Pictures: (Very top left, the dirt pile is an attraction for Malaika and Kimani) (Family picture of Kamaus at Livingstone near the Zambezi River), (Moving into the cottage), (the water tank and generator used at the village), (Miriam, Kimberly, and Mary Zulu in Miriams cottage),(Wisconsin team planting a flower bed at the village), ( Outreach team from Maryland at Okada School), ( The slithering variety of unwelcome guests killed near our house), (Malaika holding Natasha), (Kimani holding Orlando)
Mwauka Bwanji (Greetings in Nyanja),
We have moved into our cottage and have been there for almost a month. We find ourselves adapting well to life without electricity. We do have a generator which pumps water into the house which we have found makes all the difference because for the first few days of living in the cottage we did not have water which made it somewhat challenging! We have also been using candles and kerosene lanterns at night in order to conserve the petrol that is needed to keep the generator running. This is because petrol is very expensive here; it costs about $6 a gallon.
For cooking, we had bought a gas burner that we had been using even when we were in the other house because of frequent power outages. We have acquired a charcoal brazier as well. We do have a refrigerator and stove but we are not able to use them yet because they use up a lot of power, so Kimberly has been learning to cook like the villagers who do not use refrigeration. She is excited about learning how to roast and dry meat over an open fire to keep it from spoiling. This has actually been a great time of learning how to function without modern conveniences so we are very grateful.
We have just finished hosting the second team that came for outreach in the community and helped to begin some landscaping at the village. This team is from Wisconsin. They built a flower bed in front of our cottage and now the challenge is to keep the oxen from getting into it! Imagine, trying to shoo away cattle from your front yard!!! On Saturday the team held a type of festival for the children that attend our church in Liteta. It reminded us of the festivals that our church back home held. The children had never done these things before and it was wonderful to see how much they enjoyed it.
The previous team was from Maryland they ministered to the children at the Okada School next to our village. It was really awesome and over 200 children attended the VBS. We were able to clearly present the gospel to all of the children, so pray that the seed of God's Word will take root in their hearts.
A special type of joy for all of us has been seeing brothers and sisters from the U.S. come to the Village of Hope and use the unique gifting and abilities that they use in their every day lives, and become a blessing to the community in which we live. These are some of the skills that were used and/or taught while the teams were here:
Welding & Design
Landscaping
Setting up a Gant Chart
Teaching morning devotions
Teachers sharing techniques with local Zambian teachers and encouraging each other
Architectural layout and site planning
Teaching and playing volleyball and basketball with local youth
Nursing
Singing and playing musical instruments
Arts and Crafts
Puppetry
Mechanics
Workshop to train us on how to teach English as a second language
This was a clear demonstration of how each member of the Body of Christ can play a valuable part in building the Kingdom of God.
We have hired our first house mother in preparation to receive the children. Her name is Miriam Sakala and she has vast experience in child care having worked for SOS International for the last eight years. She will also be the trainer for future house mothers and is now our next door neighbor at the village!
Anticipation is running high as we approach the admission of the first children in the village. Preparations are now at an advanced stage and we will be meeting with Social Services to help facilitate the intake of children by mid-September.
Animal Encounters Part Two
Two members have recently been welcomed into our household with the addition of two kittens named Natasha and Orlando. Their responsibility is to dispose of unwelcome furry visitors so that other unwelcome creatures of the slithering variety will not come around looking for a meal.
This is very timely because on Wednesday of last week, two snakes were crossing a road which leads to our cottage. One of the workers was able to kill one with a hoe but the other one escaped and was seen jumping up into the underside of our mini-van. They looked for it but they could not see it under the car. They kept assuring us however, that these types of snakes were not very poisonous (As if this would provide a measure of comfort to us!) We have since learned that not very poisonous means you have a chance to get to the hospital!
Four hours later, Kamau was in the mini-van with members of the visiting team from the U.S. waiting for the road workers to allow him to pass. All of a sudden, two female road workers started screaming and running away! They were pointing at the van! From the underside of the van, a snake about five feet in length had unwrapped itself from its hiding place and it was now crawling onto the road!
The driver in the car behind Kamau ran over it and killed it. We were stunned that it would have stayed underneath the van hiding for so many hours. Needless to say, we both find ourselves wondering what unseen passengers may be riding with us every time we leave the Village!
Prayer Requests
- Pray for a smooth transition for the children as they begin to arrive at the village.
- Pray that all of us will bond quickly with the children.
Praise
This is a dry, windy season in Zambia and grass fires have been very frequent. On several occasions the fires have spread into the village. The flames were so close that not only could we see them but we could hear the crackling and feel the heat. On one of these times, Kimani and Malaika prayed and asked the to stop the fire and within minutes the flames were visibly lowered and then died out.
Thank you again for your various expressions of support for our ministry, cards, notes of encouragement, giving, and your prayers!
Kamau, Kimberly, Kimani & Malaika
