Hello from Zimba!

Hello from Zimba!  Kasie and Natalie here!  

Kasie is from Fort Wayne, Indiana and is enjoying her first time out of the country!  She is a chocolate-loving, hug-giving, joy-filled individual, and we are all so happy to have her here!  Natalie is from the beautiful state of Michigan and sends love to her family. A highlight of her time in Zambia has been learning from the team’s leadership (Mike and Cindy Helvie, Marcie, and Anna), as well as from the people here.

This week, we have settled into Zimba and have begun to feel comfortable.

Here are a few highlights from our first full week here!

We had our first clinical at Zimba Mission’s Hospital.  During clinical, we were fortunate to learn of specialties ranging from ART therapy for HIV-positive patients to experiencing the pediatric ward.  We are all learning so much from the excellent hospital staff!  Communicating with patients through language barriers has been challenging, but we are doing our best to encourage them despite our limited Tonga. Eight students were able to witness births this week, which we were all very excited about!

In our week here, we have already become frequent shoppers at the local market.  Chitenges have been a hot-ticket item for our group, and we also enjoy visiting Juliette, a seamstress who creates everything from aprons to dresses.  We were touched when she told us that the Lord wouldn’t like it if she raised her prices because we were American. Her kindness blesses us a lot. 

Our team and leadership have all been striving to stay spiritually and prayerfully focused and unified.  Yesterday, we participated in a structured hour of prayer. It was a good time to reflect on different aspects of what we have been learning throughout this experience.  Honoring the Lord together as a team has been very encouraging and vital for each of us.

This morning, we attended Syanankanga (Mount Zion) Pilgrim Wesleyan Church.  The congregation was small, but so incredibly welcoming. We were able to really worship freely with them, despite language barriers, as a body of Christ. Their singing is absolutely beautiful, and their choir is so talented. Worship included dancing and singing with the congregation, and it was unlike anything that we had ever experienced before. The Zambians are so loving and bold in the way they worship the Lord, and a lot of us admire that about them!

The Lord has been so good to us. We have been experiencing Him in ways we couldn’t ever have imagined. He has definitely answered prayers for peace and adjustment in being away from home. We would really appreciate continued prayers for a constant state of peace and rest in God. For some, being away from the States is a difficult adjustment, but we are so thankful for every single person in this year’s Zam Fam!

We are ready to take on another week in the good old Zimba, Zambia!

Much love,

Kasie and Natalie