Day #1 in Kakolo Village

I still remember the first time five years ago I drove down this dirt road and saw the huts and brick homes that make up Kakolo Village, the community which sees Wheaton Academy and its students and teachers as its friends, its brothers and sisters, and so much more now in 2009...

This time when we drove in children of all ages came running out of their huts and did the now infamous chase of the bus into the center of the village where we stop...one boy named John who I gave a soccer ball to almost 4 years ago yelled out Chips Harbor, which one of the community leaders has dubbed me, and the students laughed and were blown away by the warmth and energy of the reception we receive...

We immediately went into a beautiful building called the GOOD NEWS CLUB funded by funds raised during the 2007 school year at WA which we officially opened as the place in the village where all the children from all the churches can come to hear about the person and love of Jesus, and study and learn the Scriptures...several children read from their Bibles and recited memorized verses for us and we offered great hopes for how God would be at work in this place in the lives of the next generation of Zambia...

We also had the chance to help commission a new church in the village with a beautiful roof (they are a huge deal here, especially during the rainy season...) and listened to a spectacular worship choir of Zambian students...many of the older members of the community shed tears of joy at how the faith would be passed on in this village community...

As a gift we received a live dove, a symbol here of new life from Scripture and of the promise of the future...gifts of animals are common and incredibly meaningful as they are some of the most precious possessions a family may have...we gave this gift later to a World Vision staff lady named Maggie who has recently lost her husband to AIDS and is herself living with HIV daily...

We also had a chance to visit two microfinace clients in the village who run small shops from their loans given by World Vision's HARMOS division and they are now able to support their families and create economic development in the village setting...it is a strategy that so deeply empowers the poor and lets them become self sustaining and proud of what they can do as business owners...

I also had a chance to spend time with Monica, a 5th grade girl who our family sponsors...for most of the millions of sponsors, it isn't possible or likely to meet your child, but this is my third visit with my quiet and bright Zambian friend...I love delivering gifts from my kids to her and now will pray for her as her mom is away from their family taking care of her sister who is very ill...

And finally today, we played the long awaited soccer match at Kakolo Village..they built a field for us to play on together as a thank you to our school community 2 years ago, and these matches are most definitely some of the most prized moments in my life...the community turns out in great numbers, a man does play by play on a megaphone, and they always know if we have won or lost the last time we played...this sport has drawn us together in a remarkable way and given us a common love that allows us to build friendships from that place...unfortunately, just like the Zambian national team today, we fell 2-0 to a better team!! Maybe we will do better when we play baseball tomorrow, which was brough to the community by a former WA student who lived in the village a couple summers ago and is now known affectionately as the Father of Baseball in Zambia...

This village is a very special place...a place I love deeply and a place that always loves us back...every time you step off the bus and walk anywhere, you always have children holding both hands and often have others trying to climb onto another limb or two as well...the love of God connects us physically and spiritually despite coming from such different homes and life stories...we can't wait to worship in a community wide church service tomorrow morning outside in the beautiful African sun...we hope your Sunday will be brightened as you pray for us and think of us dancing and singing and listening to God speak on the other side of the world...

Every student and team member sends their greetings and love back to you...CHIP