Heaven is a Wonderful Place!

What difference does sponsoring a child make? 

Meet Rabson who attends one of Family Legacy's Lifeway Christian Academies that are located throughout the city of Lusaka, Zambia. Sponsored kids like Rabson experience a life filled with joy and hope for the future.

Enjoy this video... 
 

Heaven is a Wonderful Place! from Family Legacy on Vimeo.

Dream Camp

"It was like a DREAM! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy."
Psalm 126

I am so excited to be heading back to Zambia this December to lead a group of participants for our 3rd Dream Camp at the Tree of Life Children's Village!

Now home to over 280 children, the Tree of Life is a community that provides a home and a family to children who have come from the worst situations imaginable. Virtually all of them have been orphaned through the death of one or both parents or through abandonment. Children as young as 2 or 3 years old were left to take care of themselves - find food, find clothes, find a place to sleep - and their siblings.

But, in HIS infinite grace and love, God had another plan for these children's lives. He could see them when no one else could. And, He has given us eyes to see them and be part of rescuing them to a new home at the Tree of Life.

Our kids are going to school, eating great food, and growing in the knowledge of Jesus each day. But, we also want them to begin to DREAM about what God can do in and through their lives. Many of them don't realize that they can sing, dance, paint, play basketball. They don't know that they are gifted in a unique area that could become a passion, a career, or a ministry.

Dream Camp is a chance for us to open their eyes to these very things. This December, I will get to lead a group of Americans who will teach classes in all sorts of areas for a week at the Tree of Life. This is my new favorite video that quickly sums up the power of Dream Camp:



Dream Camp from Family Legacy on Vimeo.

Please pray for our upcoming trip and for the kids at the Tree of Life.

Want to join me!? Learn more and sign-up online at www.familylegacy.com/dreamcamp!

Blessings,
Anne

Update on Eunice

Last September, I posted a story about a little girl named Eunice. She attended Camp LIFE last year for the very first time and was clearly in desperate need of health care and nutrition. At the age of 10 and a mere 32 pounds, it was evident that her life may be ending needlessly short without immediate intervention.

God, in His endless grace, mercy, and provision, gave Eunice a new home at the Tree of Life Children's Village where she is thriving! Seeing her this summer - for the first time since I helped her family stay in their home last July - was truly a blessing because she looks like a whole new child.

A year ago, she was frail, tiny, visibly sick, and lacking the beautiful innocence and hope that comes with childhood.

Today, though she is still small, she is a child filled with life and joy. Her new home at the Tree of Life has truly transformed her into a happy, hopeful, and healthy child. She is receiving an education, medication, proper nutrition, the love of a family, and most importantly, the knowledge of her Savior Jesus Christ - the one who will perform the ultimate transformation in her life. Here are a few pictures of Eunice today...

 "Father to the fatherless, this is God.
He places the lonely in families and gives them joy!"

Psalm 68:5 - 6

All Things Become NEW!

After a busy spring preparing for 670 Americans to join us in Zambia for the summer, packing 9 shipping containers full of supplies for Camp LIFE, our new schools, and 9 new homes at the Tree of life, and finally 2 incredible months in Zambia, I am finding my way back to the blog!

To get things started again, here are a few favorite photos from my time in Zambia and some of our NEW things we got to celebrate this summer.

Camp LIFE moves into its NEW home at the Legacy Center
on the beautiful hilltop plateau of the Tree of Life Children's Village...

9 NEW houses opened at the Tree of Life to give a
safe and loving home to over 100 orphaned children...

NEW backpacks for all the kids at the Tree of Life School...

My NEW love Simon. And, his NEW love...Baylor! Sic 'em Bears!

Blessings,
Anne

A Preview of Stories to Come!

Take a look at these great photos from Christmas at the Tree of Life! More details to come later.

New Schools

I posted late last year about Family Legacy's push to improve education in Zambia. Read more here.

This summer, I got to sit with some of our kids who have been going to the Lifeway Christian Academy at the Tree of Life for the last 2 years. Listening to them read and speak in English was a very special experience. Here are a few photos to give you a sense of the difference between the community schools (where most kids in the slum go to school) and our Lifeway Christian Academies.

Community School

Community School

Lifeway Christian Academy

Reading at Lifeway Christian Academy

Pray for the education of these children! We know this will make a dramatic and lasting difference in their lives.

Blessings,
Anne

Depraved Indifference

There is a video floating around our office these days and it is the reminder we often need for why we are pouring our lives into our work on behalf of the orphans of Zambia. This needs little or on introduction....it speaks loudly for itself. Please take 7 minutes to watch this powerful video and respond to what God is calling you to do to serve the hurting, the lost, and the vulnerable.

Saving Eunice

So I have promised stories of my trip to Zambia and I would say that after 6 weeks back in the US, it is about time I get moving on this!

Let me start at the beginning. One of the very first things I got to do in Zambia was meet a little girl, Eunice, and her family. This was a special moment for me because before I even left for my trip, I had been hearing testimonies and stories from the first half of the summer in Zambia. With over 3,000 children and 250 Americans having gone through Camp LIFE, I knew I was walking into the middle of a tremendously powerful year of Camp LIFE.

One of these stories was about Eunice. My dear friend and co-worker Katy met this sweet girl during the first week of Camp LIFE while she was greeting the children one morning. After introducing herself as Eunice, she told Katy that she was 10 years old and at camp for the very first time.

So far this must sound like a normal conversation between a child and a camp staff member - regardless of country. But here is what makes this story unique -- Eunice is only 32 pounds. Katy assumed she was meeting a young child only 6 years old. Instead she learned that she was talking to a child who was severely malnourished - possibly even struggling with a life-threatening illness.

Blaise at age 2 and 33 pounds; Eunice at age 10 and 32 pounds

Also alarmed by sores on Eunice's body, Katy pulled this little girl to the side and asked our medical staff to examine her. They immediately felt she needed medical assistance from a local clinic. Within the next 2 weeks, it was discovered that Eunice was HIV positive and suffering from Tuberculosis. Her mother tested positive for HIV as well and was discovered to be suffering from heart disease. She has been so sick that she is unable to leave home much less work.

Eunice is the second of 4 children. Her older sister, Natasha, is 12 years old and desperately trying to provide for her struggling family. As you can imagine, they are painfully hungry and uncertain even of how to make it through one day.

Katy shared with me her concern for Eunice almost daily in the weeks prior to my trip to Zambia. We celebrated that Eunice was safely enrolled in our sponsorship program, receiving proper medications, and being fed proper foods to ensure she would begin to gain weight. Our team also secured a spot for Eunice in our next Tree of Life house to open.

Katy with Eunice and siblings singing their favorite Camp LIFE songs

But, just days after I arrived in Zambia for the second half of our Camp LIFE program, we learned that Eunice's family was 3 months behind in rent and a day away from being evicted. With no money and no family in the Lusaka area, they would be forced to moved to the village - far outside of Family Legacy's service area and much too far away from the vital medical resources both Eunice and her mother need.

Within just a few hours, our team was able to put enough money together to pay the family's past due rent and enough to keep them there until Eunice can move into her new home at the Tree of Life. I was blessed to deliver this news to the family and spend the afternoon with them.

I was reminded in that moment of the important role of Camp LIFE. What seems like just a simple, short-term missions opportunity is really a gateway program allowing us to dramatically impact the lives of countless children. Not only because we speak the power of the gospel over their lives and see many of them receive hope, faith, and grace in a way they never understood possible; but also because Camp LIFE gives us a chance to get to know children who are days or months away from literal death. Without medication, proper nutrition, and a stable home, Eunice would not make it to her teenage years.

I wish that Eunice was unique - a rarity in Zambia. Unfortunately, she is one of so many children suffering from disease, illness, malnourishment, and extreme poverty. When YOU come to Camp LIFE, you get to know these kids and you have an opportunity to dramatically change the course of their lives here on earth and in eternity. God uses each of us to impact the Kingdom. I know he has a plan for Eunice - why else would he shine a light on her specifically? Please pray for her and the countless others waiting for God to rescue them from both economic and spiritual poverty.

Blessings,
Anne

Sign Up for Camp LIFE 2012

Sign ups for Camp LIFE 2012 are officially open!

Over 2 years ago, God led me to go on this trip and it dramatically changed my life. Not in a quick instant, but over the course of days and months. Slowly but surely, God used that experience to reveal brokenness and sin in my heart, to stir passion for His Kingdom, and to draw me into full time ministry.

This is an incredible opportunity to impact the lives of Zambian orphans and to be transformed in your own life along the way.

Learn more about Camp LIFE 2012 on our website.

Here are a few video testimonies about Camp LIFE:

Sam Pedigo from Family Legacy on Vimeo.

Claire Knight from Family Legacy on Vimeo.

Greg Pipkin from Family Legacy on Vimeo.

Victim of Neglect

And for once I am not talking about a child. MY BLOG has been severely neglect over the summer while I've been in Zambia and then returning home to lots of work back here in the States.

I have so many stories and testimonies to share with you all and can't wait to begin pouring that out here. For now, how about a few pictures of my time there?

I got to spend some really great time out at the Tree of Life Children's Village this year. And I have a few new precious children in my life that I miss dearly.

Bridget

Gift

 Naphtali!

 Joyce (she is the child I sponsor!)

More to come!
Anne

Remembering Zambia

Each year, our Camp LIFE participants do a number of things to help remember their time in Zambia. Photos, videos, and journals help document special moments that become life long memories.

This year, a week-one participants, Staci McCann, came up with a creative way to always remember the girls from her group. As a first-time participant, she knew that this experience would be a special one and something worth remembering for years to come.

So, she traveled with a pair of white TOMS and paint. Already painted with the continent of Africa and highlighting the country of Zambia, she planned to have her girls place their finger prints on the shoes as well, creating a unique way of keeping them with her all the time.

What a cool way to remember her time in Zambia! As she remembers these kids daily, would you join with her and pray for transformation to come in their lives?

Blessings,

Anne

shoo!bug

We've got a great new partner in ministry and I want to tell you about them. shoo!bug has created a very cool new way to keep away mosquitos and other bugs. Imagine carrying around a credit card that could keep the bugs from getting to you. Well, that's what they've created and they have generously donated 1,000 of these shoo!TAGs to Family Legacy.

As most of you know, Malaria is an on-going health problem in countries like Zambia. Keeping away mosquitos can be tough but with the shoo!TAG, the children living in our full-time care will be protected with just one card!

I don't generally plug companies or products but I would strongly encourage you to check out shoo!bug. They've got a great product (that you can buy for yourself!) and they care about protecting children in need. What a great combination.

Learn more in this article about our new partnership.


Blessings,
Anne

A Longing Fulfilled

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick. But a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."
- Proverbs 13:12

The Tree of Life Children's Village provides beautiful new homes for the most vulnerable children living in Lusaka, Zambia. After year's of hosting Camp LIFE each summer, Family Legacy determined that much, much more was needed to serve these children. Sending them home to remain in dire circumstances is not what we felt called to do.

In 2009, the Tree of Life Children's Village opened on a plot of 130-acres of beautiful land just outside of the capital city. Children who live here are blessed with a new family of 13 brothers or sisters and a house mom. Together they attend school, church and play every day in their neighborhood just like normal kids.

Currently, there are 7 homes at the village with 3 more opening this summer. Nearly 200 children have been rescued from poverty, abuse, and rejection to a live of freedom, joy, and hope. Days of living in fear turned to days of just being kids.

Here is a glimpse of the communities these children were living in:

Here is a glimpse at their new home and community:

Learn more about the Tree of Life Children's Village on our website and look for photos of the 3 new house openings this summer!


Blessings,
Anne

Camp LIFE 2011: Day 1

Today is DAY 1 of Camp LIFE 2011. This year's theme is Seek First the Kingdom.

Since the day I learned of this theme, I feel like all I have heard in sermons and bible studies is the Kingdom of God. I know this is going to be a powerful message for the thousands of children who will attend Camp LIFE over the next 7 weeks and the Americans traveling there as camp counselors. 

We will all learn that God has the authority to reign and rule - HE is almighty. While we anxiously await the day that HE will rule over this world, we cling to His rule and reign in our own hearts. We cling to the truth that we are daughters and sons of the Almighty King - we are royalty in His eyes.

For children living in the gutter of their society - truly the least of these - what a remarkable discovery to learn that God, your Father, is King and you are royalty in the greatest Kingdom the world will ever know!

Please pray for Camp LIFE, specifically for the following:

1 - That God would prepare the hearts of the Zambian children. This year, more than ever, we will have the most vulnerable children in the community. They desperately need this message of hope and light in the midst of their despair and darkness.

2 - For the Americans traveling, maybe for the first time, to a 3rd world country where they speak tribal languages and live in unimaginable circumstances. This will be powerful for them as well. Pray the Lord would impact their hearts and use them to speak truth to the children in their groups.

3 - It takes quite a bit of man power to operate 7 weeks of Camp LIFE - full-time American and Zambian staff, hundreds of Zambian volunteers, and American college students serving as summer-staffers. Prayer for us - that we would have endurance and JOY throughout each week.

Thank you, as always, for your love, support, and prayers.

Blessings,
Anne

A Few More Photos

I've been working on several print pieces for the ministry and consequently have been looking at hundreds of photos along the way. Only a few of these are actually used on our materials but I've enjoyed seeing so many great moments captured in beautiful photography.

Here are a few of my new favorites:

Girls at Camp LIFE

Singing and dancing at Camp LIFE - there is TRULY nothing like this!

One of our sweet Camp LIFE kids enamored with his new friend

 

 

A glimpse at life in the community - children caring for children

 

We are blessed just to show these children that they are loved

My prayer for us today - let the joy in these faces remind us of how greatly we are loved by God and the call we have to BE a blessing.

What is Camp LIFE?

If you've spent any time with me (or my blog) in the last 6 months, you've heard me talk about many of the programs we provide here at Family Legacy. But, you've probably also wondered what in the world I was talking about! Here is a little more information on our largest and longest-running program, Camp LIFE.

Started in 2001, Camp LIFE happens over the course of 7 weeks each summer. Camp LIFE brings healing, hope, and joy to the orphaned and vulnerable children of Zambia and offers American families and individuals a chance to minister and serve together. 

2 years ago, I got to be a part of this experience and it was a powerful week for me and my group of boys.

Through one on-one time, Americans learn more about each child’s home life and prayer needs. Many of the children are able to open up about the difficult situations they face and find freedom and healing during this time.

During this week-long experience, the children of Zambia get to hear the Word of God and experience life more abundantly. At the end of that week, every child gets to experience that first-hand as they receive a new t-shirt, a bandana, and a brand new pair of shoes.

We also have A LOT of fun. Remember back to your days as a young camper. I'm sure you still remember the songs, dance moves and funny skits that shaped that week for you. These kids go home with those same memories. And, I too will ALWAYS remember the joy of these moments.

If you want to learn more about Camp LIFE, visit our website or watch a few testimonies. 

Also, take a look at my picture site with lots of details about my trips in 2009 and 2010.

If you've ever thought out taking a short-term mission trip to Africa, pray about joining us for the summer of 2012. It will change your life!

Blessings,

Anne

Logistics, Logistics, Logistics!

For the last 5 years, I've been working at the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center and one of my favorite projects each year was working on the planning team for the Crimes Against Children Conference. I had NO IDEA how much God was training me for my role at Family Legacy.

I know many of you have never been to Camp LIFE before, but if you have, you know that there are a multitude of details that have to be in place for your trip and for camp as a whole to be successful. I have been the recipient of those organized details twice as a participant. Now, on the other side, I can appreciate so much more the hard work that goes into ensuring the success of 7 weeks of Camp LIFE with over 500 participants in Zambia, Africa!

Here's a quick inside look at what it takes to make this happen:

First, we have to send containers full of supplies over to Zambia early in the year so they make it there in time for Camp LIFE.

In case you're wondering, this is a shipping container...

Loading the container... (yes that is LOTS of peanut butter - this is our lunch delicacy in Zambia every day)

We also sort and distribute all of the participant t-shirts. LOTS and LOTS of t-shirts!

Of course, there are a million other things that get done behind the scenes, but we don't typically take pictures at the office. :)

It is a lot of hard work but undoubtedly is a labor of love. I cannot wait for Camp LIFE to get started in 4 short weeks. Please be praying for the 500 Americans who will be with us this summer and for the thousands of Zambian orphans who will be forever impacted by this experience.

Blessings,
Anne

Latest Newsletter

In case I don't have your address, here is a copy of my latest newsletter! Learn more about what I am up to these days and read about Emma Tembo's amazing transformation.

Thank you all for your support and prayers. This journey of changing jobs, raising support and pursuing God's call on my life to serve the orphans of Zambia has been a tremendous blessing. I never understood the depths of faith required to truly trust in the Lord but He has graciously revealed what it really takes and made up the difference where I am lacking.

Please continue to be in prayer for this ministry and for my role here at Family Legacy. To make a contribution towards my support, please visit my donate page: www.familylegacy.com/anne.

Blessings,
Anne

An All-Out Dance Party!

You can't say I didn't warn you! Here's another great video of the absolute fun of singing and dancing with our kids at Camp LIFE!


Joy Hoedown from Family Legacy on Vimeo.


Blessings!
Anne

I've Got the JOY!

As we are getting ready for another year of Camp LIFE, we are dusting off all of our favorite songs and dance moves. Remember your days of going to camp? All of the singing and dancing? Well, here is a glimpse of what this looks like in Zambia during Camp LIFE.


I've Got the Joy from Family Legacy on Vimeo.


I LOVE these videos! They bring such joy. Forgive me if I start posting one every day.


Blessings,
Anne