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Lahema was a 16-year-old double orphan stricken with AIDS and living with her elderly grandmother when she first attended Camp LIFE in 2003.  She had contracted the deadly virus when she was raped at the tender age of 8.  The empty, hollow, lifeless stare coming from her face combined with her frail, disease-ridden body would stop anyone in their tracks.

But the Lord was looking after his child, and in that same year at camp, Lahema accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She truly had a new light in her eyes!  In 2004, she appeared at Camp LIFE still very fragile, but her soul was obviously alive and her heart was renewed.  In 2005, Lahema was a completely different child.  Her face was bright, her skin was clear, and she had gained so much healthy weight!  She had begun receiving free ARVs (antiretroviral drugs) as part of President Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.  She went around evangelizing, praying for sick people, and spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ to her community.

The following year, Lahema was counting down the days until Camp LIFE 2006.  However days before camp started, she suddenly fell ill with pneumonia and needed to go to the clinic.  Her grandmother had gone to the farm to get food, but she had given money to a neighbor to take Lahema to the clinic in case she needed treatment.  Instead of taking Lahema to the clinic, the neighbor thought to herself, “Why spend good money on a girl who is going to die from AIDS anyway?”  And so she pocketed the money.  Hours later, too weak to stand any longer, Lahema laid face down in the dirt crying and praying for help. With neighbors standing idly by all around and staring at her, Lahema left this world.  The Lord looked down on that sweet girl and decided if nobody would help her, he would bring her home. Lahema dwells in the House of the Lord. And there she will stay for eternity.

The Lord in his intricate mercy moved in the fall of 2006. A fund was set up to honor Lahema’s Legacy, and money was raised to build “Lahema’s House” – the very first home for AIDS orphans at Family Legacy’s Tree of Life Children’s Village.  The construction and opening of Lahema’s House caused a ripple effect and the opening of other homes quickly followed.  Today, over 100 children call the Tree of Life their home and live in love, safety, and peace…

Though her time on this earth is finished, Lahema’s LEGACY remains.

“Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.  The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.  For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; He has led them to springs of living water.  And God has wiped away every tear from their eyes.” - Revelation 7:16-17

As many of you are well aware, nshima, a stiff maize porridge, is a staple food of Zambia. It is eaten all across the nation and many Zambians do not even consider food they consume a full meal unless there is nshima involved. The children that come to Camp LIFE as well as the children and families our Father’s Heart program touch throughout the compounds of Lusaka, all eat nshima regularly.

Yet Zambians, and more specifically children, often do not receive the necessary vitamins and minerals in their daily food intake. Thus they are malnourished and prone to infection.  However, if Zambians can be persuaded to eat an orange-colored variety made of biofortified maize, their health prospects could be greatly enhanced. Check out this story on a new way the Zambian government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are trying to counter malnourishment. Here are the highlights:

More than half of Zambia’s under-five children are affected by vitamin A deficiency, which can increase the risk of illness, retard growth and cause blindness, according to the government’s National Food and Nutrition Commission.

In the past few years, developing countries have launched several programmes to fortify staples with vitamin A and iron. Biofortification is the process of breeding higher levels of essential micronutrients such as vitamin A, iron, and zinc in food crops.

Zambia has also made its own efforts to biofortify maize with vitamin A – led by the government’s Zambia Agricultural Research Institute (ZARI), which is collaborating with HarvestPlus.

After three years of work – identifying maize varieties with high beta-carotene content and then cross-breeding them to increase the content naturally – the scientists appear to have been successful.

Beta-carotene which is converted in the body as vitamin A is naturally found in maize, explained Simpungwe. The researchers led by ZARI have managed to develop a maize variety with a beta-carotene content of nine milligrams per gram, which should improve levels of vitamin A in consumers quite substantially, he said.

“We are aiming to get to a maize variety which will provide 10-15 milligrams of beta-carotene per gram, which is the optimum level,” said Simpungwe. The researchers arrived at the figure after taking into account the amount of maize an average Zambian consumed in a year, which is 160kg.

There is however, a growing fear that the new maize may not be accepted. Simpungwe disagrees. Simpungwe said he had run his own trials at home and found the maize to be a hit with his children and friends. “Unlike white maize which has a flat taste, the orange maize has a sweetish taste which the children loved.”

Simpungwe said the seeds will be made freely available initially, and subsidized thereafter.

What an exciting development for all of the Lord’s children in Zambia!

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Interested in sponsoring a child and helping insure physical needs of that child are met? Click Here

Already a Sponsor? Click here to travel to Zambia and make a food drop to your sponsored child

“Come and see what the Lord has done…”  Camp LIFE 2011 is truly going to be like no other year that we have experienced in Zambia.  There are so many exciting surprises planned for Camp LIFE 2011-you do not want to miss it!

The sign-ups for Camp LIFE 2011 have really been pouring in since September when we opened registration. In fact, nearly 370 people have already signed up–this is more than our Camp LIFE 2010 TOTAL!   As a result, weeks 5 and 7 are now closed at this current price level.  All the other weeks are still open yet there is limited availability in weeks 3 and 6.

If you’re thinking about coming, there are still 3 days left to take advantage of the current cost of $3,850 for one week.  This special price is available until midnight Sunday night, November 14^th.  After that, the cost will increase from $3,850 to $4,100 (due to the increasing cost of airline tickets.)

Our theme for 2011 is “Kingdom” and we are going to be teaching the children of Zambia about their inheritance in Christ because “the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” It is going to be a powerful and life changing week. So get your applications in and sign up now. We don’t want you to miss out on everything the Lord is going to be doing this next summer in Zambia.

Here is the 2011 Camp LIFE schedule:

Forward this to friends and family so that they have a chance to lock in the lower price too. As always, money towards your Camp LIFE trip is 100% tax-deductible and the full amount is not due until April 1^st ($1,000 needs to be raised or paid by January 15, 2011.)  Sign up today to ensure your spot at Camp!

If you have finished at least one year of college and are interested in joining our Summer Staff or interning in our office this summer please contact Susan Kendall.

If you have any questions about Camp LIFE please contact Rebecca Evans

Due to the large number of Camp LIFE sign-ups that have occurred over the past few weeks we wanted to do a blog post about fund-raising. Although fund-raising may seem like a daunting task, or something that you can put off until much later, we have found that fund-raising is easy when you meet it head on and with gusto! And often you can even put the “fun” back into fund-raising. So here are some helpful tips and practices we have seen work for Camp LIFERS in the past.

First and foremost pray. We believe in a living and active God who hears the prayers of his people. Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the assurance of things not yet seen. We have a saying around the office that goes like this, “If you already can see it, then you don’t need faith.” In other words, fund-raising might be a place God is allowing you to use faith.

However, this doesn’t mean you pray and let it be. It should be followed by action. So here are some ways to pursue money for your trip:

Speak to your church, your missions’ pastor, or your Sunday school groups. Talk about your desire to go with us to Zambia and describe the sort of impact you will have. You will be surprised at how many people will be interested in what you are doing for orphan children! You will also be surprised at how many churches or organizations have money for people like you who want to minister to others.

Next, have dinner or dessert parties for friends and family. Do this before your trip to talk about what you are doing. And promise to keep them up to date and follow up with another event after your trip to tell them about your experience. People like to know that the money they invested made a difference. So make them feel like they played a part in what happened in Zambia, because in actuality their financial assistance is directly related to the impact you make in Zambia.

Consider doing various jobs like babysitting, mowing lawns or car washes, or events like garage sales or bake sales where all of the money comes back into your trip account. Advertise that these things are for the orphans of Zambia and again how much of a difference this money can make for a child in Africa.

Get creative. We have had many Camp LIFE alumni create shirts, jewelry, shoes, artwork, or music to sell to make money for their trip. Use your gifts and talents the Lord has blessed you with. He gave you those talents for a reason. Why not use them to send you to Zambia?

Look into businesses or organizations that do profit shares. We know that Chick-fil-a, Fuddruckers, and some ice cream shops that will allow you to do some sort of profit share where you can take a percentage of the sales on a particular day that would go towards your trip. Places like Sonic may allow you and your friends to be car-hops and keep tips. Be bold and seek out places that may allow you to do this.

Don’t forget to post on your various social media outlets like facebook, blogs, or twitter. Post your monetary goal and trip info somewhere where it can be seen by a large audience. You never know who might give. Contact Rebecca Evans about setting up your own webpage in which you can direct your friends to donate.

Finally, don’t be afraid to talk. Again focus conversations on what you will be doing, serving orphans. The worst thing someone can say is no. So remember Joshua 1:9. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified or dismayed, for the Lord Your God is with you.”