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!)
The DeKam Family in Zambia 