Mission Outreach

Today I traveled with Tori Thoreson, LeAnne Stegall (soon to be Griffin), Jessica Snail, and Natalie Fisher to an outside village in order to give vaccinations to the babies nearby. We gave DTap, live polio, and TB prophylaxis (not given in US). This was a wonderful trip, not because we made all the little babies cry by sticking them with needles, but because we made them all laugh shortly after. Each of the ladies I was with brought tons and tons of stickers and the young people of the village went absolutely crazy. Soon we were handing out sticker after sticker to each of the locals. I placed one sticker on my forehead and soon all the children wanted a sticker on their forehead as well. It is a wonderful feeling when one is able to reach out to the villagers. There are many different languages in the world, but everyone should be able to smile and laugh with one another. There are many different world views, beliefs, values, and behaviors; but there is only one God. This God is our God and he deeply loves each of us, regardless of our geographical location on Earth.
When I arrived back at Namwianga I met up with Zach Daggett, Tanner, and Trey in the garden. They had picked many of the tomatoes and I began to help them water the lepu. On my way to the garden, several of the local boys spotted me and chased me to the garden. Zach is more afraid of the Zambian children messing up our garden than the cows that graze nearby. The small children are capable of stomping on each of the green bean seeds that he so diligently planted. We soon neglected the gardening work and began to play with the children. Musa and Gordon gathered several of their young friends and started throwing nuts at us. We used the garden fence as a fort and began throwing rotten tomatoes and lemons back towards them. The battle intensified and soon we were running all throughout Namwianga attacking one another. The older boys eventually won and the young Zambian boys came out with their hands up. Although Gordon faked the surrender and tried to escape, we pegged him with five or six lemons that splattered him with juice.
After calling it even, we joined forces to attack the house that the ladies are staying in. After pegging their house with several lemons, the women realized they were under attack and came out onto the porch. By this time many of the younger boys had collected to join our team. I feel bad for the commotion that we started by running around the compound, but the battle was an unforgettable experience. Several locals gathered in the street to witness our lemon war.