Pictures

Here are some of the pictures I have received so far. Enjoy!

Here is a link of a newsletter from the Orphanage. You can better learn about their ministry by reading it: http://fumc-melb.org/documents/Zambia_200906.pdf

Why Zambia? Why this summer? Why an Orphanage? Why Missions?

“He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

Here is the big post...

I have had many people ask me "Why" questions. Such as "Why do you want to do this?" "Why Zambia?" "Why missions?"

Jesus said : "Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. And here’s why:

I was hungry and you fed me,

I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,

I was homeless and you gave me a room

I was shivering and you gave me clothes,

I was sick and you stopped to visit,

I was in prison and you came to me’

“Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me." Matthew 25

First and foremost, I feel called by God to do this. I have had a burning desire to be in mission for an extended period of time for about 8 months now. I have seen God's hand throughout my entire planning process and I know that God is going to bless my time in Zambia. I will have the opportunity to feed and clothe a precious child of God. I have done many mission trips in the past that have been a week, but being in Zambia for an extended period of time will allow me to get to know the people and minister to them better. I hope that I become a better pastor someday because of my experience in Zambia.

I choose Zambia because I have a great passion for community, faith, pastoral care, and health development. I will be the first missionary in Zambia at this Orphanage. I love love love children and teens. I cant imagine growing up without parents so I hope that I can help these children. I have been studying HIV/AIDS in school, I work as youth director, and I love missions and community development so this seemed like the perfect fit!

General Information about what I will be doing:

I am flying out of Atlanta on June 1 and returning home August 1. I will be working and living in a rural village in Zambia in an Orphanage. There are 35 children whose parents have died from AIDS. I will be a "house mom" and pastor while I am there. I will be leading Bible studies for the children, cooking, helping them with their English, and general chores. I will also be connecting with local churches and helping to provide leadership. I am taking a leave of absence from my job and will be returning in August. I really really really hate to leave my job for two months because I love it. My mission organization is the General Board of Global Ministries. http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/us/mv/

If you could like to make financial donations to my trip to Zambia you can send them to :

McKendree UMC

1570 Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road

Lawrenceville, GA 30043

In the check you need to write "Ashley Fitzpatrick and Zambia Orphanage"

If you have extra Bible, school supplies, or medical supplies that you are willing to donate, I will be accepting any donations to take to Africa with me. Please contact me via email at ashleysfitzpatrick@gmail.com and we can arrange a pick up. I would love to take a Bible and give it to a child in Zambia from one of my friends in the USA. You are more than welcome to write messages in the Bibles if you like.

"Whenever you see darkness, there is extraordinary opportunity for the light to burn brighter."
Bono

Airplane Ticket

I bought my airplane ticket! Another thing checked off the "to do" list which seems to be growing everyday.

Now it feels like Im really going! Yah!

However, I am started to get alot more anxious about my trip. I hear about summer plans people are making and it makes me sad I wont be there. I wont be there for father's day or for some wedding or some youth group events or fourth of July.

Also, I am asking for prayers with my flight schedule. Since I am going to a rural village in Zambia, transportation will be difficult to say the least. My schedule will be:

Day 1 - Leave for South Africa - 16 hour airplane ride

Day 2 - Arrive in South Africa that evening. Spend the night in a hotel by myself in South Africa

Day 3 - Recheck into the airport. Fly to Zambia. Go to Customs, Get my visa, go to the Embassy. Spend the night at a friend's house.

Day 4 - 12 hour bus ride and finally arrive at the village!

I dont travel well to say the least. I get motion sickness and cant sleep well on planes or buses so prayers will be greatly appreciated!

Money

Good news! I started to stress about money for this summer a few weeks ago. I made my budget a few weeks ago and was shocked by the final figure. I have a little money saved to spend on my trip but mostly I need it to pay my bills back at home.

I am super super super blessed to be a member at McKendree! They pledged 1000 dollars towards my trip!!! Yah! :) :) :) And I got 250 dollars from Emory! Im off to a good start! My final budget is 8000 dollars which includes my bills back home. So at least Im on the road to being able to afford it!

Shots

Here is my first post about my trip to Africa. Its getting late so Im not going to share much tonight. There is much to share at a later date.

Tomorrow is my final appointment to get shots before my trip. Last week I had to get 4 shots and tomorrow another 3. Fun, Fun! I am also going to be starting to take Malaria pills soon and going to switch my allergy medicine. I got a clean bill of health from my doctor so the only thing left to do after tomorrow to prepare medically is buy a first aid kit! At least one thing on my giant "to do" list is done

I never would have guessed planning a mission trip would have been this much work. While I love doing it, there is only so many hours in a day! :)