Pictures from the week at CMC

Pastors Robert Elliot and Brian Borgman left yesterday morning to fly home.
They had a very full week and a half here. Here are some pictures.

During the week they were both teaching at the Copperbelt College. Sunday Robert preached at Central Baptist in Luanshya where Pastor Hakanyaga is and Brian preached at the church in Ndola. They flew back to Lusaka on Saturday morning and then went to the Agricutural Show, which is a major happening for the country, every year. They managed to see the President and experience some of the Zambian culture.

Sunday Brian preached at Emmasdale church where Issac Makashinyi is pastor and in the evening at Lusaka Baptist Church where Ronald Kalifungwa pastors.
Robert preached in the morning at KBC, where we attend and Conrad Mbewe pastors and in the evening at Mount Makulu Baptist Church where Victor Kanyenze pastors. It was a full day and week for both of these men. We know the Lord blessed their ministry at both the college and in the churches where they preached, but also to our own family and in our home. We were blessed with wonderful fellowship and encouragement. It was a delight to have them both here.
We can't wait for our next visitors end of September!





Copperbelt Ministerial College


Choolwe Mwetwa, Robert Elliot, Brian Borgman, Kabwe Kabwe


Men at Copperbelt College taking a break



Lunchtime



Class


Brian at Grace Baptist Ndola



Robert in Luanshya


Brian the following Sunday at Emmasdale



and Lusaka Baptist Church. They just moved into their new building. It is huge. We came it at the end which is why we were sitting way in the back and the picture is from far away.





Robert Elliot at KBC


With Victor Kanyenze and James


With Pastor Mbewe


With Pastor Kalifungwa

Answered Prayer- Help is on the Way

Last Sunday morning I sent an email to another friend who was interested in coming to work in Zambia.
Details were being worked out, and we were looking at probably February for her to come.

Feeling overwhelmed and heavy hearted with all that needed to be done, (having just spent time Saturday with the kids in Ndola) I wrote an email. I admitted that it was probably based on some emotions at the time but I laid out how we need help, and NOW, and can she come any sooner. I do believe at times, the Lord moves upon us and stirs our emotions to have us do what He wants us to do.

I didn't hear back for a couple days, which made me think I was either too forward to ask, or she was working on it.
Thankfully it was the latter. We drove home Monday afternoon from the Copperbelt. James and I discussed on the way home all the work that there is to do and how it would be great to have help soon.
When I woke the next morning I prayed specifically for the Lord to bring help.

Immediately after my devotions I opened my email to check and the Lord had answered that prayer. She had worked things out to come and details were rapidly falling into place. Within a couple more days she had tickets and now has a date for coming. In less than a week, the Lord had moved things and showed that He had been preparing the way.

Her name is Katryn Belke. She is from our home church in Louisville and her heart is here in Zambia. She has been on 2 short term summer mission trips while she was in college and since that time has desired to come back. Her parents are very supportive of her and encouraging her to come and work alongside us. This has been a great blessing.

Please rejoice with us in God answering prayer. Please pray for her as she finishes her preparations and for safety in traveling and transition well to life here in Zambia.

There is much work to be done. If you remember a few months back in April, another friend Leah Falciola visited and still desires greatly to come and work. She is more than ready.
Please pray that the Lord would move among hearts and that she too could come now and work alongside Katryn and I in the orphan ministry.
The work that needs to be done would be better done with two people going to Kabanana together, or traveling up to the Copperbelt every other month to meet with the kids there. Others have expressed desires as well to come and help in different capacities. We thank God that He is putting the work on the hearts of others.
The Harvest IS plentiful.

Joy

We wanted to share some joy with you today!

The Lord has blessed our desires and efforts and We have begun the process to adopt a little girl.
Those that know us, know that this desire has been on our hearts for the past 8 years.
We have actively pursued it for the past 3 years, starting the process in the Summer of 2007.
The road has been long and very rough ( including our heartbreaking "failed" adoption in Ukraine in Dec 08).

We now are rejoicing again and hopeful that soon this little girl will be in our home.
We met her a few weeks ago and have been visiting her. We hope to have her in our home in a couple weeks, to begin the 3 month fostering before the adoption can be completed. She is 1 1/2 years old and has been in an orphanage since she was about 6 months old. No one has ever come to visit her....Until now!

Please rejoice with us and pray for a smooth and speedy transition into our home, and completion of the adoption!

As they are

The previous post was the "Happy" one. This is the "back to reality" one.

(And since I know that some kids read the blog, I want to say first check with your parents before reading on).


Unfortunately and very sadly, though Saturday was happy it was also cloudy by hard realities.
As I mentioned, I was told that many of the kids were not attending the Sunday School classes. This is discouraging since the kids are supported and all that is asked of them is to attend Sunday School or church.
The church in Ndola has continued to meet for the class sending 2 women on a rotation to teach the kids. Other kids from the area come but only about a third of the sponsored orphans attend.
Last time I was there as we visited the homes, we encouraged the kids to attend. Sometimes we were told the guardians will have work for them to do, or hinder them in some way from coming.

Then the comment made about breakfast. Well I took it in stride as they were telling me, but came home so saddened by that. I know it is a reality. I read about that before I came, that often it is "which meal will I eat today?" and not what will we eat for breakfast? But still to hear it said and know it is true for even maybe some of these kids.

A couple of the older boys, have been "in trouble" a few times. When you look at the home situation you can't help but say that is a large part of the reason, but still.

As I arrived on Saturday I greeted each kid and said their names. I got more than half of them right.
As I looked at them, I felt an "ownership" of these kids.
I have been looking at their pictures, finding sponsors for them and talking about them for the last 3 months. And here I was to spend some time with them and talk to them.
And then my heart became burdened and heavy for them again.

After the kids left I asked one of the women that works in the ministry from the church, about a specific girl.
Last time we were there the mother told us she was HIV positive. So we were surprised to hear that she was not on any treatments yet or had been to the clinic.
I have asked about her a couple times over the past months to see if treatment began or how she was doing. But even from one city to the next in Zambia communication doesn't seem to flow very easily.

So I was face to face and able to ask about her.
Well evidently she is not positive but negative. The mother is positive and possibly made that up so she could get some extra funds or food channeled that way. ( I will say this is my theory anyway. Sadly she is not a good influence on her kids and the home)

But the reason this information came out I was told is because the girl was "defiled" last month. She was then taken to the hospital for testing and treatment of other STDS.
The wicked man was a neighbor who was not taken into custody but rather is currently on the run. She is 11 years old.
I asked if she has received any counseling from the church and was told no, but soon she should go to the hospital for some counseling.

My heart breaks.

I think this blow hit even harder because within the same week, last week as we delivered the things to the kids here locally we heard some sad news there as well.
One of the teenage girls was working for a man as house help. He was a friend of the family and it came out recently that for several months he was "taking advantage of her".
Now we just found out that she is 4 months pregnant. She is in her last year of high school and now she is pregnant. He was taken into police custody.
One great question then becomes, does she now have the disease? Will she get a test? Will she give this baby a chance at a healthy life by taking an HIV test to see if she can then gets Medicines to prevent the transmission if she does have it. Even I mentioned something about would she have access to prenatal vitamins. I was told yes they give them out at the clinics but there is a suspicion about them that they cause birth defects in children.

From what I have been told, It is so hard to ask people to get tested. They often will not and are offended and maybe even more so scared to find out. So my prayer for this one is that she will open up to us and we can help her.

You know you can read about Africa and HIV/AIDS and orphans and domestic abuse and sexual abuse and witchcraft, charms, demonic activity and the like. In fact I did before I came.
And your heart might even been pulled at and torn by reading those things. Mine was.
You can try to think of how hard that would be to see and encounter those things. I did.
But it is not something you can be prepared for. When it happens to those you now know and your heart is already going out to, and you are already trying to help...the burden becomes even greater.


When I was reading the life of Amy Carmichael, she wrote a book titled, "Things as they are". It was the honest telling of what really was going on in the work she was doing. Early on she sought to tell others of what was going on in her work, not just the good and prospering but the real life bad things too. Unfortunately the missionary society or board at that time only wanted her to report the "successes" and the good things. So many of her descriptions and stories were published at a later time because of it.

When I was talking to James Saturday night and not able to sleep because my heart was heavy for these kids, we remembered her title. And he said, that's what you need to write and people need to hear.
So these are the things as they really are.

Saturday's Visit with Hope for the Afflicted Orphans in Ndola

We arrived in Ndola Saturday afternoon, checked into the lodge and then went to get some lunch.
Maureen came with us. She was going to help me when I was meeting the orphans and then also visit her children and bring them back home with her. So it worked well for both of us.
After a quick lunch, (and Maureen eating chicken nuggets for the first time- she had no idea what to pick off the menu so she got the same thing Emma ordered! ) we dropped James and the little boys off at the lodge and headed out to the Kawama / Pamodzi area.
We got to Sharon's house. All but 5 of the children were there. We said hello and then I explained that I had brought letters for everyone. That people in America and the UK were praying for them and wanted to hear how they were doing. The kids all smiled and seemed very happy. Then I told them after they read the letters we were going to write back to them and then have a treat I brought. They also liked that.

So I took the letters out and started passing them out. I told them they could go ahead and open them, but many of the kids just held on to them for a little bit while I continued to pass them out.
I then said again, go ahead. All the letters were translated into Bemba by Maureen. Some of the kids can read and write in English well. Some of them can not but can in Bemba. And some of the kids can not read or write even in Bemba. So we passed out the letters and when the kids opened them they looked so happy. They read the letters, looked at all the pictures that were included and then started showing their friends the pictures and the letters. Then they read the letters again. Especially the older boys and girls. Then I asked Maureen and 2 other ladies to read to the kids that needed help. I saw several smiles and heard laughter and they seemed so happy. I wasn't sure if all the kids had them read to them so I started asking the older ones to read to the younger ones.
Then I realized that several of them had the letter read to them more than once. One little girl Dyness was so sweet. She kept showing me the pictures. Then we went over the names of the children from her family. She repeated the names after me and seemed so pleased.

After I knew all the letters had been read then Sarah and Ian helped to pass out the paper and pencils so they could start to write letters. The older boys seemed to take quite awhile writing and thinking about what to write. I am curious what all they said in the letters. While the younger kids were waiting for their turn to tell the ladies what to write, what they wanted to say, I told them they could draw pictures on the back of the letters.

When I was going through the letters when they arrived to make sure all had pictures and return envelopes, I removed the dollars and pounds that had been included to buy postage. (Its about $1 to mail a letter internationally). I realized though as the kids were opening the letters that I forgot to take one out. The boy, Daniel was so excited, he had a dollar bill! I explained what the dollar was supposed to be for, but wouldn't dream of taking it from him. He was very happy!

The kids finished up the letters and then I collected them to take home to mail. We then passed out the brownies and cookies that Sarah and I had made. I was hoping to get milk for them as well but we ran out of time as we were driving into Ndola. So we passed out the snack and while they sat and ate it I explained that I had brought toothbrushes and toothpaste for them.
(Pastor Brian Borgman had brought them over). I gave a quick overview of brushing your teeth and how to do it. I felt a little odd talking to older kids about how to brush their teeth. When I started I asked the kids to raise their hand if they had a toothbrush, and then quickly said , "you will still get one today, just let me see who has been using one". Maybe 2 kids raised their hands.
So I then explained about brushing them twice a day. After breakfast I said and before you go to sleep at night. I then heard a couple boys laughing. I smiled and asked them what? One of them said, "What's breakfast? We don't have breakfast!". I smiled with them (trying to keep it light) and then said ok, well before you go to school. And not only does it help prevent tooth decay, but it makes your mouth fresh.

A couple of the older boys took 2 toothpastes, and I knew how many I had and asked if everyone had one. I had brought enough for all to have one toothbrush and one toothpaste. I asked again and then finally one boy held his second tube out ( for Ian to collect) and then he nudged the other boy to give his up. He took it out and then handed it over.
After that, I told them thank you for coming and that all their sponsors were praying for them.

Lister, one of the woman from Grace church Ndola then started talking to them about attending Sunday School and church. Evidently over half of the kids have not been going to church or the Sunday School class for the younger ones. She talked to them for awhile in bemba and then I added that those people that had written the letters were wanting to hear they were going and learning about God.

We then all went outside for some pictures, and then the kids said goodbye and all headed to their homes.
(I have more to write later, but here are the pictures for now)


Joshua showing his friend Joseph his pictures and letter


Sharon reading the letter to Patrick


Patrick having his letter read to him again


Joseph with his letter. Elias in the background in the yellow shirt, I think you can see him smiling


Florence reading her letter.


Felix writing his letter


The kids writing the letters and drawing pictures


Florence and Daniel writing their letters.



A few pictures of the kids. They smiled more this day and seemed to be more themselves, than I have seen them before.
I had asked just for the kids to be there, not the guardians and I think that helped as well.

Christine


Bupe




Elias


Joyce


Mirriam




Dyness with her toothbrush



Then I took a group picture. I told them this was the Zambian smile.


Then I said, now lets do an American smile, so they smiled more


Then I said, (which we do sometimes with our kids,...) now a silly picture!
They just looked at me. So I took the picture anyway. They looked the same.
Then one of the kids said hold up your letters and toothbrushes. So here is that picture

Friday

Today James took Robert and Brian up to Kabanana to see the Lusaka College.
They sat in on one of the classes and then had lunch and were able to meet the students there.

It went well and then Robert had something to deliver to one of the boys there from his sponsor back in California.
So they went to his home and gave him the gift. He liked it, though the Zambian culture is very reserved in expressing their excitement or even approval of something. (At least all those that we have interacted with). So his older brother was watching on and he seemed to express some of the joy and excitement.
Last Friday when we delivered the mosquito nets and blankets and sweaters, we only got an occasional smile.
Though one boy, Wisdom did get visibly excited about the new sweater when I asked him to try it on.
It was refreshing, and Fanny said, he couldn't contain his excitement.

Often I will take a picture of kids asking them to smile and they are pretty expressionless and then after I show them themselves on the camera they will break out in the smiles and laughter. Only then its too late.

So we head up to the Copperbelt tomorrow for the weekend. Robert and Brian are flying up and we will be driving. As soon as we arrive I have a meeting scheduled with all the orphans and I am bringing letters and pictures of their sponsors for them.
I also made cookies and brownies and hope to give that to them as a treat. Brian brought over a duffle bag full of medical supplies and toothbrushes and toothpaste, so I have packed the toothbrushes and paste to give to the kids.
Maureen translated all the letters and she will be going with me to meet the kids.

Pastors arrived

Pastor Robert Elliot and Brian Borgman arrived here early this morning. They are scheduled to teach this coming week at the Copperbelt Ministerial College.

They joined James, Emma and I as we visited an orphanage that I have been visiting the last few weeks.
Here is a picture from this morning. The kids at the orphanage are just starving for attention. They come up to us and just all wanted to be held and loved on.




They will head up to Ndola on Saturday. We are also going up to visit over the weekend.
Please pray for the preaching and the upcoming classes this week.