FBCW

 

“…keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words would be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly; as I ought to speak.”

Ephesians 6:18-20

On July 22, a team of 13 joined us from Woodbridge, Va.  Most of the team members have been to serve here in Zambia on previous trips, but there were a coupe of new ones.  Each person was so excited to see the advancements at camp and to find out where they could plug in and serve most effectively.  We were so happy to see that, since we had a lot of worked planned for the two weeks they would be with us.  The men on the team started helping Jako fix all the broken things we have (i.e. the quad, land rover, hilux, etc.) while the women helped Amber and I organize clothes for the orphan donations that happened on their second day in the bush (they didn’t have much time to adjust, but they did an excellent job.)

The following week consisted of various types of ministry…four days, the FBCW team sent out an eye glass team to prescribe eye glasses in the community.  They traveled all over the chiefdom and helped over 100 people giving out free glasses and counseling each person who came to see them.  While part of the team was out doing that, the rest were hard at work on the stump farm.  For those of you who know, this team worked very hard on the stump farm last year…hours in the field loosening dirt and digging it out around large trees trying to get them out of the way for plowing.  They cleared a lot more of the field so that Jako will have more space to plant maize for the orphanage this year.  Praise God!

After days of this routine, the team got a break and went to the goat and cattle farm.  While we were there, we had to vaccinate all the cattle and goats…this involved lassoing every single cow and calf (about 20) with a rope and then forcing them to the ground and praying they stay there long enough to get the injection and let everyone step away safely before getting back up.  I was lucky enough to be taught how to inject the cows and after Jako did about three of them, he handed the rest over to me…what an experience!!  The goats were a little easier, the younger men on the team tracked each of them down in the pin and just handed them out to Fred to be injected and then they got to run off and graze.  After all the goats were taken care of, the team got together and started digging holes for a new goat pin and placed in the support beams.  Hopefully the pin will be ready soon so that the goats and get up of the ground when they are sleeping, therefore, having less sickness and disease traveling though them. 

The team also helped cut and make 10 A-frames for the roof of my house, although we didn’t have time to get those up while they were here, having them ready to go was a huge help.  Dean worked for two days, with the boys at the orphanage house, fixing the new bikes the team bought for the children to ride to get to school.  The women worked for several hours in the library finishing filing all the books on the ground and even getting the labels up on the shelves…it is looking so good.  We even got come people to go up to the school and scrub down the walls and sweep the floor to get it ready for painting.  Unfortunately the builder still needed to fix a few things, so we were not able to paint, but we are praying that soon it will be ready for that step.  Some of the guys put new shelves in Jako’s workshop and organized all the things he had laying around, while a couple other guys welded a 16 meter tower to install behind the house for the internet antenna, satellite dish, and radio antenna.  We are so happy our internet seems to have a better connection and is faster in the evenings!

In addition to all the physical work this team did, they also made huge investments in the people around them.  Not only to the locals that worked alongside them each day, but mostly to the children in the orphanage and community.  They taught Sunday School twice and each night up at the orphanage they told bible stories and played games with the children.  They did an excellent job portraying God as their courage and strength in every day situations, that by putting their faith in Christ, they would never have to worry.  I loved seeing them interact with the children and love on them in a way that the children don’t always feel from the community, but the pure love that comes from Christ.  The children learned a lot and had fun at the same time!!

 

It was a great trip with los of fond memories.  FBCW was a huge help and we appreciated their sacrifice of time, money, and family to come on this trip and serve God in Zambia.  For we are all “ambassadors in chains” proclaiming the gospel wherever God sends us!