Kalungula Orphanage and School

Kalungula Orphanage and School

Before we left for Zambia we did a fundraiser at Pizza Ranch in Ankeny for the Kalungula School and Orphanage.  I hadn’t been there before but had been referred by Don Ewing to this place as a viable orphanage in need of assistance.  Through the generosity of many, we were able to establish a feeding program there this weekend that will become a sustainable source of food and training for the children.

The Kalungula School and orphanage was founded in 2000 by Bishop Prince Musopelo.  He is a local preacher outside of the small town of Chinyunyu, some 100 km east of Lusaka.  He founded it on his own money and some small donations and runs it basically by the grace of God.  The situation out there was all too common for Africa.  All the teachers are voluntary, the food (when they have it) is donated, the curriculum is dated at best, no running water, no electricity, poor standards of hygiene, etc.  What they do have is a man that cares deeply about the villages that surround him and about caring for and training the next generation of Zambians. 

With a team of 15 Zambian volunteers, I met up with over 30 locals at the village and the Bishop at the school.  Last week we identified a key area of need for them as food security, as they often don’t have any to feed the 265 students during the day.  So we used the funds that we raise to purchase seed, hoes and fertilizer to plant a couple acres of corn. 

 

John 10:10b – I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (NIV)

2 Corinthians 3:17 – Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (NASB)

Galatians 5:13 – For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (NASB)

It was a terrific opportunity to partner with a local community to help develop their lives.  We used the time to not only plant food security, but to shepherd and encourage the younger generation that was volunteering with us.  Each planting station represented perfection, doing things to high standards, letting our work be a reflection of our faith in Christ and taking pride in what we do so we can develop our lives.  It was hard work but the combination of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of this next generation of Zambians was immensely rewarding.  

There will be more work to do.  But this is the kind of partnership that I am glad to enter into.  This community poured out hard work alongside us to see development happen. They have a hand pump for water near the road, which would be an excellent source of irrigation during the dry season.  My hope is to return in a few months with enough funds to fence and irrigate about an acre of ground to serve as their year round garden.  This could perhaps be a small source of revenue for school fees as well. I would also like to see them clear more ground so they can have legitimate food security.  I’m told that we need about 8 acres of crops to provide food security for that many children during the year.  The work can be slow, but the combination of discipleship, instructing and serving physically is really rewarding and beneficial in the long term.  Kids learn proper agricultural technology, proper mindset to combat poverty and that God really does provide all the resources they need for abundant life. 

 

What perhaps is most important out of this project is proof that everyone is capable of doing something to help.  I am so thankful for those who served and came to Pizza Ranch that night.  Through the kindness and generosity of those people, this school will now have a sustainable food source for most of the year.  I think it is immensely encouraging to those of you who are on the fence about doing some kind of service.  It only took a few hours out of one night to raise enough funds to plant this field, with some left over for the future.  Even if God hasn't called you to come to Africa and serve, it doesn't mean that your actions can't literally impact hundreds of people.  So step up and put yourself out there.  You will be surprised of what you are capable of.  For me, this was my first big project here so far and it was a huge success.  It was successful because of people who took time out of their day to care for others.  It was a great partnership between Americans and Zambians.  I am incredibly encouraged and thankful for everyone who sacrificed their time and energy to impact the lives of the poor here in Zambia.

Can you Imagine?

"Can you imagine?"  This is becoming a common phrase here in Zambia.  It is the equivalent to Americans saying, "Can you even believe this?"  I will get back to this statement in just a minute, just let me give you the backstory.  
Yesterday, we headed to Kalunga orphanage and school to meet the headmaster, Bishop Prince Musepelo. Back in Iowa this last July, our community group all bused tables at Pizza Ranch in Ankeny for 4 hours to raise money for this specific place.  Much of our church came out and supported the fundraiser and we were able to come up with a good chunk of change to help.  The only reason we knew of this place was a past AFC church member stumbled across it while here on a short term missions trip with our pastor.  When we saw the pictures of this place, Mickey and I felt an immediate calling to make it part of our work here in Zambia.  And of course our awesome small group was up for helping!  Let me tell you, busing tables is not easy work either at a pizza buffet!  :)  So before I go even further, I want to tell those who either helped bus tables or those who gave to this cause:  THANK YOU!!! Every dime is going to help these people who are in desperate need.  You may not be able to be here doing the work on the ground, but WITHOUT you, the work wouldn't be possible.  You saw a need and filled it, without even physically seeing, just by hearing about it. The love of the Father is truly in you.

1 John 3:17 But if someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won't help him--how can God's love be within him ? 1 John 3:18 Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions. 1 John 3:19 Then we will know for sure, by our actions, that we are on God's side, and our consciences will be clear, even when we stand before the Lord.

Ok, now back to the statement, "Can you imagine?"  As we started talking with Prince about the school, orphanage and students. we quickly found out that no, we can't possibly imagine.  There are 265 students who show up at this village school each day.  Most are single or double orphans.  Some of these orphans might be cared by grandparents or other family, and some are just part of the village and no one really looks after them.  The school doesn't have enough funds to feed the kids every day.  Typically, they can give one or two meals of nshima a week.  All of these kids are already showing up very malnourished and hungry.  The teachers are volunteers since there is no money to pay them.  Because of this, they don't always show up and their work is pretty sub-par.  There are literally no materials.  Just a chalkboard and tables with benches.  They have a few poorly constructed outhouses for bathrooms.  They are trying to build an actual house for the village orphans to have a place to stay outside of school, but there are not enough funds to finish the structure.  And one of the final kickers for us was when he told us of how girls are being married off at 13, because they think then they will have someone to care for them, but they get pregnant, then the guy typically leaves because he doesn't want to care for the child.  Hello!!! When you are a 13 year old girl, you should be in school and hanging out with friends!!!  Seriously had to compose myself after hearing this-it is something you hear about happening, but when you are actually there where it is happening, it's another story.  

The school: this little building has 265 students inside daily, from toddlers to high school!

Now, the whole time, we were waiting for Bishop to ask us for money, to ask for help.  We have already had this happen quite a bit, since we are white and in Zambia, we must have loads of money to help everyone!  And we do have loads compared to them!  But alas, we do have to be careful, we want to give to those who are really honest, hard-working, caring people who have a vision and a heart for their cause.  I am happy to say, he did not ask us once.  We just talked and he showed us around, and was very hospitable.  And thank God, it was so clear that we should help him and the best way for us to help them at this time with the funds we have.  How awesome to look at him and say, "Prince, we want to help you."  "We have awesome people in Iowa who raised money to support you and the work you are doing here."  Oh how I wish all who supported this could have seen his smile and gratitude pouring out.  

They happened to have 2 perfect amounts of land: one the right size to plant maize, and one the right size to plant a garden.  We happen (well not really me, but Mickey-ha!) to know a little bit about doing this and we both really feel strongly that getting these kids foods in their belly every day is pretty important.  As a teacher, I know students can't concentrate at all without food in their bellies.  I know I can't concentrate without food in my belly!  So, this Saturday, yes, already, we will head back out to work on the field.  It has to be done now before the rains come, so there isn't a moment to lose.  Mickey will work on getting the hoes/shovels, seed, and fencing this week so we are ready to go.  Mickey only asked that people from the community come and help-this puts a little of the responsibility on them, which is important, so it is not us doing it FOR them, but WITH them.  

While there, we also met two middle school girls who were not attending school.  When we asked them why, they said they couldn't pay the fees.  I spoke to them for a while and made a deal with them: "we will pay for this term, but I will be back once every few weeks to meet with you and check up on you.  If your are doing well, we will continue to pay your fees.  We want you to get an education."  For a whopping total of $40, these girls will be able to attend the next term in January.  I think I can find a way to save $40 in the next month so these two girls can go to school.  Pray that I will be able to come alongside these girls and disciple them.  They don't have anyone else... 

And as you all know, we are trying to adopt from here.  We are still waiting to hear some information about the two brothers, but we did ask Prince to find out what young children would be available to adopt from here.  Praying God will make it clear either way in the next few weeks-we will let you know when we know!  

So there you have it, an exciting day.  Many blessings again to those who are making this possible.  And while I am at it, if any of you are inclined to raise funds again for this place and then come over on a missions trip to help us, there is much more work to be done there.  Please let us know.  

Mickey walking with Bishop to check out the borehole

Check out this view from the school-God's creation is indescribable!

The Kitchen, yes, the kitchen...

The kiddos are really adapting to Africa well. No toys?  Fine, we will play with sticks and dirt. :)

I couldn't resist singing a little song with the 1st and 2nd grade class.  They loved it even though they didn't understand a word I was singing!  Ha!  It was worth it to see some smiles on their faces.

Waiting and Praying is the Name of the Game

Waiting, then praying.  Praying, then waiting.  Pretty much sums up the last few weeks for us in terms of adopting.  We had visited the young children at House of Moses, met an adorable little two year old boy, and felt called to find out his adoption status.  We had to WAIT a few days, then we were given the news that his mom was alive and would consider allowing us to adopt him.  Time then for PRAYER...was this the little boy for our family?  Were we the right family for him?  Did we want to undertake a situation in which the mom could change her mind back and forth?  Ultimately, we didn't feel called to adopt this particular little guy-even though it makes me feel awful thinking about it, and I still PRAY for him, that either his mom will be able to take care of him or he will find his forever home with the right family.
After this happened, we visited another orphanage, who had kids ages 2-5, and played with the kids for a while.  One boy in particular caught our attention, even though he was not what we had "planned" or even at that time, thought we "wanted".  But as all the young kids climbed all over me, playing with my hair, taking my sunglasses off, and trying to get into my purse, I couldn't help but watch this little boy play football (American soccer).  :) Mickey was playing with him and while this boy didn't smile, I could tell he was so happy inside that there was a man there to play football with him.  I noticed how careful he was around the other kids, never getting angry when a little child stole the ball or get in his way, and how he moved so gracefully with the ball.  Since I was busy with the young children, I didn't get much of a chance to chat with him, but when we were leaving, I decided to go give him a squeeze and ask if he had fun today.  All he did was nod.  I asked if we could come back and see him again.  Another nod.  Does he speak, I wonder?  Is he ok?  What has happened to this little boy that he doesn't smile or speak?  My heart didn't even want to go there...But my head definitely wanted to know if he was available to adopt...So, again, we ask our social worker to find out his story.  And again, we WAIT.  He was going by a nickname so our social worker didn't know who we were talking about so needed to take the weekend to find out.  As much as I loathe waiting sometimes, it was helpful.  It gave me time to PRAY.  Lord, we weren't planning on adopting someone older than our children?  How will this change our family?  How will Evan react?  And after a weekend of pondering this with the Lord, He really did make it clear that it would be ok, even better, that it would be a good thing for our family and for this child.  But as always...on Monday morning came quite the twist--------------------------
this boy, come to find out, has a little brother.  Hold the phone!!!  Immediately back to PRAYER.  Lord, really?  Two boys?  4 children between the ages of 3-5???  In this tiny little apartment we call home right now?  How will we afford to feed all these children when they are in high school? (I know, this may be a funny question to some, but I remember all the food my brothers and I ate in high school, hello 2 gallons of milk each day! :) )  Will I be able to give them each the love and attention they would need?  How would Alea do with 3 brothers?  Phewww.... I had a lot of questions for the Lord, but slowly it came down to the battle between my head and my heart.  My head said, "No way!" Can't do this, now or ever."  My heart said, "These children need a home, a family, these brothers deserve to be able to stay together, and I (Jesus) will overflow your heart with love for these children and I will provide for you and them every basic need."  After this matter started to settle in my heart, it came back to their adoption situation.  Were they single orphans? double?  Again, we had to wait...I tell you what, living here for 2 months has developed my patience more than in 30 years in America!  
After another long, agonizing weekend of waiting, we hear the news.  They were found by social welfare, apparently abandoned by their father, their mother has passed, and they had been at the orphanage since July.  Immediately, it made sense why the boy wasn't smiling. And immediately, I wondered where this dad was.  In order to adopt these boys, permission by the dad is necessary.  Besides that, we wanted to know more about him, why had he abandoned them? Was he planning on coming back to get them? (this happens quite often in Zambia when parents lose a job and they are trying to find another one or when they lose a loved one and don't cope well).  Also, even though both my heart and head didn't want to admit it, I wanted these boys to be with their dad ultimately if he really does want to care for them.  We didn't come here to take away a Zambian child from their country and culture if they still had a living parent who loved them.  But of course, this question remains to be answered since they were found alone and their dad hasn't come for them yet.  So back to PRAYER, Lord, who is this dad?  Did he just make a mistake? Did he feel hopeless?  If he decides to keep them, will he love them?  Will he care for them and provide for them?  If we find out he wants them, but has no means of taking care of them, what do we do?  These were just a few of my thoughts and prayers over the last few days...and then the phone rang.  The social worker had located the dad and he says he is coming to get them...MY HEART SUNK.  So many thoughts and feelings raced through my mind.  Anger, sadness, doubt, confusion, you name it, I experienced it.  Why had the Lord worked on me for 2 weeks and prepared my heart and mind for these 2 kids all to take it away in an instant. I didn't trust this father who had left his 5 and 3 year old boys to fend for themselves, who we found out is usually drunk.  We decided we didn't want to just leave it at that, in the case that the dad might have just said he was coming to get his boys out of pride.  We have found this to be true here, with orphans, if there is any family remotely available to care for them, they do it.  They would rather not let anyone "take" the children from the family even in the most dire of circumstances.  So, again, back to WAIT AND PRAY.  The social worker is going to try and go speak with the dad tomorrow to assess him and his situation.  Thankfully, after this week of having to WAIT again and continue in PRAYER, we are at peace with whatever happens.  We know God has it all under control and His plan for these boys, for their father, and for us will be revealed and will be His perfect plan all along.  
Please join us in prayer over not only what happens tomorrow, but over this whole adoption process.  We so desire to find the child (or children) God has for us soon.  So there you have it, another adoption update.  We are extremely excited for the day when an adoption update is about us bringing our precious one or ones home! 
*sorry I can't say names or anything, but need to protect identities!*

Random Musings, Info, and Update

Well, bet you were all wondering why in the world I haven't blogged in over a week!  Believe me, it is not because I didn't want to, but you see, here in Africa, the Internet is a bit of a crazy situation.  I have said before you pay for data and when you run out, you are dunzo.  Well, we apparently use a lot of Internet!!!  (Not sure how, we really don't do too much, and we definitely don't download or even run Facetime that often or anything, but anyways) We ran out last Monday and weren't planning on going to town, that is Lusaka, where you can buy more Internet, until Wednesday so had to do without for a few days.  At this point too, we were determined to check out some other options for Internet.  So, we ended up switching companies and getting a much better deal and package.  Phew....Big sigh of relief. Good for our pocketbooks and helpful to have more data so we can stay in better touch with all of you!  
But of course, nothing is ever too easy here.  :)  We got home and couldn't connect via hotspot from our phones to our computer.  And let me just tell you what a joke it is to call customer service here in Zambia-they were no help!  The last few days we have spent trying to figure it out since I didn't really want to type out an entire blog on my little phone and Mickey didn't want to do his grad school homework on a little phone either and finally, my amazing hubs figured it out today and we are on.  Anyways, we know this isn't a major problem in our lives, but we are grateful to have it resolved.  
On to our life here in Chongwe and our past week here-one thing that is cracking me up here is being stared at.  And I mean, no shame, keep looking no matter what, don't take their eyes off for a second, type of stares.  It is so un-American, in that we stare at people as well, but we definitely try to hide it! They do not! Ha!  Another thing that is quite funny is the crowds we attract on our walk down to the Nelms house.  We usually pick up about 5-10 children and they are usually shouting "How are you?" the whole time, since that is the only English they know.  Evan thinks this is hilarious.  He answers, "fine".  Then they ask again, and Ev usually just turns to me and says, "Why are they asking again?"  Except, by now, he understands that is all they can say so he will just answer the whole time. Whenever we drive through town as well, kids on the side of the road will wave and wave with huge smiles.   

The water situation has been pretty bad the last week, as in, we haven't had any consistent running water.  The Chongwe River is dried up so we think they are doing water conservation and only turning on water at certain times.  Even though it kind of stinks when you are in the middle of dishes, or wanting to take a shower, or can't flush the toilet, and it just goes off, we are blessed with a well in our yard where we can go get water to do these things as needed.  Most people are not blessed with a well in their own yard and have to walk a long ways to get water, then carry it in a bucket on their head the same distance back.  So yes, Mom and Dad, if you can believe it, your daughter now knows how to get water from a well.  I know you are laughing right now Dad.  :)  Rainy season is on its way though, so hopefully, my days of carrying the heavy water bucket into the house and heating it up to take a shower are almost over.
On a positive note, the electricity has been quite stable the past few weeks.  I know, shocker!  It has only gone of a few times and only for an hour at most!  We are so thankful for this because it has been zesty here as I like to say, like 100 degrees every day and sun just beating down on you.  And the way this house is made, it is like an oven when there is no air running.  So, hopefully, this will be an ongoing trend of consistent electricity!  :)
One last tiny, very short, minuscule, piece of info: I DON'T LIKE BUGS. (AND THERE ARE A LOT OF BUGS HERE-SORRY TO TELL YOU HEIDI). :)  

And now moving on to what went down this last week.  Mickey worked hard in the beginning of the week helping James and Moses get their land ready to plant.  Mickey is micro-financing them a loan so they can rent some land and learn how to farm.  They are really glad Mickey is here and willing to teach them.  They are awesome guys who not only want to learn farming so they can generate some income for themselves, but they also want to use farming as a platform for going into villages to teach about God. We love that by helping just two people, many people in Zambia will eventually be reached in the name of our Lord.  The ground is almost ready and they will plant soon as it is important for them to get it in before the rains come.  Tuesday night was spent celebrating our dear friend Amber's birthday Zambian style.  I even tried nshima for the 1st time!  They asked me to contribute an American cake, and it must have been good, the boys all had 3 pieces!   On Wednesday, we headed to Lusaka.  We set out to return to the Bill and Bette Orphanage, take our car into get fixed, change our Internet, and get groceries.  It was a pretty uneventful trip, except for the orphanage but more on that in another post.  Too much to put in this one!  Thursday, we got up early to head to the Esther School and the International Bible College of Zambia.  I was really excited about this!  I hadn't been to any other schools yet besides the preschool and the Esther School has quite the good reputation.  It definitely lived up to its rep!  The grounds were amazing, the set up was awesome, and the teachers were some of the best.  The kids that go to that school are so immensely blessed and their lives will be different because of attending that school.  Amber and I were both so impressed and inspired. We hope to take Teacher Doreen out there soon so she can get some good ideas and we can start making our preschool the best!  The Bible College was equally wonderful.  It was my first time so I couldn't compare it to anything, but it was Mickey's fourth, and he was amazed.  The clinic, library, farm grounds are all top notch. We also got to see where our friends, the Millers, will live.  So excited for them to get here!!!   Ok, I will stop jumping up and down now.  :)  The Evans family, who live at the Bible College had us for lunch, which was very kind.  They have 4 kids, and 2 of them were our kids ages, so they had great fun playing together.  At night, Amber, Sarah, and I had a mini-Christmas together! LOL. Since we won't be together for Christmas and I had been talking about Christmas music, we turned on the jams while making dinner, had hot chocolate, and watched Christmas Vacation.  So fun, thanks girlies for my Christmas fix!   And finally, Friday, I went to the preschool in the morning while Mickey stayed home with the kiddos.  It was Amber's last day there and I knew besides the fact that she needed someone to take pictures, she needed emotional support.  The kids sang her a sweet song and did some chants and cheers.  It made us both cry.  Those kids will surely miss her!   Friday night, we had a special good-bye party for Amber and Sarah with the Nelms at their house.  So sad to see them go...They are both dear sisters in Christ with me now.  Saturday was a catch up and relax day.  We had family movie night and it was the kids first time to watch Pinnochio!  They loved it.  And that brings us to today, Sunday.  We do "church" with the Nelms at their house and today we listened to a sermon online.  It was about how we worry so much about what other people think and what God thinks for all the wrong reasons.  We worry because we want their approval, we want their applause, their compliments.  There are two parts to how we stop this.  One, we should worry about what other people think, but not to boost our self-esteem.  It should be all about them.  I should worry about what my husband thinks of me because I want him to be happy and feel loved, not because I need him to tell me what a great job I am doing.  I should worry about how I can help a friend who is hurting, not because I need them to tell me that I am such a good friend, but only because I truly care about her and want to help.  Second is about the same as the first.  We should worry about what God thinks, but not because we need his approval. We already have it.  He paid the debt for our sins long ago. 
1 John 2:2 "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world."
 Doing what He asks should come from the overflow of love and gratitude out of our hearts, not because of a need to please Him and then feel good about ourselves.  When we live this way, the worry goes away, the need to please and feelings of failure that come when we don't feel people or God has noticed goes away.  Now, that sounds peaceful.  I definitely think the world would be a better place and there would be less insecurity if we lived this out.  
This is all for now-I know, super long post, and you want to know about the adoption.  I desperately want to speak more about it, but just know there is a lot we can't say right now and a lot of uncertainty in the situation, so we don't want to say too much either.  Please pray for us though as the next few weeks are pretty crucial.  THANKS AND MUCH LOVE TO YOU ALL!

The Esther School Preschool-snack time!

The Evans's kids and our kids!

A classroom at the IBCZ

The library

Mike and Dee Miller's future home!