go read psalm 107

well, it's thursday morning of the strangest week i've had in zambia yet. one of the summer staff girls ended up in a zambian hospital overnight (praise the Lord she is doing much better), another summer satff-er almost got deported this morning due to some passport confusion and that's only summer staff. over at camp we saw a precious 5 year old girl with HIV, one sweet boy with leprosy, another girl who was born without a private part and can't control her urine. she is 15 years old. the logistics of trying to help some of these children is a bit overwhelming and i feel that prayer is often my only answer. that, and putting the stories out there and hoping people will be affected by what they hear/read and maybe be moved to some sort of action. i'm not going to lie and say that this week has been glorious or that it has been easy. it has been plain frustrating. there is one exception to the frustration though. the girl my family sponsors, ireed, i was able to go and visit a few weeks ago. to be honest, i was really upset with the whole visit. while i was with her, i found out her father had passed away 3 weeks earlier. though i knew her father was abusive, i was still thinking of this situation in an american context where death is viewed as a tragedy. his passing i believe was a gift from God. also while talking with ireed, i learned that even though she was supposed to be attending chitanda basic school, her father basically has been refusing her education and forcing her to attend the same community she attended 2 years ago when i met her. the school system in zambia is a bit of a challenge, so i will explain it. you have 3 types/levels of schooling. community(lowest), government(medial), private(best). the community level is pitiful and is often simply a way for the locals to make some cash. there can be up to 200 children to one "teacher" with this "teacher" only having up to a 7th grade education themself. school only last about two hours a day and kids are often abused. community school is a joke of an education to be completely honest. this is the level of school that my little girl's father was forcing her to continue to attend even though through her sponsorship she could afford up to the best education offered in zambia. the second level of education in zambia is government which is broken up either by primary school (grades 1-7) or basic school (grades 1-9). government schools are a large step up from community schools with generally good teachers and about 5 hours of school per day. the top level is private school. family legacy provides their own private schools called "lifeway christian academies" that are reserved for sponsored children. ireed's father refused to let her attend the wonderful matero LCA where she would learn to read and write and become a well-educated member of zambian society. he even refused government school, the second level of education. ireed has been left with the lowest level of community school. i also know that mwitendwa, the community school she has been attending, is particularly awful. a few days ago, some of family legacy's zambian staff went to ireed's house to go and speak with her mother about ireed attending an LCA. so far, she has said she is willing to allow her to attend the matero LCA! they are meeting with her again within the next few days just to be sure, but if things continue to go as planned, ireed should be attending the matero LCA within the next week or so! this is a huge answer to prayer due to the fact that her mother is also abusive therefore, i thought she might feel the same as her deceased husband about ireed's education. the Lord is good and He provides. who knew death could be used for good. He makes all things new. ireed will be at camp next week as well! i will see her on monday. initially, she wasn't going to be able to come to camp because everyone thought she was attending government school and we can't pull the kids out of government school for a whole week. since she isn't, she gets to come to camp and i will get to see her precious face for a whole week. again, GOD IS GOOD. if you don't believe that yet, you should. amidst all the HIV, leprosy, satanism, what have you i can tell you even more strongly than ever that He is good.  psalm 107:1 give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever.