Shimabala Village

 Greetings to our friends back in America!

It's currently mid-afternoon here, around 3:30, but across the pond to our friends living seven hours behind, mwauka bwanji! (Good morning in Nyanja). Where to even begin? Let me start by saying today was even further confirmation that serving the Lord by going on an overseas mission trip has been the most fulfilling experience of my life, and I am so thankful for this opportunity we have been blessed with. 

Pastor Ibrahim showed up along with our two incredible drivers, Franklin and Ezekiel, a little bit before 9:30 am which was our scheduled go time. A 45 minute drive took us to the village of Shimabala, just outside the outskirts of Lusaka. Pastor-in-training Raphael was there to greet us and lead us to the church. Once inside the enclosed and thatched building, we split children into two groups, one to stay inside and the other right outside the door. My (un)official count was around 150 total, although a few trickled in from surrounding villages throughout. Raphael and Miriam, a girl around my age (19), helped us to translate. And as ever, the children were attentive and quick to answer or greet us politely with a "you are welcome here, madame." 

Once we finished up the lessons and distributed the gifts, you could practically feel the anticipation in the air as the children ran off to "the ground." About a 10 minute walk later, we showed up to a dusty clearing with two goalposts standing on the edges and a group of giggling children holding a soccer ball. After teams were chosen, a game of proper football, as they call it, was underway, with excellent showings from star midfielder Erica Oster and experienced goalie Noah Ohlmann, along with Kaylee playing forward and Henry playing all over the field. The local coach even commented on Erica's control of the ball with her head, so we will take that as a win for Team USA! All I caught of the football game was Noah impressing the group of boys with his pullup abilities and leading them in a mini boot camp round of pushups.  I personally stayed off the football field and instead stuck to my calling of netball, a game akin to old-school basketball without the dribbling. With assistance from our new friends Miriam and Fatima, we lead our team to victory not once but twice. 

Although it's winter here in the Southern Hemisphere, a sheen of sweat still glistened on everyone's brow when we finished the sports for the day. A group of girls crowded around Erica and myself and introduced themselves as Nancy, Mary, and Chandra among others. They were fascinated by the texture of our hair and repeatedly patted our cheeks and commented how pretty we all were as they braided our hair with their talented little hands. These slightly older girls led our group and the rest of the near 200 children at this point in games such as hand clapping and chants, tug of war using each other as ropes, and "land rover," which some of us might know as "red rover." They called for Henry and Noah to "come over," and eventually even shouted for "Grandpa" Todd to make his way across the line. 

There's something about children at play that no language barrier can put a damper on, and you don't need to understand either Nyanja or English to interpret the smiles, laughter, and shrieks that we heard on the ground today. After many hugs and kisses and promises to return to come to church tomorrow morning, we all piled back into the vans and let the fellowship of our experience just wash over us. Needless to say, we are all looking forward to returning to the village again tomorrow!

Blessings in Christ, 

Kari Wales