Raaawrrr.. clop clop.. grunt... snap... crackle.. run

Well HELLOOOooo there!! I have not seen this blog in quite awhile! Just what would be the reason you might ask? Well friends, family and friendly fresh water fishes I have been having adventures and frankly have been having way too much fun without the interwebs so my apology is only directed at you who are missing my little updatios. First time viewers my updatios are circular in physicality and taste something like cheerios only better.
Yes, admittedly I am rambling but this is what blogs are for it's the compelling factor right? Right? Actually probably not I think in reality you might want to hear something solid and chew-able so just don't let your cheerios sit in your milk for very long or they'll taste like sugary sponges. Eat quickly!

My week has been filled with unexpected stuff well like always really, no surprise there. You never really know what your week or even your day might bring here in Zambia so it is best to not plan to far in advance and if you are planning on doing missions in the future please do grow a sense of humor it will save your bacon. I HAVE NOT HAD BACON IN SO LONG. Bacon, bacon, bacon. OK let's focus. Still loving it in this beautiful country and man am I wondering again how I am ever going to leave. I just realized this today.. today marks almost exactly four months until I pick up my life again and move back to the mother land! So weird. You do not know how fast time goes until you take a look back. My life may or may not be very weird without this place, definitely at first.

I have been working now with the grade elevens from the community school in the Village of Hope and am liking it, I have noticed more of a desire and earnestness to learn in these students. I think they are very appreciative that they also get the opportunity to get some more skills and I am very glad that I get to teach them.

Their first task is to draw squiggles and lines on paper then take it to the sewing machine to practice their machine control before starting using thread.

This girl on her first day in the class was already designing away. 

This was my very first group, I have three groups from Wednesday to Friday broken up but roughly I have about thirty eight new students. Soon these three groups will be starting to make tote bags and then on to aprons.

Last Tuesday I got back from a nice little jaunt in the South Luangwa National Park in northern Zambia. Some rad friends of mine had an extra seat in their truck so they invited me along it was so much fun! I finally got to see some African wild life Hallelujerr! We slept in safari tents which are basically large tents you can stand up in and have an open washroom at the back. Yes the washroom area has walls but that really didn't help me with my neighbors, they got some sneak previews through a gaping hole in between the tent and the washroom walls yep, the opposite of fun right there. It was in the middle of a 'Swiss Family Robinson moment' feeling like I was in that movie having a shower under a water fall, where in actuality I was right where I was, with a gaping hole in my bathroom and a large gap in my partition... Right at that moment I heard a small voice... ''Uhm Laura? I'm just gonna close your tent flaps here, you are giving a show to the hippos.'' Wonderful. Swiss Family Robinson moment gone.

Since it's been way too long since I last blogged I have a present for you!.......

Zebra bums!! Oh, you are welcome. Alright ill give you a good one. 

What did the the female lion say to her husband when he came home late?
Quit lion around! haaaha ok that was a bad one..
Why can no one trust a lion?
Cause they're always lion duhh.

(Lion jokes dedicated to Savvs the punnyest of them all:)


Talk to ya later folks!

I ain't seen better days.

So I am just gonna break this down for ya right here. This is a call to praise the God who cares so much about us that even the little things he blesses us with when we are abiding in him and totally relying on HIM who is completely, hook-line-and-sinker, able to anything and everything so tell me... why would you not want to know that chap??? Please do tell me.

Also I have been sweating for a week solid. yup. You guys and your almost-snowing-season crap, CRAP I TELL YOU!! ( I am a jealous Judy) But as a bonus I am showering a lot more! Welcome to an African summer!!

I had the best day today ever actually. Well except for one time on a road trip my sister and I attacked a deep and delicious chocolate cake using only our faces. That was pretty awesome and a serious runner up to this day.

Lets start off this little narrative with a not so good morning... well actually it was a good morning before I left for the Village of Hope, my hair was doing what I wanted it to, the shower water was only slightly beige, all seemed most tranquil..
I get to the Village and dang it if I forgot to charge my lap-top battery so I went a-hunting for a plug that will fit our weird looking ones. Discovery was made and I proceeded to plug it in and start the charge. Only problem was that this plug was broken and decided that it would completely fry my lap-top cable hoooraaayyy NOT a happy camper actually that is an understatement I felt like a camper that just got his tent mauled by a bear stepped in the bear poo and then it started raining and then he was attacked by fifteen malaria carrying mosquitoes that is a bad day.
My first thoughts were well I can no longer talk on skype to my family can't talk to any of my friends, updating everyone including my church on what is going on is out the window. Also facebook like seriously. I can't do my work on my laptop and I cannot access any of my files as my computer is dead aaaand no cord to charge with. It would also be impossible to get another cable here as I am stuck in Africa! These were my first few thoughts and they all seriously sucked!
My next thought (which I wish was my first) was that God is totally above all things and is completely able, he knows I need my lap-top for work and for general life activities and he also know I still have another five months left that I need my lap top for!!! So I got Liz and was slightly maybe tearing up at the thought of not being able to skype with my family or be able to love my lappy anymore and we layed hands on that cable and started praying our hearts out. Right after that I felt like God was totally there, it was so great I felt like it was so stupid of me to ever even worry and that it was going to be all ok I just had this awesome peace.

I went to teach my class and just focused on them for the next two hours we had a great class I have just started teaching the grade elevens from the community school and they were so excited that they had the opportunity to be there. We had a rad time.

I got home later and man I dunno it was great I was feeling so good and confident that God had healed my laptop cord so I plugged it in right away and waited anxiously for it to start up. And YES you guessed it folks God had TOTALLY healed my computer cable it started charging right away so right now I am typing a super amazing praise report on my lappy to tell you that my God is great and he cares about us so much that even the little things he wants to help us with. Thank you God for increasing my faith you are so good and oh so faithful. I love you.

Ephesians 3:20
GO, GO READ IT. RIGHT NOW.

PS Just finished my day with coffee and a lemon meringue square Hallelujerr!!

Howdy

Just in case y'all dint no'ice the obvious I swiched up ma pictcha o' ma blog right thurr it be a lil saylin' boat! Gimme sum feed back if ya'll dig it. I think it be mighty peasful dont you?

Don't ask me where the southern accent came from it may or may not be from the ten episodes of Bonanza my roomie and I just baptized ourselves in last week, if I have any readers are from the deep south I do apologize for butchering it.


Have a good week y'all!

A Hug

We had just stopped at the Fig Tree Cafe (yum) for a cappuccino and a rest on our way back to Kitwe from Lusaka the capital city of Zambia. This is the best cafe shop I have ever been to in this country, their cinnamon buns and hamburgers and cappuccinos are mouth watering glory.
I wanted to change out of my Chitenge suit and into some comfy elastic waist band pants as it sucks to wear tight clothes on a road trips and more importantly.. I was preparing to eat a burger.. yeah you know how it is don't pretend you don't! I've seen you jump into those maternity pants at thanksgiving and at that buffet table!! And loosening your belt at pot-lucks... yeah I know your kind.

I went to the washroom and there was this baby girl no more than three years old waiting for her sister outside the stall. These huge brown eyes locked with mine and she stared at me for a second not really sure about this mazungu in Zambian clothing. But before I even said hello to this beautiful little girl she came over, stretched out her arms and still looking up at me hugged me around the knees and smiled. If my heart was made out of butter which it might be after that burger, it would have melted right out of me. I wanted to put her under my arm and take her back to Kitwe with me she was so cute!! Top ten best moments.

I had a great weekend hanging out with my fellow missionaries and Zambian friends, we went to Lusaka for the opening of anew Village of Hope just outside of the city in Chongwe this little community. It now has four houses, four mothers and aunties with children, it also has a free community school not sure what grade it goes up to. It is a beautiful spot. The ceremonies were great all the children from the village and the community school sang us a few songs and prayed over the houses and schools. My camera died after the first song though a little cheesed. But its all good and we got home safe and sound. This morning I am off to the Village I am supposed to be taking the youths for a field trip up town to buy fabric but lets see what happens cause you never know there might be a change in the program you just have to learn to be flexible. Like these ladies! I'm sure they are they have the snazzy outfits to prove it.

Your mission of today:
Surprise hug someone!! It could be a neighbor, friend, post man/lady, cashier, random person!

Don't fail me!

Chitenge Suit!

There is a Bible college right next door to the Village of Hope and working there is a sewing teacher named Leah who teaches classes and takes customers as well.
So because my methods of sewing and pattern making are much different I wanted to see the Zambian way! Liz and I took fabric over to her shop and she told us all about her class and showed us all the projects they do which was really nice then I asked her if she could make me a "Chitenge suit" and if I could watch her. She said for sure come back tomorrow and we will start!
Alright this lady is amazing, I came back the next day with my hot pink chitenge material (glorious) and it took her all of an hour to make the pattern and then about three hours to sew it! It also helps that she has been a tailor for eighteen years, I really hope to be that fast one day.

Her hand is a blur

And in case you all are wondering if I have become Zambian.... it's so true!! Just need to get a sweet tan.

This is actually incredible difficult I think I made it 3 steps  

Hey there snazzy lady where you goin' with all that class?? 

Lil' updatio

Ok so it is probably about time I gave y'all an update seeing as it's been a month no big deal. 
This month was vacation month in the Village of Hope so I found that a lot of my students would be gone sometimes I had all sixteen of my students in a day and the next I might have three. But really who can blame em! When I was a wee lass and on vacation I would be gone body and mind! And then of course I would also forget all the knowledge I retained over the course of a year of schooling. Well so what if I refuse to work with fractions and I don't know what 14 x 39485 is off the top of my head these are not life skills!! Ok side tracked lets focus...

There has been a ton of praise reports this month! The girls finished their skirts and the boys finished their mens shirts a while ago and now they have switched and are working on the other which they have almost completed and so I am preparing for our next/final project! It is so crazy how fast time is going I am going to miss teaching this group of students.

A Canadian team from Winnipeg came at the beginning of August to do some work in the new clinic they just made in VOH and do some VBS stuff with the kids. I told one of the nurses with them that our class made a bunch of skirts and shirts and that they are for sale and word got around so we ended up selling almost all fifteen skirts and sold six mens shirts to them. Man, my students were so stoked! They started talking about how they are going to open up their own sewing shops and it made my heart so proud!!

I want them to see the money that they earned for the clothing being spent so for the next project I will take them to the market where they can help choose fabric for the dresses, and buy zippers, thread and all that.

Working hard to make a skirt and four mens shirts in two days for the Winnipeg team!

Intense scene..

  So I had a little party with all my students and some other students that weren't mine showed up as well of course for pop, chips and a movie they all had a good time and they deserved it! We watched the Golden Compass and there was a polar bear fighting scene in it and they all got so into it and started cheering and shouting and I was just laughing loved it. Some of them started asking me about snow and what it was like, I got some wows. They keep asking me when we are going to have another one so I said when we are finished and you are graduating from my class we can have a lil' shindig.

The container from Winnipeg arrived last week it was an exciting day in the Village and an exciting day for me! On it are twenty five treadle and hand wheel sewing machines and boxes of fabric Hoooraaahh!!!

A treadle machine in all its cast iron, wood paneled glory. Beautiful.

A different container that Langley CLA church sent over that was stuck in Lusaka with my sewing machines in it finally was set free last week which was so great and I got my stuff! One machine was a serger and my students were pretty amazing with that and excited of the prospect of not using pinking shears anymore!

I think that is all for now folks! I am doing great still, lovin' Zambia and the great people I get to work with. Next weekend I am going to go to Lusaka the capital city in Zambia, Villages of Hope is opening up another Village just on the outskirts in a community called Chongwe. Liz and I want to go to the opening ceremonies, visit some friends and of course visit the mall and theater :) Ooooh dalaalleee! So happy!