Back on the Radar

So, one might wonder "what happened to the Smiths?" As we get closer to departure, I find that my head has stopped spinning momentarily and I have a renewed desire to share about Zambia and what the Lord has been doing in our lives.

First and foremost, huge thank yous are in order. To all who have contributed to the Lord's work in Zambia, thank you so much for blessing us with the opportunity to represent you in Africa. Your selfless giving is so encouraging, and we are thankful for the relationships we have with each of you.

Last night I had the opportunity to hang out with a good friend who told me he wanted to contribute to our trip. Needless to say I was thrilled. The conversation then turned to "so, what is Zambia like?" Realizing that not everyone rocks the Discovery channel as much as me, my next few posts will be purely about Zambia. God created Zambia with extreme beauty and finesse, but like all of creation, sin has fractured that balance. The aftermath of this fracture is what we are going to combat, all the while drinking in the magnitude of the Lord's creation.

My blogging bug is back, so be looking for upcoming posts in the next few days!

First Camp Life Meeting

Its been a while since we posted last, so we have a lot to share!

We had our first Camp Life prep meeting with Family Legacy last Sunday and we are even more excited than before!! Amanda stated it well when she said that it appears every aspect of Camp Life was and is thoroughly prayed through to have a real impact on the Kingdom. The theme word for Camp Life this summer is JOY:

“the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

JOY will be an acronym taught each day.

J esus

O thers

Y ou

The beginning of the week will focus on who Jesus is and what he teaches.

The Thursday of camp will be a very special time, as Amanda and I will each take our 15 children and pass out blessings to the community in pairs. These children who have nothing will have the opportunity to give packages of sugar, cooking oil, and meilie-meal (a coarse corn flour) to people who place little value on orphan lives. Though only around $10 in cost, the gift itself is of great value to those who will receive it, and the joy of serving others will greatly excite the children!!

The last day of camp the children will be reminded that their reward for serving others will come in heaven, but Family Legacy wants to give them a small preview of what that will be like. Each child will be surprised by a Camp Life bag that is full of their own bag of sugar, their own cooking oil, and their own bag of meilie-meal! This is epic because a majority of these children are living in homes that were poor even before the orphan came to live with them. Due to the anger and frustration of their new caretakers, many of these children have become domestic slaves or worse to “earn” their food and shelter. This will be an opportunity for them to add value to these families.

For their own use they will also receive a small box with a number of exciting trinkets that are a pure luxury; soap, pencils, stickers, toothbrushes, etc. We will post a list of the items for the boxes in the near future so that we can be praying over them specifically.

Emma's Story part 1 part 2

Written by Holly Scurry, Director of Ministry Operations
Monday, December 8th, 2008

This is a blog post that I read early on in our decision making process that touched me deeply. I have been amazed, and will undoubtedly remain so, at how the Lord provides hope for the seemingly hopeless.

This post broke my heart in a wonderful way.

Statistics at a Glance

Zambia

Population
11,862,740
Rank in the world: 71st

Age Structure
0-14 years: 45.1% (male 2,685,142 / female 2,659,771)
15-64 years: 52.6% (male 3,122,305 / female 3,116,846)
65 years and over: 2.3% (male 114,477 / female 164,199)

Median Age
total: 17 years
male: 16.9 years
female: 17.2 years

Population Growth Rate
1.631%
Rank in the world: 81st

Death Rate
21.34 deaths / 1,000 population
Rank in the world: 3rd

Infant Mortality Rate
total: 101.2 deaths / 1,000 live birthscountry comparison to the world: 8th
male: 105.97 deaths / 1,000 live births
female: 96.28 deaths / 1,000 live births

Life Expectancy at Birth
total population: 38.63 years
male: 38.53 years
female: 38.73 years
Rank in the world: 223rd

Total Fertility Rate
5.15 children born/woman
Rank in the world: 22nd

HIV/AIDS Adult Prevalence
15.2%
Rank in the world: 7th

HIV/AIDS People Living with HIV/AIDS
1.1 million
Rank in the world: 11th

HIV/AIDS Deaths
56,000
Rank in the world: 12th

Major Infectious Diseases
degree of risk: very high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: malaria and plague are high risks in some locations
water contact disease: schistosomiasis
animal contact disease: rabies

Prayer Requests

"brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored"

2 Thessalonians 3:1

This is my prayer today, I ask you to join me in it:

Father, you are the sovereign ruler over all; not limited to man-made borders. I pray that you would make for us fertile soil on which to spread the seed of the gospel. I pray for Family Legacy and the staff of Camp Life as they prepare to accommodate thousands of orphaned children. I pray that the Holy Spirit will protect these children from physical and emotional scars until we meet, and will prepare their heart to be consumed by Christ. Prepare us for Zambia and prepare Zambia for us, that we might be your tool in saving the lost.

Amen.

The Call of God

God is calling us above all else to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the supremacy of God in all of life. No one will be able to rise to the magnificence of the missionary cause who does not feel the magnificence of Christ. There will be no big world vision without a big God. There will be no passion to draw others into our worship where there is no passion for worship.

God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of his name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with his, and, for the sake of his name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join his global purpose. If we do this, God’s omnipotent commitment to his name will be over us like a banner, and we will not lose, in spite of many tribulations (Acts 9:16; Rom. 8:35–39). Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. The Great Commission is first to “delight yourself in the LORD” (Ps. 37:4) and then to declare, “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (Ps. 67:4). In this way, God will be glorified from beginning to end, and worship will empower the missionary enterprise until the coming of the Lord.

"Let the Nations be Glad! The Supremacy of God in Missions", by John Piper, page 43

Camp Life Photos by Cherie Strader