The Sweerin's

 Greetings Family and Friends, I can see that many of you are enjoying the warmth of summer and all the fun activities it brings. Here is Zambia the months of May- July are typically the coolest. There have been many days where Iowa has been much warmer than here. It has actually been one of the coolest seasons in awhile, but it should begin heating up soon before the rainy season begins. This update is long overdue, but we hope that you will all be encouraged and more informed on our activities here.  Matthew 13 NIV The Parable of the Sower 13  3  Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed.  4  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.  5  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.  6  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they h...

All around us people are busy harvesting their fields, building the structures that store their maize(corn), and many are bringing their sunflower to the property here to have it pressed into cooking oil. In Zambia, the rains will typically start in October and go through possibly April, but when it starts and stops exactly is different each year. As many of the farmers know in this world, some years are good and some can be very challenging due to the elements and circumstances of the year. If the community here receives little rain, it does present a great challenge for the families as they are so dependent on a good crop. By God's great mercy, they had an abundant rainy season this year.! This year we received close to 1,000 ml of rain which is 40 inches! Yes, some days it made drying or washing clothes difficult, and the roads can get more challenging and new routes around the flood plains have to be taken, but seeing the beautiful green foliage, flowers, cooler temps than n...