Ankunft in Zambia!!

It's hard to believe it's been only 6 days since we left the US!! The flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, South Africa was incredibly smooth, despite it's nearly 15 hr duration! I watched a few movies between meals and a couple good long naps:). One of the girls nearly lost her passport, but God protected us and we were able to retrieve it off the plane, where she'd forgotten it in her seat back pocket.

We had an overnight in Jo-burg so had our first "African" meal together. We had just ordered our dinner when I thought to tell the girls at my table about how often when traveling to other countries, items on a menu might be called by familiar names, but the taste - though good- would likely not resemble tastes or appearances that they might have assumed. Sure enough, the "Caesar" salad they'd ordered look more like a garden salad, with tomatoes, peppers, onions, cheddar cheese and yogurt like dressing. There are moments that traveling has consistent inconsistencies!!:):)

The next morning on the flight from Joburg to Livingston, two of the girls and myself got bumped up to Business class!!! We acted like the ultimate cheezy tourist up there!! That's Rachel in the pic above... and that was just with the glasses of water before we even took off. :) The service was fabulous, with cloth napkins, yummy food, great options, and all on real china!! My coffee came in a REAL cup with a very cool rock sugar stick (pictured below with the remains of the cheese tray I had for dessert). That was a definite first in all my travels, so I SURE enjoyed it!!:):)

Then we arrived in Livingston, Zambia and were hit by a 20-30 degree increase in temperature! That's some of the girls walking off the plane below.

We have arrived!!

This is in front of the bus that took us from Livingstone to Choma. In the middle of the group is Maureen, a wonderful woman who is helping to orchestrate details for our months here. Her kind heart, sense of humor and deep love for God have already been a blessing!!

This is (some of) us all stuffed into the bus... 22 people, 38 BIG suitcases and 20ish carry on's!! The 3 1/2 hr trip was bumpy at times, but we made it, tired but safe!!

The last few days have been full of meetings, but we did spend one morning walking around town, visiting the market and buying chitenge' (the wrap skirts that women wear here).
Sunday we visited church, the Sunday school started at 9am, followed by nearly 1 1/2 hours of amazing singing and musical specials (the church has at least 3 choirs!), and then a fabulous sermon. It was "woman's Sunday" so there were women leading worship and another woman preached. The service finished around 1:15pm! Our group has been split into 3 smaller groups who have each been assigned a church to attend for our time here. I'm grateful for this as it allows us to really grow friendships with people and become more of the community! The girls in my group are really excited about getting involved with working with the kids Sunday school. We did have to walk up to the front of the church for introductions. It was a tad weird being the "leader" this time who had to say a greeting to the church body and then introduce the girls.

Tonight we had a great "debriefing" - were we each shared the thing about Zambia we had expected and the thing that was most un-expected. Laughter and tears. It is a start to processing all they are seeing/hearing/tasting/feeling!

Please pray for the girls, Pam and myself as we are continuing to adjust to the heat and life here in Choma. God's love and faithfulness is evident in the many details he's orchestrated - I am encouraged and excited to see all that lies ahead!