The year is going by so fast! Next week we are off again, Tommy will head to the UK to apply for his NEW South African visa, and Morgan to SA for few weeks before coming to the UK for Christmas. Please pray for favour as we apply for a new visa! It has been over 6 months since the visa issues began and we are looking forward to putting it behind us.
In late September Morgan joined a group of nurses from the US in the Kabwe region in Zambia, to support them in providing much needed medical care to one of the remote communities we work in. Over the five days, the team saw nearly 1,000 people. It was an exhausting trip physically and emotionally but the care and hope that was shown to the community was a beautiful thing to be a part of.
In the beginning of October Tommy had a chance to go to the DRC, the majority of his time was spent in the office support our bookkeeper but he did get two days in the community. The first community he visited is a very rural community of Kisunka, because of the distance between the homes; the community is split into four zones. 150 of the most vulnerable children are spread across these four zones, but in the particular zone called Kasepa 30 children are being cared for. The mother and leader of the amazing men and women who have chosen to care for these children is affectionately known as Mama Marie Gylen. She has taken it upon herself to lay down her own life to care for 30 of the most vulnerable children in DRC. We started the day by meeting the children and Care Workers from the community, we played games and sang songs together. After the children had had lunch, we split into two groups and went on Holy Home Visits. Tommy went with Prag (one of our local Zambian volunteers), Erick and Jolie (two of our local Congolese volunteers) and some of the Care Workers from the community. At the first home they visited, we met a young girl called
Evie. Evie is 11 years old and in grade 3 at school. She is one of four kids but they have lost both of their parents at a young age. After their mother died, the children were split up as not one other relative could look after all 4 children. Evie and one of her brothers live with an aunt in this village of Kasepa. On the day we visited, Evie had not been at school that day so the Care Workers wanted to visit her and find out why. When we got to the house, we found out that Evie was not staying where she usually stays because her aunt had left the village to sell maize in a nearby town. As the aunt was away, Evie and her brother now had to go and stay with another aunt for a few days. Fortunately we were able to still visit Evie at her other aunt’s house. After we started chatting with her (through a translator, everyone in DRC speaks with French or Swahili), we discovered that the reason she had not been at school was because her school uniform was too dirty. This could sound like an excuse to many of us but for African children, having dirty uniforms brings about so much shame and stigma. As shown by Evie, children would rather miss school than go with a dirty uniform. And so you might ask, well why could she not wash it? There are many reasons. Evie is responsible for her brother as well as they house they live in with their aunt. She has to cook, clean and fetch water twice a day, Evie is so busy doing these things she does not prioritise school. This week she had run out of washing powder and was unable to clean her uniform properly so she felt she could not go to school. The Care Workers encouraged Evie about the importance of going to school as well as making sure she has let her Care Worker know when she isn’t able to wash her clothes. Care Workers seek to meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of our children by serving our children using 3 Essential Services and part of this is making sure they have everything they need to have a clean uniform. Visiting Evie was a reminder of all that we take for granted. If it wasn’t for these Care Workers giving up their lives daily for the most vulnerable children, who knows how long it would have taken Evie to get back to school.
“Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.” – Psalm 82:3
The last week of October, international volunteers and leaders from across our African countries came together in Zambia to reflect on 2015 and prayerfully discern and discuss the way forward in 2016. “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”. These familiar words from the Lord’s Prayer focused us during the week, learning, discussing, challenging and dreaming about what this means for us as a community and the children we serve. Every time we gather together as a family from across Africa we are struck by what a privilege it is to be a part of this work. We are continually challenged by the sacrificial love, grace and humility shown by the men and women of God we get to stand side by side with. For us, at the end of a year that has been filled with challenges it gave us a renewed sense of hope and confidence in the calling that has been placed on our lives.
We are looking forward to being in the UK over Christmas. We will be hosting 3 open house, questions and answer nights in the beginning of December. We look forwarding to connecting with many of you over the holiday season.
Love T + M
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One of our favorite parts of spending time in Zambia is spending time with this little girl and her sister.
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