Zambia Update

Wow, we have now spent 3 months in Zambia! Thanks to your prayers, support and a mighty awesome God we have grown in our faith by seeing God at work in us and in those around us. Each day brings its own challenges, but we are regularly are reminded of His strength, endurance, joy and peace.  He gives us the assurance we need to continue trusting and obeying  in Him. Knowing that in our obedience, His promises are true and we are safe in his arms. Isaiah 43:1-13 is a good reminder of that. God is so worthy of our obedience.

 The past month has been good. I (Nate) had the privilege of beginning a Bible study with two men that work for Mission of Love. The material I am using (called Firm Foundations) is a cover to cover Bible study. It will be very good for us all to learn who God is from the beginning of the Bible to the end. The first couple lessons went well and I believe it will get more and more exciting each week.  For projects, we’ve been busy putting up a fence on our property for a few dairy cattle. We want to start milking them for the children at the children’s home and people in the community. Another project that seems to be a success is a new well. A missions organization called Overland Missions based in Livingstone, ZA branched out into well drilling a few years ago. We are in good relations with them and MOL decided to pay them to put in a new well. This was a weeklong endeavor. They drilled 3 times and finally succeeded with what we hope is a strong well. This will be primarily used by the locals as they have been sharing our well for many years now. They will be responsible for its repairs and will manage those willing to pay to use it. We enjoyed Overland’s company as we shared meals and encouraged one another.

I was honored to be able to help a couple medical needs recently. One small boy fell in a fire (quite common) while playing and badly burned his mouth and face. Thanks to MOL, I was able to use their vehicle and transport him 2 hours away to a hospital. We later received word that the child is doing much better, PTL! A week or two later I took a pregnant woman to a clinic where she would give birth. The last experience was a woman who we think had a seizure. She was mumbling words and could not support herself.  It is very exciting being able to help in this way as transportation can be very difficult. Thank you Jesus.

Melanie is staying busy with being a mom to Natalie, cooking food, and training the teachers at the school. She doing a Bible study with them in the mornings and then in the afternoon helps them prepare for the following day and encourages them in new ways to teach the children. I can tell they are really enjoying her help and are becoming more and more comfortable with her.  They are always full of questions and you can really tell their excitement for learning different ways to teach. She is starting to work with them on brainstorming. Problem Solving and Critical Thinking skills are necessary for children to learn. The teachers want the students to be able to think for themselves, so in order to teach the children how to do this; the teachers need to practice it as well. At the beginning of the week, Melanie gives them a topic or a theme. Throughout the week, the teachers brainstorm different ways they can teach that topic through the different learning centers. This task has not been easy for them, but they are enjoying it. As for the primary school the community has been making more bricks recently, which is giving hope to the possibility of building the school yet this year. The parents are beginning to see the value of their children having an education, and are willing to do their part in preparing for the primary school. Please continue to pray that God would provide a second grade teacher, and to give Melanie discernment as she tries to combine the Zambian Curriculum with the Reggio Philosophy.

We appreciate all the love, support, and encouragement you have given our family. We feel truly blessed by all you have done for us. We will continue to keep all of you in our prayers.