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| Christabel |
Christabel is 11 years old and is in 5th grade at a community school called World Wide Community School. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who loves to laugh and sing.
I will tell you that Christabel seemed to have a lot of emotions while at camp. There were days when she was very happy, and enjoyed playing games with the other girls and singing songs. There were also days when she seems sad, and withdrew from the group. I worried about her more and more as the week went on, wondering how her home life really was. When talking to Christabel, I found out that this was her first time to camp, and she was so excited to be here!!! She lives in a community called Kanyama with her mom, sister and brother. I asked Christabel what happened to her father and she told me something I wasn’t expecting. Her father died when she was five, after he was poisoned by a very close friend of his. Christabel tells me that the friend was close with the witch doctors, and shortly after her father passed, the friend died, as well. She misses her father terribly, and is in constant fear of the same fate for the rest of her family. I asked her about her home life and she told me that she sleeps on the dirt floor in a one room house, and she is hungry often. Her mother is the only one who works, so they are only able to eat twice a day. Most days I would see Christabel tuck the bread that we gave the kids for lunch away in her bag.
Christabel also told me that she is scared to sleep at night because of the dreams she has- she says the witch doctors use her to do things she doesn’t remember in the morning, and she wakes up feeling exhausted, like she’s been working all night. Christabel tells me that when she prays before going to sleep, she is protected, and sleeps through the night without a single dream. We talked a lot about the importance of using the Lord’s name whenever she feels scared, and to have faith that He will protect her from harm.
Christabel has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father. It was just last year that Christabel tells me she accepted Christ- a day she will forever remember.
She loves mathematics, and her dream is to become a doctor one day .From Christabel’s experience, living in such a devastating area, along with the distress in her family, she asks for prayers of health so she may take care of her family and protection from the witches. She also asks that you pray she gets a good education, so she can learn more about the word of God and led others to Christ.
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| Elizabeth |
Elizabeth is 12 years old and is in 6th grade at a community school called World Wide Community School. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who loves to laugh and sing.
Elizabeth was one of my girls who always had a smile on her face- and as you can see from her picture, it was bright!!! She also loved to lead the girls in games and songs that provided fellowship, which I was so very grateful for. When talking to Elizabeth, I found out that this was her second time to camp, and she was so excited to be here!!! She lives in a community called Kanyama with her auntie, uncle, and two cousins. Elizabeth became an orphan in 2010, as both her parents died, and unfortunately, she lost her siblings to another uncle as well. She misses them all terribly and cries often over the huge loss in her life. I asked her about her home life and she told me that she sleeps on the dirt floor and she is hungry often. Her auntie is the only one who works, so sometimes they don’t have any food to eat, and when they do, it’s usually once or twice a day that they are able to eat. Elizabeth spends most of her day hunting for food- and most days I would see her tuck the bread that we gave the kids for lunch away in her bag.
Elizabeth also told me that she is scared to sleep at night because of the dreams she has- people chasing her, and a terrifying dream that happens often of her dead mother coming back to get her. Elizabeth tells me that when she prays before going to sleep, she is protected, and sleeps through the night without a single dream. We talked a lot about the importance of using the Lord’s name whenever she feels scared, and to have faith that He will protect her from harm.
Elizabeth has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father. It was just last year, at camp, that Elizabeth tells me she accepted Christ- a day she will forever remember. She loves English and religious education, and her dream is to become a doctor or a pastor one day. From Elizabeth’s experience, living in such a devastating area, along with the distress in her family, she asks for prayers of health so she may take care of her family. She also asks that you pray she gets a good education, so she can learn more about the word of God and led others to Christ.
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| Maureen |
Maureen is 12 years old and is in 5th grade at a community school called Luonda. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who loves to laugh and play.
Maureen was one of my girls who was so quiet until it came time to play games. Her face would just light up the moment one of the other girls suggested we play, “do like I do” or their version of “duck, duck, goose.” When talking to Maureen, I found out that this was her first time to camp, and she was so excited to be here!!! She lives in a community called Kanyama with her mom, dad, two brothers, and one sister. Her family stays in a two room house, and her father works to provide for the family. Maureen tells his job is dangerous and she wants prayers for him to find a better, safer job.
When I asked her about her home life, she told me that she sleeps on the dirt floor and she has nightmares often. Maureen tells me that she is scared to sleep at night because of the dreams she has- one in particular shows her three year old sister dead, and the next day Maureen says her sister is sick. Maureen fears that her sister will die, and unfortunately, this year, the little girl’s face was burned, which caused Maureen to panic even more. She is concerned that because her family lives next to a witch doctor, they will never be safe. We talked a lot about the importance of using the Lord’s name whenever she feels scared, and to have faith that He will protect her from harm.
Maureen has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father. Maureen tells me she accepted Christ when she was nine years old and attends a Pentecostal church in her village. This, however, concerns me, as she believed that Jesus was dropped from heaven, and as I told her the story from the Bible, she realized how important it is for her to learn the Word of God.
Maureen loves English and art, and her dream is to become a teacher or an artist one day. From Maureen’s experience, living in such a devastating area, along with the distress in her family, she asks for prayers of health so she may take care of her family, and protection from the evil right next door to her. She also asks that you pray she gets a good education, so she can learn more about the word of God and lead others to Christ.
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| Lieza |
Lieza Habeenzu is 13 years old and is in 6th grade at a community school called Chitimukulu. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who loves to laugh and sing.
Now, Lieza was such a blessing to have. I loved to call her my little fashionista, because even though she wore the same thing every day, she would mix it up to look different and cute. She was always one of the first girls to lead the group in singing and dancing, and was really a role model among the girls. I noticed that most of them looked up to her and listened closely when she spoke. When talking to Lieza, I found out that this was her first time to camp, and she was so excited to be here!!! She lives in a community called Kanyama with her mother, father, and four sisters. Lieza tells me that she is the caretaker most of the time for her siblings, as her parents work hard to bring home food. Lieza has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father. Lieza tells me that she accepted Christ when she was eleven, and she prays often with her friends and sings His praises. She says one of her favorite things to do is tell people about her Saviour- and when we visited Kanyama on Thursday, she was sharing with such passion about Christ with the many village kids who surrounded us. She loves science, and her dream is to become a lawyer one day.
From Lieza’s experience, living in such a devastating area, along with the distress in her family, she asks for prayers of health so she may take care of her family. She also asks that you pray she gets a good education, so she can learn more about the word of God.
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| Anna |
Anna Mwewa is 11 years old and is in 6th grade at a community school called World Wide Community School. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who loves to laugh and sing.
When talking to Anna, I found out that this was her first time to camp, and she was so excited to be here!!! She lives in a community called Kanyama with her mother, six brothers, and six sisters. I asked Anna where her father was, and she told me that he died when she was little of a headache. I know this sounds strange- for someone to die of a headache, however, this is just one example of the devastating effects of witchcraft. I asked her about her health, and she told me that she has malaria. This was hard for me to learn, because when I looked in her eyes, I wanted to see a healthy girl who bounced around and didn’t struggle with illness. Anna tells me that she takes medicine, but that it’s not always available, and she gets sick often.
Her family doesn’t have shoes, books, and little clothes to wear. In fact, I noticed that Anna wore the same clothes almost every single day, which were tattered and stained. Her shoes were cracked and barely covered her feet. She tells me that it is not often that she gets food to eat or new clothes (by new, I don’t mean clothes that have tags on them) because there are so many people in her family. Anna spends most of her day hunting for food- and most days I would see her tuck the bread that we gave the kids for lunch away in her bag.
Anna has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father. Anna tells me her favorite verse is John 3:16; she knows it by heart and tells everyone she comes in contact about the overabounding love the verse describes. She loves English and mathematics, and her dream is to become a teacher one day.
From Anna’s experience, living in such a devastating area, along with the distress in her family, she asks for prayers of health so she may take care of her family. She also asks that you pray she gets a good education, so she can learn more about the word of God.
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| Memory |
Memory Njobvu is 11 years old and is in 5th grade at a community school called Luonda School. She is a beautiful, sweet girl who loves to laugh and sing.
Out of all the girls, Memory set apart. I noticed from the very first day, that she was very quiet. As the week went by, I watched to see if she interacted more with the girls, however, Memory tended to isolate herself. When talking to Memory, I found out that this was her first time to camp, and she was so excited to be here!!! She lives in a community called Kanyama with her older sister, her uncle, and their three kids. I asked Memory where her mother and father were, and she told me a story that just broke my heart. She never knew her dad, as he died when she was in the womb. Memory’s mother left the family when she was young, and lives on the other side of the village. When I asked Memory if she ever saw her, she looked down at her feet, and said that she hasn’t seen her in a very long time and she misses her a lot. The behavior I was noticing in Memory was all starting to make sense. I wanted to know more, though, so I asked her if she had been exposed to witchcraft. She refused to tell me about any experiences, but she did say that she gets headaches often, which is a clear sign of Satanism in her home.
Her family doesn’t have shoes, books, and little clothes to wear. In fact, I noticed that Memory wore the same clothes every single day, which were tattered and stained. Her shoes were cracked and barely covered her feet. Memory also told me that she doesn’t have any friends and often keeps to herself, something that also explained her isolation. I asked Memory if she knew the Lord, and she told that this was the first time she had heard of Him. She was very curious about who Jesus was, so I spent half an hour telling her about her Saviour. After I had expressed the overabounding love that Christ has for her, Memory decided to accept Christ into her heart. Felida, my evangelist, led her through the prayer that calls her to surrender her life, and precious Memory’s face just lit up. Memory now has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father.
She loves English, and her dream is to become a nurse one day, so that she may help suffering people, or even a teacher so she may teach others to read. From Memory’s experience, living in such a devastating area, along with the distress in her family, she asks for prayers of health so she may take care of her family. She also asks that you pray she gets a good education, so she can learn more about the word of God.
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| Agness |
Agness is 13 years old and is in the 7th grade at a government school. She is a precious, sweet girl who loved to lead the girls in games.
When Agness first came off that bus to camp, I was curious as to if she would ever talk because she was so quiet. I would try to catch her eyes often and smile, and by day three, she would run over to me and hug me close and give a great big smile back. She bonded closely with the other older girls and together they encouraged the younger ones to play and learn more about Jesus. When I asked Agness if she had ever been to camp, she said that it was her first time!! She was a bit apprehensive, but had heard from her friends that it would be the best experience of her life. She lives in Kanyama with her grandma, as she was orphaned at a very young age. Honestly, we didn't spend too much time talking about her home life because she had so many questions about Jesus. This was the first time she had heard His name, and she wanted to know more! I told her about His life, how He came here and why, as well as the story of Him saving Mary Magdelene from being stoned. That last story really touched Agness, and it was then that she decided to pray the prayer that surrenders her life to Jesus. Agness now has such an eager hunger for the Lord, and desperately wants to learn how to read so she can study the Bible. She understands that He is the way, the truth, and the light, and that only through Him can we get to the Father.
What was even more amazing was to watch Agness in action on Thursday when she spoke with so many small children in her village about her Saviour. I know Agness has dreams of being someone who leads more to Christ, and she enjoys learning. She asks for prayers for her education and her future.
All of these precious girls are hungry for a future and with it, and education. All the schools they are currently attending are not feeding them the education they truly deserve, and they only way for them to receive it is by your hand. Please pray about this, and read my blog about the process of sponsoring a child in Zambia (http://mcreezie.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-girls-need-sponsors.html).
Just 18 days left to give my girls some hope!!
Email me at Stephlmc@gmail.com with your questions!!
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