Passports!

We received our passports in the mail today!  We've been waiting for them for a month and we're excited to see them.  It's the small things that can make our day, isn't it?

We had our pictures taken at Walgreens and were told that we were supposed to have a neutral face for the passport photo.  It is hard to take a picture with a neutral face.  (If you haven't tried to do this before you should try, just for fun.)  Child number 4 had a very difficult time not smiling and looks a little goofy in his picture.  When we were at the post office for the application process they informed us that we could have smiled.  The postmaster said, "After all, traveling is usually fun and you will be smiling."  Oh well, I guess.  Hopefully Zambia doesn't question why we're in their country.  Some of us look like we should be in jail!  Hopefully, they'll not look closely at our pictures and just notice the smile on our faces as we enter their country.

We're now one step closer to our trip!

I thought I'd take a few minutes tonight, to share a little bit, of my perspective on our trip to Zambia.  I actually started writing these thoughts over a month ago as we were getting our support letter ready to be sent out.  We realized that our letter could end up being really long if we each wrote about our perspective and that's when we decided maybe a blog was the way to go.

For some time now, Scott and I have felt a desire to be able to go on a missions trip with our family.  I've never been on a mission trip before and I am not sure why God chose now to put this desire in our hearts.  But I am really excited to see what God may have in store for not only me, but my family as well.

Our church family, CBC, has connected with and been supporting Villages of Hope in Zambia for 7 years now.  Every time I hear about someone's experience there I think, "I really want to go there and experience that place."  And I wonder if God will ever allow me to visit.  It seems that this year may be the time God has chosen.  Since last year, Scott and I have been considering the possibility of participating in this mission trip.  Since the beginning of January we have been praying and asking God to make it clear to us if this timing is right for our family.  We started saving our pennies, realizing that God is big enough to provide everything we might need for this trip.  We decided to hand in our applications to go on the mission trip and were accepted onto the team.  So, here we are looking at traveling to the Villages of Hope in about 6 months.  I am excited and really nervous!  And I am so thankful for this opportunity.

to be continued...
~Erin

Hello:)

Hello friends, 
Guess what! I'm going to Zambia this summer. I am super excited about this opportunity. As I keep seeing pictures and hearing stories about other trips I can't believe we have to wait 6 months to go. When I think about Zambia I am mostly excited, but I am nervous about traveling half way across the world to an unknown country and culture. This trip is definitely going to be a fantastic experience. These kids I am going to visit have a lot less than me and are so thankful, but I struggle everyday with contentment and thankfulness. I think these kids will help me put into perspective just how blessed I am. While I'm in Zambia I hope to make some great friends and develop amazing relationships and I want to help the Villages of Hope in whatever way I can. Thank you so much for your prayer and support.
With love,
Lanz

We spent some family assembly line time tonight packing letters to send out for support.  We have about 50 finished and about 70 more to do.  It was fun.  We all had a job, and it felt like we were really getting it done fast.  While we were working we listened to a music CD that was made by the kids in the Villages of Hope.

Scott

I want to go to Zambia because I want to play with the Zambia kids.  Playing soccer, baseball, and jumprope sounds like fun.  I want to eat their food (my mom thinks I might struggle with this.)  I can't wait to get my passport!  I'm taking my yellow guy (my favorite blanket that I sleep with) and I'm a little nervous that I might lose it.  Thank you for considering helping us get to Zambia.

Number 4

I want to go to Zambia because I want to see how different we are from other cultures.  I think that if we look more closely at how much we really have we will notice that we have much more than them like all of our technology.  And we can see how we can help them find the Lord in many different ways.  I would also like to go to Zambia because it gives us time to spend time and relate with the kids there.  I think that if we can just play with the kids and relate with them we will see how different and the same we are.  Also we can teach them as well as they can teach us.   I can say that I also want to go to Zambia because it will help me be content with what I have.  I like to think about how we can be nice and kind to them we while we are there or mean and cruel to them while we are there.  If we would think about how we can touch them with our lives the world would be a amazing place to live in.  I hope that when you read this letter you will want to at least pray for me and my family.

Number 3