I can just imagine how that all went down, haha!! Everything sounds amazing-- praying for you, thinking of you, and miss you!!!

Love you Soph <3

-Kayla