Holiday in Zambia

What an amazing time Nicole and I have been having! I wish you all could be here to experience this. Words can’t even describe the things we have seen and heard. We had the opportunity to travel with some of the missionaries serving with AIM in southern Namibia to Livingston, Zambia. I’m thanking God for the time we had to experience His creation and fellowship with other believers. It was such a refreshing trip. One of the first things we got to do while in Zambia was see Victoria Falls. This was the first of the seven natural wonders of the world that I have ever seen and it was breath taking. I couldn’t help but get tears in my eyes at the first glimpse of the falls. I know you all are shocked at my response, “What, Captain cries a lot had tears in her eyes? Who would have guessed?!” Seriously though, it was one of those moments when you think how could anyone deny the existence of our Creator God? The power of the roaring water was crazy and the beauty of it all…We stood in silence for a while and then began singing praise songs. I will never forget that moment.

Nicole and I had a couple other awesome experiences on our holiday, more opportunities for God to show off His creativity in nature. We traveled to Botswana for a safari and saw kudu, baboons, impala, giraffes, hippos, crocodile, over a hundred elephants, and what we are choosing to believe was a black mamba snake! At one point we were on a boat in the river surrounded by hippos, watching a huge herd of elephants bathing in the river! Another moment I will not soon forget.

As if that wasn’t enough, the next day we went walking with lions and rode an elephant. I love any opportunity to get up and close with animals and these were two fantastic animal encounters!  I’m pretty sure our elephant, Dan, was ready to come back to the states with us.

The best part of our trip was the time we had to fellowship with the other AIM missionaries. What an amazing group of girls and one sweet boy! I don’t think I was prepared to be in Africa without my support system back home.  This was a treat to get to hang-out with new friends. We were staying in a hostile and met some really fun people while there. Nicole was thrilled to meet a few British friends and get some tips on how to improve her British accent!  She’s getting quite good. We had several chances to have spiritual conversations with in our group and with our new friends. God laid out some amazing opportunities to share His love and truth! It’s so fun to see how He orchestrates these things and shows us that every moment can and should be used for His glory.

We had a great time and felt completely refreshed and ready to start back to work in Rundu when we got back. Please continue to pray for opportunities to form relationships with the children and volunteers. A few new responsibilities have been added to our plates that I think will foster this growth. Nicole will be leading story time for the older children at project and I will be leading short devotions for the volunteers. Pray that we would be listening for the Lord’s guidance and not taking things into our own hands. Also, please be in prayer for healing for our friend Daryl. He broke his foot playing soccer with some of the children last week and will be non-weight bearing for a month. This will be a huge change for him. Thank you all for your support, prayers, and letters. It is so encouraging!