The Word "yet"

 

Greetings Family and Friends,

I was reading in my daily devotional book, and I was challenged by the word “yet.” The author of this book looked at the meaning of the word “yet” and how it can relate to our faith. Usually the word “yet” connects something negative to something positive. During our life on this Earth, we may have many unexpected twists  and turns. For many of us, we have had to learn how to take these undesired "lemons" and  make lemonade/” The author mentioned that maybe in the past we have had to walk through times of testing, discipline, and reduction. All of these things are not pleasant in the moment, but are critical for the developing of our faith. Testing can prove and strengthen our faith. Discipline corrects and refines our character. Reduction prepares us for growth. 

 In the devotional, it stated that all of us have an incredible propensity for shifting our weight onto the things we want. We desire to have promotion, respect, provision, and protection from hardship. We begin to place our value and faith into these things, which can lead us to heartbreak and disappointment. From a place of humbleness, we can ask God for forgiveness and say, “(yet) God is everything we need.”  We can trust that God will not withhold any good gift from us. Whether it is an ongoing situation in our lives that seems helpless, or maybe as we suffer consequences of our sin; we can know that God is ready, willing to defend, and will provide peace and rest for our souls if we turn back to Him.  His love is constant and unconditional.

In a Bible Study I attended several years ago, I was introduced to these phrases. I come back to these often and wanted to share with you all as well. It is our prayer that no matter what situation you are going through remember these 5 things:

1.  God is who He says He is.

               2.  God can do what He says He can do

               3.  I am who God says I am

                     4.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

               5. God’s Word is alive and active in me.

Ministry/Life Update

These last few months seem to have flown by. Jako and Amber were preparing to leave for their 4 month leave to the States. In the month of July, we were busy learning and tending to the necessary programs and tasks that needed to be addressed or completed before they left. Currently, Nate's days are filled with learning more about the farm, going on town runs to stock up on supplies, fixing vehicles, trailers, and tractors to keep things moving. Nate is also going to be working at the chiefs' palace to prepare running water for a big ceremony where the President of Zambia is set to attend at the end of September. 

Melanie has been busy homeschooling our children, helping Amber when possible, managing the school, and learning about different administrative tasks here. We have welcomed 2 more babies into the children’s home, so we know have a total of 18. In each situation the mothers unexpectedly passed away so we will continue to care for these little ones until the need for formula is no longer. We of course will make sure a good care plan is in place before we transfer them back into their families. We were able to attend a child protection policy meeting in Livingstone to learn about what services different government departments offer. There were other NGO’s present as well. It was an interesting meeting and Amber and I learned a lot. As different situations are brought to us by the surrounding community, it will help us know how to direct families to the help they need.

School Update

As you have seen in recent posts, the chief has come to visit us several times recently. We are thankful that he has taken the time out of his extremely busy schedule to help us with the community and the school. We were notified a few months ago, that a school was being built about 1 km away from our school. We asked the chief about it and it seemed as if he was unaware that it was so close to the community school we have here. After we met with the chief, he decided to come and hear the pleas of the people. The meeting ended with a call to all the tribal leaders of the area to come to his palace on the 14^th of June to further discuss this matter. The chief then came to our school again to address the people in another meeting with the community. This meeting took place about a month ago.  The chief and the vice chief  are seeing how the people are being led astray from these false promises given to them by their tribal leaders. Power and fear so strongly entangle the people. Please be praying with us that the darkness will be brought to light. The chief openly commended our school and said it should remain open to the community. He also encouraged the headman to come alongside and support this school. Our attendance has been affected, so please pray with us as we discern how to move forward with the management of the school, and its role in the community. 

Praises

The 3 new littles ones at the children's home are thriving and growing well. Each one of them bring so much joy to the family. Natalie and Lily really enjoy holding and helping the housemothers with the little ones. It is sweet to see them interact with these sweet little ones. 

Rumor has it we are getting a very big upgrade to our current road to town!(Possibly even a paved tar road) Yes, you read correctly. 😉We can see the beginnings of them preparing as big equipment is being brought in for this job. This year they may get part way, but next year it could be completed by us. The locals would be able to have better access to town throughout the year as in rainy season many roads are not passable. The amount of time it takes to get to town will be lessened and less wear and tear on the vehicles is also a positive. So we are praying that it will be able to come to fruition. 

A big thank you to all who donated financially, shopped garage sales, bought/sold items in order to bring a few more barrels across the ocean. We appreciate you so much for the time and effort you all put in to bless our family and the ministry here. 

Prayer Requests

We are thankful for all the prayers and support you have all given us. There are a few specific needs that we are asking you to prayer alongside us in. 

• Please pray for our family as we manage all the aspects of the ministry here while Jako and Amber are away in the States. We desire this time to be one of growth as we continue to learn how to minister to this community. 
• In August, we will have to start the process of renewing our work visas as ours expires the 1st of September. We have to reactivate the account as they blocked all accounts in 2021. So please be praying for us as we have to get the account reactivated and upload all the necessary documents they ask for by the end of August.    
• We have the opportunity to purchase an enclosed trailer from Lusaka in September. The trailer would allow us to distribute our weight better as we travel and allow us to purchase  more supplies for the ministry. It will need some new tires and a few other minor adjustments we believe, but overall we believe it will be a great benefit if financially possible. 

School and Children's Home Projects: To be truthful, there are many tasks, programs, and maintenance that could be tended to daily. There is not a short list of things that need attention. We are constantly prioritizing importance. So often many things get left undone as other things take priority.  

School Projects Include: The primary school floor was unfortunately not done well and it has begun to break apart leaving chunks missing. So we are looking into what it would cost to redo that floor. We also would like to put glass in the windows. The school's playground is also needing some work as well. Over the years there has been lots of use and natural wear and tear. We are also trying to be creative and think outside the box  as we attempt to repurpose items for the school playground and make it more functional again. As Nate and I begin to oversee and manage more of the school, there is an increase in expenses that comes with that. As our needs rise we can begin to question God's plan of provision. This is where our faith can be tested and tried...If God has called us to this, do we believe God will see us through it? We can have hope knowing that  God can bring forth that increase in His time and in His way. 

Children's Home Projects/Maintenance- Nate needs to continue fixing the roof before the start of rainy season to hopefully lessen/prevent roof from leaking. There is also some concrete work and some backfilling that is needed to be done as much of the sand has been washed/swept away. 

Home/Ministry Needs- We are still working slowly on our home. Nate was able to put some of the plumbing together. He also picked up our exterior doors and table and chairs. We still have a ways to go but little by little we hope to be able to get the remaining items needed to complete the house and allow us to move in hopefully by the time the Jouberts return in December. (Still looking to buy a washer, wood for interior doors/cabinets, metal for shelving, deep freezer, welder/generator, furniture, etc) 

Below are some pictures to give you a sneak peak of what we have been up to. 

Hannah helping Virgina with lunch preperations. She enjoys pretending to make nshima and loves it when they let her help.

Baby Fevars. Love those bright eyes. If possible, on Fridays we try to do some training with the housemothers, to check in with them, and to make sure all in running smoothly. 

Baby Fred

Baby Fred is doing well as he came to us at 2 weeks of age. 

Chief Nyawa. I am thankful that our family has gotten to meet him and begin to build a relationship with him. He is 82 years old. As his visits have been more frequent, it has been amazing to see his leadership and wisdom as he addresses each situation that is brought to him by the people. He definitely has a heart that is for the people, and you can tell that he cares for them like a loving father cares for his children.

Natalie loves holding the babies and helping the housemothers. The babies have come to love her and will go to her well. She is also enjoying her time with the older girls at the children's home. They love to color/trace, read books, play house/school together, and play card/board games. 

Bridget is our helper who comes and helps me with various household tasks and with cooking lunch for the men that are helping Nate with all of the tasks he has to do. She has been such a blessing to our family and we are really thankful that God has led her to help us here. Her ability to speak English has improved immensely and is even translating for me. All of our children really enjoy her and she has been so good at teaching them some basic Tonga words and phrases too. 

 Our friend Memory is Lusaka is a very talented seamstress. She sewed all of our curtains for us and made these cute outfits for the kids. 

Here is the trailer that I mentioned earlier that we are considering to purchase in September if possible. 

The last 2 pictures show the parents who attended the school meetings when Chief  Nyawa and the Vice Chief came to discuss the situation with the school in the community. We got to hear the concerns of the parents and are working to make some changes in regards to the parents choosing their own P.T.A committee, and we are lowering school fees for all grades. We are seeing the need to become a registered trust school, so please be praying for this as I am trying to learn what that all entails. 

If you want to partner with us financially you can write a check to 

Faith Assembly of God. Please write Zambia in the memo line and send it to: 

     5112 Lafayette Rd.

        Elk Run Heights, IA 50707

If you are interested in giving online please follow these steps below: 

• Click on this link below and it will take you to the church website  https://www.faithassemblyerh.com/

• Locate and Click on Tithe to follow the steps and make a donation. 

• Important Note: Be sure to switch from Tithe to Nate Sweerin in the drop down window to designate the funds to us.

OR we have Venmo (contact us for details)