Abby's day..."Not for my glory"

We made it to Zambia! Hallelujah! Being back to Zambia has been a blessing from the Lord. God's prescence is so much clearer here and it's refreshing to see the Zambians worship in a genuine and whole hearted way. It's obvious that their love for God is at the center of their lives.
I was a little discouraged yesterday about not being able to be with the kids that I worked with last year and see how God has been working in their lives, especially since the process of creating trust with the kids can be long nd tiresome. However, through talking with my translator I realized that it's not about me at all, it's about the fact that ten more children will come to know Christ because of the work that God does through me. I got caught up in my own selfish desire to see how the seeds that were planted in my girls last year grew when truthfully, it's not for myself to see how God has worked in their lives. God is always good and he blessed me with a group of ten precious girls who have never been to camp LIFE before! Because of God's great blessing, I was able to share the gospel with them, for most of them it was the first time ever to hear the word of God. It was such a joy to see how God is constantly working in our lives and creating unexpected opportunities. I feel so blessed that He has brought these girls to me!
I am so excited to see how God transforms the orphans this week. My girls are incredibly shy, mostly because of the shock of being at camp and not really knowing what's going on. Today in the first worship session they weren't really participating and their faces looked so broken, however by the second worship session, they were all smiling and raising their hands! It brought tears to my eyes and chills down my arms to see these young girls worshiping the same amazing God I'm serving today. I still have a week ahead of me, but it was so encouraging to see a glimpse of heaven while watching all of them worship. Please be praying that God will teach how to communicate with my girls through love. They are all very young and don't speak any English so pray that my actions will reflect God's love for them. It's especially hard during the time I spend with them in a group and one-on-one, be praying that there will be easy connections and that all barriers will be broken down.
God has also blessed us with wonderful people on our team. We have had a sweet time of prayer each night in our villa where we stay. It has been so encouraging and we have enjoyed getting to know everyone on the team. They're is the sweetest elderly couple living in our villa, and they have "adopted" Lily and I as their grandchildren because they are not able to have grandchildren of their own. They have been an incredible blessing to Lily and I and we are very impressed that they have come here at an older age.
I find myself constantly repeating "blessed," but God has truly blessed both Lily and I here in every way possible. We are so grateful for your prayers and this trip wouldn't be the same without them! Much love to you all!

Here are my kids names if you would like to include specific names in your prayers, I will let you know more about them individually as I hear stories: Grace, Mama, Fareyi, Saze, Erlika, Martha, Zefar, Grace, Mwape, Justina