Sharing Camp LIFE experiences with friends

We have had the opportunity to share about our Camp LIFE experiences with several friends and some are praying about going with us next year.  We will meet with our church friends on Friday evening and again hope that there will be folks interested in going.  Please pray that we represent Family Legacy and especially the great needs of the orphans well.

After going to Zambia for 2 years, I am so surprised by how much I feel connected to this ministry and that I have such a great desire to be back there.  This trip really grabbed my heart and I long to be with my girls from Camp LIFE and the kids at Blessing House.  I guess I'm sharing this because I never would have thought at this stage in my life I could become so drawn to a ministry.  I guess too it's an opportunity to encourage each of you to connect with a ministry that really touches your heart.  It can be something right in your neighborhood, your city or state or who knows, maybe across the world, just include it in your life.  You will not be sorry but truly blessed by the things you can do for others.  And as I discovered on my 1st trip to Zambia, it wasn't the trip there that was so powerful, but the journey to make that trip.  There was no way around it, God became huge in that journey.

I'm praying that you will find your ministry and a wonderful relationship with God on the way!

My last 2 girls are sponsored

Praise the Lord, my last 2 girls are sponsored.  Both of the girls were sponsored by families that had previously sponsored children but they "shifted", meaning they moved away from Family Legacy's service area. Juliet was so sad to not be going to school and as smart as she appeared, she really needed to be there.  Fridah was the little girl that Kevin & I were sponsoring and she somehow slipped through the cracks and appeared to have shifted.  Then she found me in the compound this summer when we were witnessing in the neighborhood.  What a blessing this is for those precious girls and us.  Please pray for them as they will not begin school until January and that may be confusing to them.

For those of you that are sponsoring children, this is a great time to write to them.  It is so easy to do and you need only share a few things.  The main goal is that they know someone cares for them and is praying for them.  You may refer to us as Auntie Lori for the girls and Uncle Kevin for the boys.  All of the kids are believers but could use encouragement and support in how to live out that life.  They learned about putting on the Armor of God this summer and all received a New Testament Bible.  Sending a prayer or scripture to them is most valuable.  And always remember to ask them about their prayer requests.  That's a great way to get them to write back and for you to check in on their situation.

Thanks to all of you that are sponsoring our kids.  They are so precious to us.  I am still in awe that I get to be an advocate for them and love them all the way from here to there.

Lilly is 1!

OMG, Lilly turned 1 on August 14th.  I just can't believe the year has flown by so fast and that we weren't there with her, but I'm learning many grandmothers do that every day!  I'll share pictures, which some of you have probably seen if you're on facebook, but Amanda did not let living in Lusaka, Zambia stop her from having some of the cutest decorations for Lilly's party with the neighborhood.  I've been shopping with her in Lusaka and you have to be some creative to do what she did with what is available there.  I think she said she used wrapping paper, doillies and very small rope.  I'm so thankful for the support that everyone at Am Com gives to them.  We did not have the pleasure of meeting their friends, the Guffey's, but I know how special they are to them too.  OK, here you go, pictures of our newest 1 year old in a precious dress her mom made her.

This is inside their home.  They turned the desk sideways for the party.  Below is their side yard and it looks like they have a new fire pit.  You enter the complex on the other side of that wall.  They are the 1st of 5 homes.

Our boys are sponsored

Praise the Lord, our boys are sponsored!  We were surprised and thrilled that Sunday school friends sponsored the 4 boys that were left to be sponsored.  Those boys are all so smart and so badly needed to be in school.  Education is critical for these children and with that is the hope that they will be great leaders for their country one day.  Please pray for those that will sponsor Juliet and Fridah.  I have confidence that they will be sponsored soon.

Life is all but back to normal and today I shopped at Walmart and had to restrain from buying clothes and goodies for our little Zambian family.  I was so busy with that before our trip and now I'm just really missing them.  Taylor, Amanda and Lilly try to go out to the village once a week and they said the kids are doing amazingly well.  There home is always picked up, beds are made and toys put away if no one is playing with them.  Our American kids could learn a thing or two from them.  I do think the difference is that they so appreciate what they have.  Having next to nothing one day and then having your own bed and a shower the next is huge.  Last week was Lilly's birthday and the kids made her a card (something they would have never done or been able to do before the end of June).  My favorite line is "we are very proud of your child our sister."  They are our family and we are so blessed by that.  This is by far the best thing our family has ever done!

Please consider sponsoring a child

Between Kevin & I we have 6 children we need to have sponsored. We would love to answer any questions you might have about each child listed below.  You can go to www.familylegacy.com, click on Father's Heart, choose Sponsor a child, click on Ambassador Search (and use Lori & Kevin's name) to sponsor a child.  Your sponsorship will provide for Christian schooling and training, a meal a day at school, several food drops throughout the year, and an ongoing relationship with a Discipleship Leader who can be aware of their well being.  Also as the number of Americans continues to increase during CampLIFE, many of these children get to return to camp.  Please pray about how you might be a part of one of these children's lives.  It is a matter of life and death in most cases.

Where our information may not give you the idea that they are in great need of sponsorship, it is simply information they were only willing to give us.  After spending a week with these children, it becomes quite clear that things are not as they have said.  They are hungry, tired, afraid  and have more than likely been involved in situations that children should not be.  All of these children know Christ as their Savior, but to add education, Christian training and a meal into their every day lives would greatly increase their chances for survival in their communities and prepare them for a future.

Juliet says shes lives with both parents (but that can be an Aunt, Uncle, Sister, anyone that takes care of the is referred to as parents) and 6 siblings in a 2 room house.  No one in their family goes to school because of finances.  That's her desire.  She wants to be a nurse.  She suffers from limited food and bad dreams.  She asked me to pray for her and her brothers to be able to go to school and finish.

Fridah is the little girl that was in my group last summer.  Kevin & I sponsored her, but after Family Legacy lost track of her, we began sponsoring another little girl.  She found me on Thursday of this year's CampLIFE while witnessing in their community.  She is in a government school and I was unable to interview her as to what is going on in her life now.  She is very sad and for some reason she ran to get pictures that including a picture of her mother.  I feel certain she doesn't have her parents any longer.  My desire is for her to be sponsored once again.

Blessing

Ezekiel

Obet

Petros

I will have Kevin update the information on his boys ASAP but I do know that he feels Ezekiel is very smart and desperately needs to be in school.  

Our Blessing Family is doing great!

Taylor, Amanda & Lilly get to visit our family at Blessing House and say they are all doing very well and are really building a sweet family together.  Amanda said she witnessed one of our older girls, Abigail I think, helping Kenyanta get on the bus to go home the other day.  I love that picture of the kids helping and looking out for each other so much.  Also we've heard from a couple of different folks that our kids are so proud of their home and are so good at keeping it up.  I would say house moms, Lynette and Monica, are doing a great job.  Please pray for them as they are training and loving each of these children.  Our children's names are Kenyanta, Edson, Bright, Moses, Mary P., Veronica, Juliet, Abigail, Patricia, Mary M., Rhoda and Mevis.  We have recently learned of their stories and we will be sharing those soon.  Suffice it to say, they suffer from not only physical illnesses, but very difficult life issues.  As you pray for them, remember that God knows them and all that they have been through and He will restore them.  Here are the precious faces of each of them.

Please pray for our children

Below are our children that we spent the week with. What a privilege it was to be with them and share the good news of Jesus Christ. What a blessing it was for all of our children to now how the greatest gift, salvation in Christ. Pray for them to grow in Christ and in their knowledge of Him. Pray for them to have faith in Him and his promises and to trust Him in all they do. Pray for boldness to call out in His name when they need His protection. And pray for blessings on their lives.

Blessing  (not sponsored)

Nkole, 16 (sponsored)

Paul, 14 (sponsored)

Sidney (sponsored)

Ezekiel (not sponsored)

James (sponsored)

Petros (not sponsored)

Fredrick, 16 (sponsored)

Obet (not sponsored)



Ian, 14 (sponsored)

Martha, 14 (sponsored)

Rebecca, 14 (sponsored)

Kashika, 11 (sponsored)

Juliet, 12 (not sponsored)

Memory, 12 (sponsored)

Lizzie, 12 (sponsored)

Patricia, 11 (sponsored)

Anna, 11 (sponsored)

Beatrice, 12 (sponsored)

Grace, 11 (sponsored)

Friday we delivered gifts & said goodbye!

Friday is a huge day at CampLIFE.  Not only do we have a final large session, but the children receive gifts.  They got a bookmark, a couple of sweets (4 starbursts), a certificate, a t-shirt, a bandana, their shoes and a New Testament Bible.  It was so thrilling to see their precious faces with all the excitement about these gifts, things our children can get any day of their lives.  If you could see the condition of their shoes that they come in, you would be so blessed to know that you were able to give them new shoes just because.  Kevin had a couple of boys that shared 1 good pair, so they each had one good shoe on and one bad one on.  That'll make you stop and think about all we have.

Below are my girls trying on new shoes.

It was also a day of saying goodbye which was incredibly sad.  The reality that they will not be enjoying another day away from their communities is very difficult, but mostly that they have been loved and encouraged and spared difficult times during the week and that is priceless for them.  There were many tears, but the reminder that last year when we didn't think we'd ever see each other again proved wrong, they left me praying that I would return again next year.  I really can't put into words how I feel about these children.  The Lord opened a whole new world for me last year that got bigger this year.  I see these sweet faces so often and when I least expect it.  I truly think God intends for them to be forever in my heart and I trust they will be blessed by Him.

Sharing the Gospel in the community

On Thursday, we headed out to meet our kids in their community of Kanyama to share the Gospel with their neighbors.  This is also when I reconnected with Fridah.  Between mine and Kevin's group, they witnessed to about 75 people (some in groups) using the Evangecube, and about 15 prayed to receive Christ.  It's awfully encouraging and remarkable how easy it is for these children to be bold in sharing Christ.  They do understand He's their only hope and they are excited to share Him.