We took a trip to visit the Matero Lifeway Christian Academy, where the sponsored children in Matero go to school.

The LCAs were first opened this year for our sponsored kids. We have four schools in different areas of Lusaka and are hoping to double that by next year.

A large part of a Father’s Heart sponsorship goes towards paying for that child to attend school. However, we discovered that the level of education offered at most of the schools in the communities was not enough to really change a child’s life.

The LCAs have very qualified teachers and offer a much longer school day than the 2 hours found in most community schools.

The desks at the LCAs were built by our carpenters at the Tree of Life Children’s Village. Most community schools do not have desks.

The LCAs will become a major focus of our ministry for the next few years. Educating these children to a high level will empower them to break the cycle of poverty that they have been stuck in.

On Tuesday we visited the Matero Community Resource Center. Matero is one of our 19 CRCs all over Lusaka.

Greer talked all about how the CRCs have become a very strategic point in our ministry. It provides a safe place for a kid to come at anytime of the day. Members of our Zambian staff live at each CRC so they have someone at the CRC and walk right out their door into the communities where the children live.

In 2009, we decided that we could build bunk beds for each CRC and children in great need could live with us. Often we come across children who need to be rescued immediately or they will likely not survive. We have more than 60 kids who live in CRCs around Lusaka.

Gloria lives at the Matero CRC. Her life has been radically changed since moving into the CRC. Last year she was near death when she came to Camp LIFE, but getting three meals a day at the CRC has drastically improved her health.

We have landed in Zambia and were greeted at the Tree of Life Children’s Village. Much more to come…

Ten years ago today, I was excitedly preparing to take a one-week trip to Zambia, Africa. It would be the first time since I was six years old that I would once again see the country where I was born. Little did I know, but at that same time in the year 2000 God was preparing a journey for me as well.

For me, 2010 isn’t just a nice sounding, round number year. It truly is a milestone and a landmark. It represents the perfect place to pause and reflect on an incredible ten year whirlwind journey of faith. Since that first trip to Zambia in 2000, God has chosen to send almost 1300 Americans with Family Legacy to participate in our annual Camp LIFE program and over 25,000 orphans have attended Camp LIFE throughout these many years. The Father’s Heart program that God set before us in 2007 is now ministering to 2100 kids everyday in 17 different slums throughout Lusaka. And the Tree of Life Children’s Village which was officially opened last year is teeming with love and laughter from the first group of 64 kids who now live in hope and peace. In just a few short weeks, another 36 orphans will move into their new homes at the Tree of Life. Only God does something like this! And what a joy it has been to work daily in the fields of the fatherless these last ten years!

But this milestone year represents even more than the wonderful joy of celebrating the legacy of the past. It represents that place of launching forward into the next decade of service in His kingdom and to His kids. And there is no better place to embrace the vision for the future than on the gorgeous hilltop plateau of the Tree of Life Children’s Village. The 12,000 square foot Legacy Center will be the central component for all of our future ministry outreach programs. It will serve as the centerpiece for the Camp LIFE Conference and Retreat Center with the capacity to host 30,000 orphans per year in its main hall and on the many acres surrounding it. With this in mind, we are officially launching our “Camp LIFE at the Summit” Capital Campaign. All throughout this year of 2010, we will be fully embracing this vision by faith to raise the $3,000,000 necessary to build the Camp LIFE Conference and Retreat Center – everything from the Legacy Center to the cabins, the prayer chapel to the water slides, the zip lines to the outdoor amphitheater.

Over the last ten years, we have seen the ripple of God’s blessings grow exponentially because of people like you who have become such passionate ambassadors for the orphans of Zambia. With that in mind, I would like to personally invite you to attend our 10th Anniversary Banquet on September 18, 2010 at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center in Frisco, TX. I would love for as many people as possible who have been a part of these last ten years to come and help us celebrate the legacy and embrace the vision. Even those of you far outside the Dallas area from throughout Texas and in the rest of the country, I would love for you to be present and to bring your friends.

Reserve a table now at www.familylegacy2010.com. The money from the sales of tables will go to help fund Camp LIFE at the Summit.

Thank you again for everything YOU have done as GOD has indeed worked countless miracles through so many faithful hearts these past ten years!