Isaac Still Needs Your Prayers…

 

For all of you following the story of Isaac, I have another update for you.  As you know, last month we had a scare with Isaac being so ill, we had to rush him to the hospital (3 hours away) and thankfully God performed a miracle and saved the little guy.  He has been doing so well, eating several times a day and going from 2.6 kg to 4.2 kg.  One night this past month, Isaac was having diarrhea, vomiting, and unable to sleep.   Knowing how quickly a little baby can go from bad to worse, we decided to be cautious and take him to the hospital right away.  We went to the same place, 3 hours away and again they admitted Isaac.  Since it was his second time back, in such a short time, the doctors think that he has been exposed to HIV and most likely is infected with the virus.  He was in the hospital for 4 days before they released him…this was the second time they have tried to take blood to check his HIV status, and they were unable to see anything, so they have to wait until he is 6 months.  When babies are HIV positive, they struggle to survive the slightest cold and illness, so please be praying for his health.  Ennie is doing a wonderful job caring for him and is making sure that he is kept warm and healthy as best as she can, but we know that ultimately God is the only one who can ensure his safety and wellbeing.  I trust that God still has great plans for this one and that he will be protecting Isaac through anything that comes his way. 

If baby Isaac crosses your mind, please say a little prayer for him; pray for his health and growth, pray for Ennie (the mother caring for him), and pray that if Isaac has the virus, that God will remove it from his body and restore it, so that he can grow up to be a big, healthy, wonderful boy! 

 

 

Thank you all so much for your prayers and love of God’s children all the way on the other side of the world!!

A Couple Steps Backward…A Few Steps Forward

 

As with everything in Africa, it seems noting goes according to plan, so it is pointless to even make a plan…hehe.  Most of you know that we started building the school back in April/May when I first arrived here in Zambia.  In theory, the building should have been finished in June when the team came to put on the roof; however, we had many struggles with our builder.  The original builder did an awful job leveling the window frames, the floors, and the plastering on the walls…in addition to a continuous lack of presence at the site.  Since his work was not up to par, we had to tear out all the windows and the floor and hire another builder to fix everything.  Thankfully God allowed a qualified builder to come and make time to fix everything and make it the way it should be.  Lomi has been working hard the past couple weeks trying to renovate the school building preparing it for paint and usability. 

One afternoon while he and his men were working, a small tornado came through and ripped off half the school roof.  The wind took the roof and flipped it over onto the back half of the roof, as if turning the page of a book.  When we got back from town, we couldn’t believe our eyes.  After spending several days and nights up on that roof leveling it, securing it, it was all we could do to keep form getting discouraged.  With everything else going on around camp, we thought it best to hire Lomi to fix it.  Well he thought it would be possible to get men from the community together to lift up the roof and flip it back over and then secure it with wire.  Willing to try anything, we gather men from the community and the wench on the Land Rover and headed up to the school house.  After several tried, we realized the roof was just to heavy and that wouldn’t work.  Thankfully God already had a plan…in that moment, the men in the community offered to get together the following Monday to fix the roof for us.  Praise God!! 

Praise God that the community it uniting for their children's sake and giving of their time and talents for the project.  They started fixing it this past Monday and hope to have all the roof sheets nailed back on by the end of Wednesday.  Lomi plans to then start the floor on Thursday and by Friday, Lord willing, the school house will be complete, ready for a front door :o)

 

Once the school building is complete, the classroom needs to be filled with shelves and educational toys.  We have had several donations from the teams and others that God has sent us over the summer, and hopefully still more to come!  Our library is full of art supplies, musical instruments, math cubes, glue, pencils, crayons, and more for the children once the school opens.  A good classroom always has shelves to put all these educational tools out on display for the children…so for most of the month, we have been working very hard and making that happen. 

 

Easily I had a vision of small shelves, book shelves, tables, cubbies, a stage, and even a grass hut kitchen, but I never dreamed the process would include so many steps.  I want to share this process with you, not that you will sympathize with all the hard work that went into this furniture, however, that you will appreciate how easy it would be for you where you are!!!

Here it goes…

Step 1:  Buy 24 planks of wood

Step 2:  Have the wood transported 2 hours into the bush

Step 3:  Plane each piece of lumber (5 meters long) to the same   size (20 mm)

Step 4:  Cut each plank down in smaller pieces for the various shelves

Step 5:  Take the cut pieces and run them through the table saw to make the sides relatively straight

Step 6:  Glue two planks together to make them wide enough for shelves/cubbies

Step 7:  Wait 1-2 hours and glue more planks together

Step 8:  Cut the glued planks to the correct width (so that all pieces are equal size)

Step 9:  Run them through the planer again (since all have bowed)

Step 10:  Cut each piece to the correct length

Step 11:  Using the router, prepare all edges and shelves to be attached

Step 12:  Drill holes through the wood

Step 13:  Screw the screws in

Step 14:  Fix anything that broke or didn’t work

Step 15:  Admire the finished piece of furniture

Step 16:  Repeat steps 3-15 for every piece of furniture

 

As you can see, this project is keeping us quite busy!  We have finished all the shelves for the school and two of the art tables.  We still have two more work tables to build, a sensory table, a grass hut kitchen, and a stage.  Then we need to sand them and varnish them before they will be ready for use at the school!!  If you are free in the next couple of weeks, please come on out and help…hehe!!  Please pray that we are able to invite men/women from the community to help in this endeavor and to continue our relationships with them, building them up to better their own community being Christ to one another!

 

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

 

In the middle of the month, Amber, Jako, Jakob, and I were blessed with a trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.  Amber and Jako had not been to Zimbabwe for 7 years and I had never been, so we thought it would be a great idea, especially to get out of the bush for a week to rest and rejuvenate ourselves.  When you live in your ministry, it is easy to keep pouring out day after day, but some times you get too busy to fill yourself back up to the point where you are physically and spiritually dry.  Once you reach that point, it is very hard to be effective in modeling the behavior of Christ to those around you and to love them the same.  So weeks away, throughout the year are highly encouraged…

This week came in a month that has been physically draining…getting up at 6 am and working well into the night.  To wake up in the morning and not have an agenda for the day was the best feeling, words cannot even describe the joy in that moment.  To be able to spend hours in Scripture, or a good book, or in silence, in solitude does wonders for the soul.  And that is exactly what we did for the week either at the lodge, or by the pool.  We also did a short game drive in our own vehicle, visited Victoria Falls, and went to dinner at the famous Boma, where we enjoyed game meat from all around us.  It was a great holiday and we are forever grateful for the opportunity to go there and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. 

Below are some photos from the week…I hope you enjoy!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Children Are Coming

 

On October 1st and 15th, I had parents and children coming from villages all around us to register their children for the preschool program.  In Zambia, the school year runs from January-December and I plan to run the preschool program in accordance with their system.  This way, as the children graduate from the preschool program, they will pick up with Grade 1 as soon as holiday break is completed.  With the advice from others who run preschools in the bush, I have decided to delay opening until February 1, to have a couple extra weeks to prepare the program after the holidays.  I was anticipating having two classes, one M,W,F and one on T,R, running the program for half the day…this would free up the afternoons for planning and preparation, teacher training, and other community activities.  Well after my first day of registration, I knew I was going to have to change something, and fast.  I had over 50 children sign up on that first day between the ages of 3 and 6.  Quickly I decided to have and AM program and a PM program.  Since older children can learn better than younger children in the afternoons, I have the 3-4’s coming in the AM and the 5-6’ coming in the afternoons.  Setting the program up this way allows me to have 4 classes accommodating 20 children per class.  Not to my surprise, the program completely filled up within an hour of the second day of registration and there were still more parents waiting with their children.  So we had them fill out forms and ordered them according to their place in line putting them on a waiting list…if February comes and families don’t pay their school fees, or children do not show up, than I will be able to give out those spots to these families who really want in the program.  My heart broke when I had to turn people away, but I pray that God knows what he is doing and He will make a way for the children to be involved at some point before their formal education begins. 

 

 

Please begin praying for each of these children…that their parents are wise with their money so that they can pay the fees, that their parents will allow them to come everyday they have class, that they are open to new experiences, that the program will help them think for themselves and become confident in who God has made them to be, that they learn and experience the love of Christ while they are at school, and that they can just be kids and have fun with one another. 

Isaac Update

“Thank You For Your Prayers…”

 

Just look at the little guy…in just a week and a half he has gotten so big.  The staff at the hospital decided to keep him for a total of 6 days making sure that Isaac was out of danger.  Since he has been home, he doesn’t stop eating.  Before he could barely make any noises, his cries sounded like the chirping of a little bird, but now when he is hungry everyone knows about it.  The older children are helping to take very good care of him and the other babies we have at the orphanage.  He is more alert and active then ever, enjoying the company of the mother’s at the house.  We will continue to pray that Isaac stays healthy as he puts on more weight and begins to develop his fine and gross motor skills.  He is going to be a big, healthy boy :o)

El Roi

“God Hears”

So often we pray and wonder if God is listening to us, whether or not he hears our prayers and answers them.  In the Bible, God clearly tells us that he does hear our prayers and he always answers them, even if we don’t always recognize it.  Only once, in the whole Bible, is God ever referred to as ‘El Roi’.  It was by a lady named Hagar, a maid servant to Sari (Abram’s wife) whom gave her to Abram to bear Sari a child.  God had promised Sari and Abram that he would give them a child and from this child would come many nations, but Sari (like most of us) became impatient and tried to fulfill God’s will on her own.  Once Hagar became pregnant, she treated Sari with contempt and Sari, in return, treated Hagar harshly.  So Hagar ran away into the desert, pregnant and all alone.  As she wondered in the heat of the desert, God heard her cry of distress and sent an angel to comfort and direct her with his words.  After her encounter with God, Hagar praised him calling him El Roi, for he heard her cry and answered her. 

God heard our prayers for Isaac and gave us a miracle.  We got a phone call Saturday evening telling us that little Isaac was alright.  God gave him enough strength to hang on long enough for the IV tap to rehydrate him and the medication to keep him from vomiting anymore.  They say that he is going to be fine and they were planning on releasing him Monday morning, but decided to keep him for a few more days to make sure he is really healthy.  Rachel told us that he is eating very well and starting to gain more and more weight!  We are hoping he will be very fat by the time they let him go from the hospital.  Please continue to pray that he stays healthy while he works his way up to the normal weight of a 1 month old baby.  Clearly this one has favor with God and we will always remember the day God saved him, bringing joy and happiness to many who have been praying and caring for him. 

As most of you know…God did fulfill his promise to Sari and Abram (Sarah and Abraham) giving them a son named Isaac. 

Isn’t it amazing how God works?!?!?!?!

Isaac means HAPPINESS

Intercession for Isaac

 

Calling all prayer warriors…

Our newest member at the orphanage, Isaac, is in desperate need of your prayers right this very moment.  His relatives brought him to us after his mother died of a serious infection in her mouth, this past Sunday.  This beautiful baby boy was born one month early, and is now 34 days old.  Isaac came to us weighing only 2.6kgs and has not been gaining weight, despite his frequent feedings.  After a night of vomiting, diarrhea, and not much formula, little Isaac was extremely dehydrated and immediately rushed to the hospital.  It took us three hours to drive out of the bush and get to the nearest, decent hospital in Zimba. 

Shortly after getting him registered and testing his vitals, the doctor saw us.  After a brief interview, the doctor quickly started Isaac on an IV, with medication for vomiting and admitted him to the hospital for a minimum of 4 days.   

Right at this very moment, this little boy is fighting for his life…I too want to fight for his life asking God for a miracle.  Please join me in continuous prayer for this little one, being very persistent with our pleas before our Father. 

 

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.”

Jeremiah 29:12