Sunday we had church at the Legacy Center with the kids from Tree of Life.
Tree of Life is Family Legacy's ministry for orphans who are so severely beaten or ill that they have gotten legal custody of them and removed them from their home. They provide a house (with 11 other kids) with a house mom, education, clothes, medical care, etc. This is near and dear to me and my family's hearts because I have a little brother there.
Ackim was one of my dad's boys last year at Camp LIFE. He is HIV positive and was not getting the medical attention he needed. My parents started sponsoring him and he was moved to the Tree of Life Village. Ackim was at church Sunday morning and saw Bekah (trying to figure out if it was really her!). When she smiled at him he began looking for Dad. I was facing Ackim when he first saw him and I was overwhelmed with emotion.
His eyes doubled in size! (I'm glad I'm typing this because I am just crying remembering his face!) With a huge smile on his face he RAN over to my dad and gave him a huge hug. He had grown so much! We finally got to meet our little brother in person and not just look at his picture on the fridge. He looked at us like we were all crazy because we had all lost it at this point! His smile is just so contagious and I really do love him like he's my little brother!
After church, we had lunch and a chance to shop for some souvenirs. It was kind of like a craft show with all kinds of vendors set up on the soccer field.
This was at one of the beautiful lookout points at the Summit. Most Zambians have never been able to see what their country looks like so it's the perfect place to show these kids where all they can have an influence!
Before we headed back to our villas, we got to meet and spend time with our Evangelist for the week. Miriam would be helping me during my one on one times with my girls (blessing times). She translated what I said and then what the girls said. She also helped me figure out the schedule each day. This was her third week to do Camp LIFE.
We got back to our villas and got ready for dinner at the dining hall. After dinner we watched a movie on the gospel that I cried through. Goodness, I needed to get my emotions in check! I hadn't even met my girls!! :) We then had a service project to get ready for our first day of camp. Each of the kids coming to Camp LIFE would get a necklace with their name on it. So we cut the string for each of the necklaces and put them together in baggies. The kids would be putting their necklaces together while they waited for us to arrive.
On our way back to the villa, we had to pick up a gallon of milk, peanut butter and a loaf of bread per person. Each night we all had to make EIGHT PBJ sandwiches. We made 2 for our apostle, 2 for our evangelist, 2 for a deacon and 2 for ourselves. I was glad I liked PBJ's! We all headed back to our rooms and tried to get as much rest as we could before our first day of camp!
I found the video we watched Sunday night on You Tube and posted it below. What an incredible picture and reminder of the freedom we have in knowing Christ!
we are proud our son has been joined to Godly in-laws
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