Zambizi for Sheezy

So...I'm going to Zambia!!!

Are you Surprised? I sure am! There are so many emotions and thoughts swirling through my mind...my sick mind that just needs rest is actually very full of all sorts of things. I feel on one side that I have let WOG down, I have let Karl down, and wonder how Malawi will feel about this decision. You know I truly love pleasing other people and this is something that maybe God is trying to grow me up from. Malawi was uncertain and no plans were made. I wonder if I should have waited longer, but then I am trying to trust that God will direct me back to Malawi when the timing is right, when all parties involved feel peace about the placement, when I am ready to go. Hands directed toward Zambia, this was not my idea, but I am excited about it. When I first arrived in Africa I felt a sort of tug towards Zambia and quickly dismissed it from my mind, now here I am again and wonder if I should have been more considerate of the idea from the beginning?

I will be working on developing a Psycho-social program for the orphans in Zambia and training a few of the volunteers on how to work with the children's emotional needs. They work primarily with HBC as well as Community Schools, this is exciting for me as I am definitely a big education advocate. I also plan to travel to Congo during my time as well as the project there is in need of training and I will be close enough to just cross the border and help them out when needed. Funny, Zambia I didn't want to go to, Congo I swore I WOULDN'T go to...and now, well, look...I guess we should always be careful when telling God we won't do something huh?! I still plan on going to Malawi but the timing will just be different. I am not sure if I will go before next February or if I will go after my year commitment to Hands has been completed, I am trying not to worry about that and trust that it will happen in the right timing and God will reveal this as it comes.

I will go to Zambia on the 29th of June and we will still be driving except for this time I will be going with a couple named Robin and Salvador. We will camp in a tent along the way (Awesome) and will arrive around the fourth of July. I will still get to see Victoria Falls in Livingston and am very excited about that as well. Robin and Sal are crazy hippies and we are sure to have a blast of a time. Until then I will need to leave the country of South Africa as my Visa was only extended until the 11th of June, my father's birthday, so I will be traveling to Mozambique next weekend. When I come back into the country of South Africa I will get a new 3 month Visa so no one can chase me out! So, in the next month I will have seen South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique with Congo and Malawi still to come. Call me a regular African traveler if you will, that will be my new title. :)

We are working on grant proposals for all 9 of the Home Based Care projects out in Zambia...pray that these will be approved, it means a lot for the projects and wold be a huge blessing. I am working on writing the proposals which has been crazy as I have never done this before and know NOTHING about it so pray for me as well.

You can also pray for my health as I have not been well. A head cold or something is leaving me with stuffy everything and an attention span of an ant. I need energy and also rest. There are very few times that I really feel restful...I am not sure why and am searching my heart about this but pray that I will find some peace and rest, that whatever reason inside of me comes between me and rest will be discovered and conquered! Also, pray for companionship. I am feeling lonely without my friends and finding myself only going so far with the friends I have made around me. this has been a life-long struggle but I would really like to learn how to be vulnerable with others and really authentic.

Thanks to all of you who are keeping up with me and praying for me regularly. It is such a blessing to know that there are people out there that care, not just about my stories, but about my heart and spirit!