So, I'm going to give you a super quick overview of the last year and a half or so and then a quick intro to the next month.
I last wrote in November 2012. I had just spent a month in Zambia running training sessions in a few areas and working alongside the Dignity Impact Teams. It had been fantastic to get back into the swing of things in Zambia and see those we have been working with for some time still pushing forward.
2013 was a hectic year to say the least. While in Zambia in 2012 Frank and I got engaged and 2013 saw us work our way through the immigration system as he is American and was trying to move over here. We then had the absolute delight of getting married surrounded by our friends and family in the summer before settling down to get used to married life...and being in the same country as each other for more than a few weeks at a time! We actively decided to take a year off from some of the things we commit our time to to make sure we had time for each other and our marriage as we settled into it.
The start of 2014 saw another big change for me as my involvement with Dignity was about the take on a new shape. For much of 2012 and all of 2013 I had been volunteering in the Manchester based office one day a week. Towards the end of 2013 I was asked if I would consider taking on the role of UK Mission Development Director - aka. general dogsbody! After praying through this both Frank and I felt that this was the right step. So, at the start of this year I packed up my previous day job and started work in a charity office. It's proving a steep learning curve as there is so much I don't know, but it's also proving a great joy as I get to give my time and energy to something I believe is really worthwhile and where the little I am doing is part of a big picture that has a massive effect on many lives.
And that sort of brings us up to date. Every day I find myself taking on all sorts of new challenges for both the charity and myself, all of which are stretching and exercising my faith in Jesus. For the charity I'm learning how to write trust fund applications or how to shape our communications and trusting that God will ultimately bring in all that is needed for the work of Dignity to continue, be it people, skills or finances. For myself I'm learning to walk deeper in faith as I have committed to raise 25% of my salary to help offset the cost to the charity of employing me. I regularly do battle with the fact that I feel like I don't know enough about what I'm doing but I have to trust that God has equipped me and will continue equipping me for the tasks he is giving me to do.
So now we are half way through 2014 (yikes!) and Frank and I have had our year off from our regular commitments and are considering what it is right for us to give our time and energy to as we move forward from here. The first thing we are doing (and we're both excited to be doing!) is making a return trip to Zambia. We're flying out next week and will be there for about five weeks. The purpose of our visit is both to be pairs of hands where some extra help is needed and also to grow the relationships between those involved in Dignity in Zambia and in the UK. It will be a delight to be able to catch up with our Zambian friends in person and spend time working alongside them again. We are looking forward to meeting the new team members who are now a part of Dignity Zambia that we haven't yet met. We will be travelling far and wide and would be really grateful if you would commit to pray for us while we're away.
To help you do this, we thought it would be good to let you know roughly where we will be and when. The nature of things is that plans may change at the last minute or be shifted backwards or forwards a bit, but as it stands, this is where we think we will be...
16th - 21st June: Flying out to Zambia and then travelling up to Mkushi in the next day or so. The rest of the week we will be spending some time meeting with the emerging leadership of "Dignity Zambia", getting to know them better and exploring ways that we can work together from different continents.
23rd - 28th June: This week we will be travelling to Lubutu with the Central Impact Team to help facilitate a training session there. Lubutu is an area the Central Impact Team first started working with a year ago. They initially met with a suspicious welcome there as new things are not always well received. After coming up against a number of brick walls they decided that it was not the time to start things up there. However, the team kept praying for the area and through a local pastor they have now been invited back and people's attitude towards them has changed. The team visited a while ago and were met by 22 people who they spent time with sharing the vision of Dignity. Now we get the privilege of going to help run one of our two day training sessions about why and how we can make a difference in our villages.
30th - June - 6th July: This is going to be a busy week as we start off by joining in with the Life! Skills training in partnership with Foundations for Farming in Mkushi. We'll then be setting of to Mwinilunga on a fairly mega journey of 460miles each way to spend time working alongside the new Impact Team there.
7th July - 12 July: After returning to Mkushi we'll be heading out to Mpika to run one of our very early training sessions called "Get Your Hands Dirty". This session helps share the vision of Dignity to those who haven't heard about Life! Groups before and will follow on from the initial visits Jon and Jude have made there.
14th July - 17th July: This week we will be staying in Mkushi and meeting up with some of the Impact Team members. I think we will be glad to be honest!
18th - 23rd July: A little bit of time to hopefully have a holiday before flying home!
Thank you so much for your on-going prayers, love and support for Frank and I and all we do. It means a lot to us both and we miss you all when we're away. We'll be praying for you while we're away and always love to hear how things are going at home, so do keep in touch!
