The end of an incredible week in Zambia!

Wow! The past few days have been absolutely incredible! I will not be able to convey everything that has gone on and the experiences that we have each had, since I don’t want you to be reading for hours and I need to get to bed as we fly out for Sakeji tomorrow. Basically God has been bringing people into our lives and teaching us so much in this past week and I can’t even begin to imagine what the next six weeks will entail.

Tuesday was our first full day in Lusaka and what a great day it was! Lindsay made us pancakes for breakfast (she is an incredible hostess!) and we headed off to Chifundo to see the grade seven class. All of the other classes are on break until the beginning of next week, but the grade sevens come for a half day all throughout the year. We were a little late leaving for Chifundo because us girls were enjoying our sleep a little too much! Once we finally got to Mercy (you might hear me call it Mercy or Chifundo, they are the same school where Lindsay works) we met some women in the adult classroom who were working on some sewing projects. It was really neat for us to see the women in action and they were very kind showing us what they were working on. One of the teachers instructing the young women was working on crocheting a purse out of videotape! It was a super neat looking bag! We looked at some of the skirts that the women had made and Leanne and I decided to buy one each! They were so beautiful and it was so cool to be purchasing a skirt from the woman who had made it! We got to see the grade sevens for a little bit, but it was quick as they were in the middle of a lesson. They all stood up to greet us with “Good morning madam!” It was such an incredible feeling to be addressed with respect like that and it gave me some butterflies as I anticipated the upcoming weeks at Sakeji.

After leaving Chifundo we went to the Chainda compound to pick Simon up as he and Jess and some others were making deliveries to some of the houses on the compound. While we waited for Simon we hung out on the ‘football’ pitch where a lot of the children were playing. As we got out of the car the children swarmed us as we were new ‘muzugus’ that they wanted to meet. We got to talk and play with the kids for a bit; Leanne played football with the boys (which she found a little difficult in a skirt), Erika took photos with the children who were quite amused with her digital camera, and I made up a handshake on the spot which I taught to some of the boys. We did a shake, ‘pound-it’ and explode and when we exploded we made an explosion noise. The boys thought it was hilarious! It was sad to have to leave, as I’m sure we could have spent the whole day there hanging out with the kids, but it got all three of us excited for going to Sakeji.

We picked up Simon and went into ‘town’ which is actually what we call downtown, but here it is just called town. We needed to go in to pick up our bus tickets to Livingstone and exchange some of our US $ for Zambian Kwacha. It was also neat to see downtown Lusaka as it has big commercial buildings, similar to what I am used to being in a city centre, but there was lots of sand and TONS of people selling things on the streets. Traffic getting into town was horrendous so as we waited Lindsay gave us a bit of coaching for what we needed to do once we got to the bus stop. However, no amount of preparation would have gotten me ready for this experience. As soon as we pulled up people flooded our car trying to direct us one way or another. I was so grateful to God for Lindsay at this point because she remained calm and told us exactly what we needed to do. We got out of the car and went straight to the booth and purchased our tickets. It was the strangest feeling, but to be honest I have never so badly wished I was not white. As I prayed for God to protect the four of us in that moment He blessed me with a peace, knowing that even amidst the madness of that scene He was holding us in His hands. Lindsay came to pick us up and we headed back home.

Once we got back home a man who we think was named Charles came to show us some of the artwork that he had done and to see if Lindsay’s guest would be interested in any. His work completely took my breath away and we each got a variety of things. It was so neat to be able to purchase original artwork straight from the artist himself. It reminded me of the beautiful painting I have back home from Ben Sloetjes and it was so neat to be able to support another incredible artist on the other side of the world. The really neat part of this was that the man offered to paint us our own pictures and deliver them at the end of the week. I have never had a painting made customly for me before so this was such an amazing thing!


Later that night, we (Lindsay, Jess, Atotwe, Simon, Erika, Leanne and I) travelled to CVC which is the Christian radio station in Lusaka. Lindsay’s friend Choolwe is the broadcaster for the evening show called “New Gen” which runs from 18:00-20:00 so we were going to see the station and listen to the evening program. To transport all of those people we had to get the big 15 seater van from the office. At the office we met a man named Cosmas who is the head of the school on the compound. He is currently building a high school on the compound and we all joked about us coming back to teach at his schools once we finished our degrees. Although it was casual conversation, I couldn’t help but be excited at the possibility of coming back! We also met Ken and Kathy Riemer who are the head couple for SIM (the organization that Lindsay is here with). It was neat to meet fellow Canadians (from Oakville) and their children had actually gone to Sakeji! All of the connections down here are crazy!! Once we got to CVC we found out that that night they were having guests on the show that were motivational speakers and they discussed the topic of mindset, vision and goal-setting. It was not only a great opportunity to be in a live radio cast, but to hear what these gentlemen had to say was interesting and encouraging. It was so cool for me to see the way God introduced that message to me that morning as I read Romans 12 which talks about renewing and transforming our minds. He continued to bring this theme out through the rest of my week.

The next morning I was up at 5:00 am for a shower as we had to be back down to the bus station for 6:30 with a bus to Livingstone at 7:00. Everything ran fairly smoothly and although the bus was packed for nearly the full six hours, the ride was fairly decent. We arrived in Livingstone and got to Jolleyboys which was the place we were staying for the next couple of days. I clearly have no experiences in hostels because what I was expecting was completely different than what Jolleyboys was. It was an extremely nice facility with incredibly low prices! We unpacked quickly and then hopped on a taxi that took us to Victoria Falls. I cannot describe to you in words what Victoria Falls is like. Hopefully my pictures will do a better job of describing this place, but I don’t think even that will be able to do it justice. After sunset we headed back to Jolleyboys and had a nice big dinner as hiking around the falls had taken the energy out of all of us. It was neat for the four of us to get to know each other better and laugh about some of the adventures we had had that day. Later in the evening I was able to have a really good talk with Simon about life and God as we had each earlier shared some of our story with each other on the bus to Livigstone. It was excellent to share what God has been doing in my life and listen and discuss some of the questions he had. At the end of the night I was smiling so big because I have been praying that God would bring people into my path on this journey that need to hear about His love and that would benefit from my testimony. I would ask for you to join me in praying for this continually with Simon and all of the others that we have come across so far and are yet to come across.

The next day was an action packed day and one of the most incredible of my life. Starting with observing God’s beautiful creation in our game park drive, participating in some “extreme” activities and ending with a beautiful sunset cruise that was included in our game park price! Witnessing firsthand the majesty of God and the awe-striking wonder of His handiwork, was simply breathtaking. We have tons of pictures, videos and stories to share with you when we get back home, but for now I will leave it at that :)

Later that evening, back at Jolleyboys we were lounging in the sort of common area and were able to have some interesting conversations with some people who were on vacation from their projects with the Peace Corps in Zambia, Namibia and Botswana. Their views and perspectives of what they had seen so far in Africa, were a little shocking and left me feeling a little unsettled as I went to bed. After praying, reading my Bible on the bus home and discussing it with the girls this evening, we realized that these people have a completely different perspective on being here. While their mission is very project oriented, our main goal here is to give the Love that is overflowing within us indiscriminately. In John, Jesus calls us to “love as I have loved” and in being obedient to that we are here to share a love that cannot be measured or limited.

Taking that perspective and mindset, the three of us head off to Sakeji School in the morning where we will be challenged, stretched and used by God to love in whatever way the people we encounter need us to love. Although I have no clue what the next six weeks will entail, I have full confidence that if it is even a taste of the adventure we have had so far this week, we are in for a crazy ride!

I love you all and wish you could be here experiencing these people and places with me, but I ask for your prayers as we go on to the next chapter of this journey. Our enemy will be working hard to distract us and we beg that you pray against this. We long to be used completely, never lacking in zeal and I ask for you to join us in these prayers. If you have any specific prayer requests or notes you would like to send us personally, you can send an email to ashley.e.nugent@gmail.com and I will pass it along to the girls. Your prayers and messages mean so much to us!

We miss each of you!

With love from the Creator of Love,

Ash (and the girls)