Free Falling...In Africa

My husband is braver than I....



Happy Friday!

F R I E N D S . . .

We had a girls reunion at Angie's lake house this past weekend! It was the first time that we had all been together since my wedding, which was over 3 years ago. We had so much fun on the lake, playing the "tube game" (I'm still sore), catching up with one another, eating (of course), watching the Olympics and playing lots of games! I'm blessed with dear, dear friends...I love you girls!!



Gillean, Lauren, Jill...we missed y'all so much! And thanks again Ang for hosting!

Zambia Recap!

I apologize that I'm just now getting around to blogging about our trip to Zambia. This past week has just been a little crazy getting back into the swing of things. Our time in Zambia was life changing....it's really hard to describe our experience in words. We cannot wait to go back! Josh posted our pictures online....you can take a look at all of them here. If you don't have time to look through the 500 or so pictures we took, here are a few of my favorites....


We had a 11 hour layover in London on our way to Africa, so we explored the city a bit on a double decker bus....and I made Josh take the infamous London phone booth shot!


We spent the first 4 days at Victoria Falls in Livingstone, Zambia. This is the view from our resort, The Royal Livingstone, of the top of the falls. Our hotel was amazing! Monkeys were everywhere. I even had one chase me!


The sunsets in Africa are amazing. This picture was taken after we watched our first African sunset.


The Zebras enjoying breakfast outside of our hotel room. Incredible...


Our first look at Victoria Falls...


We were soaked from all of the mist...notice the rainbow on the left.


The bridge Josh bungee jumped from. I chickened out...


Taking the plunge...


Cruising down the Zambezi River...


Watching a heard of 50 elephants on our full day safari in Botswana...the safari was unbelievable! We saw hippos, buffalo, alligators, monkeys, elephants, impala, giraffe, kudu, and warthogs.


The elephants were by far my favorite to watch!


My girls at Camp Life!!!!!! I had 13 girls in my group ranging from 12-16 years old.


My Zambian partners, Mercy (middle) and Susan (far right). Mercy and Susan were so much fun to work with! They both were born and raised in Zambia. Susan is on full time staff with Family Legacy and Mercy is a Family Legacy volunteer. They helped me lead our group and acted as translators between me and our girls. The native language in Zambia in Nanja. Some of the kids could speak English, but most of them did not.


Josh and his guys on "shoe day" (Thursday of Camp Life). All the kids received a new pair of shoes, a Camp Life t-shirt and bandanna on Thursday. Josh had 16 guys ranging from 15-19 years old.


Josh and his Zambian partner, Isaac. He was amazing!


Josh and I on shoe day. Thanks again to everyone who donated shoes! It was an incredible day! The kids LOVED their shoes!!!


My girls sporting their new kicks!


Pure joy! On Friday all of the kids were surprised with fleece jackets and school bags....they went nuts! It was awesome.


Josh, Julie and I on the last day of Camp Life...


At the top of the Tree of Life Village with everyone we went to Victoria Falls with...we had a great group! You can read more about the Tree of Life Village Children's Village here on Family Legacy's website.

Thanks again for all of your prayers while we were in Zambia! We are forever grateful for your support in making this trip possible. God is good....all the time!

Home...

We're happy to be home....but miss Zambia already. We are so tired and jet lagged. I will post more about our trip soon!

London!

Our 10 hour flight from Joberg to London went well...and fast, thank goodness! We slept most of the way since we're so exhausted. We're at Heathrow right now waiting for our flight back to the Mother Land! We leave in an hour and a half. Our flight arrives to Dallas at 3:40pm. We're so ready to be home!

I just waited in line at Starbucks for 30 minutes...that was a first, but 100% worth it. Best latte I've ever had! :)

Can't wait to see everyone when we return!

It's 3:45am in Dallas right now (9:45am in London), so I hope you're sleeping well!

Sweet dreams!
Mindy

Johannesberg, South Africa

We are in Joberg, South Africa waiting for our flight to London. We have had the most amazing trip...I will post more about it and some pictures when we get home. There is so much to share! We are returning to Dallas as changed people. God worked in big ways. It was just unbelievable!!!

We can't wait to be home though...there is no place like home. I can't wait to take a real shower and shave my legs! :)

Praising Jesus for transformed lives...
Mindy and Josh

Dad/Corinne...tell the pups hello!!!