Only by the GRACE of God…

Being out here in the bush these past two years has exposed me to a lot of wonderful blessings, as well as, many deep heartaches.  We come in contact with so many babies and children who are in poor health and need, so many of those children are abandoned, left to starve, left unnoticed…even with the help of an orphanage, we can’t save them all.  So many babies have died lately from sickness, lack of nutrition, lack of knowledge, lack of care, and lack of value.  We can see God working to bring people out into the villages to give them basic healthcare knowledge to help lessen these situations, but it will still take time.  Just a couple weeks ago we got the privilege to witness God’s sovereignty and mercy at work. 

About a month ago, a grandmother came and told the story of her daughter who is mentally ill, unable to care for children, yet pregnant again.  The grandmother is very sick and is already caring for 4 other children.  Her husband has taken a new wife and no longer pays her any attention nor his daughter who is mentally ill.  The grandmother is on her own and cared enough to look for a place for her granddaughter.  Unfortunately at MOL, we have reached our max capacity and cannot take in any more babies…but God already knew that and has been making a plan for this little one for at least two years now.

 

Beverly, a missionary in Livingstone and good friend of mine, has been pressed to adopt a baby girl for the last two years, when God first placed the desire in her heart.  She has been waiting for things to fall into place so that she can adopt a baby in need.  God has been providing one thing at a time including a house for Beverly and a baby.  She finally went to Social Welfare to see if there were any babies needing to be adopted…well just after this she heard about this mother who is mentally ill and expecting a baby any time.  She prayed and prayed wondering if this was the baby God had for her…well sure enough, when the baby was born, it was a girl and just days before birth, the mother tested HIV negative.  Of all the options, the grandparents really wanted their granddaughter to be adopted and exposed to the opportunities of living in town.  Everything was now in place for Beverly to adopt this little girl…we just needed social welfare to confirm.  Social welfare made a trip out to the grandparents village this past weekend and confirmed everything, Beverly is officially fostering this little girl and Lord willing in the next 6 months will have full custody of baby 

Adyson GRACE.

 

I am so grateful that God allowed me to be part of this miracle, to know that this baby girl will not be abandoned or neglected, to know that God has amazing plans for her life and this was just the first step.  Please pray that Beverly adjusts to being a new mom as easily as Adyson Grace will adjust to her being her new mom.  This event reminds me of how powerful our God is and how much He cares about us…that He would make a way for Adyson Grace two years before she was even born…what a God of LOVE.

If He does this for a little girl out in the bush of Africa, you can be most certain He is doing to same for you…

PSALM 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

² You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

³ You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

⁴ You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, Lord.

⁵ You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand!

I can never get away from your presence!

⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave, you are there.

⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

¹¹ I could ask the darkness to hide me

and the light around me to become night—

¹² but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

Darkness and light are the same to you.

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

¹⁶ You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

They cannot be numbered!

¹⁸ I can’t even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up,

you are still with me!

¹⁷ I can never escape from your Spirit!

¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

A Sheep Named “Biscuit”

 

For those of you who have been following along with some of the studies of the children, we have just finished our study on animals.  For the final project, the children had to collaborate on an animal that all four classes could build out of recyclable materials we have in the classroom.  Of all the animals the children have learned about, they decided they wanted to make a sheep (imbellele).  From that point we provided the children with many materials they could use to make this sheep, at first some of the children were skeptical that we could make such a big sheep (life size), but others were adamant that we could, so we pressed forward.

The two older classes too charge of creating the frame of the sheep, while the youngers ones started putting its wool on and the older ones finished Biscuit… 

 

After about a week and a half of building the sheep, the children thought about something that grows in their fields that looks like the “fur” of the sheep…”COTTON”.  Luckily for us, the transport trucks leave behind a lot of cotton in the trees when they are driving out of the bush with their loads.  The children gathered more cotton than we needed to get this sheep looking like he does.  They worked very hard and really enjoyed finding a name for their new friend.  I hope you enjoy Biscuit as much as we are…

MEET BISCUIT:

 

 

 

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.…My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

John 10:14-15, 27

 

“Dad’s Day” Scavenger Hunt

 

This week we had so much fun inviting the dad’s to school.  Last term when we had the Mom’s come, the Dad’s were very jealous and wanted to know when they would have a chance to come to school; here it is.  We had such a great turn out, over half the Dad’s showed up in every class and each Dad had anywhere from 2-3 children with him for the scavenger hunt we went on.  It worked out better than we had planned…love when that happens!!

Each Dad was given a clip board, a plastic bag, a list of items, and some children.  Their goal was to collect everything on the list and the teams who were able to find everything got a special prize (the Dad’s were very motivated).  At first the Dad’s were very skeptical in thinking they wouldn’t find half the items on the list…well it turns out they impressed themselves and had smiles from left to right when they, and the children, found things they never though they would.  The Dad’s also did a great job ignoring their cultural influence of “telling” the children where everything is and when they spotted something on the list, they asked the children if they saw any “cotton”, or “sweetie wrappers”, or a “square shaped stone” instead of just grabbing it and putting it in the bag, they let the children find it…what a beautiful thing for a teacher!!  These Dad’s are coming along nicely :o)

All the Dad’s enjoyed the activity, even the ones who came twice (once with their younger children and once wit their older children), and they had great attitudes at getting their children involved and striving toward the prize. 

 

I hope you enjoy reading some of the Dad’s and children's words below, along with their pictures of the hunt:

 

     “Here is a stone Dad.” - Faith

 

 

 

“Look this piece is bigger than my hand.” – Gift 

 

 

 

  

      “Jakob, let’s put the seeds in here.” – Sanford 

 

 

 

“Look, here is a fruit.” – Frederick  

 

 

 

 

   “We need three pieces of cotton, do you see any?” – Dad

 

 

 

“Dad, I found a sweetie wrapper.” – Factor     

 

 

 

 

    “Ovius, let’s look here for a beetle.” – Trinida

 

 

 

 

“The Lord is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.”

Psalm 103:13

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.