Please stop praying. J Your prayers have
been answered. We have seen amazing amount of rain these last weeks. We had an
exceptionally wet weekend a couple of weeks ago, and on Monday morning found
that four of our closest neighbours’ houses have completely or partially collapsed.
Good thing is that it is not in the coldest season yet, since they are sleeping
in houses with curtains for walls temporarily. And the rain just keeps coming.
Most of the harvest was lost before the rains started, but these rains are good
to fill up the dams for the coming season, the winter crop.
Maybe I can tell you a
bit about some of these neighbours. In the last
month, Carl has moved around the way the project is organized. He was really
struggling with motivating his co-workers, to not just do the necessary, but to
really take ownership of what happens here. So, he has assigned people to
different parts of the project, so that they can take full responsibility and
pride in what they do. It has already made a difference in the work atmosphere,
and also align better with the immigration law here. The Zambian government try
to preserve all work opportunities for Zambians. So, expatriates need to proof
that they are at all times training someone to take over their job, and they
are only allowed any job if there is not any Zambian better suited to do the
job. So, from now on, Carl runs the
over-all coordination, James is responsible for anything vegetable, and Happy
for everything chicken. This will consequently also ensure that both James and
Happy gain valuable experience in their different fields. We have also asked the organization that we work with, Hope Builders Ministries Zambia, for a
pastor volunteer. Pastor Justin, who lives relatively close to us, has started
to come once a week, and his responsibility is everything Outreach. He is Tonga
speaking, and naturally culturally sensitive;) Over the next few months I will
introduce you to them individually. This picture shows you James.
This does give Carl a
little more freedom to work on expanding the project. And so on the 21-22 February,
he was free to join me for a refresher course in
beekeeping. Carl’s ambition was to be promoted from Junior-Junior bee-
assistant, to Junior Beekeeper. I think he himself was surprised at how much he
enjoyed it. The bee is a beautiful example of God’s Creation, nothing is left
to chance. Someone mentioned on the last day, that scientists say that if bees
were to become extinct, humans can maybe live another 4years. They are crucial
to our healthy management of nature- one of our first God-given responsibilities
as humans. We have made a start to working with them over the last two years,
but this has mostly consisted of removing them from where they were not
welcome. But now, we have great plans. Watch this spot…
On the home front:
Simon has done his
first 6 weeks of school, and has surprised me with his ability to sit still, as
long as I am more interesting than whatever sounds come in from outside. He
talks non-stop, and finds everything interesting. Sad to think he will grow up.
Rashelle had her 9th
birthday, which was lots of fun. They invited two girls over for a
Safari/camping birthday, who I guess you can call their best friends. But this
is part of our reality, at the end of March, these girls will move away. It is
not always easy to have a constant wave of farewells. Especially for the
children.
Another very sad
goodbye, was to our dog that suddenly passed away after four years. It was on a
day that it was too wet to get out of our area, so we did not have the option
of getting her to help.
Life and death, rain
and drought. We are not always in control, no matter how much we think we are. It is great to serve a God that never leaves
nor forsakes us.
We would like to thank to people who have
special projects that benefit the work here. Jeanet, to whom we’ve introduced
you before, has a online ‘shop’ on the Dutch equivalent of Amazon, where she
sells second hand stuff that she collects from her family and friends. We can’t
believe how this has taken off!! And that money comes to Zambia and goes
straight into the project. What a blessing!
Till next time
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