The End of the Term

 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” 

Ephesians 2:10

 

I am sitting here writing this blog awestruck that we are 2/3 of the way through our first year of the MOLPS. I never thought I would be sitting here, so filled with joy and peace at what God has done for these children and their community. I cannot express the sheer delight I feel in my heart from the smiles on the children’s faces as they round the corner, walking to school. I am so proud of all the things each child has accomplished this year so far, and I know I am only going to get blown away more as we proceed through our third term in September.

 

The end of the second term is a bit of a blur for me. Since Medis and I left for the conference at the end of June and upon our return MOL has been blessed with so many visitors, we haven’t had much time to breathe in between. I am so thankful for everyone who God sent our way, but I am also a bit behind on all the children’s work!! Needless to say, the children still came to school every day and participated not knowing how far behind I am…hehe. The older class made strides on their shade project getting a good part of the structure built on the last day. The children have worked so hard cutting poles, carrying poles back to school, gathering fibers, and planning their structure, that I was praying we would get some of it built before we closed…sure enough we did! The kids built this ENTIRE thing on their own, with teachers only helping to hold them up to tie their fibers around the poles…the children dictated where they wanted the poles to go, how they would go about digging the holes, and how it would all come together. When we exhausted all the materials we had so far, the children said we still need more shade, since only a portion of the slide is not receiving shade from the hot sun. When we open back up, we hope to add more poles to the top and maybe even some grass for full shade over the slide.

 

 

The younger classes are trucking along great in the program…just this last week of school we noticed them finding new ways to use the space they have available to them outside. They enjoyed tying jump ropes around the base of the jungle gym so that they could help each other jump over them. So creative these little minds, I cannot wait until we reopen to follow up on this ropes course to see if the children want to take it to the next level. They are also very intrigued with animals, so Medis and I are looking for ways to continue introducing more animals to them, as well as animal sounds, anatomy, colors, habitats, and much more. If you have any great ideas, please send them our way and we would love to try them out with the children!!

I am sad to say that the school is closed for a month, but relieved that I might be able to get caught up on preschool work before we open again and then being able to spend some free time planning and preparing for Grade 1 if we happen to open in January!!

Please continue to pray for the community to be receptive to the tug of the Holy Spirit on their hearts in building this school for their children and allowing the name of Jesus to be glorified through it all!!

Love Knows No Borders

 

God is so faithful in providing the things He promises to provide…although He never promised me company on this journey to Zambia, He did promise to take care of me and give me all that I need. Well this year I definitely needed good friends to come and visit to share in the joy of what God has done here and what He is continuing to do. I was first blessed with Rachel, who I didn’t know until we met at the airport, but now I can say that my life will never be the same after meeting such an extraordinary woman. Rachel and I had so much fun working together at the school, playing with the children at the orphanage, organizing things around camp, helping with the boys, watching Glee, and many other adventures God allowed us to have together. She was a huge blessing and light to have for the entire summer, I am very sad to see her go, but so excited to see how God will continue working in her life and maybe even bring her back next summer!! Thank you for everything Rachel!!

Next came Karen and Rachel who are two amazing women seeking nothing more than what God has for their lives. They have traveled all over the world in the name of Christ, serving the nations as we are called to do! They go places most people wouldn’t want to go to for the lack of sanitation, cleanliness, and the high presence of despair…but they bring hope, light, and love into these dark, dirty places and allow God’s name be praised through it all. How I got so lucky to be in the presence of these two ladies, I have no idea, but God knew I needed their help and encouragement for a couple weeks. They were able to come out last year before the school was opened, so I can only imagine the excitement in their hearts as they saw the completed building, filled with supplies, children, and smiles a mile wide. They enjoyed playing with the children and setting up for the various activities we had going on that week. Karen and Rachel also worked very hard at painting most of the time they were here: they painted my window and door frames, the window and door frames at the school, Jako’s poles around his work area, the metal for an outdoor easel, and created some beautiful versus to hang on my walls in the house! Thank you so much for all your hard work and love you blessed me with!!

The last visitor, but not in any ways the least, Georgia, joined us a couple days after Karen and Rachel arrived! As you can imagine my house was very full and my bedroom slept 5 God-fearing women, how lucky can I get?!?!?! In the past few years, Georgia has become so many things to me in my life: she is a friend, family, a mentor, a colleague, an employer, and a sister in Christ. She has motivated me and encouraged me in ways not many people can do in building up my confidence to trust God enough to open this preschool program through me. Georgia constantly reminds me of all the ways God has blessed me this way or that way, which proves how perfectly God arranged me being here in Zambia to work for His kingdom. Apart from coming to see all that God has done and to “check in on me”; Georgia came to connect with the children at the school. Many of her preschool children and families are now writing “World Friend” letters to my kids here in Mukamba, and it was her mission to remember all the names and faces of the children who had already captivated her heart months ago when she first received the letters and pictures. We had a great time and hope that once my school opens back up in September, we will be able to read all our letters and write responses to send back to America before the end of the year!!  Thank you Georgia for sharing all the love and compassion God has blessed you with…

FBCW Blesses Us Once Again

 

FBCW is a church from Northern Va who has been relentlessly supporting Mission of Love since 2006 and we always enjoy their fellowship and hard work when they come.  This year they really had to adapt to the African way of life meaning that nothing ever goes how we plan it.  Before they had left Jako gave them a few tasks that they would hopefully accomplish before leaving, but once they actually got here that all got switched around.  The team was very well prepared and ever so gracious in allowing us to re-write their schedule. 

They came and helped Jako get camp ready for the team to inhabit for the couple weeks they were here, they had to install doors for the toilets and showers, put in a hot water geyser in the back for hot water, and unpack all the ministry supplies they brought over for the school and orphanage. 

The following days included a lot of manual labor digging footers for the foundation of the additions in the preschool, putting up a fence around the preschool, a fence around the orphanage, sand runs, mixing concrete, eye glass ministry, cattle vaccinations, hut to hut ministry, Bible Studies, and many other tasks that came up while they were out here. 

Thank you to everyone who came on that team…what a blessing you were to us here!!