July 4th, 2004

I had forgotten how loud fireworks actually are, and how pretty they are, too. **Why is that? I wondered to myself...maybe because for the last few years you have only seen the fireworks from your porch or from a boat on the lake or from your uncle's yard...or maybe because two years ago you weren't even in the country! hmmm, good excuse...**
Actually I was in Zambia, Africa on a mission trip through Awana Club's MIT program, Missionaries In Training...My team and I traveled to orphanages, schools, churches, and even Victoria Falls! It was an awesome 2 weeks...
While we didn't have fireworks on the 4th of July, we did have fireworks on the 3rd of July...Our team had enough money left over to spend on a few things...One thing we bought was a bicycle for Joseph Mbange, the native missionary, to use...Some other things we bought were, of course, fireworks!!! Our American host missionaries, Matthew and Manda Payne, bought smaller versions of American fireworks and we had a show after our little going-away party from our new Zambian friends...It was really fun until some other Zambians showed up...They kindly asked that we stop out of respect for a funeral that was going on down the street!!!

That has to be my most memorable 4th yet!!

Victoria Falls, Zambia
Kamanga Compound, Zambia
One of the many orphanages in Lusaka, Zambia