Newsletter April/ Nieuwsbrief April

Two prophesies have been spoken over this land we are on. Both speak of fruitfulness, bounty. If you look at the soil, at least if I look at the soil, it seems so dry, so hard. And yet it has started, slowly we are starting to see the harvest. Then I read Psalm 1 tonight:

 

“They (the righteous) are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, an in all they do, they prosper.” (Psalm 1:3)

 

What a beautiful promise?! It made me think, what are the fruit we are producing? Are we here only to produce physical fruit, or is there more to God’s plan of planting us where He has done. And I’m not only asking this question for myself.

 

Here the rainy season is slowly winding down (don’t dare say it is over infront of any farmer), and thus it is the end of the easy season to produce fruit. Our first crop of maize is slowly coming down:

This is our neighbour harversting his portion

Carl is taking time with the guys to discuss what they have learned. I love to listen, because in everything they learn there is a life lesson too. Here are some of the things I have picked up:

·         Be on time! (If I had a cent for every time Carl has said this, I would be rich.) But it is so important not to procrastinate, but to plan.

·         Don’t look at the outside, some of our smaller plants, yielded much bigger cobs. This was especially interesting since it was not on the fertilizer, but where we worked with manure.

·         Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. We had a lot of trouble with termites at the end of the season, they were chewing down the plants a bunch a day. This should go better next season, since we hope to feed them better.

 

 



The peanut plot should also soon be ready to harvest. What a joyful, little effort, good for the ground crop.

 

The biggest undertaking so far has been the tomato field. Carl is doing it with our neighbor, who has done it  before. Carl is investing the money, and James the know-how and more of the labour. (When these people really start to work, I’m left in the dust).

 

So first the land was prepared: cleaned and then lightly ripped:

is what a white man behind a few oxen looks like. To me the bravest person is the woman who walks in front to lead the oxen. You won’t be catching me there;)

The seed was planted into a nursery:

Then Carl ‘installed’ drip irrigation. And then came the huge job of planting the plants next to  the little holes. Last but not least, they had to be tied. Carl quickly discovered that this is not a job for a 6 foot man, and convinced one of the ladies around to help. The men went to the forest to cut the sticks: left here 6 o’clock on the ox wagon. Came back very tired. Then we had to tie the rope, which will eventually be 2km of rope, plus the 3,6km of string to tie them individually. Not for the faint of heart.



 

In my own humble efforts, the first fruit are also visible:

I still love the kick I get out of watching something grow.

 

We are also thinking about the less edible fruit. In our community we are privileged to have opportunities to help and speak up. But we have a long way to go. We have to do a lot to win people’s trust. We go to church on a Sunday, which makes them unsure if we know the bible;) And somehow we have to pass this barrier. The other is of course the language barrier. Our most frequent helper can not speak English, and our Tonga is not picking up fast enough. So, I love to watch him and Carl communicate. But is does make it hard to have a good conversation. Translators are good for training purposes, but not for asking your neighbor how they are. So, we are trying to build bridges by baking bread, sticking plasters, playing taxi, making jokes, learning Tonga.

 

One of the things I would like to do, is make a play place for the children:

 

They are always around, and I would like to create a safe place for them to come play, and to build trust with them. So, that one day… we might see some young fruit.

 

I’ve also started the process of transferring my nursing license. I now have to write an exam. I asked what I can study, and was told, o everything. Uhm, now I get to decide what everything is.

 

For the rest we are well. We hope to leave for South Africa on Monday. We are coming together as family, since I have not seen my sister in 4 years. So, we are really looking forward to this. We also hope to buy some supplies, since everything costs literally half of what it does here. The computer needs to be fixed, Rashelle needs a new passport and and and.

 

We have lots to thank the Lord for, daily. He is really keeping us in the palm of His hand. And we really experience the Joy of the Lord. Two huge blessings we have had in the last while, was when the international mail came through, blessings up with Christmas in March, and parcels saying we haven’t forgotten you. And a special and huge donation, paying for a motorbike:

Thank you!!!!

This makes it possible for Carl to travel to town without the expense of the car, and also to travel longer distances once he starts with the training, leaving me at home with a vehicle.

 

With that we love and leave you. May you have a fruitful month!

 



Children growing up

I have to very soon surprise you with a newsletter, but before I sit down for the serious business, I thought I would just throw in a few lighter moments. I've recently become aware how much easier it is to go anywhere with the children, because infront of our eyes, they are growing up.
Spoedig hopen we weer een nieuwsbrief te schrijven maar eerst even een paar momentjes tussendoor. Het valt me op dat makkelijker word om ergens met de kinderen naar toe te gaan. simpel door het het feit dat ze groter worden.

This is Rashelle's creche friends- she's middle front. She is doing really well at school, and the english seems to be no handicap at all. She went to sleep at a friend's house last week, when we had to go to the capital on business. At sleeping time she phoned us to say we need to come NOW. Then she is suddenly our baby again.
Hier Rashelle tussen haar kleuterklas maates. Het gaat erg goed met haar op school. haar engels is geen probleem. Ze heeft vorige week een nachtje over geslapen bij een van de kinderen omdat we naar lusaka moesten. Toen het bedtijd was werden we gebeld, We moesten direct komen, Dan realiseer jeje dat ze toch ook nog wel jong is

Friends blessed all three our children with fishing rods. There was no stopping Tim, he had to get to the water. His father was still trying to convince him that he might have to wait long, when after five minutes the first fish got stuck. They were so very proud of this big mister, and gave him to the neighbour as gift.
Vrienden van ons hebben de kinderen gezegend met werphengeltjes. Tim kon bijna niet wachten om te gaan vissen. Zijn vader probeerde hem aan het verstand te brengen dat het niet altijd zo makkelijk is om een vis te vangen. Toen ze naar het riviertje nabij liepen duurde het nog geen 5 minuten of de eerste vis was gevangen. Drie anderen volgden daarop en de grootste hebben we aan de buurman gegeven.

And our little baby has been blessed with celebrating his second birthday. His brother says, now he is not a baby anymore, now he will be able to speak english;) We thank the Lord for him, for every second we are blessed to have him, hold him, laugh with him. He sparkles, and we love him.
En onze @baby@ is inmiddels ook alweer twee. Zijn broer zegt dat hij nu geen baby meer is. nu kan hij gaan engels praten. We danken de Heere voor hem voor een prachtig jochie

Silence

We just wanted to explain why we are so quiet, no newsletter. Our computer has a software problem which we can only sort out in South Africa in three weeks time. Until then we do not have access to our months photo's to give you a proper update.

Just shortly, we are doing well. God is blessing us daily. We had Christmas on the 5th of March. The mail surprised us with a bunch of christmas cards and packages;)

Apart from that we are getting the necessary rain, watching things grow. The termites are giving us a lot of trouble. And for the rest we are enjoying the gentle rhythm of village life.

Real joy!

Always!

In the source of all Joy- God Almighty.