First Sports Camp at Sarasungu School - Week 1

The volleyballs are flying and laughter is in the air!! :)

We have started our first week of camp at Sarasungu school in Kaisosi! The girls are awesome! We said we could take no more than 50 and they asked for a 100, so we went to 75. God knows and gave us 45!! A perfect amount for us to be able to develope relationships with! My group of girls are ..... Lydia, Maria, Berta, Filime, Patrina, Julia, Hilda, Hedwig, Helena, and Regina. They are wonderful girls! We practice vball skills with them and then have our small group time with our same girls. Our whole schedule is : prayers, stretching, vball skills, fun game, bible time, lesson time, and small group time. We have a short amount of time to fit it all in between school and when it gets dark. Its very dangerous for these girls to walk home in the dark and some have an hour to walk. So please pray that their hearts will be open to the Lord and us, that the Holy Spirit will talk through us during the entire time, and these girls safety as they walk home each night. We went over the gospel message on monday, then we began Esther on Tuesday. They girls seem to enjoy the story! My girls have opened up and shared examples in their own lives that they would need some of the characteristics of Esther. We've talked about depending on God for strength and knowing we each have a "for such a time as this" in our lives. Please pray that this is real to them! I will never forget these girls! They are lovely and I see God's hands on their lives. I hope and pray that they will be able to see the same. I hope that they will open up to me and that I can pray with them and share His love with them through our relationship with each one of them.

Thank you all for your prayers! I can already see the Lord has answered some of mine and yours by softening their hearts before we ever got here. I see He is in His process of raising up some awesome leaders for the other girls around them! I can't wait to tell you all more of our Father's amazingness!!! He is so powerful! So loving! So merciful! So ALL we need!!!

Please pray for Stacey, she is having some tummy issues. We don't know what it is, but please pray for healing. It's very hard to lead a team, play vball in the heat when you feel sick and there is no bathroom beside the "bush" around. I know she's feeling pretty weak so your prayers would be very appreciated!

I love you all and am praying for you too!

Rundu, Namibia

Mwachili!! (Hi and how are you in Lucazi ....just ONE of the languages they speak here!)

Tunasansala (thank you) for all your prayers and comments! You have no idea how encouraging and uplifting they are! God has been amazing. Things are so imperfect here and broken, but He is sure and able and so powerful. It is not easy to remember these things every moment. But times like Zacha and Anita's wedding....such a testimony to what God can do. We just went to the flag raising ceremony this last sunday and this saturday is the wedding. Proof that God can work miracles in the lives of these peoples. They do not know God and love is not the true love here. I am certain God will use us as we depend on Him to speak through us to these women we've come to work with. They are so excited about the Sports program. We believe we are going to teach about the Women of Faith in the Bible during our teaching time. Everything revolves around men here so this is something they've never heard. Please pray as we are preparing for this Monday, the first day of the first camp! We are so blessed to be chosen to share His love with these girls! And that the Lord is working in my heart in so many ways! Verses the Lord has been using in my heart ...Ps147:2-5, 145:13-20,144:1-2 and of course "Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world!"

Thank you all for your prayers, please keep them coming. Thank you Kathy for all your mentoring before now and forever! The cards are so encouraging! I love you all!

Windohek, Namibia...We've arrived!

As we landed in the middle of no where....:) looked like a desert....we can all now say, "We've made it!"

We are no in Windohek, Namibia with our passports and luggage in hand! We are staying at a lady's house named Hannah. She is very sweet and is taking wonderful care of us! Rob and his 2 oldest girls picked us up at the airport (this is the missionary that is going to be helping us get started in our temporary new home). They are so sweet and nice. It is pretty cold here and it just keeps getting colder as the night wears on. I keep having to blow on my hands while I'm typing to warm them up!

So we got most of our luggage. Stacey's didn't come through, but we saw it in Joburg, South Africa when we were there. It's on its way supposedly. So we are hoping to get it tonight or tomorrow morning. So praise the Lord! Our volleyball nets, vballs, crayons, paint, and our most of our clothes made it!

London was very pretty. We took the "tube" (underground subway) to visit places like Big Ben and Kensington Palace during our 10hr lay over.

We will be traveling tomorrow morining at 8:30 am our time. We are 6 hrs ahead of you...after all the time changes just 6hrs! :) Well I love you all and will continue praying for you daily! I will try to get on to post again! Thank you all for your prayers and the rest of team thanks you too. Please keep them coming!

New York-orientation

Ephesians 3:20-21

"Now to Him who able to do farm more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work witin us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."

Hello Everyone!!

So as most of you know I'm on my way to Rundu, Namibia in south west Africa. Yahoooo!!! The Lord is amazing!!! I just want to know Him more! So we will be working a "sports camp" with bible lessons and art with 2 different villages for 12-18 year old girls! I can't wait to get in on the coversations God has already began with them in their hearts! I am so looking forward to all the relationships that I will have the chance to build with these ladies!

I am in New York right now at USA AIM (Africa Inland Mission) headquarters for orientation! It has been wonderful! I am learning and remembering amazing things that I know will be incredibly helpful while in Rundu. Just remembering our God is limitless and I can expect that He will use us to make a difference ---and this is the God I will get to introduce to these girls!

My team of girls is amazing! They are Stacey, Jenna, Angela, and Meredith if you would like to keep them in your prayers by name! It is very neat to see how God has prepared us all for this journey and how it seems we were hand picked by God to go to this area as a team to spread His message!

Our team was talking about Nehemiah last night and how cool it is that God took the cup-bearer and used him in an incredible way! Also something awesome....Nehemiah was only on the wall for 52 days! How awesome, such a testimony to what God can do in a short time! I cannot wait to get to Rundu and begin showing these young ladies God's love for each and everyone of them! How awesome that He chose me to do this! I can only praise the Lord with much thanksgiving!


I love you all and am praying for everyone at home!

To Him be the glory forever and ever,
Stephani