KamZamNews

A Very Merry Christmas to All of You!

The rainy season is upon us and farming activity is well under way. The monkeys are also quite active in their thievery as they regularly raid maize fields!

Our children at the Village of Hope are taking some baby steps in farming as they experiment with planting their own little patch of maize. We have received some instruction from Mark Wenham who is an excellent farmer. He taught us principles from the Word of God that we can apply as a foundation to our farming technique. Here are some of them:

1. Be faithful with what you have been given
2. Give and you will receive
3. Whatever you do, do it with all of your heart as unto the Lord. Make sure our standards are excellent.
4. Do not be wasteful
5. Do it with joy

Mark had a captive audience as we learned how to prepare the ground (first through prayer), dig the holes neatly and evenly spaced, apply fertilizer and the seed, and mulching.

He then performed two experiments; one demonstrating what happens to the soil when fields are continually plowed which cause loss of important nutrients as opposed to the soil in which the field has been cultivated using conservation farming methods. The other experiment demonstrated the importance of having “God’s blanket” or mulch applied over the cultivated area once the seed and fertilizer has been applied and how much moisture and soil were retained in the area with the mulch.

The children and caregivers have been taking turns weekly in caring for our maize patch and we have been very encouraged by the growth and health of the plants!

(The Mumba Family, Back Row from right: Dick, Jesse, Anita, Abraham, Front row from right: Rachel, Michelle, Esther)

We would also like to introduce to you our new missionary family who joined us in November this year; their names are Dick and Anita Mumba. They have five children, Jesse 17yrs, Abraham 16yrs, Michelle 11yrs and two 8yrs old twins’ girls Rachel and Esther. They are from Zambia and have been serving in the mission field with a ministry called Youth With A Mission in the Eastern part of Zambia for the last five years. They completed their five year commitment with YWAM and felt lead to Join All Kids Can Learn to help minister to the orphaned and vulnerable children.

Life sometimes has an interesting way of catching up with you; Kamau and Dick first met twenty one years ago when Dick, then a single man, left Zambia and came to Kenya to attend a Discipleship Training School where Kamau was a student. After graduation, both went their separate ways, married, had children and continued serving in the mission field in different locations, little did Kamau know that one day, he would come to Zambia as a missionary and not only renew his ties with Dick, but actually end up serving alongside each other in the mission field. Dick has attended a bible school and served as a pastor in several churches in Zambia. His wife Anita is a trained pre-school teacher and has worked in the role of teaching for the last past five years. Anita is from a small island in the South Pacific, she and Dick met in Kenya where they both worked at Youth With A Mission.

Kamau is particularly happy to have Dick on board as he will be another father figure to our 42 children and yet another 16 children to be admitted sometime next year; It was becoming rather challenging for Kamau to spend quality time with all of the children! Dick will also assist in our local church at VOH among many other responsibilities. Please be praying for the Mumba family as they begin this journey with us.

On the 22^nd we had our Christmas dinner celebration. The event was catered by the restaurant and we invited Pastor Zulu and his family to join us. We put out some tables, chairs and benches and arranged them on our front lawn. It was a very nice intimate atmosphere, just like an outdoor restaurant! After eating, the children sang songs and then the mothers and the aunties sang. Dick led us in singing after that and we had a really nice time.

(Anita Mumba with some of her children and Kimani)

Kimberly shared a Christmas message about an African American pastor in the early 1900s named Charles Tindley who pastured churches in Delaware and in Philadelphia. After witnessing gifts being passed out to children on Christmas day and one child being left out, he was heartbroken and asked God when would there be a time when the Spirit of Christ would so fill the hearts of people throughout the world that such things did not happen. The Lord responded by reminding him of Rev. 22:1-1,2 where it speaks of the tree of life and that Jesus is this tree! From that time he began to preach on "Heaven's Christmas Gifts" at Christmas time and many people were saved. They are, Hope for the Helpless, Forgiveness for the Guilty, Help for the Weak, A Friend for the Friendless, Peace for the Troubled Soul and a Home for the Homeless.

We then sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus and also to Kamau because he was celebrating his birthday that day. We enjoyed some cake before we ended a very good day!