Help us completely outfit the next Orphan Home opened at The Tree of Life Children’s Village.
Click her to view our online registries -
Target – Registry ID# 013399700273032
Bed, Bath & Beyond – Registry ID# 5285772
You can also go into the store to purchase items for these registries. Thanks for your help. Read our story below.
Friends and Family,
This June, Hayley and I had the privilege of traveling to Zambia, Africa to help Family Legacy Missions International with Camp LIFE 2009. Although this was my first trip to Zambia, Hayley was returning for the second time. Prior to our trip we were really excited to be able to love on the children that we would be serving, as well as to experience a different culture. What we did not anticipate was the impact these children and their situations would have on us.
Hayley was blessed to have some of her girls from last year in her group of 11 this year. I had the pleasure of getting to know thirteen young boys. Throughout the week, we both were able to spend quality time with the children in our groups. They quickly grew on us and the emotional attachment was evident. This attachment became stronger after spending one on one time with the kids. During this time, we attempted to discern details about their living situation, schooling, and lifelong goals.
Some of their stories really moved us. During the one-on-one time, I would ask each of my boys if there was anything specific that I could pray about. Typical responses included concerns with their living situation, school, health, and money. After I asked a seven-year-old boy this question, he responded by saying, “I would like you to help me thank God for allowing me live this long.” I was shocked. How often do I, at twenty-four years old, consciously reflect on the years I have lived, or give thanks for the blessing each of them has been? The answer is not enough.
Another story that unfolded during the week was about a little girl named Selah. During our first week at Victoria Falls, we had the opportunity to meet another team member named Brooke. This would be her first time to Zambia, and she was unaware of what she was about to experience during the next week at Camp LIFE. Selah, a strikingly beautiful ten-year-old girl who was in Brooke’s group was very quiet and refused to make eye contact with anyone. During her one-on-one time with Brooke, Selah said that God could never forgive her for the things she had done. Selah said that she, like many other Zambian children, had been raped. It turns out that this little girl’s father was allowing men to come into his home and sleep with his daughter for money. Selah then told Brooke that her father beats her with a large pipe when “she is not good enough.” Here this child is in her own home, being sold by her own father as a sex slave! After much prayer and hard work, Family Legacy employees were able to get custody of Selah and move her into a temporary home away from her father!
At the end of the week, after seeing the real needs of these children and the negativity surrounding them, Hayley and I were convicted of what we could do to help them. As we are preparing to start our lives together, one of the things we had to do was to prepare our traditional wedding registries. After much thought, we have decided to ask our guests to do something a bit different. Instead of giving us a gift for our home, we would like you to consider helping Family Legacy continue their mission of helping the children of Zambia.
The first way to be involved is to purchase items needed for one of the homes that will be built in the Tree of Life Children’s Village, a brand-new community for orphans and other vulnerable children like Selah who come from terrible conditions. The money that is raised to build these homes does not include things such as towels, sheets, and kitchen supplies. Please visit our registries (Target, Bed, Bath & Beyond) to provide these items for a home that will be opening within the next year. The children that are going to live in these homes need these items much more than we need an electric can opener or 500 count sheets. The items purchased can be shipped to Family Legacy and will then be transported to Zambia.
Another way you can be involved is to sponsor a Zambian child. What amazes us about Family Legacy is how they go about their mission. In every way they interact and help the children, as well as raise and use monetary funds, they are personal, efficient, and holistic. Shown below are some of the children that we had the opportunity of meeting. Hayley and I are planning on sponsoring at least two of them. Will you help us? There are different levels of sponsorship for specific children, but most of the children can be sponsored for only $36 a month. By making a small sacrifice (such as eating out less for lunch or renting a movie instead of going to the theater) you can provide a child a second chance and a future with hope. Are you an empty nester or without children? Make one of these children your own!
An additional way to help support Family Legacy Missions is by donating monetarily. Your gifts are tax-deductible and will help this organization make a difference in AIDS-torn Zambia. Year round, Family Legacy is caring for children, training teens, and equipping adults through the Tree of Life Children’s Village, the Father’s Heart program, and other similar projects. Your support will help further their mission of bringing hope and healing to the people of Zambia.
We would lastly ask you to pray for these children. There is so much hope and potential in these children, and they just need the tools and support to make a difference in their country. Please let us know if you have any questions at all. Also, why not go to Zambia yourself?! We would love to talk to you more about our experience and what God did in each of our lives, as well as how he allowed us to serve these children. Family Legacy welcomes anyone to go to Zambia, including students, singles, couples and families.
In Him,
Matthew and Hayley