Saturday May 23, 2015

Those who arose early this morning (following sunrise), had the privilege of seeing Coach meandering the property searching for exotic birds in his camo pajamas. As the trip progresses, we are continually learning new things about each other. For others, the morning started a little later with a run. The first group decided to run 800’s on the airstrip next to Flying Mission Zambia.  One end of the runway is right next to the village of many of the children that attended our clinics, so as the run progressed we gained a large group of joyful observers cheering us on. Despite the difficult run, the support and excitement of the children was inspiring for both the run and the remaining clinics we had before leaving Lusaka! The run for the next group after lunch took them outside the compound and past the village.  The runners were joined by many of the children who cheered and ran alongside them until every last person finished the run. 

            We were fueled for our first clinic of the day by an inspiring devotion by Reese and a delicious breakfast, including Zambian coffee, fruit, and a breakfast casserole. We were so excited to be reunited with our little friends we made at the previous clinic. Unfortunately, there were many absent from the morning session due to work responsibilities, no matter the age. Many young kids here are expected to have a lot of responsibility. 

The set-up was very similar to our previous clinic; Coach took a few players to work on finishing with the men’s team while the rest of us had the responsibility of wrangling around a hundred children. To gain their attention we assumed tactics from scrimmaging to cuddling to piggyback rides to dancing. Often times you could see crowds of children frantically running behind Jess and Macaulay making noises of all sorts.  We affectionately named a group of girls the “baby group.” Many of the children would come to the clinic with their younger siblings swaddled on their back, often even babies holding babies. In order to allow the children to play, we would offer to hold the babies; therefore, throughout the clinic, many of us were spotted cuddling with babies. Something that I spotted that was truly unique was the number of children that willingly sat out of playing in order to take care for their younger sibling, without a single complaint heard. 

The session ended in Kayla giving her powerful testimony to the group who were quiet for the first time since being with them.

             We again had to say goodbye to our friends. This time it was slightly more difficult because we did not have the early sunset to end the session, which made it hard for the energized children. After our walk back the compound, we were re-energized with bbq pulled chicken, cole slaw, and chips. Our short naptime was followed by abs with Coach.  Following this, we met with our prayer partners for a short time before heading to our final clinic in Lusaka.

            Coach explained to us that this clinic was going to be different since, apparently, the Zambian Men’s team was extremely determined to play against our team. We were happily surprised to see not only that our previous friends had returned (the ones who missed the earlier session for work responsibilities), but also a multitude of new faces amounting to nearly two hundred kids. Since this was our third clinic, many strong bonds had formed which made our final clinic very emotional, followed by a painful goodbye. Throughout the clinics, you would never fail to see Marine latched to Liv; they were inseparable. 

During our first encounter with the children, we met a young boy named Given, his younger brother who clung to his leg, and his younger sister. After our final clinic, Jess gave two pairs of cleats to him and his sister, along with her Messiah bag. They both walked away beaming with joy.  Luckily, we came prepared for such a large group of children with around ten bags of candy. We ended up having Eric at the front of the line who released incredibly excited children!  Finally, all the candy was passed out and each child received a piece of candy before they left to go home.  For many of us, the goodbye was much harder than anyone anticipated.

After a long day, we returned home, where we all got in line to rinse the layer of dirt that covered our legs. The aroma of dinner soon filled the air and everyone gathered around. The night ended with some humorous stories by our Hostess Corie.  Later in the evening, the whole team met up and Coach shared some of what he had been learning about grace and forgiveness.  It is so refreshing to be away from all the distraction and be able to have conversations with each other that are honest and challenging.  I think the information Coach shared will help to really grow and stretch our team even beyond this trip.

Please continue to pray for everyone’s safety, for God to continue to speak through us, and continual learning.  We love you all! 

Love, MWS (Trish and Skylar)