James 1:27

 

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” 

James 1:27

 

The day to day life of a missionary is not always the exciting moments we read about in books, some days are just downright dreary. It’s easy to get into a routine to get things done for the orphanage, for your supporters, for the school, or for around the house and forget about the reason you are even on the field. Not every interaction, deed, or minute of life will directly affect the ministry in the way God laid it on your heart. Some days are stuffed full with administration responsibilities, or fixing the car, or running errands in town to hours away, or cooking for unexpected guests, or doing laundry (with limited water and electricity), or a number of other things. The past two weeks have not been like that at all…God’s vision for Mission of Love is to build up the community with the love of Christ, so that they can help the orphans and widows and be Christ’s hands and feet to those whom we are called to be. We had two Saturdays where the community committee (created by MOL) sent out notices for all the double and single orphans in Chief Nawya’s area to come here if they need assistance. We already had notice (applications) of 30 double and 30 single orphans that are being assisted through MOL with clothes donations, school fees, food, and other necessities when possible. We expected these 60 children to be here between the two Saturday’s and hoped others would come for help as well…we had a lot of clothes, blankets, shoes, etc. to give away. To our surprise, we helped over 135 families (ranging from 1 child to 9 children in each family) with clothing, blankets, and toothbrushes; keeping all their information on file, so when funds come in for school fees and food, we can send it their way. The committee worked very hard interviewing each family and seeking out the ones with the greatest needs, so that we could help them first. The first Saturday was only for double orphans and the second Saturday was for the single and double orphans that hadn’t been helped yet. Both Saturdays were extremely long days, but the children and care givers were so happy when they received new clothes, blankets, shoes, socks, underwear, hats, gloves, and anything else we had to give them.

I know I have to remember not to take days like these for granted…it is a rare privilege to be able to be Jesus’ hands and feet so evidently in the lives of orphans and widows. Each and every day we should be looking for opportunities to fulfill God’s commandments of loving others and blessing them out of the abundance God has given us. I am looking forward to the next time I get to team up with the committee members and the community to help those living right around me.

Angels Sent from America

 

“Oh LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens.”

Psalm 8:1

 

Immediately after getting back from South Africa, I had two friends arrive from Grace Baptist Church in MD. They had planned their yearly mission trip to come here and serve with me in Zambia and to bring a ton of school supplies for the preschool. We had a great start to their trip seeing one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a lunar rainbow, and getting to meet the President of Zambia. We all enjoyed experiencing these rare sites together; especially the part about getting special clearance from the President for my work permit :o) Unfortunately things calmed down a bit when we got back into the bush and started work around the camp for the school. Having been to Africa several times before, Karen and Rachel fit right into the bush, lacking comforts we so often take for granted coming from a western culture.

Being the amazing people that they are, Karen and Rachel had organized a fundraiser at Grace Christian School to raise funds for supplies intended for the preschool here in Zambia. God abundantly blessed them in their endeavors and they were able to bring over 4 suitcases filled with various things for the school. It truly felt like Christmas in July as we were going through everything they had brought imagining how much it was going to benefit the program. They brought books, colored paper, wooden blocks, outdoor balls, a parachute, dress-up clothes, tons of art supplies, scissors, paint brushes, puppets, puzzles, math cubes, pattern blocks, and much more. Once we had everything unpacked, Karen and Rachel graciously helped organized the new supplies with the ones that had been collecting over the years and inventoried to see what else I would need for the school.

In addition to organizing the school supplies, we also worked very hard on the library. If you remember, the Florida Team helped us make huge strides in the library, but there was still lots to do. We spent a couple of days, organizing, sorting, labeling, and filing away books in the proper section. Karen was particularly useful in sorting all the educational books we had stored up in the library.

After a few days of “easier work”, the girls and I decided it was time to get our hands dirty. The plan for them was to paint the school house, but since our builder disappeared for a couple weeks and never finished his job, we were unable to do that, so we found something else to keep us busy. The inside and outside of my “house” was filled with broken bricks, cement, and dust. So we put on our face masks and went in with our shovels, wheel barrels, and brooms. We spent hours getting up the dried cement, sweeping the floor, and taking loads of bricks and dirt out of the house. Then we cleaned up all the bricks outside of the house and decided to clean up the rest of camp. Males do a great job of making new things and completing projects, but a horrible job of cleaning up; leaving a lot of us to sort. Needless to say, camp looked very different that night when the sun went down…and we all slept very well that last night!

In all the gaps of our work projects, Karen and Rachel did a great job helping me teach my weekly English lessons with the house moms, playing with the children at the orphanage, working on their math and verbal skills, teaching Sunday school, and just being great company to us all. We also got to experience a traditional Tongan wedding, a first for us all!

Being gone from all my friends and family since April, I was really homesick and yearned for familiar companionship. Karen and Rachel did so many things to help progress the school, the library, the mother’s and children’s education, the camp, and the community, but most of all they brought companionship and spiritual encouragement my way. The week they were here went by so fast, but how God knew I needed them here for the time that they were here. They shared in my joys, in my burdens, in my struggles, in my excitements, and all the other emotions I have gone through since leaving home. If they had done nothing else but come to just talk and listen, I would have been very content…however, thankfully they can multitask, so we also got a lot done :o) It was a great week and a half and I hope that God will bless them (and me) to be able to come back and see the fruit of their labor next year!! Thank you for everyone who helped them come and all the prayers that got them here and kept them safe.