So thankful for JoAnne's heart for HIS children. She was in Zambia about 3 months and the children will miss her so very much. We look forward to her next years visit. The Lord blessed the children and housemothers with a harvest even when the rains were so late. We know it was HIS provision. They will shell the maize sometime in July so we can mill it for eating. Our sunflower seeds did not germinate very well but still there was a harvest of some 4x 25kg bags so maybe a couple of cases of cooking oil will come out of it and some seeds to set aside to plant next year. We arrived back on a Saturday and Michael was at a church service the following morning. It was planned before we departed :) Monday was monthly shopping day and Tuesday was visit House of Faith day and Wednesday was visit House of Hope day... We started back off with a bang and everything ran well while we were away.I am just going to post some pictures of the happy healthy children I found when I returned. One of our cows had a baby while we were away... Somehow 10 chickens went missing in March ( I am still checking into the story) but more babies have hatched and more hens are laying :) Our dry season gardening has started at House of Faith Our House of Hope visit also went well and the guest house is looking great! Golden had everything under control even the rounded and curved steps going up to the look out... Children there are getting excited for Sheri's return the end of June... not long now:) Our seasons are changing and it is starting to get cool in the evenings and mornings I was thankful Jo Anne helped me sort and hand out the winter clothes we had on hand before she departed. It's a big job. We gave out long sleeves shirts sweatshirts and winter coats. I need about 100 pairs of pants and I've seen none so far... I will be shopping for a while... Most of our fruit trees at House of Faith made it... Orange trees are very hard to get started :( Mango's and Guavas seem to be easier We have been back in Zambia almost a month and Michael has taught two weeks of MOT MOT classes at two different sites. The temperatures are dropping and it has already been in the mid 40's a few early mornings but he is staying warm in his sleeping bag :) Sunday Church services have also been blessed this month. I was so blessed last week to find winter clothing for the children at the market. I spent 5 hours digging and pulling with several different vendors and then spent another day washing and folding all that I found. So blessed HE always blesses my efforts. It's getting COLD! We have had water well problems for a while now at House of Faith and Michael pulled the pump before we departed back to the states and again when we arrived back it had to be pulled.... Again this past week both wells were pulled at House of Faith and the community school near us one needed an extra pipe becasue the water levels have dropped and the other needed a pipe taken off becasue of cloudy water coming up... We are praying this will work. We have been praying for another well for House of Faith and are waiting for the Lord to bring what is needed. All the new clothes I have just handed out are looking pretty ruff becasue of the cloudy water we are having to wash them in. We of course use the clean water for drinking and cooking only. It was also time to give out new shoes and socks. Everyone loves their socks since it has become cold :) Our younger children at House of Faith are always nearby to help me and keep me company while I work. After all the winter clothes I found and gave out I still had to find and give out church clothes.... Only a few girls are with out a dress for winter so a bit more shopping needs to be done at the market.... Again this month Orphan School fees needed to be paid for the 2nd term for Global Orphan Reliefs program. I called all the schools and ask that they have receipts ready for my payment and a report on the children for me. Seems everyone is doing well and their uniforms arrived after two weeks of the start of school. Because of my time of arrival I missed so many children but I did get a couple pictures. We have been hearing for a few years now about a new road in the valley but had only seen some grading going on. Blessed to arrive back from the states to find a real new road near House of Hope( WELL WELL WELL the road is happening for sure :) I was so blessed to find a full box of DVD's for the kids from a friend near Kalomo who's children had outgrown them. Thanks Mary Beth! These will be enjoyed at both House of Faith and House of Hope. Next month I will share pictures of the therapy room Jo Ann created and pictures of Royal and Victor. This month was just filled with shopping and handing out and paying school fees. I have a couple of bags of clothes to take to House of Hope ...I may still have some shopping to do :) The temperatures are a bit warmer there so I should be right on time with my bags of clothes next week. I did hand out new sweatshirts last week while I was there just to be sure they are warm until I arrive with winter things..
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We departed for Germany a few days after our team departed to visit Pam, Mario and the children. It had been two years since we saw them and Oh how our grandchildren have grown. We had a great few days and made as many memories as possible in a week. It was so cold in Germany but we stayed warm and had lots of fun.The next few pictures are in Germany We left Germany for Las Vegas. Jamie and Rich live in California about 2 1/2 hours from Vegas. We were so excited to see them again. It had been a year for me but two years for Michael since I went back alone for my Moms 75 Birthday for just a months family visit last April. We had a wonderful 10 days of fun. We then flew off for Dallas to spend 10 days with Brandi Michael and the grands. We had a great time seeing everyone again and doing our shopping while they were at school and work. We spent Easter there also before our drive to the East coast.What a blessed time it is just always TO short for me. Our drive east this time we went down Interstate 10 to see something new on the way. I loved seeing the gulf coast and new cites as we traveled. We saw family on the way and arrived safely into North Carolina for a month of family fun and Church visits to share what the Lord has been doing in Zambia. We had a day with Sheri in DC and then she traveled to North Carolina for a 4 day weekend to spend time with us before we departed back to Zambia. We so enjoyed walking around downtown DC and the memories flooded our minds of times we spent with the girls there while living in Maryland. Thanks Sheri for our walk down memory lane. Sure wish we could have seen more of you who have loved on supported and prayed for us over the years but a month is short and we only had 3 Sundays to share. We also spent a long weekend in Denver sharing with Global Orphan Reliefs supporters.
We are back in Zambia and back on track from our time change. We have been so blessed for Jo Anne's help with Royal, Victor and Mackmore and just being around on site for what ever needed to be done so we could visit everyone. Check back here the end of May for MANY pictures of all the updates while we have been away. Great things are happening.... |
AuthorLinda Jones was a missionary for over 27 years. She went home to be with the Lord in June 2021. I'm her husband Mike, posting on her blog. Archives
October 2021
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