Saturday May 30, 2015

This morning we bid farewell to the lovely town of Macha and made our way to Livingstone. We were supposed to travel there on a large spacious bus, however, that bus unfortunately collided with a rather large cow. So, instead we piled into a much smaller bus with a trailer attached to the back. The bus had pull out bench seats and we all piled in on top of each other. The ride was supposed to take three hours, but we took our good old time and arrived in Livingston four and half hours after departure.  We were all starving on the bus and coach graciously brought out his secret stash of goodies and we feasted on pretzels, Twizzlers, pop tarts, and Pringles. The only exciting part about the bus ride was when we bottomed out going over a giant ditch, stopping to get gas, and almost lost the trailer. We also saw lemurs hopping along side the road.

            Upon arriving in Livingston, we hurriedly unpacked our bags and grabbed a bite to eat for lunch before heading out to our last game. The game was held on a mostly dirt field but this time we fortunately had lines and three refs.  The atmosphere of the game was very interesting to say the least. Children ran yelling and playing all round us, and a few were rolling a tire back and forth on the side of the field. Audra had a man approach her behind the goal during the game and ask her if she wanted to purchase a rug. Another man wheeled a cart right up to the sideline and tried to sell us ice cream throughout the course of play.  The team was not as skilled as the other teams we played and the end score was 9-1, us. Regardless, it was still fun to play another game, and the other players were great sports. At the end we all gathered together to pray, and Kyele shared part of her testimony and explained how God is even more important to us than soccer.

            When we got back to the hostel, we had some time to jump in the pool and shower, before heading over to an Italian restaurant called Olga’s. We all feasted like kings, and nearly had to be rolled out we were so full. When we returned, we finally had the awesome privilege to hear Elem’s testimony.  He is truly a man of incredible faith and his story was we will all remember and treasure in our hearts.

            Now we are all getting ready for bed as we prepare to embark on our Safari tomorrow! We are staying over night in tents, so don’t worry when you don’t see a blog post tomorrow night. There will be two posts on Monday. Thank you for all your prayers. Peace and blessings.

                                                                        

-Maggie and Maddy

Friday, May 29, 2015

Last Day in Macha!

Today was a good day! We started off getting to sleep in a little longer then usual, breakfast was not until 8:00. After breakfast the plan was to head to the hospital in Macha for a tour. This was a really neat experience and many of the nursing students in our group especially enjoyed the experience. A highlight for many was the maternity ward. We saw multiple mothers holding their new born babies. One of the babies was only one day old and the mother was already walking around, we couldn't believe it. The hospital in Macha has made huge health improvements within a 35 mile radius and one of the main leaders in this improvements is Phil Thuma, Eric Thuma's father. One of the many accomplishments is that they have almost entirely eliminated malaria in Macha.

After the hospital tour, another group of girls were given the opportunity to play with children in the hospital while the rest of us headed off to MICS one last time. Today was game day! It had been hyped up all week that we were going to play the MICS team of students on our last day so you can imagine their celebration when they scored on us in the first 30 seconds of the game (before we even touched the ball). But don't worry..we came back and were able to get the win 2-1. Although everyone on our team is super competitive and we don't like to get scored on, it was awesome to see the joy the early goal brought both the children playing and the children watching the game. After the game, Ally shared a little bit of encouragement and thanked the students and teachers for such a fun week. We sang songs with the kids and danced with the teachers before we said our goodbyes and headed back to the rec center for yet another wonderful lunch made by Corie. Today we had homemade french bread pizza with noodles and fresh veggies. It was amazing.

Ally entertaining MIC students during the halftime of our game

Dancing and singing before saying goodbye

After lunch, we had a few hours for free time which was for the most part used for napping. We all ended up hanging out at the rec center with some children before we left to either watch the sunset on top of a water tower or watch a local soccer game. I (Lydia) chose to do the sunset on the water tower. Chris, the administrator of the Malaria Research Organization took us there, which was about a 10 minute walk from Eric and Corie's house. The tower was about 100 feet tall and for all the moms reading this I want to start off saying that everyone made it up and down safe and sound. However, I think we all can agree that the climb was one of the most nerve wracking things we have ever done. The tower previously housed over 3 huge bee hives making the rungs of the narrow ladder sticky with honey. Even though the bees had been cleared out the honey, combined with the sweat on our hands made the journey up the dark inside of the water tower pretty scary. We were all shaking, out of breath, and pretty fatigued by the time we got to the top. We arrived at the top of the tower in plenty of time to see the sun set but were more than ready to take a breath, regroup, and enjoy the view. You could see for miles and miles. We got to see the beauty of the land and enjoy each other while watching the sun melt into the horizon. The trek down was much easier and quicker than the climb up (for all of us except Reese who may or may not of shed a tear or two once she made it to the bottom). After the water tower experience, we headed back to the dorm for showers before we met everyone for dinner at the rec center.

Proof of Reese's tears after the water tower climb

And I (Nikki) chose to go to the local soccer game with the rest of the bunch and Eric. A few highlights of the game were that we went to the local market and got some lollipops to have while we watched and we befriended a lizard that we named Lizzy. As for highlights of the actual soccer part of the game one team won 6-0, and we saw some exciting goals. Some girls only stayed until half time causing them to miss 5 of the 6 goals. It was an eventful second half. The field was backdropped by an amazing sunset towards the end of the second half. It was also cool to see a few young boys on the sideline who had made a soccer ball out of tied up grocery bags, playing a pickup game. It is great to see the game we all love being played and enjoyed so simply. You do not need fancy equipment to play the beautiful game just a ball and some friends. After the game was dinner and we got to eat with Eric's parents and learn more about the hospital and malaria research. Then following dinner local young adults came to the rec center for friday night game night. And during this time some us us ventured to Vera's house to pick up our costume made pants. She finished about 25 pairs in only a few days on top of full time nursing/teaching job at the hospital. What a woman, we are thankful and all love our new pants.

You can tell, I am sure, that it was a another great day in Macha and a great way to wrap up our time here as we will be heading to Livingston in the morning. We were sad to say bye to all of the friends we have made here but are thankful for the time we were given to be apart of the community this week. It is truly a welcoming and loving community of people. They always made us feel "most welcome" wherever we found ourselves. We just want to give Eric and Corie Thuma a shoutout because it was their five year anniversary today and they chose to spend it hosting all of us. They are seriously the best, we mean it! But no word we could write would accurately express all they have done for us and all the time they have sacrificed to let us experience Zambia with them.

Love,
MWS (Big Lyd and Nikki)

Thursday May 28, 2015

            This morning we woke up again at 6:00 for 6:30 breakfast. We walked to MICS (Macha International Christian School) and attended their morning chapel time. Kate shared bible verses about their “virtue of the week”, perseverance. We also sang them the song “Ain’t no Rock” as a team. We then did morning clinics with the different grades. A highlight from the morning would be when Coach Frey led the hokey pokey by himself with much enthusiasm…not only once, but 3 times. We have enjoyed building friendships with the students from the school who we have seen each day. They love to play soccer as well as tag and dancing games – we love to see them happy. We especially enjoyed the fresh-fried fritters that Corie brought to us during our break. We then walked back to our dorms and freshened up for lunch.

            Before and after lunch, 2 men came to sell different crafts to us. One man sold beautiful paintings of nature that represented Zambian culture – we all found something we liked! The other man had wood carvings, including wood boxes, spoons, coasters, and figurines. After lunch we were glad to have some down time before the 2^nd annual Macha 5k race. The race started around 4:30 and everyone on the team ran it who could. There were 130 runners who registered for the race, not counting the all of the children who joined for parts and were there to cheer us on (last year only 30 people ran the race). The registration fee was 20 kwacha (around 3 dollars) and all the proceeds from the race went to a local church.

            We aren’t sure if we will be able to fully capture the race in all of its glory, but we will try. The race started from the Rec Center and went on a 5k loop around Macha, ending where it started. Running the course was challenging because parts of the course were sandy, had sharp stones sticking out, had large holes and we would say the most unique part of the course was the herd of cows (around 20 of them, with LARGE horns) were making their way slowly across the running path, causing runners to weave their way in between safely. Although it was a hard run, the course was fun for us and we loved to be a part of the community here in Macha. It was so cool to see the people coming together to cheer one another on and participate in this as one.

            You’re probably wondering the fastest times, right? The fastest man, Lemmy, finished in 17:42. Not only that, he ran barefoot (remember that part about sharp stones?) and was the winner of the race last year as well. For the women, our very own Alicia Kyele Bridel finished first in 21:11….we were all SHOCKED that she won (not really). Some notable runners were the 50 year old man who ran it in 20 minutes, the woman running in a business skirt, Elem (one of our Push the Rock leaders) who came in 2^nd, and the little 5 year old boy who walked the entire race beside one of the participants without saying a word. The winners of each age group received a prize of Messiah gear and random prize winners were chosen as well.

            The race went longer than expected, so we rushed back to the dorms to change into skirts for dinner at MICS with their boarding students. To get to MICS, some rode in a car, some walked, and some almost died riding bicycles in the dark on the sand path. We arrived at MICS and were greeted by the students and teachers. We paired up with one or two students to eat with and talk to. We had beans and sausage, cabbage, rolls, and nshima for dinner and ate around a bonfire outside. We are getting better at eating the nshima correctly, using our hands to mold it into a ball and eat with the other food. It was really cool to get to know the boarding students (there are around 40 of them) who we had interacted with in the mornings but wanted to learn more about. Some of the boys from MICS have a soccer team and will be playing us tomorrow morning, so we exchanged our fair share of smack talk with one another. After dinner, they sang us 2 songs and requested that we teach them “Ain’t no Rock” because they liked it so much in the morning. Then, we said our goodbyes and 18 of us packed into Gil’s (the principal of MICS’s husband) car and drove back. To say we were squished would be an understatement, but we definitely got closer during the ride through ditches and with some funny stories from our driver.

            This day was full of laughs and sweat and sunshine and more laughs. Even though we are tired, we have loved each day here. Zambia is a beautiful place and we can’t believe our time here in Macha is almost done! We will probably be going to bed at 9:30 (as we have for the past couple nights) and will be asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow – a sign of a good day. One prayer request is that a stomach bug has been traveling through our team – for people to be back to full health ASAP! Thank you for all the support and love.

Love, MWS (Riss & Kayla)

Wednesday May 27, 2015

5/17/15

Today was relatively similar to the previous day. We woke up, ate breakfast, and headed to MICS to run the kids through another day of clinics. However, before the clinics began, a few of the girls added a little variety to the school's morning chapel. This variety came in the form of a song that was taught to a few of the kids yesterday during our evening games. The song was a nuanced version of Jesus Loves Me, which is often sung by the team in the locker room before games. It was really great to see a song we love and enjoy singing being shared with our new friends in Zambia. Now, while we're worshipping The Lord with that song, we can always think about these moments in Zambia and how they are possibly still singing it here as well.

After chapel ended, we went to the soccer field to coach the clinics. Here, we played a number of fun soccer games and let the kids showcase their talents. They seemed to really love the drills we ran, and their excitement helped energize the team. Some of us also got the opportunity to spend some time with these two boys who were not physically able to participate in the clinics. Their names were Brian and Prince, and they helped give us an insight as to what the school was like and what their favorite things to do were. The boys were very sweet and were really easy to talk to. Even though I know they would love to be out running around with their friends, their cheerful attitudes were really something to admire.

Running through drills with the kids...Skylar is the sight supervisor.

Some of the girls spending time with Prince. 

After the clinic sessions ended, we headed back to the dorm area. From here, we got lunch, had a quick workout session with Reg as our instructor, and relaxed for a short while. When it was time for our evening session to begin, a few groups formed and went their separate ways. One group went to the hospital, one helped coach the local girls team, another stayed at the rec center, and my group went and played basketball with the local girls team. It was a really neat experience to meet them all because last summer, these girls were all girls were all coached by our good friend from Messiah, Emily Martz. This was unique because we were able to connect with these girls in a way that didn't involve soccer. It also helped reveal how much tougher those 15 and 16 year olds were than us. It is safe to say they could out-rebound us in their sleep, and did I mention most were wearing dresses? Fortunately for us, shooting was their downfall. It was funny for us because every missed shot was followed by the word "sheet," which is closely related to a certain American word we all know...Apparently, the Zambian version of this word means "shoot" though:) There were two subs on our team, so when we weren't playing we were able to chat with the girls. This was a lot of fun because we were able to learn that we had a lot in common with them. They liked Beyonce, cartoons, and all had boyfriends. The only thing we didn't have in common were the boyfriends. Playing basketball and hanging out with these girls was definitely one of the best experiences I've had on this trip so far.

Coach Frey leading the girls through a practice. 

Kate reading to some of the kids at the rec center. 

Once the basketball game and the other activities ended, we were able to head back to the dorms to get cleaned up for another amazing dinner. This was followed by a team discussion about a book we had all just finished reading called To Chase A Dream. This book is about a former Indiana University soccer player who recounts his collegiate soccer experience. It is always interesting to hear about the different take-aways everyone has from this book because I know it resonated with all of us. Summerly mentioned a quote from the book that really encapsulates the message behind the story. This quote is: "A dream chased vigorously is a success, no matter the outcome." I'm not sure if those are the exact words from the book, but it gives everyone the general idea and certainly something to think about when we think about the dream or dreams we're chasing in life.

Love, 

MWS (Kyele)

Tuesday May 26, 2015

Today was the first full day in Macha! Macha is much different than Lusaka. In Macha, there are many dirt roads that connect from place to place. It has more of a homey, community setting than Lusaka. Whew, it was an early morning for us girls. We woke up at 6, had breakfast at 6:30, and then left for a brisk walk in order to make it on time to MICS (Macha International Christian School). We first joined in on the chapel service with the children.  MICS welcomed us by the children singing Togan songs while the teachers danced. Then each child went through the line of MWS players and shook our hands to further welcome us to their school. The ages of the children ranged from 3-17 years old.

Next, we started our clinics. We headed to the soccer field and the first group was the youngest children. They were adorable! We played games, such as relay races, follow the leader, stretching, tag, and head-shoulders-knees-and-toes. Mostly the little ones just ran off some energy and had a bunch of fun. The next clinic was with second-fourth grade children. We played games such as soccer relay races, 2 v 2 soccer games, and head it catch it. The final clinic was full of middle school age and up. Their games consisted of steal the bacon (a fun, competitive soccer drill), head it catch it,  and 2 v 2 up and out (a 2 v 2 soccer game). The clinics were a success and the kids were joyful, attentive, and fun loving. And they all especially loved futbol (which we really liked!)

When the soccer clinics were finished, MWS headed back to the Rec Center for a delicious, more traditional Zambian meal. The meal consisted of Nshima with soup, Kapenta (little fish with the eyes still in), Buntele (cabbage with nuts), rice, and yummy leftovers. Many people weren’t so found of the Kapenta, but some thought it tasted like fish jerky. Coach didn’t even branch out and try it! However, MWS is a daring team and most of the girls tried the little staring fishies. The Buntele tasted like cabbage with peanut sauce, sorta. That was pretty good! A lot of girls also have taken a liking to the Nshima with the soup. This meal was the most authentic meal we have had so far.

Think we were tired yet? Nope! Led by Corie, we walked to an area that had outdoor shops.  The shops were held up by wood with various materials used as a roof. They were very interesting! They were filled with many things. All the girls really wanted Chitenges (Sh-tang-ies). A Chitange is colorful and beautifully patterned piece of fabric. Many Zambian women use Chitanges to carry the babies on their back. They are also used for drapes, décor, table clothes, clothes, ect. We all found vibrant Chitanges for pants and wall décor for the apartments next year. We left happy campers.

More time with children! After school is out many of the children head to the Rec Center. The Rec Center is a part of the compound in which we stay. The Rec Center is full of activities, like soccer, volleyball, football, reading, basketball, and playing games and cards. We played many 5 v 5 soccer games with the boys. Also, there was singing and dancing with Audra, Liv, and Ally and reading with Courtney. We had loads of fun with the kids just doing whatever they wanted to do!

After the clinic, our gracious hosts cooked us another delicious more “American” meal. We had chicken salad. All the vegetables were home grown and right from the garden. At the end of the meal, the plates were clean to say the least.

After dinner, we headed to the house of the lady whom is hand making our pants and shorts. She was so so so kind and probably very overwhelmed with the number of orders that came her way today. Nevertheless, she was a great host and an extremely welcoming woman. The people here have such big hearts.

Just about now, we are all very tired and ready to hit the hay, but looking forward to another day tomorrow!                             

With warm hugs and kisses to our family and friends, Missy

                             

Monday May 25, 2015

Only a day late...

Today we had an early morning in preparation for our ten o’clock game against the Red Arrows of Lusaka. Like true Zambians we started about an hour later. We played them in the same stadium we watched the Zambian national team play Zimbabwe in so the field was in much better condition than the field we played the last gam eon. It was an aggressive match, and true to coach’s pre-game we had to toughen up. After a few minutes of play we were able to settle into possession oriented soccer and won 2-0.

Since they were sponsored by the Zambian Air Force we were treated to a nice meal in the soccer club’s sport’s center. We sat at small tables with their players and were able to have a lot of meaningful conversations. The girls at my table were anxious to learn about the United States and excited to teach us about their culture. Some of us ate all our food using nshima (shee-mah), a cooked white cornmeal, to pinch the food together in our hands. After the meal we spoke about soccer strategy and what parts of the game are crucial to MWS, including teamwork and discipline. Their coach was impressed with our ability to play together and said that’s something they are inspired to improve with regards to their play. A member of their team shared how they also tried to use soccer to spread the gospel and ended with an encouragement saying to always “keep it Christ.” They were gracious hosts who loved Jesus and we were excited to see His love flow between our teams and hopefully from their team to other young women.

After the meal we began our trek to Macha in the bus. A few of us were able to interact with the six year old granddaughter of the man who set up all of our matches in Lusaka. She told us about learning to cook nshima with her grandma and explained how she served the dish to her family. She also shared her favorite stories which included Nemo, Goldilocks, and Frozen, which caused a mini musical to break out in front of the bus with Abby (the granddaughter) taking the lead.

An hour into our trip we learned what “in the bush” really meant when we had to take a bathroom break in thick shrubs on a road off the highway. An hour later we stopped in a small city named Mazabuka and got a few snacks at the local shoprite, a small grocery store. After getting ice cream we continued our trip and got our first taste of rural Africa right before sundown around 6:00 pm.

At 9:45 we arrived at the Macha compound that we'll be spending the next few days at and had a "dinner" prepared by Eric's mother at around 10:30. We don’t know much about the area, but we’re eager to get to work tomorrow!

Keep it Christ,

Sara

Sunday May 24, 2015

Yet another day filled with exciting activities and memorable experiences!  After breakfast this morning, we hopped on the bus and headed out to church.  The church we went to, Makeni Assembly of God, was a Pentecostal church in Zambia so it’s safe to say we had NO idea what to expect.  We were very happily greeted by the pastor and took our front row seats given to us by the ushers just in time for worship to start.  You can’t put three hours of church into words, but here’s our attempt…

From the moment the first song began, it was so easy to see that these people love to worship, are full of joy, and aren’t afraid to express it.  Everyone was dancing, clapping, singing, shouting, and just praising Jesus.  Some songs were in the African language (Nyanja), but there were also a few that were in English so we were able to sing along!  For any of you who know the song, we sang “I’m trading my sorrows for the joy of the Lord.”  For me, it was so powerful to hear people shouting (because their singing is loud!) “yes, yes Lord” and to be able to join in.  Jesus transcends culture and difference and language; He is the same wherever you go in the world, and to be able to praise Him with people from a completely different part of the world was indescribable.  The congregation also asked us to lead two songs of worship.  They were just as excited to join our songs as they were their own. 

The pastor delivered a message on Psalm 29 about the voice of the Lord and the power of the voice of the Lord.  There was a translator the entire time, so the message was given in both English and Nyanja.  After the sermon, we were invited up to the stage to sing more songs.  We started singing songs that we usually sing in the locker room before games.  One of these was the hymn “Sanctuary”.  We sang it a few times through, and the people in the choir recognized the song.  The third time we were singing it through, we noticed some extra harmonies were added and saw that the choir spontaneously joined us onstage to sing “Sanctuary” with us!  It was so powerful.

Finally, after the service ended, we squeezed into the pastor’s office for a visitor’s reception.  They were all very excited to hear that we have accepted Christ and are able to share that faith together.  After church, we all piled into the bus and headed off to a national game between the women’s teams of Zambia and Zimbabwe (the winner would get a spot in the next Olympic games)!

We were treated like VIPs, escorted into the stadium seats and with special parking for our bus.  It is so interesting for us as we encounter soccer here because it is a much different style than we are used to playing.  The players are tough, scrappy, and just love to play.  We cheered for the Zambian team along with the many other fans (most of which were wild children with paper hats on).  And yes, Zambia won 2-1 so you will be seeing them in the Olympics soon!

We gathered in the bus to leave the game, and as we were pulling out, children were running up to our bus to give us high fives and wave.  Some member’s of the girl’s team we played a couple days ago were really excited to see us, and we were just as excited to see them again!  The people here are so friendly, which is something I admire about the culture.  We drove home while the sun was setting and the whole landscape was just silhouettes (half the team was asleep on each other on the bus because of the busy day).

After a delicious carb-loaded dinner prepared by our awesome Push the Rock staff, we are about to go to bed before our game tomorrow!  You can continue to pray for health for our team; a couple people have had minor sicknesses but don’t worry Moms we are all doing WELL J.   We will be traveling to Macha tomorrow (a 6 hour bus ride) so you can prayer for safety for that as well.  Thanks J

Shout out to Holly…the PRG says mega mega...  We miss you and love you!!!!

Love, MWS (Court and Reese)