We’ve been in Zambia for about a month now!! (Be prepared for me freaking out about how much time we’ve been here at the beginning of every following blog post.)
This week was so great. This was our first full week (besides our first week in Choma) that it was just the interns here!
Our week began on a sad note, as a couple of the staff members have experienced loss in their life. Through this tragedy, it was incredible to see this community of believers come together and pray non-stop for their friends. It gave light to what Christian community should be. Being with each other through good times, and the bad. Please be praying for these staff members and their families, for comfort and healing in their time of grief.
Our morning classes this week were taught by Bruce, the director of ministries for EMIZ, and were about God’s dream for Africa. We started at the beginning of the Bible and traced African heritage all the way through to Jesus, basically! It’s incredible how God used this lesson, focused mostly on history of the Bible, to change so many of our hearts spiritually. The Bible isn’t just some story book about a whole bunch of Jewish people thousands of years ago. It’s incredibly historically accurate. Not only that, but we can trace family heritage of so many people and find connections of characters in the Buble that lived hundreds of years apart! God truly is a God of all nations. God was working and moving in Africa long before Europeans came. Hey, even Moses was raised by and was married to and African!
Our ministries continued as usual this week, and we were able to begin working with the Music Academy! I spent the first day on flue, but finally have access to a saxophone now (that’s been brought out a bit at our house for some creative worship time). We had the chance to work with students in one-on-one lessons, and got to hear each other play too!
On Tuesday night, we got together at Abby’s house for our family night. We got into our cooling teams and did staff imitations, skits, dances, and monologues with hilarious costumes and props. I don’t remember the last time I laughed so hard. We have some good actors on our team!
I also spent down time with my mentor this week, Elayna. We were all assigned mentors at the beginning of the internship, and I’ve been loving spending time with her. She’s given me so much wisdom, and has helped me through any challenges I’ve had so far.
On Friday morning, we ended our weekly classes in studying the discipline of submission. I feel as though even the word “submission” has become a swear word in our culture. It’s against everything the world tells us, yet when we look at Jesus’ life, a life dedicated to service, we can see that it brings freedom. Through submission to others we are free to let go of our own “needs”, to truly value others, and to love unconditionally, without feeling entitled to anything in return. It’s such an amazing thing to learn, especially in ministry, that the very thing that sets us free involves laying out life down for others.
Thank you all for praying for us here! It’s incredible how much I miss people at home, but how close we’re all becoming here. So much love for so many people. It’s exhausting!! 
Please be praying for our next couple of weeks. We’re completely deducting our time to the Beat the Drum ministry that involves around 90 staff, interns, and volunteers. There is about 35 people driving up from South Africa, so we’re pretty excited!
Love you all!
-Emily
a c t l o v e w a l k 