Thursday, 21 August 2014

A Very Special Day

Today is a very special day in the Hudson household...it's my MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY! So forgive me for going a little off course for today's post to stop and wish her a wonderful birthday!!! I haven't lived in the same place as my parents for pretty much the last 12 years so I'm sure I have missed being around for a few special days here and there, but it's a little different when you are literally thousands of miles away. I figure this is the best way to celebrate my Mom since I can't be there to give her a big hug and wish her a happy birthday in person.  

Here are a few wonderful memories with my Mom...

Mom & Dad's first trip to Zambia. Africa just has a way of grabbing hold of your heart :).

Trip to the Highlands

Village visit in Zambia to see a new borehole.

Bridesmaid Brunch

Wedding Day!
Us in Botswana on safari. Jacob is SO ready for football season ;).


Jacob and I both love you very much, Mom, and are celebrating your life from Zambia today!!! We are so thankful to God for you. Enjoy your special day and make that crazy husband of yours (Dad) pamper you like you deserve :). Also, you should have a special delivery from me & Jacob (aka Mary Margaret) sometime soon. Love you!!!

Also, get in the habit of commenting on my blog so that I know you are actually reading it. In fact, if you read this post, just go down to the bottom and leave me a little "I love you". And write a comment for the first five or so posts so it feels like everyone is engaged. After that, you only have to comment on the ones that speak more to you. Thanks!!

Tuesday, 19 August 2014

We've Hit Water!

Today was another day of firsts for me. We spent the entire day at Ngulu village watching the drilling process. It can be a long process depending on how deep the drillers have to drill until they reach water, considering they find water at all. Fortunately, Zambia sits on a large, natural aquifer so it's not very often that the driller is unable to find water. When those circumstances do arise, we bring in a team of hydro geologists to survey the land to find water. Thankfully, today we did not find ourselves under those circumstances. After about 4 hours of straight drilling (and a few minutes of uncertainty) the drillers struck water! It was hands down one of the most exciting moments of my life. To experience it for myself is one thing, but to experience it alongside a group of villagers who have been living without clean water for so long is quite another thing. I really can't describe the emotions that came over me in that moment. Real, Pure, Genuine...JOY!


Enjoying the view ;)
These smiles say it all.
Jacob representing #lovmob in Zambia. 
These kids are so excited they will have clean, safe drinking water within days!
Sweet friends watching & waiting on the drillers. So happy!


I hope these pictures give you a small glimpse into this amazing day :). Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback on the blog. We miss everyone in the states so much, and hope you are all doing very well. 


Also, get in the habit of commenting on my blog so that I know you are actually reading it. In fact, if you read this post, just go down to the bottom and leave me a little "I love you". And write a comment for the first five or so posts so it feels like everyone is engaged. After that, you only have to comment on the ones that speak more to you. Thanks!!

Monday, 11 August 2014

Cornerstone

So we've now been back in Zambia for about 2 months and a lot has happened in such a short period of time. I'm going to try and catch you guys up over the next few posts.  As I mentioned in my first post, we traveled to the villages right after we moved into our new home. Bob Whitsitt, the Executive Director of Serving & Outreach at Christ UMC in Memphis, came to visit us. It was a busy week filled with new experiences, bumpy roads, long hours and lots of fun! Since so much happened during the time that Bob was here I'm going to start with my favorite day of that week. This post is about one of the coolest (for lack of a better word) things I've ever experienced...

We got to help lay the foundation for a new clinic in Ndui village! Without clean, safe drinking water provided by CUMC Memphis and Water 282 this would not have been possible. It was an absolute honor to be there to celebrate with the people of Ndui village as they came together and started the groundwork of something amazing. The entire day I was reminded of the following bible verse:

Ephesians 2:19-21 "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."

It was truly a day I will never forget. Now I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking :).

At the clinic site after the celebration
Above: Me, Jacob, Dr. Alfred Kalembo (Bishop of PWC Zambia), Chief Mnukwa, Bob Whitsitt
Below: Rev. Alex Mbewe, Counselor 

Laying the foundation for the clinic 

Me with two of the village warriors. They performed traditional N'goni dances during the ceremony and even did a marriage dance for Jacob & me. 

Hope you are enjoying the posts so far. Thanks for all the love in the comments section! You guys are awesome!!!

Also, get in the habit of commenting on my blog so that I know you are actually reading it. In fact, if you read this post, just go down to the bottom and leave me a little "I love you". And write a comment for the first five or so posts so it feels like everyone is engaged. After that, you only have to comment on the ones that speak more to you. Thanks!!

Thursday, 7 August 2014

It's Moving Day!

Hello from Zambia! I've started this little blog here (with much needed help from my dear husband) so we can keep in touch with close friends and family back in the US. Let me begin by saying that I am an AMATEUR blogger and have no clue what I am doing :). With that said, I hope to get better at this as we go along. My posts will most likely consist of lots of pictures with short descriptions. I'm an accountant/missionary so it's safe to say "writing" isn't my thing. I tend to ramble at times (like now) so let's get this thing started...

We arrived in Zambia on June 21st after spending a lovely honeymoon in Bruges, Belgium (see facebook). Since we landed here things have been fairly hectic. Jacob hit the ground running with Water 282 business, and I started getting settled in my (our) new home. Jacob had been living in a 3 bedroom house that should have been 1 bedroom considering how small it was. It was a tight squeeze to say the least, but we were willing to ride it out until we found a more suitable house. We knew we would need to find a bigger place once I moved to Zambia with him so we had already discussed moving. I quickly started looking on all the Zambian real estate websites only to find that the best way to find a house here is to either drive around looking for "For Rent" signs or walk on foot. By the way, at the time we did not have a working vehicle so there was no driving around option for us. Luckily, Jacob has an amazing Zambian friend, Sharpy, who was willing to go house hunting for us one day. He found the perfect place for us within 2 hours - we had been looking for like 2 weeks with no such luck. Soon after my move to another continent we moved to a new place within Zambia.

IT'S MOVING DAY!!!

I'm sure most of you reading this have never been to Africa so hopefully this will give you a good idea of what most houses look like here in Lusaka. We live in the capital of Zambia along with roughly 3-4 million other people. It's a large city with shopping malls, grocery stores, roadside markets, schools, etc. The roads are terrible and traffic is crazy, but other than that things are pretty "normal" here in Lusaka. Don't get me wrong though; there is extreme poverty in Lusaka as well. It's just different from the rural villages. We aren't living in a straw hut with no electricity, and I thank God for providing us a wonderful, safe home!


Here are some pictures of the move and our new house. We are still getting unpacked because the day after we moved in we left to go work in the villages for two weeks so please excuse the mess. We have plans to paint our bedroom and the hallway entrance to our room as it is key LIME green so we'll post updated pictures as we make small changes. That's for another day though. For now, enjoy the pictures! 

Our old house all packed and ready for the move. 
Sharpy and Jacob loading up the Canter.
This is our new house!
Our yard.
Side view of the house. 
Our den. 
Dining room
Another view of the den looking into the dining room. 
Kitchen
Office
Our bedroom
Another view of our bedroom
And here's a pic of us at a brand new borehole...just in case you miss us and want to see our faces :)

Also, get in the habit of commenting on my blog so that I know you are actually reading it. In fact, if you read this post, just go down to the bottom and leave me a little "I love you". And write a comment for the first five or so posts so it feels like everyone is engaged. After that, you only have to comment on the ones that speak more to you. Thanks!!