Kimberley, South Africa

 

 

 

Well, as most of you know, Amber and Jako needed to go to South Africa for a couple weeks for doctor’s appointments and errands, so we left at the end of August planning on being back home around the 10th of September.  The first week we did a lot of running around checking prices on things we needed in between doctor’s and dentist visits.  At the various stores we went to, I was able to buy things for the school.  I am still lacking many center items, but I have a lot more now than I did when we left for SA.  I am so excited to get back to the bush to start putting things together and setting up the program.  Hopefully the doors, roof, and glass will get on the school quickly, so we can start painting and then moving in…

After a week of errands, I left Amber and Jako to visit a friend west of Pretoria in the Northern Cape.  My friend, Kevin, lives in a small, flat, hot town called Kimberley where he is the minister of a local Methodist church.  Now I met Kevin three years ago in 2008 when I was living in Jeffery’s Bay (Eastern Cape) doing a mission’s trip with AIM.  Since then we have both travelled all around following God’s calling on each of our lives and we were so blessed to be able to meet up in person once again.  This week was a retreat for me…a chance to get away and reconnect with God and myself. 

Kimberley is in the middle of nowhere, not much is around, but surprisingly has many fun things to keep you busy!  Kevin was a wonderful host and planned many things for us to do, as well as, a lot of down time to just relax and unwind.  Apparently the second largest cut diamond in the world was found in Kimberley.  There is a mile deep hole (“The Big Hole”) in the middle of the town that was dug completely by hand, the largest man-dug hole in the world.  We got a tour of the hole and a recreation of the mine shafts that miner’s worked in looking for diamonds…I learned all the history of diamonds and Kimberley…who knew?!?!?  On top of that, I got to experience a lot of Afrikaans culture…there was a festival that consisted of shows, vendors, authentic food, music, entertainment, and much more.  We went to this festival twice to look around and participate in traditional activities, as well as see the winner of South African Idol perform live one evening.  Then, Western Province (Cape Town) came to Kimberley to play their local rugby team and we got to go to the game…it was my first live, professional rugby game!  Wow those guys sure get hit hard, and without pads!!  We spent time with Kevin’s friends and roommates for dinners, movies, and outings.  One of his friend’s works in the hospital and let me witness a C-section delivery…I was actually in the theater (operating room) with her and the other staff when she pulled the baby out and everything was going great until I fainted!!  Then I was the talk of the hospital, and shortly the town…hehe memories that last! 

In addition to all the fun attractions we did, I also got a glimpse into Kevin ministry life!  One morning we went to teach a classroom of about 80 high school girls.  These girls are caring the weight of the world on their shoulders, and yet they keep their composure so well!  Kevin is great with them, talking about things that they want to discuss and that they can relate to…every time they meet, they take time to pray for one another and many times these girls are very vulnerable with their requests; what a great opportunity to advance the kingdom!  Then, on Wednesday nights he teaches the Alpha program at his church and of course, Sunday morning he preaches!  Being out in the bush, there isn’t much “church fellowship”, so being back in the western culture of things, it was nice being spiritually fed in that capacity again!  Something my heart had been yearning for…

All in all it was an amazing week filled with excitement and relaxation all at once!  God answered my prayers and met me where I was helping me enhance the intimacy of my prayers…

 

 

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

John 7:38

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!

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.

South Africa Detour

 

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:19

Like most things that happen, a five day trip to South Africa was not in my plans for the month of July. Back in May, I had injured my back lifting those bins of clothing I was sorting into sizes to be stored away for later use. At the time, I had no idea until a week after the incident I was woken up by an intense muscle spasm in my right leg. We went to town and saw a doctor and see said that she thought I pinched a nerve and that it would be healed in the next 6-weeks. So two months pass and I am still having spasms at night and pain in my right leg. Naturally my mom became more concerned and started researching more diligently and asking doctors for their advice on what I should do. After a few days of idea shooting, we all decided it was best that I see a doctor as soon as possible. Unfortunately they don’t have that kind of specialist here in Zambia, so I had to fly to South Africa.

We contacted a few people trying to see the best route to determining what I had actually done to my back and how I could help it recover. We were hoping to get an MRI, but that process is long and almost impossible without living there to see everyone you need to see in a timely manner to get the prescription for the MRI and then an actual appointment, so it was suggested that I see a physical therapist first and if they couldn’t figure it out, than I would try to get in with a specialist. Praise God I was able to get a flight out of Livingstone two days later and off to South Africa I went. God was also gracious to give me a place to stay for my time there and someone to drive me to all my appointments. At the first appointment, the physical therapist was able to determine that I actually  ripped a disc between to vertebrate in the lumbar region of my lower back. The rip was deep into the middle and there was jelly like stuff (nucleus) leaking out, irritating the nerves causing the extreme pain in my back and leg; the muscle in my leg was trying to compensate by going into a spasm since the nerve pain was so intense. We all prayed hard that the physical therapists would be able to determine the cause of the pain without needing an MRI and thankfully God answered that prayer.  She gave me several exercises to do, especially if I was experiencing a spasm, and others to strengthen my lower back so that the disc can heal properly.

As much as I didn’t want to go, thinking it was an inconvenience, God blessed my time there with the people I stayed with and the pastor who drove me to my appointments. In addition to everything God had already done, he was prepared for this moment more than I could ever have been.  A week after I got back, I got an email from a friend in my church back home, informing me that the kids from Vacation Bible School raised money for the missionaries. The children had given more than expected so the additional was sent to me totaling the exact amount of the travel and medical expenses for this detour…Praise God!  

It seems my back will take 6 months to heal, meaning no heavy lifting or strain on my back for that time, or else the disc could rip back open and I will have to start all over again with the therapy. I am already feeling better and have not had any leg spasms since I have been to South Africa.

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” 

Philippians 4:19

Sid Roth (Ultimate Promise Keeper)

 

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”  Romans 4:20-21

Since I have moved here to Zambia, God has been teaching and showing me many things about him and how he is faithful. Just the fact that God provided a way for me to come, the means to come, and friends and family who have supported me the whole way is testimony enough to his greatness, power, and sovereignty. So when I saw a lunar rainbow in Livingstone, at one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the other month, I remembered God’s covenant with Noah, and since then I have been seeing how God consistently fulfills his promises, especially in my life.

In Jeremiah, God promises to give us a “hope and a future”; that his plans for us are always good and never for harm. I am still figuring out where my time here in Zambia fits into the bigger picture of my life, wondering how long I will be here, if God will call me elsewhere, when God will bless me with my husband, what impact he will allow me to have here in the community…and so on. In spite of all the holes and questions that I have running around in my mind, I don’t ever have to doubt that God’s plans are far better than my own and that he has me here to fulfill a purpose he created me for (Psalm 139).

In Isaiah, God promises to “never leave or forsake” us, to always be there in times of tribulation and times of joy. He reassures us that he is in control and wherever he calls us to go; he will not send us alone. Ever since I started my journey into missions, I can see where God walked right alongside of me…there were times when I was extremely ill, impatient, frustrated, scared, worried, not in control, confused, lacking in faith, and unfocused; but despite my disposition, God never let me do it alone, he was there to catch me when I fell, to heal me when I was sick, to hold my hand when I was scared, to calm me when I was out of control and unfocused, to give me his spirit of patience when my flesh was lacking it, and to never let me lose sight of the reason he had sent to me where I was serving.

Often we don’t understand why God is choosing to do things the way he is, but thankfully he has blessed us with his Spirit to give us the faith that we need to endure and keep following his footsteps even if we can’t see more than two feet in front of us! The rainbow is an amazing reminder of how careful God is to fulfill the promises he makes to each and every one of his children. Every promise he made to Adam, to Abraham, to David, to the Israelites, to his disciples, to Mary, to you, to me, and to so many others since he created us has come to pass or will come to pass in his perfect timing and plan!

God sent me here to begin a school and to use the gifts he has blessed me with to build up the community and to help the orphans, widows, children, and others in the community draw nearer to Christ; through discipleship, education, and building relationships.  I am grateful to have been reminded of his calling and the reassurance that God will always carry out the promises he makes to us!

MOL Clinic Coming Soon?

These past few weeks have been a time of great interruptions or divine appointments, as we like to call them.  During the time we were preparing for the team and while the team was here, we had two severe instances where local people came in need of stitches.  One woman was using a pickax…when she swung it; it missed and went right into her shin.  Her mother brought her here hours later to receive stitching from Jako.  Praise God that he and Amber both have wisdom and knowledge when it comes to injuries like this, otherwise these people coming to them would most likely die from infection because they are unable to get to the clinic a ways away.  Jako graciously gave her the stitches she needed and instructed her to come back 6 days later to get them removed.  Thankfully for Jako, it was a straight cut down her leg, so it was very easy for him to sew up.  

The second incident came near the end of the teams stay here in the bush.  A man came hobbling up to camp telling us that he had an accident on his bike the night before and almost lost his second to last toe.  The chain cut from the bottom of the toe all the way to the bone.  Jako had a much tougher time sewn him up at the angle he was given.  Luckily, he had a helper (Tammy) who was very intrigued by giving stitches in the bush and wanted to give it a try herself.  She watched her teacher carefully and even got to get in and attempt a stitch of her own.  Although the man was in a lot of pain, I think they were able to save his toe.  He never came back to get them removed, so we pray that he didn’t get an infection or anything severe like that. 

Unfortunately I don’t think MOL is planning on opening a permanent clinic any time soon…hehe, but we would love for the government to put one up in Mukumba for the villages around here.  The nearest clinic right now is so far away a lot of people can’t get there because of the distance.  Charles has to take our babies there once a month and it is a long trip on the tractor.  Jako says that if the people show an interest in a clinic and make their need known to the government, they will come out here and build one and staff it, but first the community needs to show a care and an interest.  Please pray that if it is God’s will the people who are able to influence the community begin to talk about a clinic and the need for medical care closer to them.