How Deep is the Love of Christ…

 

Yesterday, I was sitting and thinking about the children at school.  They always impress me, but this year especially with the way they seemed to pick up right where we left off in November.  The younger class is so vibrant with joy and excitement about the new things in the school and the older ones taking confidence in teaching their new friends how to explore and use everything we have in the classroom.  For some reason, my mind drifted back to this time last year and how different everything was: the children, their behavior, their mindset, their play, their smiles, their knowledge, etc.  In that moment, the Holy Spirit filled me with the greatest JOY I have ever experienced, a small glimpse at the heart of God.  My eyes were opened to “why” God provided money for the school, gave me knowledge to do what He asked me to do, provided all the things for the school, hand picked each child for each class, brought these specific teachers here, and every other detail that fell into place over the past two years.  I can’t put it into words, but this realization brought tears to my eyes and chills through my body. 

 

 

Our 4 and 5 year olds this year are way ahead of where our 5 and 6 year olds started last year.  They are confident in who God has made them to be, in their ability to learn, to write, to read, to play, to answer questions, to speak English words, to show off their sign language, to make music, to create things, to paint, and to express all the other “languages” their Creator gave to them.  When we are all created, God intended for His children to embrace all the talents, hobbies, interests that He gave us (our different “languages”); however, we know that these are commonly taken away by our society, parents, teachers, and other adults in our lives…but now God has blessed these children with the opportunity to get back those “languages”, to do what they were created to do, to find their voice among the others, to embrace the individuality they were born with, above all to glorify God for His Provision and Sovereignty in their lives. 

My whole life I have heard about God’s Plans, God’s Power, God’s Sovereignty, God’s Love, God’s Mercy and there are too many times to count for the ways He has proven faithful in all those areas in my life.  Somehow, this moment, with these children here in Zambia tops it all…I feel like I saw God, face to face, in that moment of experiencing how deep His Love runs for all of us He created.  These children are gaining so much from such a little school, in the middle of no where…because it is consumed by the Spirit of God Himself!  O how great a God we serve, how Mighty is His Name in all the earth!!

 

“How great are His signs, how mighty His wonders!  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.”  Daniel 4:3

 

 

 

“There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and your name is great in might.”

Jeremiah 10:6

22 Kilometers, Flooded Rivers, and Bare Feet…

 

This past weekend is definitely one for the books…a weekend I will never forget!!

Friday night, Jako and crew were headed back from Lusaka when he broke the side shaft on the Land Rover and was forced to drive the flooded, muddy bush roads in two wheel drive.  After getting stuck for the 5th time, they finally called us and asked if we could get to them in the quad to bring Jako back to drive the Hilux out to assist in getting the Land Rover and crew home.  At this time it was 10 pm and Rachael and I volunteered to take the quad out in search of them.  Since the water is so high, we had to be very careful not to get the quad underwater, so driving only by the light of a head lamp, we navigated around the deep puddles/rivers (mainly on footpaths) and happily found Jako and crew driving toward us already getting unstuck from when they called us.  The roads felt very eerie being the only ones out there as the darkness surrounded our quad, many times we called out to God, asking for His Presence to guide us in the path to take around the flooded plains.  He definitely showed up and even blessed us with headlights (which didn’t work at all) at times during our drive, but them turned them off when there were big challenges forcing us to rely on Him and walk by faith.  While we were all headed back to the house, the Land Rover got stuck really bad and we had to go fetch the Hilux.  Praise God we were able to wench the Land Rover out from the back with the Hilux and then made it back safely with all the vehicles home by 2:30am. 

Saturday…Jako had left the trailer about halfway back to town with a small village since it was too heavy to bring back with only 2 wheel drive.  So Rachael, Travis, Jakob, and myself decided to go with Jako to retrieve the trailer that afternoon.  We left camp around 4pm and got to the trailer around 5pm in the Hilux and Jako just drove right up to the village and before we opened the doors, all 4 wheels just sunk in the mud.  We were stuck and stuck bad…we go to start cutting logs and Jako starts getting the hi-lift jack ready and then realized he took the attachment out for the Land Rover and never put it back, so we had no jack to lift the car with.  It was not about 5:20 and we decided to just walk home…neither of us had brought our cell phones so we had no communication with Amber or anyone back home.  We grab Jakob and start our 22 kilometer walk home…the roads were rocky, mudding, flooded, grassy, slippery so we all walked barefoot in order to make it back.  We arrived around 9:15 with cuts, blisters, vey wet clothing, a sleeping 3 year old, and super sore feet.  Now we have the quad and Land Rover, but no Hilux or trailer!!

Sunday…we need to go dig out the Hilux and bring it back with the trailer.  Rachael, Jako, and I hop on the quad and start off late morning.  We get almost there (an hour drive) and realize we forgot the key for the Hilux, so we turn around and go back.  Round Two…we arrive at the village, Praise God it is a warm, sunny day with no threats of rain!!  The guys had already cut a lot of logs and even built the bridge to get us out.  We tried once quickly to see if it was enough, but there was too much water and mid under the tires for that to work, so we lifted the car and put logs and stones under the tires.  Then we tried again and we got out!!  Once we got the trailer hooked up, Jako drove the Hilux back and Rachael and I drove the quad.  The quad ride was so much more fun in the daylight where we could splash through the mud and puddles with glee. 

                                  

 

We thank God for His protection over us through all the nights of getting stuck, walking, driving, and “wenching” we had to do.  It is safe to say that we will never forget this adventurous weekend that brought us closer to one another and our Protector!! 

 

School is IN!!

 

This past week was the first week of school for children at Twana Little School.  The teachers, children, and community all seem really excited for the school to be open and running again.  It was a bit rough trying to get everything sorted when we really didn’t have enough children registered or anyone who had actually paid for a spot by giving us school fees.  We changed the classes this year wanting to cater to the older children since we realized with two local teachers, we can only have two classes instead of four.  So we gave all the 5 and 6 year old children a chance to register and pay for this term, then at the end of the week, if we still had spots, we would allow 4 year olds to come if they had money.  Unfortunately many of the parents of the children who were 5 and 6 years old, did not come to pay for their children, even though they filled out a form.  It really breaks my heart when I see the joy this school brings to a child’s life and then it is taken from them when their parents won’t pay the $3 to attend.  Well, on the upside, the parents of the 4 year olds were extremely happy.  Once we had 60 children registered and paid for we were able to make one class of 4-5 year olds and one class of the older kids, the 6 year olds. 

During our first week or two of school, we are more laid back as teachers allowing the children to get acclimated with the environment and our daily routine.  Thankfully all the younger children came last year and the new older ones have easily fallen into step with the other experienced children.  They picked up just where they left off last year.  Very impressed with all the children…which doesn’t surprise me!!  The classroom is set up a bit different and we have added the two new rooms.  The children have started wandering in the art studio, since we tell them when we offer something in there for them to participate in, but they have yet to discover the light table in the light and shadow studio.  The other centers that are more familiar to them are in high use as the babies are always on the backs of the children and cars are driving everywhere.

 

 

 

We are loving the dynamics of each class, the children are learning well together and have come so far from where we started last year.  The younger children (who were mainly 3 last year) remembered almost ALL the “M” letter pictures we taught them a year ago when we did letter of the week (English and Tonga).  Medis (our  lead teacher) was so impressed with them, which speaks miles for the impact Christ is making in the people through this school.  When the children are able to make Medis smile with their learning moments, I know God is at work in her and those children.  Stepping back from teaching myself this year, I am happy to observe moments like this and hope to see many more as the weeks go on. 

Please continue to pray for these little ones as they grow in their knowledge of God and his love for them; as well as, learning and growing as a pupil in our classroom.  They are precious individuals, entrusted to us by their Creator, so please pray for us as teachers too, that we are taking our job seriously and giving all that we can to these little ones. 

 

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

                      Colossians 3:16

 

Can We Do It??

 

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Philippians 4:13

 

To Do List Before Opening School:

• Build and Paint Light Table
• Build and Varnish Art Table
• Build Frame for Solar Panel
• Install electrical wires, batteries, regulator, and invertor for solar power
• Install wiring, switches, and globes for lights
• Paint main school room (2 coats)
• Prime and paint new art studio (2 coats)
• Prime and paint new light/shadow studio (2 coats)
• Plane and cut 16 shelves
• Install 10 shelves in art studio
• Install 6 shelves in light room
• Clean all tables, stools, shelves, floors, windows, walls
• Set up classroom, hang decorations, bulletin boards, etc.
• Install wiring for electrical plugs for light table and technology center
• Sweep, mop, wax, shine cement floors x 2
• Clean and sort store room
• Organize art supplies in new space
• Create class lists for children
• Other random necessities to get the class ready for children…

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is what I came back to in late January!!  We had hoped the builder would have finished before I left last year so that all the painting and most of the cleaning would have been done by now, but low and behold it was not, so we had a very short time to get everything done.  Praise God they were able to get enough river sand to finish the floors inside both of the additions…what a great surprise!  We started these tasks almost immediately upon my arrival and made great progress and great time.  Then we had to go to town for supplies and visas and ended up being there for 2 days instead of 1 day, which started taking our time from working in the school.  One day back and I realized we didn’t have the paint for the main room like we thought we had…so I had to go to town with the crew who was going and take a bus to Livingstone to the paint we needed!  Day 3 in town and now there are only two days before school opens and we haven’t been able to do the big leg work yet.  I was nervous, but figured with all the help and a couple nights working til midnight, we should hopefully get it all done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well after a few 19 hour days, 101 fever, 5 people working almost non-stop, lots of sweat and tears most everything was finished the day we opened for school!!  Jako, Rachael, and I put the finishing touches on the art room shelves and hanging the other few things around the room yesterday and it is all settled now!!  Thank you God for supernatural strength to get everything done, supernatural healing from the after effects, and supernatural peace as we opened the Twana Little School for the second year. 

 

 

 

Twana Little School 2013

 

 

More to come about the first week of school…