Camp Fringilla

Bradley had a great time camping with the other Year 5 students!!

Erik and I drove him and his friend, Fadhili, to the campsite Wednesday morning. We were following the bus with about 5 other parents. We had to go through a police stop and who do you think the police stopped out of the convoy?? Yes, us!! My van must have a special license number that says, "She will pay- stop her:)" We did not have reflective tape on the vehicle which is a 56,000Kwacha fine but Erik explained we were on our way to Fringilla with the school and we would get tape as soon as possible. The policeman let us go- Good thing I stayed in the car!!

When we arrived at camp it was a free for all on campsites and then putting the tents up. I was very impressed with the children's ability to put up their own tents. There is a lot of camping in Zambia, the weather is perfect for it and it is cheap!!

The campgrounds were actually on a farm so the campsites were surrounded by pinned up animals such as cows, goats, pigs, turkeys, and peacocks. There was also a pool on the campgrounds. Bradley was in a small tent with Antonio and Victor- 2 pretty big boys. I helped them set up their sleeping mats and pillows- they had to leave their bags outside because there was no room.

Bradley said they had a great time doing their activities during the day- they had to come up with costumes and have a fashion show. He made a mask of leaves and a stick with leaves on it that looked like a chicken's tail. They called him "Chicken Man". He had french toast and yoghurt(that's how they spell it over here) for breakfast, sausage and chicken sandwich for lunch, and chicken, potatoes and vegetables for dinner.

I did get a call from his teacher at 8:00 this morning saying he had vomited at about 4:30 this morning- "it was too dark to go outside" so he vomited in the tent. Sorry Victor and Antonio!! Victor woke up and asked if he was ok, Antonio was snoozing. That was the one and only time- I'm wondering if he had one too many marshmallows last night???

Stephen, the company's driver, went with me to pick Brad up this morning. He was with me when I was almost impounded. Now he will call me and say, "Good morning Madam- any violations today??" Isn't that such a blessing that I was able to teach him the meaning of the word, Violation?? Anyway, Bradley slept all the way home then took a shower and went back to bed. He is up now and feeling much better. He has his first swimming gala tomorrow!!

Baby Hope

Today I got to meet Baby Hope- she was born at 6 months old and weighs 1.6 kg, about 3 pounds. I held her in my arms and she was so tiny- it was scary holding her thinking how delicate she is. Hope's mom is a friend of Jane so we have been praying for her and Jane wanted me to meet her. What a blessing that she is even alive because there is not a Neo-natal unit here so she was sent home after 24 hours.

We went to a new church on Sunday, Cornerstone Worship Center. Erik and Bob had lunch with the preacher last week. He is a young guy that has a great vision for the people of Zambia. He asked Bob to speak 2 weeks ago and Erik got to deliver the message this week. He did an awesome job! He spoke on the Scriptures, how they are all God-breathed and have all the answers for life especially relating to being a good husband, good wife and good parent- all to glorify God!! I was so proud of him. He said that was for my birthday. (Jane, Charity and Danny-from Z-con- attend this church)

We then spent last night at our bible study at the Baptist Mission house. We had our lesson and then it was finger food night. It was great fellowship. We got to see Josh Bowman again- he was in town picking up a missionary from Haiti. It is a cool place to be with all the Americans and my kids have fun learning and playing.

Please be praying for my Bradley as he leaves Wednesday through Friday to camp with the entire Year 5 class. They are about 45 minutes out of town. There will be 50 kids with 5 teachers- please pray for the teachers too!!