Sasa!
Today we had a great day in Ngaamba. We arrived this morning around 9 a.m. We were greeted by very excited children and the school staff. The leaders of Ngaamba North (where we were serving today) had breakfast waiting for us when we arrived. Once we finished there it was time to work!
The ladies of our team worked along side the women of Ngaamba. We walked 1/2 mile up a hill to retrieve rocks in burlap sacks to tote back down to the work site for the gabion wall. It was no easy task because we made numerous trips, but all of the ladies rocked it out! The men stayed at the work site and helped the men from Ngaamba make repairs and get ready for tomorrow where they will begin spreading cement. Our guys also rocked it out because they were in the beating sun endlessly. Both for the women and men, today was very much a day of "awesomeness" - as coined by a fellow team member. We were able to fellowship with the leaders in the community first thing in the morning, serve side by side with them during the day while building relationships, again fellowship with them after we were finished working, and we were able to play with the children once the work was done. Our day could not have been any more complete!
So many great conversations came about today that would not have happened had we not been spending time working along side the people in Ngaamba. Many times it is easy to just put your head down and work until a job is finished. But, building the relationships through working with the people here is so much more beneficial for everyone. We were able to learn about specific prayer requests that people had, learn a lot about their lives, learn about their tremendous faith in God, and we were able to share with them our hearts and our love for them.
We look forward to going to back tomorrow and doing it all over again!
Until the next update,
Amber
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That was the email I sent to everyone on the team members' list of contacts. But I wanted to write about a personal story while it is fresh in my heart.
On my last trip up the Hill (by the end of the day it definitely requires being capitalized...it was a BIG Hill)...so on my last trip up I was joined by about 8 women from Ngaamba. We were walking and talking together, and all of a sudden I hear someone calling, "Kanini, Kanini! Wait!" (Kanini is my Ngaamba name, it means "little one"). I stop and turn around and a women with a small child is running up the Hill toward me. She gets to me and takes my dirty hand in her own. She asks me if I want to hold her baby who is 8 months old, and of course I do. She then tells me that she would like for me to bless her daughter with an American name as I have been blessed with a Ngaamba name.
The only name that comes to mind is Ella Beth. I look at this woman and I look at her precious child, and I name her after my own daughter. She takes my hand, and she thanks me. She thanks me for giving her daughter my daughter's name.
I am humbled and honored all at the same moment. I am humbled that a women would ask me to give her daughter another name, and I am humbled that she would accept the name of my own precious daughter. Tears simply won't stop spilling from my eyes. And I am honored that there is a mother and a child in Ngaamba that will always know me and know my daughter's name. This mother will look at her child with her beautiful ebony skin, she will rub her cheek as all mothers do, she will look into her eyes - and she will call her "Ella Beth." There are simply no words to describe; my heart simply overflows.
I can not wait to get home to my own Ella Beth and tell her this story. And even more, I can not wait to return to Ngaamba someday with Ella Beth. Lord willing, and something tells me He won't fail, Ella Beth will meet Ella Beth. And my heart will again overflow..
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