In March 2008, 18 team members joined Dannah Gresh for another adventure in Zambia. They traveled throughout Zambia ministering to widows, bus drivers, orphans, and anyone they came in contact with on their journey. They traveled from Livingstone to Monze to Ndola sharing the abstinence education in government schools and the children and teens that were there.

“We could feel their desperate need for love and attention by looking into their big brown eyes” reflects Christy Sung, sophomore at Grace Prep High School. “The environmental conditions were unimaginably poverty stricken; we could not look around without feeling a slow churn in our stomachs. Body language and broken English were enough to connect us; there was no barrier between our friendships.”

One of our team members, Shannon Devlin, met a girl named Gloria at the Chimwemwe Orphanage in Ndola when she traveled with the Mission Z team in 2006. Upon leaving the orphanage that day she writes, “I had to say goodbye to my little girl I fell in love with in only 3 hours. I spent the next two years of my life praying for God to provide Gloria with her daily bread and hoping every single day that I could once again return to Zambia and be reunited with my Gloria. What was two years in the waiting became reality for me on March 9, 2008 when I boarded that plane in JFK headed for Zambia. On March 16 as we walked into the Chimwemwe Orphanage I kept my eyes peeled for Gloria, but I couldn’t find her. I walked up to the headmaster, and very anxiously said ‘Last time I was here, I met a little girl named Gloria’ before I could finish my sentence, a huge smile jumped on his face and he interrupted me by saying ‘Ohhh Gloria, I know the girl you are talking about. I will take you to her’. I followed him through a group of kids, and he says ‘Here’s Gloria’. My heart jumped for joy when I saw her and tears came. Very, Very happy tears. Right as I found her, I looked up into the sky and there, low and behold, was rain. Almost like God was saying ‘I promised you, you would find Gloria. I keep my promises Shannon’. When I found out that she remembered me I don’t think that I’ve ever been that happy before in my entire life.”

Overall, American and Zambian lives were changed. The students witnessed poverty and yet joy like they've never seen before.

Veiw our photo album by clicking on the photos below for a larger veiw.