Life as we love it

Thank you for the prayers for our first week with Rhoda. I am not sure how to adequately describe what a joy she has been to us. Is there anything more sweet than that big white teethed smile? I looked at her today during dinner and just marveled at the reality that she is "our" daughter. You would think that bathtubs are the greatest thing in all the world by the way she smiles and sings and plays during her bath time. Life is still so new and different and at times, overwhelming for her. It is challenging and we are daily praying for wisdom. But, day by day, she is getting used to being Jennifer Rhoda Allen and day by day we are learning how to love her and parent her. (More on the name tomorrow... It deserves its own blog!) Thanks again for your prayers and kind emails.

A birthday to remember

Click on Picture to make it big!

From Collages

In case you haven't heard by now, we have been in the process of adopting a little Zambian girl named Rhoda for the past 3 months. Yesterday, we received what is called the "committal order" which names us as her official foster parents. With this piece of paper in our hands we were able to bring her home with us. Today was our first day with our newest daughter, Jennifer Rhoda Allen. (She has not been officially adopted yet, because Zambian law states that you must foster the child you wish to adopt for 3 months before you can even go to court and officially adopt. So, today marked the beginning of our 3 month fostering period.) We really weren't sure what to expect when we went to get her this morning. I (Stephanie) wasn't sure if she would be emotional saying goodbye to everyone there. Davern (her Zambian father for the past year and a half) led us in a time of prayer. I was very touched and quite emotional. Rhoda really doesn't like being the center of attention so she was quite subdued during that time. Most of the other kids happened to be at AWANA so the send-off was pretty small. After Davern prayed, Steve shared a few words thanking Davern, his wife, and the "aunties" for loving and raising our daughter during this time. We took a few pictures and then we left.

Rhoda was pretty stoic until we had been in the car for a few minutes and then a smile broke out. She smiled, and giggled a bit all the way home. When we got home, we gave her a bath. She played and played and played. I imagine she was never given the time to play when she lived at the orphanage. We had lunch, read some books and then went and got some ice cream to celebrate her fourth birthday. We decided to make her first day with us her new birthday. When Rhoda was brought to the orphanage no one knew what her actual birthday was, and so they assigned her a birthday in April saying that she was turning 3. But, it was pretty obvious to us and some others that she was not 3, but probably much closer to 4.

So, today was a day of fours. Her fourth birthday on July 4th into a family where she has four sisters and is the fourth of five daughters. She has four grandparents and four parents (two biological and two adopted).

After our yummy ice-cream we went to a 4th of July BBQ with some friends. There were five families, and 20 kids that were 10 years and younger:) Yep, it was a bit crazy. Rhoda took a little nap in my Ergo baby carrier on my back....yes, this is the BEST baby carrier out there. I'm convinced! She is 4 and I can hold her comfortably on both my front and my back. Rhoda loves it!! We enjoyed a nice dinner, some fireworks and then came home. We snuggled up little Rhoda in some cute jammies, read some books, and then got her under a comforter with a pillow. I laid down with her and sang her a song and she was asleep before I even finished. Steve and I both sat and prayed over her and watched her sleeping peacefully. It will be strange to have a new baby in the house and not have to get up and feed in the middle of the night. (at least I don't plan on it...) It seems so crazy that she is finally here. Steve and I both have been experiencing waves of anxiety over the last few days and even now, we wonder, how it will all work out. But, God has brought us this far and his grace will lead us on.

Tomorrow we plan on staying home from church to spend time as a family. Monday is a holiday here, so we are planning on going somewhere....maybe the zoo?? We will keep you updated on our new family. It is indeed crazy what a year can bring. We have, not just one new child, but two, in under a year. Our lives are wonderfully full and blessed.

Finally bloggin' about it...

Check out our Intern #2's blog!!!
Pretty cool!

Today marks the three week mark of my time in Zambia. It has been really good. Here's a brief synopsis:

(1) Week One - All my flights went as smooth as they possibly could have. I got into Lusaka and was greeted at the airport by the smiles of Steve and Tyler before being shuttled around town for a bit. I stayed the first night with Tyler at a house in Makeni, which is a suburb of Lusaka, and was able to get a full night's rest, which was great. My first real experience with JetLag wasn't too bad, and I was ok on day three.

The rest of the week was spent with Tyler and Steve and Megan, just learning the city and learning what Action Zambia is doing in its various ministries. Public transportation here is pretty interesting, and I've got some great stories that I'll have to post later. All the missionaries here have been very gracious and generous with me so far; I had dinner with all but one of the families my first week here.

(2) Week Two - A short-term team from Vacaville, CA, came into town a couple of weeks ago to do some work with a farm we have called Cianjano ("Fellowship" in Nyanja). I hung with them for the week just digging 5' x 16' x 9' pit latrines, planting trees, and hanging out with kids from the local villiages. I love that stuff: kids are the same everywhere, it doesn't matter what culture they grow up in or what language they speak. We also tore down an Insaka (an African gazebo), and watched as ladies came from the villiage to make brooms from the straw roof as we tore it down. They'll sell them in the market later for 1,000 to 2,000 kwacha (20 to 40 cents).

(3) Week Three - The team took a trip down to Livingstone to see

Victoria Falls and catch a safari, but I decided not to go with them... instead I moved into Steve and Stephanie's guest room last weekend, and have been spending time getting to know the projects that I'll be working on the rest of the way out. I'm excited for this next month, as I'll hopefully be diving into the lives of 15 local pastors, getting to know them and their congregations, and just helping out the Action office wherever I'm needed.

More to come!

Progress

I stole this from my teammates blog... Thanks Brent!

(Grading of the Soccer Field)

Ciyanjano (Nyanja word for fellowship), is the name of our ministry center located just outside of town. About 8 months ago, we temporarily closed the property up in an attempt to control some of the monthly costs until we were in a position to start developing the property. Well, the time has come. This week, we have had a team from California visiting. Their project while they are here - start phase 1 development of Ciyanjano.

Action Zambia is a ministry that focuses on equipping local churches for the work to which God has called them to do here in Zambia. We see the ministry center as a key to reaching this vision. After development is completed, the property will be used for a variety of activities such as kids camps, pastor conferences, marriage seminars and possibly even some livlihood projects to help pastors and churches generate income.

Pit Latrine # 1

The team here has been wonderful. They've been hard at work planting trees, digging a pit latrine, tearing down an old insaka, etc... It's neat seeing a team from half way around the world catching onto and supporting the vision that God has given our team here in Zambia.

Posted by Steve at 11:29 A

A freezing summer

I was once in San Francisco and I saw a quote that went something like this: "The coldest winter I ever spent was the summer in San Francisco." I think it was Mark Twain who said that?!!?!? Anyway, it is obvious that Mark never visited Zambia in the summer because it is FREEZING. With no central heating and windows that are merely there for cosmetics, the house is like an icicle early in the morning and late at night. Try living in 46 degrees temperatures and staying motivated to get out of bed:) True, it does warm up during the day. But, wow, coldness exemplified. And try as I might to complain about how cold it is, I just need to look outside my house and I see people who are literally, freezing. Crazy to think in two months I'll be begging for a little of this 46 degree coldness at night.

Miracles still happen

Cool story about God's goodness here in Zambia from our friends and teammates the Whitfields. See below: ===================================== Dear Friends Just wanted to share a huge opportunity for us to corporately praise God for His goodness. Last Sunday as we were going to home church with our missionary friends for father's day Luke saw a man utilizing a crutch outside our friend's gate. He felt that God was telling him to go and ask what had happened to this man and to pray for him. As he inquired he found out that Daniel had a bad infection in his leg that made it almost impossible for him to walk without the aid of a crutch. Luke prayed for him and then sent Daniel on his way. This weekend Daniel showed up at our friend's gate and asked for the big Muzungu (Luke has put on some weight if you have not seen him lately). Our friends the Allens directed Daniel to our gate and he informed us that his leg had been completely healed. Luke was gone the first time that Daniel stopped by and so was a little skeptical at the report. Today, Daniel stopped by again and Luke was amazed to see that this man's leg,that had been bandaged and extrememlely swollen, showed no sign of infection at all. We are writing this to encourage you all that if God can work through sinners like us, then He can work through anyone. Praise God with us as we rejoice at His goodness and mercy. What a great God we serve and may all glory and honor be unto Him. It is amazing what He is doing through our partnership here in Zambia. We love you all and so appreciate your love and support. (We have included a picture of Daniel, his wife, and their child Emmanuel) His Servants The Whitfields <><

An excuse as good as any

Well, you might be wondering why we haven't been blogging much this past week. Gasp! A week without a blog. Well, we have a good excuse. Our little Brady got really sick last Tuesday. We took her to the clinic, and then later that evening, we took her to a private hospital. The fear was that she had meningitis. She had all the classic symptoms. It turned out to be Pneumonia in her lung. She was given some strong antibiotics through an IV. We stayed in the hospital for four days and three nights. It has been an exhausting week, but we have been strengthened by the prayers of many. Thank you! (This picture is a thumbs up as she finished up her last dose of antibiotics!)