I made it back safely to US soil! It’s great to see my family again and we’ve already had a chance to see many extended family members as well. Thanks to all who prayed us back! We’re looking forward to some time of reconnecting and recharging.
Kevin
The new teachers and students have been selected, the first year of school is officially behind us, the final meetings have been conducted, the parents have all completed their volunteer hours (well….almost) and the house is cleaned up. I even managed to squeeze in watching a last minute community soccer game, which is usually just an excuse to see friends and students as I suspect is the case for many in attendance. I have a strict policy against packing outside of the last few hours before my flight leaves, so I’m just about to wrap that up.
And at that – I’m ready to ship out. I absolutely can’t believe that our first year is behind us and that we, by God’s grace and God’s grace only, were able to start much less finish the school year. Many thanks are owed to our fantastic teaching crew and staff.
Just 20 hours or so in an airplane and I’ll be in the States and reunited with my family!!!
thanks for following year 1!
Today, during our second-to-last day of the first year of The Esther School, we took our first ever off-campus field trip. For most of our children, this was the first time taking such a trip and, for some, the first time they have really even left the village. Most of our children were born here in the village and have never had the reason, means or opportunity to leave.
For The Esther School, however, we feel that expanding the size of our students’ worlds is a key to their learning. In fact, much of our curriculum centers around the idea of exploring, discovering and understanding God’s creation. When we experience new things we change our thinking and our perspectives and that is what we hoped to accomplish today. Although our destination and itinerary were humble, we believe that we were able to accomplish just that!
With a hired bus from some friends at the local town, Chongwe, we took the Preschool and then the Kindergarten about 30 minutes east to a natural hot spring. Each class was accompanied by their teachers, several parent volunteers and some fresh baked zucchini bread that some other parent volunteers had baked the night before.
We were able to visit the spring and explore the surrounding area. Each child tested their courage by deciding whether to touch the water at its source and whether to jump over the resulting stream with or without assistance. We also talked about the reason and source of this phenomenon as well as its distinctive associated odor.
We then traveled along the stream and noticed how the temperature became steadily cooler. (A few of our parents seemed not to have followed the lesson as, despite my contrary explanations, they bottled some warm water to take home!). The Kindergarten class even turned their trip into a mini service project – cleaning up trash around the area as we discussed stewardship and servant leadership. We discussed how God’s creation is a beautiful gift to all of us and how we have a responsibility to care for it even when others do not. The children eagerly participated and walked a little taller as we left!
But nothing could beat the singing! Nothing can ever beat the singing here; but words can’t express what it was like to travel down the road through various tiny villages and town centers with all passersby staring in wonder as these young, simple, village children sang praises to God at the top of their lungs. Lyrics I’ve heard thousands of times took on new meaning as I contemplated the reality of 48 impoverished children, most of whom spoke very little English 8 months ago, singing “Soon and Very Soon”, “Amazing Grace”, “This Little Light of Mine”, “This is the Day” and many other old favorites interspersed with several local traditional songs. Needless to say, it was an amazing experience and one I wish each of you could have the opportunity to enjoy. For now, we thank you for your support of the school and allowing these little lights to shine in this place! Please enjoy some photos of that day!
…well, technically, we have 21 new Preschoolers, 1 new Kindergartner and 2 new First Graders! After assessing the progress (and actual ages!) of a few of our current students, we made some slight adjustments in the class rosters so that some of our students will remain in their current classes and others will be advanced one or even two grades. The end result created openings in all 3 of our classes for 2013-14.
We are very excited to welcome our 25 new students and their families – some of whom are new to us and some of whom we have already developed relationships during the past year. We are already busy preparing for next year and are very confident that we have selected the 25 students that God has prepared for school next year…for success in the future…”for such a time as this”…
Here is the list of names of our new students:
Preschool:
Esnart
Mapalo
Emmanuel C.
Blessed C.
Hudson (yes – our little red-headed Zambian!)
Robby
Joyce
Matthews
Catherine
Elena
Morris
Matilda
Michael
Frank
Stephania
Kaumba (Peter)
Weston
Eva
Sarai
Norah
Priscilla
Emmanuel Z.
New to Kindergarten:
Okily
New to Grade 1:
Blessed M.
Emmanuel M.
Please join us in praying for each of these new students, as well as our current students, as they prepare for school next September. We always pray that not only will our students be prepared to explore, discover, wonder and learn about God’s creation, but to grow strong in their relationship with Him. We also constantly pray that our students will discover who God created them to be; what role He created them for; and what talents, skills and abilities He equipped them with to serve His Purpose in His Kingdom. Please join us in holding up in prayer the students of the Esther School for 2013-2014.
We have also selected 2 new Zambian teachers to serve with us next year. Getrude, one of our Preschool teachers this year, will continue to serve with Jean in her current capacity. Beauty, who willingly served with Rachel in Kindergarten this year, will be leaving to continue her training and education.
That leaves us with two openings for new Zambian teachers – one in Kindergarten and one in Grade 1. We will wait to make final assignments when we convene in August, but we are very pleased that God has sent us 2 wonderful, talented and eager young women that were selected among several other qualified applicants. Please also join us in welcoming and praying for Theresah and Phillipa, our new teachers for 2013-14. (We hope to post some pictures later this fall)
If you are interested in sponsorship for 2013-14 students, please contact the GEMS office in Grand Rapids ASAP and indicate your intent and preferences. Last year, we were blessed with more willing sponsors than we had students and some potential sponsors had to wait. Likely, this year’s student sponsorship opportunities will fill up quickly as well. If you sponsored a child this year, please also confirm your intentions for next year with the GEMS office.
Zikomo Kwambili! (Thank you very much!)
Absence makes the heart grow fonder…
I could never have believed that after celebrating 17 of Tina’s birthdays together in the US, we would spend the 18th with her in Israel and me in Africa! I can’t imagine being on this crazy journey with anyone else and can’t wait to be together again soon.
Happy Birthday Tina!
Thanks to all of you who have been praying for our travel safety for the past few weeks. We had a great time in Israel and are thankful to our wonderful hosts: Tina’s brother Chip, his wife Barbara and their children Maddi and Bennett. I was only there for a week, but I’m quite sure that there isn’t a square inch of Israel left that we could have covered! (pictures coming soon I hope!)
It would be difficult to do justice to the experience in words, but I can say that Israel is a beautiful country filled with very gracious people. I’m afraid that we, in the West, are only afforded a skewed perspective of this Holy Land. While conflict and difficulty definitely exist, it is largely a beautiful place where most people co-exist peacefully.
We were also blessed to visit the many Holy Sites and historically significant places. No experience can match the reading of Scripture in the very place where the events occurred and to literally walk in the footsteps of Jesus!
After a whirlwind tour, I am now back in Zambia and already deep into the final two weeks of school. We have selected our new students and are preparing for a new preschool and for advancing the school on to Grade 1.
Please continue to pray for Tina and the boys and the rest of the extended family as they finish their time together in Israel then travel back to the States. Tina, Mack and the boys leave on Sunday the 26th and are expected to arrive in Chicago on Monday the 27th. I’m looking forward to arriving on June 4 following the conclusion of our school year here and hope to see many of you in person during my short visit there.
Other prayer requests:
- For a successful end to the current school year. The last day of school is May 31.
- For wisdom and clarity as we finalize the selection of the new Zambian teacher and other leadership roles.
- That a 1st Grade teacher would come forward quickly from North America. They are due on campus in less than 80 days and are still hiding from us!
- That God would begin (or continue?) to stir in the hearts of new leaders now to prepare them to come and serve in the future.
Again it’s been some time since we’ve updated you here (sorry mom!) but that’s not for lack of activity on our part. In fact, things have been very busy in our family and around campus as we juggle the competing tasks of finishing the school year and preparing to travel to Israel and the US to visit with family, friends and our many supporters.
We have also been blessed to have Tina’s father here for the past 3 weeks helping and visiting and giving the boys some much needed Grandparent time which they’ve been without since January! Mack will travel with us to Israel and then with Tina, Lindsey and the boys back to the States.
In the meantime, things are as hectic as ever as we wrap up PTA, the volunteer program, harvest and sell crops, and prepare for the end of school. We are also just ramping up for an incoming work team, new construction projects, interviewing new teachers, building them a new home, and selecting next Year’s preschool class.
Thanks for your prayers and we look forward to seeing you soon!
I have a confession to make. I get grumpy sometimes. I know, I know, that is conduct unbecoming of a missionary. But realistically I, as with most of us here, go through occasional times of getting down, frustrated, tired. We are absolutely surrounded by blessings here and usually have more than we need, if we are honest. We typically try to highlight the highlights from here in the field when we blog, but at times we feel a little burned out. I will admit that I even sometimes catch myself feeling sorry for myself.
But we are so blessed and every time I try to go down the wide but winding road of self pity I am knocked strait by some event or circumstance. Sometimes it comes from what I call a “Divine Thunk” (c)! Just when I begin to indulge in a good wallow, God reaches down with a stubbed toe, an open fly or a literal bump on the head to remind me not to take myself so seriously.
Other times he reveals my blessings or opens my eyes to the plight of others to remind me how good I really have it. Nothing slaps a person back into reality like a headline about another’s tragedy, news of the illness or death of a child, witnessing a nobler man courageously overcoming a true barrier in his own life.
We are also uplifted daily by the obedience of others who make sacrifices to follow God’s call to bless others. Selfless servanthood is God’s gameplan for His Kingdom and no believer is exempt from its call. I can no longer stand bound in my own baseless commiseration in the light of some selfless gesture from another. Just this week we have seen bags of precious maize dropped off by neighbors, had a father tearfully share his gratitude for the changes he has seen in his Preschool daughter and had other local missionaries bless us with their time and support. We also have had families who are required to work 16 hours a month to pay for school working up to 100 hours each so far in April.
We are also so indebted to the many churches and families that support us with financial assistance and prayer support. Finally, I want to personally thank two special groups of people who don’t get enough recognition but whose small contributions go so far to keep our chins up: those who offer words of encouragement and those who have sent items with visitors.
We made a decision early on not to try to respond to every comment made on our blog (it’s obviously hard enough to keep up with the blog itself), but we are so energized by these kind words as well as other emails, cards and letters sent by so many of you. From family to friends to relative strangers, it is so encouraging to know that we are being thought of and prayed for when we may otherwise feel somewhat isolated here. We have also learned to appreciate simple pleasures and have been so blessed by the small luxury items that so many of you have bothered to procure and expedite. After one too many cockroaches in the kitchen, mice or scorpions in the bathtub (both this week), long sweaty days (i know – I’m getting no sympathy from our friends in Michigan and Canada) and frustrated attempts at progress – it’s amazing how good a cup of Starbucks, some Skittles or some real parmesan cheese can taste!
Thanks to all of you for all you do. With your support and God’s grace we will carry on!
I thought I would put our travel plans in a little more readable format for those of you who are interested.
- Tina’s father, Mack, arrived this morning for about 3 weeks.
- We all leave May 11 for Israel to visit with Tina’s brother and family who are stationed at the embassy in Tel Aviv.
- Kevin leaves Israel and returns to Zambia on May 19
- Tina, Mack, Lindsey and the kids leave May 26 for the US, arriving in Chicago on the 27th
- Last day of the Esther School May 31
- Kevin leaves for US on June 3, arriving in Chicago on June 4
- Kevin leaves for Zambia on July 13, arriving in Lusaka July 15
- Tina, Lindsey and the boys return sometime in August
thanks for all of your prayer support as we enter this season of travel!
We can hardly believe that we are nearing the end of the first year of the Esther School! Our last day of school is scheduled for May 31st and we are already actively preparing for next year’s Preschool class. We have faced many challenges – some expected and some unexpected – but God has been so good to us and we are overwhelmed with our many blessings as those difficulties become minor distractions.
We are working hard with our paid employees and parent volunteers to clear, develop and maintain the campus, as well as to run the school, community programs and sustainability components of the school. While difficult at times, it only takes a few minutes of seeing our students’ faces, hearing their laughter and, especially, hearing them sing praises to God to remember why we are here.
We humbly request your continued prayer support with these few new areas of need:
- That God would have his hand in the recruitment, selection and preparation of the next 25 students and their families who will constitute the next Preschool Class. We have a Pre-Registration Community Meeting on Friday April 19th and will be holding an Assessment Day on Friday April 26 to determine which children are most ready for school.
- That God would raise up and work in the hearts of a few local people who could serve in key leadership roles among our work and volunteer forces. That he would identify them to us and set them apart as disciples and servant leaders.
- That God would also identify and prepare the 2 new 1st Grade teachers needed for next year (one from Zambia and one from North America) as well as begin to cultivate those needed to replace those whose terms are up in 2014. We also pray for God’s Spirit of peace and unity as we all become acquainted and adjusted to each other and to life in rural Zambia.
- For blessings as we prepare to travel. Tina’s father will be arriving here on the 22nd for a few weeks, then we will all travel together on May 11 to visit with Tina’s brother and family who are serving in Tel Aviv. Kevin will then return here for the last few weeks of school while the rest return to the US for the summer. Kevin will be in the US from June 4 to July 13. Needless to say, that is a significant amount of travel and we pray for safety and blessings on our time with family.
