English newsletter December 2015

A letter from Carl’s pen:

December: the last days of 2015 are here- it just all flies by. I can not remember the last time I actually wrote a newsletter, so I’m guessing it’s time.

Isabel’s birth is already ten weeks ago. After not drinking well in the first week, she’s got the art down. Her weight dropped sharply in the first week, to just over 2kg, a tiny girl. She grows slowly, but is progressing. The extreme heat and reflux are not very helpful. In the beginning she was sleeping a lot, but now we have the pleasure of seeing her eyes more often.

Ilne is also doing well, back in one piece again after the operation. It was busy for the first weeks, but we were blessed by ladies in the church cooking for us for the first two weeks. Rashelle is her mom’s right hand. The boys have also tried their best, but being boys, they just enjoy the diaper changes. Even as father I still have to get use to her being here, she’s so quiet. But it will come.

Celebrating dutch style

Besides the happenings at home, we’ve also been to Lusaka often, trying to sort out our work permit; that’s done now. Also the work at home always seems to take longer than planned due to things breaking, and trying to fix it. The storehouse is almost finished, which is nice because it gives us extra work and storage space. Nice to work in the shade. The last part of the chicken house is also almost done. We experimented with ‘village’ chickens- trying to raise them for Christmas. But some disease got the whole lot- I can remember this happening to us in Liberia too. We’ll now wait till after rainy season to start with animals, and first focus on the planting.

 Maize storage

For chickens etc

Seeing that rainy season is almost here, we’ve started with the conservation farming part of the program. We have 34 participants, that will be helped with fertilizer, seed and lime on credit. There are strict guidelines that they have to keep to. Nothing will be for free. We are trying to convince people in a business like fashion that there is more potential to their land than they are currently utilizing. Especially now that the local currency has taken a severe nose dive. We are expecting a smaller harvest next year (end of this season), since people will probably not have the finances to pay the prices that have literally doubled. People still own and earn the same amount, but for the same money that they were able to buy two bags of fertilizer with the last season, they can now only buy one.

 Carl talking to the participants from our area

When any rain comes down, we have to prepare the land

We thank you for all the support to make it possible to help some people- this is for many their only income. We also received the bigger tractor from South Africa, to try and help as fast and efficiently as possible.

To help in the process of making the project self-sufficient, we have a few projects running. Some you know about: the little shop- for which we had to train yet another shop keeper, due to fraud, and the chickens for eggs, which is doing extremely well. This we will soon expand as the demand increases. We also sell soya oil that we buy from a farmer on a commercial farm, at a very good price, and then resell. The need for oil in the country has also gone up, since the government has made all import of oil illegal, to try and stimulate the local market after the recent collapse.

Then we also have the maize mill project that I wrote about last time. Carl and the share holders are talking about making the mill mobile, so as to help people who in especially rainy season struggle to travel.  This will be a win-win situation. With help from Hope Builders Ministries (HBM) we have now also invested in a machine to process the maize even further into a form that they really enjoy, and we receive the residual as feed for our chickens. 

Mills

Carl teaching in a church

Furthermore we rent out our two wheel tractor (with driver) with a trailer. People make use of the tractor to move their blocks that they make next to the river, to where they are building their houses. Also for transporting their firewood.

The property development, is almost done, and the community development is running. But apart from all this, it is really important for us to take the time to learn and understand the culture. It is taking time, but we can see how people trust and accept us.

Addition by Ilne:

Carl’s last sentences sounds so easy, but it truly is not always. Our new shopkeeper has recently left her husband, who is a well-educated young man, because he impregnated another girl while their own baby was maybe 3-4 months old. Then he decided to ‘marry’ both. Men are completely allowed to discipline their wives by ‘beating’- and it is no secret. And then the men are surprised when I don’t agree with their methods. The intimacy rituals are not to be repeated in front of children, it is un…. I don’t know what. It is under these circumstances that we know it is only God that can change somebody, remove the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh. Do they deserve it, no, neither do I, it is grace. We recently had guests and we talked about this, and the one gentleman said, they have to let go of their ‘culture’ here, and become a ‘citizen’ of the Kingdom of God, there in lies the Hope. So, while we are learning the culture, it is not to just accept it, but to know what their way of thinking is. And to speak into that, speak Truth.  

It is great to see things move forward as Carl has described, but there is enough failure along the way to keep us humbly on our knees, where we should be. It is grace!

Home report: Isabel is doing well, though extremely tiny, a little doll. Rashelle’s finished her first year, and doing very well. Tim has done very well since the birth of Isabel- he has suddenly become an older brother. He is burning to start with school, but I want to wait till Rashelle can read well. Simon will continue with crèche, adding an extra morning next year, for the sake of his English. The boys were in the school concert recently- too cute. Simon did not understand the fuss, and was heavily annoyed with the lights in his eyes. I wrote my nursing exam, expecting the results in February. But don’t ask if you hear nothing, I have no idea if I will pass. And Carl had his first baby named after him J

Rashelle’s graduation                                           

Simon’s in the middle- looking as happy as he felt

I would like to just mention something else. We are fast growing out of the ministry vehicle we are currently using. We need to find a reasonably priced, 4by4 with enough seats. If this resounds with you, we would appreciate some help. We have some money saved, but not quite enough.

And besides all this so many small/big things happen daily: we have had many family members sick, carl burnt himself quite badly, Isabel needs to grow and develop, Simon has been diagnosed with asthma, and things break down endlessly. ‘Pray without cease’- says the Bible. Let’s do that for one another, please. Phil 4:4-7

I hope to soon be able to say “Merry Christmas”, till then, be blessed

Family Paalman