The end of June I received a call there was a sick child that needed our care. I went out to House of Faith and met with the family. We decided to take 16 month old Victor and his family to Kalomo Hospital and Social Welfare. It was decided he should stay with us until further paperwork could be done. He is a precious little boy very malnourished and sick with a chest infection. His mom is going through some issues and we are blessed to be able to care for him and bring peace to his family. We started July off by moving everything that was needed to host a team of 8 at House of Hope from House of Faith. The sites are about 3 1/2 hours apart. So mattresses, pillows, sheets, towels and frozen meals becasue I was not sure when the power would be off there each day. The Lord blessed our efforts and everything was on site and ready for the team almost two weeks before their arrival. Our GO team from Colorado arrived on time and only missing one suitcase and the fun began.. I am posting several pictures just to show all the activity at both sites. Thank you team GO! While the team visited the children at House of Faith we shelled almost 13 bags of their maize. We still have many more bags to shell. I am posting a few pictures of this process next. Everyone gets involved even the younger children to do their part. We are moving forward again at House of Hope. The Activity Building now has power and the holes have been dug for power to run to the top of the hill at the guest unit site. So excited to see progress...
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When weather in the states is warming up, well it is turning cold here in Zambia. So each year I pull out what clothes are in the closet and start looking at the area market for used clothes from the states for what might be needed for our 58 children. The Lord blessed me again with what was needed without too much trouble. Our older children are growing so fast I had to buy a lot of coats this year. I was blessed by one seller who gave me a price of about $3.00 a coat for the younger children and $4.00 for the older children! That really helps the budget :) I know it is the Lord's blessing when things like this happen. It's HIM helping me and taking care of HIS kids at House of Faith and House of Hope. All the children older and younger love new clothes time.. Along with clothes comes new shoes. Our blankets at House of Faith were needing an update from all the hand washing so June has been a shopping month for sure. I had very few problems finding their shoes from a drawing of their foot to go by. Blankets were giving me troubles :) I found only 4 here and 5 there and I needed 47. I asked the Lord what should I do and the thought came to me to visit a friend who deals in food items for help. He made a few calls and no one had 47 blankets, he then told me he was going to Lusaka the capital city in a few days and would buy what was needed for the children. What a blessing! We worked out a price that blessed the children and also the seller for helping us, but still cheaper than what blankets sell for in Kalomo. The Lord is so good !! We received a visit from Komana's grandmother this month requesting that she come back to live with their family. We had spoken last year about future plans for Kaomana and they felt the timing wasn't yet right. It is always a bitter sweet time when a child leaves us, but yet a happy time because they are with their relatives. Global Orphan Relief will continue to pay her school fees and buy uniforms each year to assist the family. I will check in on her every three months and if the family needs us for anything they know they can contact us anytime. Keep Komana in your prayers for her transition to a new school and back into her family of relatives. With Sheri in the states we will be doing more work at House of Hope in the valley. The housing unit for guest's foundation is completed and ready to go up with the walls. It will be in the shape of a cross with an upper lookout to see Lake Kariba. Keep praying for more progress there. Royal's Therapy secessions continue each month with progress but his brain has not caught up with his body. The therapist is just not sure how long it will take before Royal can start using a walker but feels at this point it could be a year or more before that process can start. My heart remembers all the suddenly's in the word and I am trusting the Lord will provide a suddenly for our Royal to walk. Keep him in your prayers, he loves his trips into town each month and Francis his therapist. I was on my way out with mid month supplies and received a call from House mom Daisy that they had received a call that a baby was in need of a home. The report was that his mom passed away after his birth and the grandparents could not care for him. I told her to have them meet me in town at 1:00 and I would continue to go out off load and return to speak with them. After off loading we pulled the baby bed, blankets and warm clothes from the closet and made a list of needed items for me to buy when I was back in town before speaking with the family. It is always very sad to speak with family after such a loss, but again so blessed to be a blessing to them and this precious baby boy. After both of us shared our hearts together it was decided they would visit him and be ready to care for him when he turns 2-3 years old. His name is Chipego (Gift) and he is 6 days old. Mamma Daisy will care for him in her home. Keep him in your prayers. We received word from our 8th graders at RR Basic school that Sharon, one of our extended care children, left school not feeling well. Mamma Rita asked if she could see if we needed to help in any way. I love how our moms have such a heart for the children even after they have returned to relatives. We will truly always be family. It was arranged for me to pick them up after they arrived into Kalomo and then carry them to Zimba Mission Hospital with hopes of returning the same day back to House of Faith. What a blessing Dr Joan Jones has always helped us and Sharon saw the eye specialist and Dr Joan had blood work done and we got back to Kalomo in time to catch transport back out. It was shared with us she has Uveities in her eyes they gave treatment and she needs to go back in August to see the specialist. Her stomach problems, well she could not eat nsima, their staple food, for a week or two and needed to eat rice, bread and lots of green veggies. We arranged for her to stay with us a week and this picture is of us dropping her off at her relatives place with a smile. So thankful she is smiling again. Keep Sharon in your prayers she has missed a bit of school and needs to take the grade 7 exam in October. She is #2 in her class and we are so proud of her. Last year 4 boxes of new clothes were mailed to us for the Children to have a special gift at Christmas time. Dottie Maske always organizes such wonderful things with the help of her church family and friends. 3 boxes arrived before Dec 1st but the last box still has not arrived.... the 4th box was the girls clothes... Dottie sent out dresses for the girls with a missionary friend in Livingstone in April. The children are so happy and excited at both sites to receive such a blessing. Thank you Dottie for all your love and care for the children at House of Faith and House of Hope. June has been a busy month and it isn't over yet :) We departed Kalomo at 4:00am with house mom Mary and Mackmore. He is our 5 year old child who almost died before he turned 1 and has ear problems. We arrived at Biet Cure Hospital in Lusaka the capital about 9:30am for our yearly appointment. After the Dr examined his ears she wanted to clean the wax build up and well Mackmore did not like that at all. There was holding and crying going on. After the cleaning she ask us lots of questions. Since Mackmore can say words and his friends names she thought he would be a candidate for hearing aids and wanted us to have him fitted today. What a blessing except Mackmore did not want anyone else putting anything else in his ears. Another battle and crying took place for the molds to be made to house the hearing aid. I called Uncle Mike in from the waiting room and thank goodness Mackmore became happy again : ) Please keep Mackmore in your prayers becasue he refused to wear the hearing aid. We will again visit the Dr in August after trying to get him to use it in his environment at House of Faith. The hearing aids were free what a blessing. An update on Chimuka, he is improving nicely. Thank you for your prayers. Here is an updated picture you can see his improvement from our May pictures.. The Lord is so good.
Michael picked me up in Lusaka the evening of the 30th of April from my stateside visit and it was so good to see him. I wish he could have traveled also but he felt he needed to stay back. One of our older boys at House of Faith was very sick and was in and out of the hospital several times and we almost lost him. We know the Lord touched him and brought him back to us for a purpose. Please keep Chimuka in your prayers he is getting better with each passing day. I was so blessed to know Michael was here doing everything the house moms needed to have done in my absence. May 1st in Lusaka we shopped for food for a team of 12's arrival on the 6th of May so I started back in a full run so to say :) we traveled back to Kalomo the same day a 5 hour journey. I spent a day preparing rooms with sheets towels blankets and cooking ahead a few meals for their arrival. Jet lag was not to bad this time back I am so thankful for that. This next picture is of teams arrival. Please go to our Noah Ministries Facebook page for team pictures and all the excitement they brought to the children. This is a picture of Chimuka when I visited him in the Hospital when I returned. We both cried when we gave each other a hug and I thanked the Lord for saving him. Chimuka is HIV positive he had some problems with diarrhea early April and was admitted twice to Kalomo Hospital for IVs. He started having joint pain in his knees and could not walk without help. Michael and House moms Benita and Rita rushed him to Zimba Mission Hospital about 2 1/2 hours away. They ran a lot of tests and everything came back negative. Dr. Joan Jones started an IV with an antibiotic the next few days and he looked worst but then he made a turn for good. He was there for almost two full weeks and we Praise God for the care he was given by staff and our house moms. He is recovering slowly and is still out of school but we see progress everyday and thank the Lord for his touch. The picture below he is at home and recovering you can see he is starting to better each day. Keep Chimuka in your prayers please.... Michael was very busy while I was away in April visiting several churches and an outreach far from the main road. He also gave the message at John Howard on Mens Sunday. It is always great to see how the Lord has blessed his people. I remembered going there in the early 90's to a small group of believers and today they have added on to the church and have over 800 in attendance. The door has been opened for Sheri to go back to the states and work on her Masters in Education. Her flight departed Zambia while our big team was here :( She came out to tell us all goodbye.... Everyone will miss her here. Please keep her in your prayers as she takes yet another step in life. The team helped the children harvest their maize or corn! What a wonderful day it was. All the pictures are with the team pictures on Facebook. Royal is at another slow spot he is sitting better alone and is still working on his crawling, his knees and feet need to move a bit more together. Thank you for keeping him in your prayers.
This month I was blessed by Michael to make a trip back to the states to see my girls their families and my MOM. It was a lot of traveling but I made it just fine. Sheri found me some great deals on airfares. First I went to California to see Rich and Jamie and then to Texas to see Brandi and Michael. I then traveled to North Carolina for three weeks with my mom. Mom turned 75 on the 25th of April, my brother, sister and my self got to spend one wonderful week together. It was so much fun doing projects around home and just remembering times when we were younger and making lots of new memories with our week together.
The children are enjoying fresh maize from their field and they are so proud of their hard work. A couple of men in our area are preparing to build a Maize bin for storage of their crop. Someone asked me what will you do with their harvest? I said we are going to eat it! There is a place about 7 km away that has a grinder so we will take the children's maize there each month. A bit more trouble but so worth it. We received very little rain the whole month of March which means our ground nuts and sweet potatoes will not yield what we expected but we will wait and see because our harvest is underground who knows what the Lord might do :) We had a bit of excitement my last visit out with the children. I heard someone yell and then I heard the front door of the school room swing open and feet running.... One of our young boys had walked into the toilet and seen a cobra snake. The older boys ran to kill him with sticks and stones. They did a great job... Michael's Sunday visits out have been great! This month our church near House of Faith was on the list for a visit. I saw first hand all the Lord is doing in our area. The building is looking great and so many people. They have started a children's program and our kids sang a few songs. Justin one of our extended care adults :) was singing in a men's group so wonderful to be there on a Sunday. Our grade 8 students cycle about 8km or 5 miles each way to school. I was able to see them off one morning and they tell me they are at the top of their class. Report cards are coming next month. World Orphan Relief and Sheri are working with 4 area schools near House of Hope to serve over 60 orphans whose relatives can not afford to send them to school. Michael and I spent a day last week meeting the people who work with these children. Sheri met us on the motorcycle and we followed her to the schools. I saw first hand just how she makes time in that area on a bike and not in a vehicle. We gave out uniforms and shoes and saw a few interesting sites on the way. A couple of the children received letters from their sponsors, it is always a fun time to see and read from someone who cares about you. Ruth and Florance felt very special.
We are blessed that February started out with rain and more rain.... It does make traveling out more difficult but we need the rain to grow the crops so people can eat. Our last House moms meeting went well at House of Faith and we are already planning what we might plant with the children next year. We might try planting our own beans. We have our plan into place for harvest and how we will do things writing everything down so we know our amounts and if we should do it again. If everything continues to go well we might not have to buy groundnuts (peanuts) for a year! There maybe even enough left for roasted snacks each month which means more protein. They have been struggling with the garden and the way they plant is more like a seed bed they normally don't row up their gardens. I am trying to encourage them and we will see soon if it paid off with all this rain.... I am learning so much myself and what we should plant in the garden during rainy season and what we should not plant. As soon as the rains stop we are hoping to expand the garden. The grass wall is truly keeping out the animals well the chickens get in sometime. :) which brings me to another praise we are eating chickens and now have over 60 counting our babies. The chickens won the battle and do now get out during the day but we won by having a secure place for them at night keeping them safe. Michael continues to travel out each Sunday to a different church in the Kalomo District. I'm posting some pictures below to show the excitement he is finding. Our last visit in to Kalomo with Royal to see his physical therapist it was decided for us to continue to do all we have learned since October when we started his new routines. Frances said he had made a 50% improvement but has now slowed. We are praying he will jump ahead again in a few months. Pray for our Royal... I'm not a morning person but I am learning to love my early morning drives out for Royal's therapy so still and peaceful.... Just one of the sights I saw that morning. Well I cant remember the last time we could not cross a river or stream near House of Faith but it happened this month. It was not worth damaging our vehicle to try. We were on our way out to take payroll and food supplies and wow we could not believe our eyes. Kalomo did not receive rain at all. We waited for 2 1/2 hours thinking it would go down enough to cross but it actually increased a bit. We drove back a ways so the cell phone could get reception and called our mom's. They told us they would come on three bicycles to collect the small items and we would bring the big items our next visit. Michael started hauling the items across so they would be ready for pickup. Sibjane one of our 8th graders came on a bicycle to tell us a ox cart was coming. Another 30 mins later and it arrived so all the items we brought out could be transported to the children. Thankful for our Moms who get the job done when we ask for their help. Our new teacher at House of Faith Crytone has a big job. He has taken a couple of weeks to get to know our kids their strengths and weaknesses. It has been decided that we should separate our grade 1s and our 2nd and 3rd graders. Our grade 1 are so wide open they need direct attention :) Keep them in your prayers to be all the Lord would have the to be and Crytone in your prayers to teach them February is a hard month to travel out to area churches because of the rains but Michael has been blessed and no travel problems have happened. Churches have been packed and the Lord is blessing HIS people. Micheal spent the week out teaching MOT MOT and I spent the week out with the House of Faith kids. I've started preparing for teams, organizing spaces and working with our moms on more and more organization into theirs and the children's lives. It has been interesting but I was so blessed to sit with the children in the evenings and hear them recite memory verses. I was so proud of Momma Rita's house they really knew them and her girls are mostly 7 and under. Our field work with the children with the help of the moms and our night workers is really doing well. I am finally seeing CORN on the hugh stalks. Our sweet potatoes were a bit late getting planted but should produce something... We have not had days and days of rain but receiving what has been needed. Keep praying for good rains at the right times to finish off our crops. Early Sunday morning I woke up from the sound of Thunder.. I got up and switched things off so nothing would be damaged by the Lighting and ask the Lord to LET IT RAIN! Our power went out soon after and it sounded as if it rained very heavy for a couple hours. Michael was preparing to go to church when I received a call from one of our moms that Lemmy a night worker had been injured by an AX and needed to come into Kalomo to the Hospital for stitches. I don't do well with blood and accidents so I ask Michael if he could go out to pick him up and also I don't like driving in the mud :) We knew the river would be flooded and we would not be able to get across from the rain so it was planned for him to have someone cycle him to the river for pickup. Michael called and he could not cross one of the dips in the road going out. He tried to walk it and he was not even in the middle and it was at his thighs. He felt the middle was above his waist. I called and told the housemother to send word to Lemmy at the river Michael could not get out to them that way. What should we do.... About 30 mins later they called us back and ask that we go a different way and they would again cycle to meet Michael. It took two friends 2 hours taking turns to cycle Lemmy to a place he could be picked up and carried to the Hospital. Lemmy was chopping firewood under the children's play shelter becasue of the rain and accidentally his Ax hit a clothes line under the shelter and bounced back up hitting his face. I was so blessed it did not hit his eye and the Hospital stitched him up very quickly for a Sunday. Pray for his healing.... I just never know what will be on the other end of a call from our moms. Royal had a good visit with his therapist this month and slowly we are seeing improvement. He has changed his whole routine with only chair time for meals. He wants him to have mat time so he will learn to crawl. I saw first hand the new strength in his hips, legs and upper body yesterday. Keep Royal in your Prayers HE will walk one day. Our crops the children and moms have planted are doing well but we need more rain soon ! Please keep heir harvest in prayers and for encouragement for all their hard work on this. Everyone is excited to see how the Lord will bless. Sunday church visits have also been blessed. It is wonderful visiting friends in so many areas. The rains have not been heavy this year so traveling out has not been a problem. Hand washing the children's clothes always takes it toll but it seems this rainy season has been much harder than others. Our moms took the afternoon to look and dig for items to get us through until May when we give out Winter clothes. Always something to do or get done. I'm thankful for our Moms.... We spent a day at House of Hope so Michael could check in on the project there and I needed to buy Kapenta (small fish) for the children. It was a long HOT day there has been no rain there for a month.... It was so nice to see Sheri for a short time she was teaching English at a nearby school, Momma Lizzy the children and the Lake. The 4th Bicycle that was donated from our friend and Pastor from Livingstone went to House of Hope. It is such a blessing for her to cycle to buy veggies instead of walking :) The first picture is of the Kapenta fish drying in the sun then a beautiful view of the Lake and then our sky view traveling back to Kalomo and then Mamma Lizzy with the bike.
The rains have been spotty across the country and we have been in a blessed area and planting with the first rains can be tricky. So proud of our house moms and the children so far things are growing well with just what the crops need. Michael went out on the 29th of December to do a weeks teaching with the MOT MOT program. He had New Years in the village and so many people attended the over night on New Years EVE. Wish I had pictures to show you but Michael doesn't take many pictures and I do not go out for a week. I received a call on Thursday afternoon from Michael ( he has to walk about 30mins to a ant hill to find a signal then 30 mins back to the church) he said to please be praying the Land Rover would not start and he had used a lot of the battery trying. I called our board in the states and Sheri posted on Facebook and sent out emails. I did not hear from him Friday afternoon so I assumed our prayers were answered and he was on his way since it took so long to walk and find a signal to call. Well it was 7 pm and he had not arrived I was wondering what was happening becasue he was suppose to arrive around 4-5pm. It was confirmed I should not go looking for him but wait until we heard something. It had been raining most of the week so I knew the road would be interesting. It was hard to go to sleep just not knowing if he needed anything or were he was. I did finally sleep after 11pm and the phone woke me at midnight it was Michael telling me he was near the Kalomo Dam and was being pulled in by another truck. It was his first signal to call me. Well it took another two hours for him to arrive but he did and I was so thankful he was home. When the pulling vehicle unhooked him I thought to myself what ride he has had from the mud covered vehicle. He paid the driver and thanked the crew that was with him. 9 hours it took to get to Kalomo. I was looking forward to a picture of the vehicle but when I woke up a bit late 8:30am the guard in our yard had already washed the vehicle. I was so grateful it was clean but really wanted a picture to show all of you. You could not tell what color it was only brown for MUD. He told me how he was pushed and pulled through so much mud and the streams and river was rushing as they crossed. Thank you for your prayers that he arrived home safely. There is no AAA here but we are so thankful the Lord provided someone with a vehicle 70km out that pulled him home. They charged about $170.00 to help him covering their fuel and time it was such a blessing I did not have to go and try to help him myself :) Saturday afternoon Michael went out to start looking as to what might be causing the vehicle to not start. He charged the battery that was down from all his attempts to start. He just wasn't sure. Monday he found a couple of drilled holes under the windshield that was causing water to get on the computer on the passenger side. He filled the holes with solution and Tuesday it started! We are still not sure if that was the problem but we will know after our next big rain. I was also thankful the tent Michael sleeps in on top of the vehicle did well and he had no problems staying dry. The picture below is of the MOT MOT students testing. I had asked our house mothers to arrange transport into town so we could buy two months supply of food just in case we had heavy rains and could not travel out easily becasue of the roads streams and river we need to cross. They booked a Tractor I was so surprised but we did get heavy rain that very afternoon and they were able to get through. I did receive a call about 8:30pm that they were looking for Elizabeth's two bags that had fallen off the back of the trailer. It had her ID card money clothes our phone payroll books and many other things she had just return from a week away caring for a sick relative and had left her bags with me until she came in shopping so it would be safe. I went out that night looking to see in the dark if I would find it still on the road some were. I did not see anything and only went half way out becasue it was dark I was alone and Michael was in the bush. I went to the Police station to report it missing for her on Wednesday morning but nothing had been turned in. Elizabeth called me Friday and said she had talked with someone who had seen it on the road that very afternoon and it was near the second small bridge. I old her I would go out Saturday morning and ask a few questions. I went out about 10:30 and saw people in the field near where the bag was seen. Well they did not speak to great English and of course I did not speck any Tonga but together I think they understood I had a friend who lost her bags on Tuesday off the back of a trailer connected to a tractor. They told me they knew nothing and had not seen the bag. I went to the third bridge just in case I misunderstood Elizabeth no one was at home there. I came back called her and said Keep PRAYING it will come back but I found nothing. 9:00pm Saturday I received a call on the missing phone! I was in a bit of shock but the man on the other end of the phone said he had the bag and wanted to meet me Sunday morning. He was late arriving but I received both bags with everything in them except K50.00. There was over K250.00 in the bag. The Lord was so good to us and Elizabeth had said to give the man K50.00 for a reward and that was what was missing from the bag..... What a blessing to start off the NEW YEAR. The next pictures are of the tractor and the found bags... This year we have 3 grade 8 students needing to prepare for school. They will cycle about 5 miles one way to school each day. I always have fun in town with them getting their needed supplies. We shopped for shoes backpacks socks belts rain coats lunch containers water bottles uniforms and jerseys (sweaters). The boys even ask for haircuts. We had lunch and then returned back on public transport with House mom Benita and the children who came in for Clinic. Pray for these children traveling to a nearby school making good grades and new friends there. Their bicycles were donated by Bod Hayton a missionary friend from Livingstone. What a blessing Michael has had wonderful Sundays out with District Leaders. We are all excited to see what the Lord will do this coming year in the rural areas. Michael will continue a Bible Study that Jo Anne started with our House of Faith kids each week. They love it and are growing in the word. I I found Royal sitting on the mat having lunch with all the other boys. I could tell he was so excited to be doing what all the others do and not just in his chair. Keep Royal in your prayers he is not going forward as fast as his Physical Therapist had thought. We may have to change things up a bit we will know soon. Our first grade girls are so excited to start school! Anna will not be 6 until July and was so sad when I gave out the new uniforms and she did not receive one. I told the girls I wanted a picture of them before they went to school and found Anne in her church clothes ready to walk with them to school... Its going to be a hard week for Mama Rita I'm sure as she tries to get Anna to understand about how old you need to be to start school. A couple of days a month I have to get up early about 5 and travel out to pick up Royal his house mom and Flyness the lady that was trained to work with him two hours a day with his therapy. I leave the house about 5:45 and I am starting to enjoy that time in the vehicle. Everything is still and quiet and I see the most beautiful things. Its the time when the moon is going down and the sun is coming up. I get him back into town around 8:30 he has his breakfast at our house and then we meet with the Therapist about 9:15. Normally we are back at House of Faith by 12:30. I stay and do things that need to be done and Michael does a Bible Study with the kids and also maintenance work around the site. So a couple of days a month I am in the vehicle almost 6 hours in a day and really don't travel far from Kalomo. Learning to enjoy the journey and see all the Lord has done. We had to go to Livingstone for several things so I planed to go on Michael's Birthday. We had lunch at the Sun Hotel and enjoyed the afternoon in a beautiful setting even saw monkeys and zebra while we had lunch. Seems I miss family even more on days like today. I've been seeing oil prices fall and gas is under $2.00 a gallon in most places in the US. Our gas here has always been high as much as $8 to $9 a gallon at some points over our 21 years here in Zambia. Finally mid January prices dropped to $4.90 a gallon. That will really help on our out reach budget. The children's crops are getting the rain they need and we are excited to see CORN next month... Their groundnuts or peanuts are blooming. Our Sweet Potatoes got planted the day after I was out this week. We bough two bags of clippings and the ground has been prepared. The children are so excited and a re working hard. Crytone our new catch up tutor teacher arrived at House of Faith Saturday and will start his classes the 26th of January. Pray with us that he can advance the children in their learning. Rainy season is always interesting because you never know how the roads will be when you start your journey out. I was headed out early morning to collect Royal for his Therapy session in Kalomo. It had not rained in a few days so Michael told me you can do this and I will go out in the afternoon for my Bible Study with the children on your return trip out to take Royal home. Well the road was not bad at all until I came to the river crossing.... I took a deep breath said a prayer and started walking across to find the area that was not to deep to cross. The water was over my knees. I stood at the tire to see where the water might come up to and thought I put it in 4 wheel drive and slowly I went across and was very thankful my first time I did not do any damage to anything . On my way back into Kalomo we found a truck with a cow in the back stuck at the crossing. After maybe 15 mins they got across and I made it across again. I am not a mud driving person but when you have to do something I know HE is there to HELP with whatever needs to be done at the time. He is always Faithful,
Our chicken project had a set back and some how we lost chicks and a rooster. They were working on a new shelter allowing them out of the pen and they were not found the next day. :( We will keep trying. Not sure if they were eaten by something or stolen or just ran away becasue they enjoyed their freedom outside the pen.... Preparing for our Happy Birthday Jesus Party at House of Faith always takes time but I do love shopping for the children. It starts out by the mothers tracing the children's feet on a piece of paper. I then cut them out and go to the market to find their shoes. I will post shoe pictures after the party. I shop for special food items like 25kg of flour sugar baking powder and milk for special fritters. Small gifts for the staff and treat bags for everyone.... Jo Anne helped put the treat bags together so it was faster than usual 95 total for both sites including our extended care kids. Michael is working with the District each Sunday now to encourage and help District leaders visit area churches. It will be interesting traveling out in rainy season :) We visited Mukwela Church not far from Kalomo that only had 6 people our very first visit there in 2007. We have seen progress over the years but were blessed to see over 150 in attendance. We so enjoyed the blessing of seeing Pastor Peter and his wife Linda Maulu welcomed to their New Church in Muchange on the 14th of December. Special people we met in the 90's. Praying the Lord's blessings over their family in this new area of work for the Lord. Jo Anne departed Lusaka back to the states on the 12th of Dec. We had a wonderful 2 month visit with her. She did so many things with and for the children at House of Faith. We look forward to her next visit. We also had a bit of fun while in the mall before she departed :0 On our way home from Lusaka to take JoAnne to the airport we found many places north of us in Kalomo had not planted yet and some places had not even plowed the ground to plant. We are so blessed that the children's maize is up and has it's first fertilizer. Keep rain in your prayers for a wonderful harvest for the children. The planted groundnut or peanuts last Monday and we should be seeing them break the ground at Christmas. Royal is making progress it will be slow but we are hopeful he will walk. Jo Anne had a stander built to help give strength to his legs and a table to give him some stability. He loves it standing on the front veranda. Thanks mama Jo for all your love and work with the children these last two months. We always love visiting Kalomo Church in town and we enjoyed being there the Sunday before Christmas. After Church we rushed home to load the Vehicle just in time to pick up a couple of extended care children at the bus stop so they could visit for our Christmas party at House of Faith. It rained the whole afternoon but we made it! After we unloaded Michael set up the Jesus Film for showing and all the children watched, well some fell asleep half way through :) At the end Michael gave an opportunity for the children to give their lives to Jesus and well I counted about 18 hands but there were more than that. Next week Michael will talk with the children to make sure they understand what they did and what it means for them. Jo Anne did a bible study each afternoon she was out with them and we know the film helped them to see JESUS. Everyone was excited for the Happy Birthday Jesus party. The children sang Silent Night and Joy to the World. Uncle Mike shared the Christmas Story and they did a story about what God wants for Christmas. We gave out small gifts to the helpers and treat bags for every one. The children received their new shoes and where told a new outfit was on the way but did not arrive in the POST before Christmas. They loved playing the games ... It was a Happy Day. The rains have been good to us so far. The moms and children planted with the early rain. They planted the groundnuts or peanuts about a week before Christmas and the week after Christmas they are coming up nicely. Keep this program in your prayers for good rains at the needed times and for the Children to learn how to live by growing their food. Every year around Christmas I start looking for the Flame Lily to appear. It's the Christmas flower for me and it grows wild in the bush. More and more land is being taken in for growing food and I see less and less flowers each year. It's about an hour drive out to the Children home and I was looking hard but saw nothing. We went to far on a path to see the garden and just as Michael was turning around I saw them! So blessed to once again see the Flame Lily on Christmas or right after Christmas.
The Ox cart had to be taken apart to fit in the transport truck out to House of Faith. Michael and Lemmy put it back together and attached the long pole onto it for connecting to the animals. Michael does all the maintenance on site and some months well it seems there is much to get done :) The swings needed to be cleaned up and there was a drain problem. Thankful my husband has great wisdom to know how to do many things. We had a wonderful word from the Lord our first Sunday in November at Choma Central. Many responded for a fresh start doing things the Lord's way not the world's way. They were looking for a drummer and they had asked a boy from Salvation Army Church to teach them how to play.... He did such a great job and was so young... This is the field the children have been working in with the mothers to plant corn, groundnuts (peanuts), and sweet potatoes.. Please pray the Lord will bring good rains at the right times for a wonderful harvest for the children. I want each one of them to know how to grow food and work hard trusting the Lord for great things. 8 year old Ruth was teaching the younger children how to make clay animals at House of Faith. She was making oxen and a cart :) Over the years at House of Faith we have planted many fruit trees only for the animals to eat them. I was blessed to see fruit on this lone guava tree. Praying about grass fencing another area just for fruit trees. It might just work..... Luuwo one of our beautiful girls at House of Faith will be 18 next year so we are preparing her for life. I had her come in on public transport by herself and I met her at the Hospital for her lab and clinic visit. I wanted to see if she knew what to do all by herself. After the first step she failed the test but we have a year to prepare her. She is very shy so I need to work with her on asking questions. Long story short her lab would not be done until the next day causing us to need to come back another day. I called the eye Clinic in Zimba on Friday wondering if we had time after her morning Clinic if there would be a Dr on site to see her. She has been complaining of blurry sight while watching videos or trying to see and read the board at school. They said yes a Dr would be there. When we arrived about 10:45 I saw a line out the door and I knew the American team must be here. I almost came back to Kalomo but if you don't ask questions God cannot bless you. We went inside and I saw the overseer of the Clinic and told him our story and that I needed to get Luuwo back by 2:00pm for transport back to House of Faith. He put us in line ahead of about 50 people what a blessing from the Lord. It also showed Luuwo how HE takes care of us by asking questions :) The sad news was that after the exam they found she has cataracts in both eyes at 17. They gave her sunglasses to use and we will see the Dr again next year to see if they are growing fast or staying the same. They do not like to do surgery on such young people. Please pray with us for Luuwo. Still no rain and it is time for some showers... Our shallow wells dug for the garden are dry! We are using our borehole water to keep the garden going so we don't lose what we have planted. The rains arrived on Wednesday the 12th of November. It was so wonderful. We had not had rain since April. From what farmers have shared with us over the years here mid November is when the rains should start. Please pray we receive good rains at the right times for a great harvest. I am not a farmer but am trying to encourage and teach our children at House of Faith to learn how to grow food for their future well being. This week I went out early to watch the children get a life lesson from the moms and a night worker who helped us with animals and an extra plow on how to plant. They have helped with planting and weeding and harvest before but this year we are really trying to get them to do more and to really understand this is LIFE here if you want your family to eat well. We had a wonderful visit to Kalinga Church it's a small place with a big vision. I always love seeing the children do a special program sharing their verses and singing us a song of their love for Jesus. On the way home from church the rains were all around but no drops touched our vehicle.... We saw the most beautiful red pops of color all along the way. The bush is beautiful this time of year everything is coming alive with the first rains. We have been blessed with Jo Anne's visit and her work with the children. She started a one hour bible study for the older children and they requested it go for two hours :) So blessed the children are excited about the word of God. You never know what you might see on the roads out to House of Faith. This morning I saw a bunch of turkeys crossing the road.... It;s almost time for Thanksgiving and they don't have a clue what my thoughts were :) Michael attended the PWC Bible College Graduation. It was a blessed day for so many and a couple of students had attended MOT MOT classes. Had a wonderful service at Sinde Church they have roofed their building before the rains.... We are seeing great things from the Lord in the villages. I was encouraged even with a word from the Lord.... Thank you Pastor. It has been such a blessing to have Mama Jo back for a couple of months. Her work with Royal and the stander has been wonderful to watch. We are taking Royal twice a month to a nearby Mission Clinic and they are working with Flyness the lady Janelle trained while she was here visiting to give Royal a twice a day work out. The therapist is teaching Flyness many new things to do so we are working out more muscles than ever before. Last week we watched new things for his knees ankles and even his toes :) It was fun watching Jo Anne and Mama Daisy get him in the stander.. It should be easier now that Jo Anne knows it was approved so the straps can be fitted to the stander on one side. Keep us all in your prayers for the next few months of rainy season so we can get Royal in and out it could be tricky. Church in Nguba was great Sunday with a new Pastor taking over the church there. Their building is up but no roof yet... At House of Hope the Guest House foundation is almost complete before the rains. This circle foundation is very strong because it will be two levels so a view from the lake can be seen:) Michael and I had a nice Thanksgiving Day visiting friends in Livingstone and the gathering for an evening meal was delicious. I always miss my family back in the states but for this Holiday I miss them even more. Thanksgiving and Christmas was two Holidays we always packed up and traveled south from Maryland to Carolina for our family gatherings. Also with our girls and their families in Germany, Texas and California my heart is stretched even more. Home for me will always be in Maple :)
We have had a wonderful month of ministry at both sites with the children and outreach with the Jesus Film. Michael had his last scheduled Jesus Film the end of October for the year. With the rains coming soon it is hard to show the film. He also had his second week of MOT MOT training mid October. Everyone is blessed and excited about the classes. Our garden has finally started with no animals entering to eat what we plant I feel we have finally received VICTORY! We are still working on the chicken pen and preparing ways to help it run better. House of Faith moms have began their work in the field with the children preparing for early planting with the first rains. We received a donation while in the states for a ox cart plow and animals. What a huge blessing. There has been a sickness in the area villages and many plowing animals (oxen) are dying. We all sat together and came up with a plan to loan out our ox cart and plow for a day in return for using animals for a day :) It is working well until we can buy our own animals after this sickness has passed. I will post several pictures now of what I have shared about. Things are also moving forward at House of Hope. October is one HOT month there with almost every day over 100 degrees. Our builder returns soon and things should move a bit faster on site there. A group of friends in the Settle WA area donated funds for a play ground and Sheri found a way to use the slide until we can find a welder to put things together for us there. Enjoying a movie on Sunday afternoon Mama Jo Anne arrived into Zambia for a 2 month visit mid October and everyone was all smile on her arrival at House of Faith. She will be working with the children and helping with Royal. We are encouraged one day he will walk and we have started that road. Zambia Celebrated their 50th Anniversary of Independence on the 24th of October. I was able to watch a parade complete with a band outside the house as they walked to the football field for more celebrations. It was a Happy day. Royal will be coming in to Kalomo twice a month for PT strengthening more areas of his body so he can walk one day. It's exciting to see him doing new things already. Mama Jo even had him in the tire swing... He cried when she took him out. October is our HOT month with temps near 100 most days. Rain comes normally in November. This is the time we get to see spring without rain :) I always love to see the Jacaranda and flamboyant trees blooming. Everything is brown and die and then there will be pops of beautiful color....
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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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