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

The Village is growing! By God’s grace Family Legacy opened three new houses at the Tree of Life Children’s Village this past summer.   Faith House, Lindsay’s House, and Leadership House became the 5th, 6th, and 7th homes to be finished.  Eventually the Tree of Life will have 25 homes and more than 300 children coming from dire living conditions.

These houses are led by loving Christian house moms and dads who create a nurturing family atmosphere that most of these children have never known.  Since the opening of the first home in May 2009, the Tree of Life has gone from a handful of kids to a thriving community with more than 104 children in residence.  It is a very active community indeed!

Each of these new children has been rescued from a desperate situation of abuse, abandonment, illness, neglect and/or poverty.  Many of these children came from our Community Resource Centers which is the first step in rescuing them from horrible conditions in their previous homes. Others are siblings of children who had already moved into the Tree of Life.  It was awesome to see the children who were already living at the Tree of Life line the street cheering and singing as the new children arrived on the bus. What a fantastic introduction to a new life, as the new children were reunited with their old family members and introduced to their new family at the Tree of Life! They no longer have to worry about where they will sleep or what they will eat.  They have beds of their own (many have never slept in a bed, much less their own) and plenty of healthy food.  Furthermore, they are receiving quality education at the Tree of Life Christian Academy as well as ongoing discipleship and counseling from our full-time pastors.  It is a world away from the life they once knew, and it will provide them with an excellent foundation for the future.

With another 18 homes yet to be built (and capacity for another 200 children), there is still more to come!  Who will fill the NEXT houses at the Tree of Life?  We can’t wait to see who the Lord will bring!

Attention sports fans!  Something big is around the corner. It’s not the Texas Rangers’ playoff bid, or the Cowboys’ opening kickoff.  It’s . . . basketball season! That’s right, basketball.  (No, I am not confusing my professional sports schedule.) We now have a basketball court at the Tree of Life!

Earlier this month our construction crew installed two regulation-size basketball hoops on a flat piece of ground between the two playgrounds. This “court” has taken shape thanks to the hard work of the Tree of Life boys.  They have taken full ownership and have begun to cut grass and clear out rocks and bushes because they are ready to play!  Right now they are enjoying their packed-dirt playing surface, but eventually they will have a real concrete court for their games.  If you would like to contribute towards the new basketball court, you can donate online.

Greer spent some time teaching the kids how to dribble and shoot, and even now the future Tree of Life basketball team is starting to take shape. Playing basketball will teach these kids teamwork and perseverance, help them develop their coordination and athletic abilities, and allow them to just have fun!  Instead of scrounging for plastic bags and string to make their own makeshift balls, these kids now have real basketballs and real goals!  It is a stark contrast to their former poverty, and it is just one more way of bringing complete transformation to these kids’ lives.  We believe that the children at the Tree of Life will grow up to be the future leaders of Zambia: political leaders, community leaders, medical professionals . . . maybe even basketball players?

We don’t know the future of each of these young lives, but we know Who does.  “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’” (Jeremiah 29:11)  God’s promise is for all of His children, both here in America and over in Zambia.

Even for future basketball stars.

Our appointment time was set for Thursday morning at 10:30 at the Zambian State House, the official residence of the President and also where Mrs. Banda’s personal office is located. We were told to arrive up to 45 minutes prior to our scheduled appointment to enable us time to clear through the multiple security points, the first of which included leaving our cell phones and cameras (sorry no pictures to back up my account). Indeed it did take almost 45 minutes to finally make it inside the State House and finally we were escorted into the First Lady’s office around 11:00 a.m.

From the moment we walked into her office, she was already coming from around behind her desk to warmly greet us and shake our hands. I must be honest, I was a bit nervous as I didn’t want to break some official Zambian protocol in how I was supposed to greet her or refer to her or shake her hand. But she instantly made us feel most welcome, thanking us for coming to see her and ushering us to take our seats on her elegant couch and chairs. After being offered refreshments by one of her attendants, she began by introducing herself and then asking us to formally introduce ourselves. With that the ice was broken and we could now begin speaking freely. She struck me as a woman of tremendous humility and wonderful grace as she fully engaged in our conversation and even asked us various questions as we spoke.

I had prepared a special booklet for her that briefly outlined the ministry of Family Legacy. I quickly highlighted our various ministry programs of Camp LIFE, the Father’s Heart, and the Tree of Life and gave a brief history of the work these last 10 years, of course slipping in my very favorite part about being a “child of Zambia” myself. I explained in much greater detail about our Community Resource Centers and our new LIFEWAY Christian Academies that are located all over the city. I even showed her the satellite images of all the CRC’s. She was quite amazed at the breadth of the work and specifically asked me to reiterate (to make sure she heard correctly) the large number of orphan and vulnerable children who are being served in our programs. I showed her images of the Tree of Life Christian Academy and explained that eventually we will have over 1,000 children attending school there. She made the statement when looking at the Tree of Life classrooms, “These pictures say it all!” She was most impressed with what she saw as the quality, commitment and passion that we are pursuing the education of Zambian children.

She also said that rather than establishing her own personal NGO (non-profit organization) as others have done in her position, she wanted to find existing organizations that are already doing quality work here in Zambia and come alongside of them to support them in their efforts. With that, she went on to say that she wanted to make time to personally visit our various projects around the city and most specifically the Tree of Life in the coming weeks so that she could determine the best way to be a support to Family Legacy as we serve the children of Zambia. She handed me and our senior Zambian staff her personal business card and told Raphael that her office would be in touch with him soon !

So as our Zambian friends like to say so much, “God is good..all the time..and all the time…God is good!” As always, we give all praise and honor to God who Alone is the Author and Finisher of our faith. We thank Him for every movement of His hand and every evidence of His grade in our lives and work.

A house at the Tree of Life with the lights on!

Last Saturday, we turned the power on at the Village! That night to celebrate we took all of the Ambassadors who came for Week 0 and baked brownies with all the kids who live at the Tree of Life. This was the first time they were able to use the stoves in their houses, because the solar panels were not powerful enough to use them. This was also the first time that many of the kids had even heard of brownies. They really loved mixing them, eating them and especially licking the bowl clean.

Licking the bowl clean was the highlight of the evening for the kids!

This really is a great accomplishment because it removes one of the final roadblocks before we can have Camp LIFE at the Summit. It allows us to open three more houses this year to another 40 orphans and the first phase of our school to all of the children at the Tree of Life. Thanks to all of you who donated and prayed that power would come to the Tree of Life. Although you can already see the benefits of the power in the milk mustaches on the kids, the tens of thousands of children who will attend Camp LIFE at the Summit is the ultimate goal!

The containers were full of things such as shoes, food, school supplies, playground equipment and even Christmas decorations for next year’s Christmas parties.

Thanks to about 25 of our Zambian staff and some Americans at Week 0, we were able to get it all unloaded in about two days. Next we will organize it so that it gets to the correct CRC, LCA or Villa for Camp LIFE.