When it Rains, It Pours!!

 

God is very busy in Mukamba these days…since the volunteers started coming at the end of May they haven’t stopped.  We have had very little weeks with no visitors serving with us out here in the bush.  The most recent blessing of people started about a month ago with some friends from the states and all over the world:

Steve Rainwater:  A wonderful servant who has been coming here since 2006, helping Mission of Love in whatever season God has had them in.  This year with Jako’s back injury, the Lord burdened his heart to come for a couple months to try and help Jako knock out his to-do list.  Steve is finding that things don’t always go as planned and work seems to take a lot longer when you are four hours from anywhere with parts!  He has been a huge blessing in finishing up the outside space at the preschool, fixing vehicles, moving furniture, building nik-naks, and so on.  We love his joyful heart and passion of living for Christ.

 

 

Kara Breniser:  A bright and beautiful spirited girl…Kara is such a delight to have around camp.  In between her studying and examinations, she had decided to give God two months of her life out here in Zambia.  She came with the heart and mind to help out wherever is needed.  So far she has been a huge blessing to Amber caring for Jeremiah and often creating scrumptious meals in the kitchen.  Kara enjoys her time with the children at the orphanage helping with house mom training, tutoring for the children, developmental milestones for the toddlers, play dates, and anything else she can get her hands on.  She will be with us until the middle of October when she heads back to the states to get certified as a PTA.

 

Olivia Kamm:  Olivia just finished her degree at FSU in early childhood education and felt God calling her to Zambia to use all that He has blessed her with.  She arrived with Kara and Travis and plans to be here for one year helping out with the moms and children at the orphanage.  Olivia has already proved to be extremely knowledgeable in child development and successful at implementing new ways for the moms to relate to their toddlers and older children.  She has started a weekly Bible study with the moms to encourage them always to seek after Christ and strive to be the same example to their children.  In addition, Olivia has started a tutoring program for all the older children, works one on one with the moms to assist with early childhood development, organized story times and play dates with all the children, helps plan and teach Sunday school at the local church, and helps out around camp with our daily living.  We are so excited that she will be able to continue all her work for at least a year and the whole community has welcomed her with open arms. 

 

Travis Enget:  Fresh out of high school, Travis took a big leap of faith coming to Africa for a year instead of going off to college right away.  Travis is Amber and Jako’s nephew and hasn’t been out here for a few years.  I saw the light and joy in his eyes when he landed in Livingstone excited to see all the work God has accomplished since he was last here.  He plans to help Jako with all his projects for camp, the orphanage, and the school.  Currently he has been very diligent working to take apart an older vehicle so Jako can use the engine to build a new, stronger generator for camp life.  Travis has a servants heart and is always willing to so anything you ask of him.  It will be nice to have more man power around here, and I know Amber and Jako are excited to share a year of life and ministry with family!

 

Zoe & Nerida:  On our way back from the women’s conference in town, we stumbled upon to beautiful ladies from New Zealand.  It just so happens that they have been looking for an orphanage to volunteer at for 8 weeks in their Africa journey.  Four years ago, Zoe had visited Zambia and volunteered at an orphanage just outside of Livingstone and God placed it on her heart to do it again.  So in June, her and Neri took off for Africa and have been traveling all around until they landed in Zambia.  They came out with use a month ago and still have a month left here in Mukamba.  They both are educated in early childhood education and have been a huge blessing to me at the school and Olivia with all her programs running at the orphanage.  They are such a delight to have around always willing to lend a helping hand cooking, cleaning, painting, sanding, moving furniture, tutoring, teaching, documentation, and anything else they can get their hands on.  Jako appreciates the friendly banter about rugby and we all appreciate the fellowship and friendship we have gained.  From here they will travel north deeper into Africa and then end up in England for a couple years…if they cross your mind, please pray for their safe travels and adventures ahead!

 

Kalomo Crew:  For a brief moment we had fellow missionaries out for a visit and their interns.  The interns came out a few days early to experience the bush and the ministry we do here on a daily basis.  Taylor, Ethan, and Abby (the interns) jumped right in and prepared the orphanage garden for cement boxes Jako wants to install to save water and allow the vegetables to grow better.  After preparations the boys went to work mixing concrete and molding the beds…they almost finished two of them in the short time they were here.  Abby was a blessing coming to school one morning to help the children complete their shade project and also with our trash clean up service project in the community.  Last Saturday their ministry (Africa’s Child) came to visit and pick them up to bring them back to Kalomo.  Christa was able to test all the children at the orphanage for iron and other things, while the rest of the crew walked around and admired all that God had done in this past year.  It’s always a blessing to share and rejoice in God’s work…we hope they don’t wait another year before visiting again, but we often fellowship on our trips to town!!

 

Carla & Friends: Just after we said good bye to our Kalomo friends, Carla (a long term partner with MOL) brought a group of middle school girls, from South Africa, out here to be with us for two weeks.  Most of the girls have never been to Zambia, much less living in the bush without their daily comforts.  They have been a huge help with dinner prep and spending time with Jakob and Jeremiah.  The boys love having them around and spend almost the whole day with them.  The girls hope to help with the orphanage children during bible studies, tutoring, and training moments, as well as, at the preschool.  Carla will join her team going out to other villages in Zambia at the end of the first week, while the girls will remain for two weeks, meeting up with that team on their way back to South Africa. 

I am not sure what the future holds, but at this rate we are going to need more lodging out here for all our support and help!  Thank you to everyone who has sacrificed for the sake of the gospel and God’s calling to go out to the nations…we are so blessed by it all!

 

 

“It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” 

Philippians 2:13

 

Hands and Feet

 

“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant with be also.  If anyone serves Me, him My father will honor.” 

John 12:26

As believers we know that God created us for a purpose, to be in a love relationship with Him, and to strive to be like His Son, Jesus.  Jesus is our perfect example at how we should live on earth, how we should treat others with compassion, how we should serve the least of these, how we should give up ourselves to be filled with more of Him.

 

These past couple weeks in Sunday School we have been teaching the children about Jesus’ example of servant hood; how “He didn’t come to be served, but to serve.”  We washed their feet, just as Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.  When we asked the children what they were thinking as we went around washing their feet they said they felt “loved”. 

While teaching this lesson, we were convicted to challenge the children to put their faith into action, to start being the hands and feet of Jesus right here in their own community.  We have started doing service projects every Saturday and hope to continue this program as long as God allows.  We have started cleaning up God’s creation in this community, by collecting the trash and then burning it.  We are praying that God will bring other tasks our way, small projects the children can participate in and through their faithfulness, make a difference for Christ’s kingdom. 

Please pray as we face persecution, negative attitudes, and any else the devil might throw our way; hat we will stand and fight for what Christ has called us to do.  The children have already been faced with the shop owners calling them “foolish” for picking up trash, but praise God when we gathered to do the same service project the following week, even more children attended and we got 14 large trash bags filled with rubbish on the dirt roads.  Pray that their heart of service will stay strong and God will use them as examples in the community to spread His light in the dark shadows to lurk among us. 

Lights, Shadows, Art…

 

This year I have been learning a lot about how to run an early childhood program in the bush of Zambia.  One thing I did not expect at all was the number of children who would attend the school.  The size of the building we have is far bigger than anything they traditionally would have, but I still felt like we needed a bit more space if we hope to make the class sizes a bit larger next year.  I also wanted to add dimension to the school since it is just an open rectangle shape right now.  All this being said, I dug into my account and found some funds to put two additions on the preschool.  We are adding a two smaller rooms onto the back of the school with walkways from the main building.  In the smaller room we will be creating a space for the children to investigate and study light and shadows.  It will be a dark room with one large light table and another smaller one for studies.  It will also be filled with mirrors and other materials the children can use to bounce and reflect light, learning about all the different dimensions of light.

The larger addition is going to become a permanent art studio which will free up space in the main classroom for children to work and learn.  The art studio will have shelves all around so that the available art supplies can be on display and then there will hopefully be space for the children’s art work to dry and then be put out for everyone to enjoy. 

 

The builder thought this project would only take a few weeks, but with everything in Africa, things take way longer than anyone says they will.  He has been working for about 5 weeks and is almost finished the brick work of the art studio…once he finishes the brick work, we have to add a roof and then he will plaster the inside and add the walk through from the main classroom.  The same process must be done on the smaller room as well.  With these additions, we are hoping to install solar power for the light table and then add a technology center with a computer and such.  Lots of exciting improvements for the school when we reopen next year!!  Please pray that the builder continues to show up and do the job he has committed to do and that the rooms will get done shortly so we can get them painted and set up for the children next year. 

Animals Gone Wild

 

We opened for the third term in the beginning of this month and we hit the ground running and haven’t stopped.  I can’t believe we are entering the fourth week of the term already, time is going by far too fast.  The children have been very busy studying animals and all the different things about them.  We have investigated the anatomy of an animal, the different habitats, who created all the animals, what animals need to survive, how water animals are different from land animals, and we even went on an animals hunt looking for evidence of the animals that live around us here in Mukamba.  Al four classes are enthralled in this study and have enjoyed every minute of it…here are some of their words and research:

 

Teacher: Where do animals live?

Pensive: In the bush.

Venture: Some animals live in the house.

Ember: Some live in a hole.

Choolwe: They live in the trees and in the soil.

 

 

 

                                    Teacher: What do animals eat?

                                    Sanford: Grass.

                                    Perfect: Nshima.

                                    Kain: Meat.

 

 

 

Buumba: This is a crocodile and he lives in the water.

Benny: A lion lives in the bush with some water.

Trinida: The bird lives on the flowers.

Goodson: The chameleon lives in the tree and this bird looks like it lives near the water.

Oripa: I have a giraffe and he is inside a house (cage).

 

 

                                                                  Ovius:  Look, dog prints.

Kelvin:  And some dog poop.

                                                                                                                   Frederick:  Cows poop.

                 Orient:  It looks like this cow is heading that way, toward home.

Lydia:  Bird foot prints.

                                                                                    Frederick:  I have found cows urine.

                   Sonya:  I have found chicken poop.

                                                                                                        Loson:  And goat foot prints over here.